Reading for Black History Month

I had ridiculous plans for February, and half a post written explaining them. Then I took a step back, laughed at myself, and thought - don't set yourself up for failure.

For context, my February reading goal was going to be reading the following:

• Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss
• How Long until Black Future Month by NK Jemisin
• Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe, and
• Two Wings to Fly Away by Penny Mickelbury

I may have read 12 books in January, but a bunch of those were novellas or shorts, and none of them were particularly heavy reading. That list there? Not going to happen in 29 days.

 Plus, I have Bernadine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other from the library, so that's what's replacing the first list. If I get through that in the month, I'll pick up something else from the above, but for now, my Black History Month reading is just the one book. (And an eBook or two, probably...)

*Note: Black History Month is not really a thing in Australia, although May or June would probably be when our equivalent might be. But I'm also an American, so I feel like I should make a particular effort in this month over and above the general effort I'm making to read beyond white authors. So I'm reading a book by a Black UK author... because it has to go back to the library by the end of the month and also because it's the Booker winner that far too many people are ignoring.