I suck at activism what with being a huge coward and all, but apparently I'm really good at buying books to own the white supremacists? Or something?
I always intend to do book haul posts but never get around to it, and a third of the titles are pre-orders anyway, so I might as well just list them. Some of these books have been on my wish list for a while, but a bunch are new additions:
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
Akata Witch, Akata Warrior, and Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
The Weight of Stars by K. Ancrum
A Dream So Dark and A Crown So Cursed by L.L. McKinney
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark
Race to the Sun and Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Mem by Bethany C. Morrow
Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwambe Mbalia
A Phoenix First Must Burn - anthology with stories by Black authors including Elizabeth Acevedo, Amerie, Dhonielle Clayton, Jalissa Corrie, Somaiya Daud, Charlotte Davis, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Justina Ireland, Danny Lore, L.L. McKinney, Danielle Paige, Rebecca Roanhorse, Karen Strong, Ashley Woodfolk, and Ibi Zoboi
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark - anthology with a story by Rebecca Roanhorse
3/4 of my husband's non-work wardrobe is Star Wars t-shirts. One of the twins picked him out a Child and Mando shirt for Father's Day. The same twin is running around today in a Child shirt. I'm pretty sure the other twin is wearing a Princess Leia shirt.
Books vs clothes - no contest. I'm already a fan of Rebecca Roanhorse, Nnedi Okorafor, and R Djeli Clark. I'll be taking a look at the rest of your list as well. I follow Nnedi Okorafor on Twitter and saw her push back on her 'Akata' series being marketed as 'The Black Harry Potter'.
Good for her! I saw it being marketed that way and it felt kind of gross. And it feels extra gross now that JK Rowling's decided to go full TERF on Twitter.
I'm seriously floored by your move. Double thumbs up (I'd say umpteen, but for that I guess I'd have to grow umpteen thumbs first). I'll definitely have a look at your list -- several of those authors are already on my TBR anyway.
I've been telling myself for a while now that I need to support Black and other POC authors, and I've been buying books here and there when they catch my eye, but last night I just impulsively decided to stop talking about it and do it. All at once. But I need to remember to do it on a regular basis, because they're out here writing amazing books all the time, and they need support all the time, not just when the police commit another murder and throw the country (multiple countries now, actually) into chaos.
Maybe it's silly and the money would have been better spent donating to bail funds for protesters or something. I don't know. My feelings are complex and jumbled. But in any case, I'm going to have a lot of awesome books to read in the near future.
And no, there can never be too many Star Wars shirts.
I don't think there's such a thing as "giving to this organization / exponent / representative of the Black / POC / minoirity community is more worthy than giving to that one". I'm pretty sure that every penny (cent) helps -- and especially now, when authors and other members of the arts community are also suffering from the effects of Covid-19, supporting writers and creative artists is definitely the right thing to do.
Buying books has a bigger impact than the money that you spend on them. Books give people a voice in the conversation we have with ourselves. A voice that helps us imagine the future and re-examine the past. The more voices we listen to, the richer the conversation.
I recently read )New Suns' which is a collection of SF stories by people of colour. What excited the editor about it was that she now hav so many writers to choose from.
We don't make people rich by buying their books but the authors I know get a great deal of pleasue from knowing that they've been heard and undestood and that keeps them writing.
While I understand that jolt from spending a bunch of money that you weren't really planning to, that sounds like an awesome book haul. Besides, you're not just supporting these authors by buying the books but by posting about them when you read them. Although I would encourage you to show off your pretties in some book haul posts if you remember. :)
I'll try to remember to take pics right away of the 12 that aren't preorders. Hopefully they'll all get here about the same time and I can just photograph them all in my little package quarantine corner. :)
A great move! Thanks for the suggestions as well. And I agree that reviewing and talking about these books and their authors is a great way to get people engaged, thinking, and to give a voice to the authors. Thanks for the example!
That was one of the books that hadn't been on my TBR just yet, in part just because of the hype. But I just read the description -- and while I don't actually expect to love it beyond reason, it sounds like I might enjoy it ... and I'm intrigued by the fact that it's apparently inspired by a West African folk tale. So -- TBR, here we come ...
Initially I was going to steer clear because I'm kind of over "A ____ of ____ and ____" titles, but the description really is intriguing and it's not fair for me to discriminate just because YA publishing is stuck in a title rut. XD
Yeah, it's as bad as the "female relative" phenomenon at this point ("The ....'s Daughter / Wife / Sister" etc.) Well, let's hope the title isn't an indication of the quality of the content ...
So, what did you buy? Or will you do separate book haul posts?
You know we want to know and see the goodies. :D
Also, yeah, posties. They are made of stern stuff.
I always intend to do book haul posts but never get around to it, and a third of the titles are pre-orders anyway, so I might as well just list them. Some of these books have been on my wish list for a while, but a bunch are new additions:
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
Akata Witch, Akata Warrior, and Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
The Weight of Stars by K. Ancrum
A Dream So Dark and A Crown So Cursed by L.L. McKinney
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark
Race to the Sun and Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Mem by Bethany C. Morrow
Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwambe Mbalia
A Phoenix First Must Burn - anthology with stories by Black authors including Elizabeth Acevedo, Amerie, Dhonielle Clayton, Jalissa Corrie, Somaiya Daud, Charlotte Davis, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Justina Ireland, Danny Lore, L.L. McKinney, Danielle Paige, Rebecca Roanhorse, Karen Strong, Ashley Woodfolk, and Ibi Zoboi
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark - anthology with a story by Rebecca Roanhorse
Yeah, posties. They have seen it all.
I think it is good to buy books. Now that we are staying in most of the time, no one is going to see us falling behind fashion trend.
Good list as well.
Can there ever be too many Star Wars shirts?
Maybe it's silly and the money would have been better spent donating to bail funds for protesters or something. I don't know. My feelings are complex and jumbled. But in any case, I'm going to have a lot of awesome books to read in the near future.
And no, there can never be too many Star Wars shirts.
I recently read )New Suns' which is a collection of SF stories by people of colour. What excited the editor about it was that she now hav so many writers to choose from.
We don't make people rich by buying their books but the authors I know get a great deal of pleasue from knowing that they've been heard and undestood and that keeps them writing.
I think you've done a very good thing here.