I have no idea how to start this text, literally. On the past couple of months, I didn’t read as much as I regularly do, mainly because I had other priorities. At first, I felt bad about it, but then I remembered that 1) I already fulfilled my goal related to reading and 2) I had more important things to do. But, anyways, between October, November and the first of December I read a total of three books, and started other two.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

At the very beginning of the year I saw Becoming everywhere. Michelle Obama was going to tv shows, people kept talking about it and, because of its popularity, increased my interest in reading it increased. But I had promised myself to read at least half the books I already had. Around three months ago I fulfilled my promise and, luckily, this book was also on sale.

Not going to lie, it took me a while to finish. It is kind of long (over 400 pages) and not very practical to carry around. It was also very slow to read, but that might because I only managed to pick it up right before I went to sleep. Still, I highly recommend this book.

Becoming is an amazingly written memoir. It is divided in three sections: Becoming Me, Becoming Us and Becoming More. Becoming Me starts in Michelle’s childhood and goes until she meets Barack. Becoming Us talks about their relationship and how they became a family. Becoming More explores her time and experience living on the White House.  

I think this is an amazing book for anyone, even for those who don’t like politics. And I feel like I’m not the only one that thinks that. By the time I bought the book, it was already a #1 New York Times Bestseller and part of Oprah’s Book Club.

Everything is fucked: a book about hope by Mark Manson

This is another book that you might have seen a lot on social media, but I can honestly say I got it not long after its release. As the titles suggests, this book explores hope (and the lack of it). Mark’s writing style might not be for everyone but, personally, I love it. It is easy to understand his explanations, the texts flows and it makes hard topics a little bit lighter.

Pequeno Manual Antirracista by Djamila Ribeiro

Pequeno Manual Antirracista (Small Manual for Being Antiracist, this is my traduction of the title, sorry if it is not perfect) is the brand new book from the Brazilian philosopher and author Djamila Ribeiro. Besides Portuguese, her books were already published in French and are being traduced to Italian and Spanish.

As the title suggests, this book is meant to a be a small manual so people can be antiracist. As a white woman who doesn’t want to offend other people, I’m constantly scared to say something that can be insensitive. So, the idea that this book could help me understand a little bit more how to avoid the reproducing unconscious racist behaviors stablished by the culture, attracted me a lot.

I recently bought way too many books. Check out the video below to see what I’ll be reading in the coming months!