Not a fan of flipping through the pages of a physical book? Our Summer Reading Recommendations from Pitts’ Collection Management Coordinator, Yasmine Green, have you covered! Since “reading a physical book isn’t something I can make time for these days,” Yasmine advocates for taking advantage of Emory University and public libraries’ Overdrive, a convenient and diverse collection of free ebooks and audiobooks!
First, Yasmine highly recommends Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, a “beautifully written novel following the lives of people in two family lines.” Both lines originate in Africa’s Gold Coast during the slave trade. Readers are taken through the evolution of a family from the perspective of an individual’s struggle to survive. The book shows how quickly and easily descendants of slaves lost their heritage, how power struggles among villages aided in the accumulation of persons for trade, and how quickly the actions of the present could require generations to correct. Find this book at Emory or your local public library!
Second, Yasmine suggests a Candler favorite, Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, but this time in a two part audiobook available on YouTube. Recommended by TikTok, Yasmine originally sought out this resource because “it was said to be a better literary parallel of our current times compared to the Handmaids Tale.” Butler paints the picture of an early dystopia, the origins of which are eerily similar to present socioeconomic issues. In addition, Yasmine notes “the narrator’s voice is fitting of the character.”
Yasmine’s final recommendation is Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys. The fictional narrative is based on the real story of the Dozier School, a reform school in Florida. Its main character happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and lives through atrocities brought on by peers and caretakers. Yasmine rates this audiobook with a 9/10!
We hope you get to enjoy these audiobooks on the road, beach, or beyond! Check in next week for recommendations from a Candler faculty member.
