Racism
BOOKS ON RACISM
To Kill A Mocking Bird (Fiction) by Harper Lee
A classic of modern American literature, it touches on the very serious issue of race, class, gender, what real courage is, and the importance of being a good, moral person. It’s particularly recommended for its anti-racist values and teachings on integrity.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Non-fiction) by Rebecca Skloot
An important woman’s invaluable contribution in the field of immortalised cell lines where human cells can continue to divide indefinitely. Whilst diagnosed with cervical cancer during the early 1920s and living in poverty with her husband and five children, her cancerous cells were removed without her consent. Initial researchers discovered the cells could reproduce indefinitely. This was ground-breaking and her cells were multiplied by the billions and sold to drug companies for research. They made a tremendous contribution to science and medicine (including vaccines for polio, AIDs, cancer) and continue to be used for testing today without ever having to conduct human trials. The controversy and privacy issues this continues to raise to this day is enough to give the American public goosebumps. An influential story that opens our eyes to the tremendous contributions of African-Americans in the 20th century despite maltreatment and racist attitudes.
The Hate U Give (Fiction) by Angie Thomas
A book that opened at number one on the New York Times young adult best-seller list, is a powerful eye opener about what is happening in America right now.
Whilst a novel, the book was inspired by a series of police shootings on unarmed black youth, that are misunderstood by the media and whose murders are barely investigated by the police. A great literary contribution to the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
More book prescriptions can be found at our A-Z of Book Prescriptions.
A big hello and thank you for reading! Passionate about literature, psychology, and life I launched Book Therapy as an alternative form of therapy using the power of literature. I train mental health professionals, librarians, teachers as well as readers on using bibliotherapy in their own work through our online Bibliotherapy, Literature and Mental Health course. We also curate reading lists/personalised book prescriptions for clients based on their individual needs. This is our signature personalised reading service.
You can also check out Book Therapy’s other free reading lists and A- Z of book prescriptions (covering both fiction and non-fiction). These suggest books based on your existing life situation (e.g. anxiety, job change, relationship heartache) as well as interests (e.g memoir, historical fiction, non-fiction, crime etc). There’s also a Children’s A — Z of Book Prescriptions. Feel free to check out the blog for more literary gems. There’s also a post on my personal story of how I entered the world of bibliotherapy and book curation.
In this role, I have had the opportunity to publish a book called The Happiness Mindset, and write various literary essays and pieces for newspapers and magazines. I have undertaken bibliotherapy workshops for The United Nations, various libraries in New York and corporate organisations in the UK and US. My book recommendations have featured in the Guardian, Marie Claire, NBC News, Asian Voice, New York Observer, Sydney Telegraph and various other publications. If you are a parent you might enjoy a podcast I’ve recorded with speech and language therapist Sunita Shah on Raising A Reader & Storyteller. And if you’d like to connect, email me at bijal@booktherapy.io or www.booktherapy.io.
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