Alice Walker's Reading List

"I couldn't sleep after reading this book. I felt a duty to read it, however, and others like it, to know without forgetting."

"This incredible novel about a young boy in the Deep South who was raised until he was 8 as if he were a girl. A fantastic investigation of gender issues, large and small."

"This is my favorite Angelou book. It is revelatory about a life of high adventure with her completely tough, gun-toting, charming, fearless and seductive mother."

"This novel is a rich celebration of mothers who have, in the age of crack cocaine, been forced to raise their own grandchildren. It is word perfect, sometimes hilarious, always honest."

"In Daniel Black's extraordinary book The Coming, we have an unprecedented opportunity to be with ancestors who probably never dreamed a scribe would one day appear."

"I was 11 when I read it and it encouraged me to believe the world was large, fascinating, and with incredibly interesting creatures in it!"

"I don't understand why Yates isn't read in every English class. I think he's much more interesting than either Hemingway or Fitzgerald."

"Down and Out is hilarious, with a humor quite unexpected in the otherwise seemingly somber Brother Blair. I listen to it often when I want to laugh."

"This book is so raw and true to the feelings of abandonment when a mate ups and leaves that it is a bit scary. I especially appreciate Ferrante’s clear-eyed depiction of the abandoned mother with the snarly children who don’t understand and don’t care either."

"I hope everyone’s read my favorite rave about book, but if not, try it on audio."

"I was not prepared for the journey this compelling novel took me on. Or so I thought. I knew nothing of the lives of Puerto Rican immigrants to the United States, and certainly very little of the lives of the children. This book changed that. It is a book of such power that it is as if a completely new layer of the American experience has been exposed to our view. And like many a great work of fiction, not one line is wasted and every single word rings true."

"Reading Their Eyes for perhaps the eleventh time, I am still amazed. .. that it speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done; and that the language of the characters, that ‘comical nigger dialect’ that has been laughed at, denied, ignored, or ‘improved’ so that white folks and educated black folks can understand it, is simply beautiful. There is enough self-love in that one book – love of community, culture, traditions – to restore a world. Or create a new one."

"When Breath Becomes Air made me so glad Paul existed I could hardly sit still. It’s a wonderful book about a wonderful human being. Living and dying with so much grace and dignity I’m still weeping as I write this, and it’s been months!"

"In my opinion, this book is not fiction, but read it as anything you like. An average kind of white woman flies off to Australia thinking she’s about to be given some kind of award by the indigenous people. She gets there, and they give her one—only it is not what she expected. In teaching her who they are, they initiate her into the deeper mysteries of life. If this book were a breeze, it would blow you over. It’s even better hearing the author on tape."

"When rainforest Shamans are asked how they know such an extraordinary amount about medicinal plants, they respond, as if it should be obvious, ‘The plants teach us.’ In this riveting book, anthropologist Jeremy Narby explores a vision he experienced after drinking ayahuasca, the ‘vine of the soul,’ which Shamans have used for healing and to acquire knowledge for thousands of years. He makes an astonishing connection between ancient Shamanistic beliefs and those of modern science."

"Ruth Ozeki’s amazing books lit up my mind and soul for a couple of weeks. She was such a surprise! I love the Japanese/American-ness of her!"

"To my knowledge, Loving Her is the first novel about an interracial lesbian relationship written by a black woman. Viewed as an artistic work, I think the novel fails. But in its exploration of a daring subject boldly shared (and written by a librarian at Fisk University) I think it has immense value. It enables us to see and understand, perhaps for the first time, the choices certain women have made about how they will live their lives, and allows us glimpses at physical intimacies between w..."

"This is a book that brought me to my knees in gratitude. So much ancient wisdom that I had assumed lost is to be found here. For those of us of African descent—and who among us is not?—it will generate a gentle healing in just those areas of community, ritual and memory where we’ve felt so orphaned and bereft."

"We now know that you were not an idiot or a traitor; only a sickly little black girl, snatched from your country and made a slave."

"Angel Kyodo Williams is a young black woman who is also an ordained Zen priest. In this remarkable book, she brings a hip and modern eye to the teachings of the Buddha. I was moved by her honesty and great patience in interpreting the dharma: her understanding of suffering and her willingness to aid in the universal effort toward the growth of compassion and joy."

"I am Malala shines with this young woman’s indomitable spirit and high intelligence. I fell in love with her father, too, because he demonstrates what we so often are missing in fathers: total love and commitment to his female child."