somethingbyapersonofcolor

Karachi Vice: Life and Death in a Contested City | Samira Shackle

pick

The best sort of narrative nonfiction. The story of five people, all of whom are firmly rooted in Karachi life and community- an ambulance-driver, a crime reporter, an educator-activist, a mapmaker-surveyor & a housewife. Shackle interviewed/chatted with the five over a period of five years, resulting in deep storytelling of their lives, concerns, hopes and families, amidst the disorder, violence & corruption of the city. ⬇️

rockpools You feel the whole book is coming from a place of respect and admiration for the place and its people.

As an aside, is it weird to fall in love with a city you have no intention of ever going near? (Yes, Rachel, it is. Maybe stop talking about now...) Years ago, I fell for Karachi reading Kamila Shamsie‘s Kartography. Despite the horrors (there are a lot of horrors in this book), Karachi Vice hasn‘t managed to shake that from me. 4y

rockpools I did the audio & highly recommend. It‘s long, though.

#correspondent #fourfoursin21 @lauredhel
#Booked2021 #SetInACountryWhereUNPeacekeepersAre @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft
#ReadingAsia2021 #Pakistan @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
#SomethingByAPersonOfColor #Nonfiction2021 @Riveted_Reader_Melissa 4y

rockpools Oh, and because I haven‘t used enough hashtags, this is my 2nd book for #NutsInMay. @Andrew65 4y

See All 11 Comments

Andrew65 Great 👏👏👏 4y

Librarybelle Sounds great! 4y

Megabooks Stacked! 4y

Cinfhen This really sounds GREAT!! #stacked 4y

BarbaraBB This really sounds good. Also because I share your fascination for Karachi. I have been there once but haven‘t read Kartography. I must read that since I‘ve loved other books by Shamsie. 4y

rockpools @BarbaraBB I‘m not sure if it was her first novel, certainly a very early one, so different to her more well-known ones. Teenagers in 1980s Karachi, a very different time, I think. And wow, how was it? Were you there long? 4y

BarbaraBB I was in Pakistan in 2000. A few days in Karachi. It was intense. So much violence and poverty on one side and so much beauty and extremely nice people on the other. It made a big impression and I‘ve meant to return ever since. 4y

rockpools @BarbaraBB ❤️ That description is really how the city comes across in Karachi Vice. But yes, intense sounds like the word. 4y

53 likes5 stack adds11 comments

Singout

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir | Asha Bandele, Patrisse Khan-Cullors

pick

Excellent memoir from Patrisse Khan-Cullors, illustrating how growing up as a Black child and teen gave her insights into systemic oppression that led her to co-found #BlackLivesMatter as an adult. She does a great job of interweaving experience and analysis, opening up her soul and personal relationships and examining intersectional oppressions. Painful and anger-inducing but essential.
#Nonfiction2021 #SomethingbyaPersonofColor

Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Riveted_Reader_Melissa This was a great book! One of the other co-founders of BLM wrote this one, and I‘m looking forward to reading it sometime this year too. Either when my library hold comes in or when I have a few extra dollars. 😉