From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Between the World and Me
by
Start date
July 11, 2017
Finish date
July 14, 2017
Discussion
2017 Read Harder Challenge

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Group Discussions About This Book

This topic has been closed to new comments. * Complete 2017 RHC Task List
By Book Riot · 1 post · 6015 views
last updated Dec 15, 2016 05:50AM
This topic has been closed to new comments. * 2017 Read Harder Challenge
By Book Riot · 1 post · 3503 views
last updated Dec 15, 2016 05:44AM

What Members Thought

Ryan
Jul 28, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: audiobooks, borrowed, 2016
No.

I don't know what it's like.
I never have known what it's like.
I never WILL know what it's like.

I can drape myself in empathy and sympathy but that is as far as I should ever expect to go. I can preach, and amplify, and support...but I cannot know.

Because I cannot know, I need to listen. I need to ask questions in the quest for understanding, and from a place of humility. I need to listen to the answers...not wait for my turn to talk.

I live in a place that is "a little better", but even here t
...more
Loretta
Oct 21, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: non-fiction
I don't really have words. Except to say I will be re-reading it. And to strongly encourage everyone to read it. Just. Everyone. ...more
Heidi
This book is about the experience of race. But it is also the story of a man's family - the parents that feared for him, the friends who showed him other lives, the friends who died, the son he is raising. It is written beautifully, lyrically, and with a style that reinforces the messages. I listened to the audiobook - read by the author - and loved that aspect as well. I felt the accent and language reinforced this book for me. I enjoyed his tales of the essays his mother would make him write f ...more
Sarah
I had difficulty putting this down, but also had to because it was too overwhelming to continue at some points. It's a very personal, compelling look at the US, but reading it also constantly feels like you're being punched in the stomach (and I imagine it's like this for readers of various backgrounds, but for different reasons). Required reading, especially for USAmericans. ...more
Etchison
Jan 05, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
I just read this book for the second time, and took even more away from it, particularly in light of the election of Donald Trump. Many quotes stood out to me, but this one made me actually say "wow" out loud because of how it resonated. "I am convinced that the Dreamers... would rather live white than free." ...more
Kerry
Jul 26, 2020 rated it liked it  ·  review of another edition
The author crafts this book as a letter of sorts to his son. He's trying to impart his wisdom and lived experience through this book. Some touches on his experiences as a young person that shaped him and others are his observations about how his son is different and similar to him. A great deal explains what has made this father the man he is the contemporary world.

The section that appealed most to me was the author's account of French class, which he perceived as a waste of time in school. Als
...more
Nadine
Dec 08, 2015 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: non-fiction, memoir
Not an easy read, in any sense of the word, but well worth the effort. Searing, angry, heart-breaking, rage-inducing. And Coates's command of the English language is masterful--the way he puts his sentences together is beautiful. It's quite a hopeless and saddening read, in the end, but every American should read it to better understand this perspective. ...more
Journeywoman
Mar 14, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Brilliant, brilliant.

There are no words.
Martha
Jun 03, 2019 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: bookclub
Just read it already.
Lisa
Oct 13, 2017 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Nicole
Dec 04, 2015 rated it it was amazing
Bekah
Dec 09, 2015 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Kim Marques
Jun 27, 2019 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Kelly
Dec 30, 2015 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: adult
Josh
Jan 27, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Chris Lott
Oct 19, 2017 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Chloe
Oct 07, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Lauren
Sep 15, 2020 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Leslie T
Apr 20, 2016 rated it it was amazing
Heidi
Aug 06, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Jessica
Jan 11, 2019 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Adriel
Nov 02, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: seba
Heather
Dec 25, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Brooke Williams
Feb 16, 2017 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: sal-authors
Samantha
Feb 27, 2017 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
maria
Feb 22, 2017 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition