Good Reads

By Olecia Christie

I have always been an avid reader. Books were my first mode of travel. They took me to neighboring Caribbean islands with the likes of the treasured Bildungsroman, "Annie John," and carried me through the dangerous terrains of Afghanistan and Pakistan through the eyes of Amir in the "Kite Runner."

I was 23 years old the first time I traveled outside of my native home. As I descended on what appeared to me then as the unnaturally vast city of Atlanta, I recall a sense of pure wonder. Travel was everything and nothing like I imagined. But I was sure of one thing; my insatiable appetite for wander had started with a book.

I thought of my high school English teacher, Mrs. Hetram, a wiry old lady with a rebuking smile. Somehow she found my love for literature a blessing and a curse. The blessing was my natural ability to dissect an author's intent. I would spend hours defending the madwoman in "Wide Sargasso Sea," as I felt I had enough insight, having devoured Jane Eyre a thousand times over. And the curse? That I never stopped talking. Ms. Hetram was also a lover of discipline, and I was nothing but a garrulous teenage girl who fancied herself —well —a purveyor of words.

Here's a quick preview of one of the books I am obsessed with this year:

TREVOR NOAH'S BORN A CRIME

Trevor Noah is brilliantly funny in this piece. From the very beginning, he grabs your attention with his witty but severe account of the dilemma that is his life. He accomplishes this through a compelling comparison of white church vs. black church. This was merely an analogy of the more prominent black vs. white parallels in Noah's life, having been born a crime in apartheid-ridden South Africa.

This lively account takes me back to a few weeks ago when my white friend and godmother to my son, visited with us. I found myself actively preparing her for the stark differences between "white church" and "black church." I was not the least concerned that "black church" would offer her a group of spirited folk expressing their love for God through swift gyration and loud music. Thankfully, neither was she.

Going back to Noah, Born a Crime is a captivating, soul-nourishing, hopeful ode to one's upbringing. Noah has a unique knack at making you laugh at some of his deepest tragedies, without ever missing the powerful, underlying message of hope.