From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead

Start date: February 1, 2017

Finish date: February 28, 2017

Discussion: 2017 Monthly challenge

Why we're reading this: The prompt for February's monthly challenge is "written by a person of color." We've chosen The Undergrou…more
[close] The prompt for February's monthly challenge is "written by a person of color." We've chosen The Underground Railroad as our group read. Participation is optional.

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2017 Monthly challenge

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* 2017 monthly challenge: The final list
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What Members Thought

Aug 30, 2019 Gina rated it really liked it

I was blown away by this book. The subject matter is harsh and difficult to read, but I am glad that I pushed through. I cannot even fathom the horrors of slavery, but Mr. Whitehead definitely puts it into perspective. Cora is strong, brave, and resilient. Her story both moved and inspired me.

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Mar 14, 2018 Celeste rated it liked it

The whole time I was reading this I kept thinking of other books I liked more about this time period-Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Kitchen House. I liked this book well enough I just wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

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May 04, 2018 Debbie rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

All the trigger warnings. This book is GRIM.

Cora, a slave on a Georgia plantation, is on her own after her mother escapes and leaves her behind. Cora survives the day-to-day horrors of life as a slave, but when she attracts the lascivious eye of the plantation owner, she decides enough is enough. She joins up with Caesar and the two run away to catch a ride on the (literal) Underground Railroad to (they hope) freedom.

Though I wanted the backstories, the jumping back and forth in time in time m ...more

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Mar 30, 2018 Gina rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, book-group, pulitzer

I am late to the game on this one, but wow, this is a pretty incredible book deserving of the accolades and awards it has received. In this creative story, the Underground Railroad is a literal railroad and the journey of an escaped slave, Cora - her escape, her progressions and regressions along the way. Disturbingly hunted by “slave hunters” and continually surviving and learning and enduring.

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Jul 14, 2019 Julie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-read-own

This book is powerful, heart wrenching, and riveting. It should be required reading of all American adults; we are all made better having read it. I suspect I’ll be thinking about for a long time. Colson Whitehead is a national treasure.

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