Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
2017 Read Harder Challenge
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Task #5: Read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative
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Dec 15, 2016 05:54AM
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I read Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother last year, which is a great pick for this category. It's about young children from Central America illegally immigrating to the the U.S. all alone to find and reunite with their parents. It shows both the horror and the good of humanity.
Does the new book In the Country We Love by Diane Guerrero fit the challenge?
I just finished It Ain't So Awful, Falafel. That was a good book for this category. Maybe I read Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America for this challenge.
Laura wrote: "Does the new book In the Country We Love by Diane Guerrero fit the challenge?"Yes, and it's an excellent book.
For anyone looking for Latino immigration stories written by Latinos I wrote about 8 must-read books on BR: http://bookriot.com/2016/12/12/8-must...
An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy
I think I'm going to go with White Teeth by Zadie Smith for this one--it's been on my TBR list forever. It's listed on one of the Goodreads list, but has anyone here read it? Does it fit this challenge?
Book Riot wrote: "Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the fifth Read Harder task."I recommend We Love Our Country. It certainly timely given recent events. A 16-year old girl comes home to find her parents have been deported!
I read Brooklyn for a recent "read the book watch the movie" category and enjoyed it!
Jaleenajo wrote: "I think I'm going to go with White Teeth by Zadie Smith for this one--it's been on my TBR list forever. It's listed on one of the Goodreads list, but has anyone here read ..."I read it, but I don't know that I would count it as an immigrant narrative. It does have quite a lot of other cultures woven into the story, but it's more like a "melting pot" of London than any one character coming from somewhere else specifically, if I'm remembering correctly.
Does O Pioneers! work for this? I'm not clear on whether it has a "central immigration narrative."Also, does the author have to be an immigrant to *my* country? I'm planning to read Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, who is Mexican-Canadian. (I'm in the US.)
'Americanah' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
I've been wanting to read this one for awhile:The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman
I loved that book and still think about it although I read it several years ago. It really opened my eyes about what health care providers have to deal with in an immigrant community.
Cheri wrote: "I've been wanting to read this one for awhile:The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by [author:Anne Fadiman|..."
Oooh, that is perfect, and I have it sitting on my shelf. Thanks for mentioning.
O Pioneers is not about immigration, it is about life on the prairie, it, about grit. It is excellent btw.
These 2 lists are a couple years old, but the ideas are still good & may help find some ideas hidden at the back of our TBR piles!http://flavorwire.com/319221/10-great...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/chikao/17-bo...
Theresa wrote: "Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue"If you're a fan of audiobooks the narrator does one of the best performances I've ever heard.
I think O Pioneers would count. The challenge doesn't specify modern immigrants. I've got two I'm thinking of, Water Tossing Boulders: How a Family of Chinese Immigrants Led the First Fight to Desegregate Schools in the Jim Crow South about a family of Chinese immigrants in the south, a true story, and A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival, a biography of a Syrian refugee. They both sound really good.
Stina wrote: "Does O Pioneers! work for this? I'm not clear on whether it has a "central immigration narrative."Also, does the author have to be an immigrant to *my* country? I'm planning to read..."
The author doesn't have to be an immigrant your country. Signal to Noise would work. O Pioneers is less of a clear-cut answer. I wouldn't necessarily count it myself, but again, its up to you.
I'm thinking of Call It Sleep by Henry Roth
Chris wrote: "How about Middlesex?"I would absolutely say Middlesex and in the Country we love are perfect. Middlesex is SO good.
The Jungle by Upton SinclairThe Cooked Seed by Anchee Min
Rachel wrote: "Stina wrote: "Does O Pioneers! work for this? I'm not clear on whether it has a "central immigration narrative."Also, does the author have to be an immigrant to *my* country? I'm pl..."
Ah, then I will just go with Signal to Noise.
For anyone that's read it, would you count Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese for this? I know immigration has a part in the story but I'm not sure how much of a part.Also, how about The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi? I guess it only has a central immigration narrative in this particular edition where both parts of Satrapi's story are present. So I'm not sure if it exactly fits or not.
I'm reading A Nation of Immigrants for this. It's pretty short and as I'm presently midway through it, my nerdy political history self is wistful that author President JFK was taken from us as early as he was.
Man i've had a hard time figuring out how to maneuver this page. OK so... book written by an immigrant about immigrants; not exactly the task but I like combining the two. Behold the Dreamers by MbueBehold the Dreamers
Katy wrote: "Man i've had a hard time figuring out how to maneuver this page. OK so... book written by an immigrant about immigrants; not exactly the task but I like combining the two. Behold the Dreamers by Mb..."great pick! and if you're an audiobook listener the narrator is AMAZING!
One book that may work is Waiting for Snow in Havana
Wondering if The Book of Unknown Americans works for this task?
Suzanne wrote: "Wondering if The Book of Unknown Americans works for this task?"It does and it's a great book, also with excellent narrators if you're an audiobook listener.
Ru has been on my TBR list for a while. It also fits for another challenge. Looking forward to reading this one.
Currently reading Re Jane by Patricia Park
I'm currently reading An African in Greenland, checked out from Open Books. com or org, I don't remember.
Just completed "Funny in Farsi" A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas. Short and very entertaining read. I will pass this along to my nephew. Books like this are so important, especially this year. Thanks for the challenge- this has been inmy stack for awhile and it was a great snow day read.
I plan on going with The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak. There's an immigrant from Turkey featured, and I'm interested in the Armenian-Turkish interplay.
What about The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen? I was going to read it to fulfill the debut novel challenge, but hoped it would work here too.
Books I own that would work: Breath, Eyes, Memory and My ÁntoniaOther books I want to read that qualify: The Book of Unknown Americans, Middlesex, Behold the Dreamers
Maria wrote: "What about The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen? I was going to read it to fulfill the debut novel challenge, but hoped it would work here too."It would work for this challenge as it does deal with the challenges of being an immigrant/refugee. It's a great book - I hope you like it.
Cheri wrote: "I've been wanting to read this one for awhile:The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by [author:Anne Fadiman|..."
That sounds great. I'll choose that for this category!
I'll be reading "The Happiest Refugee: the extraordinary true story of a boy’s journey of starvation at sea to becoming one of Australia’s best-loved comedians" by Anh Do.
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