Required Reading - 2020

By Carl Van Why

If in the wake of the George Floyd tragedy you’re looking to broaden your understanding of the issues surrounding race in the United States, turning to important books is always a solution. 
 
One of the best choices would be Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me.  Author Toni Morrison told us that this book should be on everyone’s “required reading” list.  Even if you’ve already read this gripping memoir, it’s one of those titles that you can revisit again and again.  Find Coates’ book, written in the form of a letter to his son, in the 1666 library’s BIOGRAPHY SECTION, shelved under Coates. ​ 
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​Ta-Nehisi Coates himself has said that James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” is the best essay he ever read.  Originally published in 1963, find this essay in a collection of Baldwin’s work in the ESSAYS AND COLUMNS section on the library’s upper level. 
 
Watch for more important book suggestions coming to this space in July and August.