We made it to 2023

We finally got here. After doing some speed reviews of my reading since 2019 (it only took 4 or so months).. we are nearly up to date!

You may have noticed that I only review the books that I love. Do you want to hear about books that I just liked (the 4 star books) or do you only want the extra amazing ones? I figure that people want to hear about the best of the best but it pays to check right?

January.. seems like a life time ago now! While other people tend to read lighter reads on holiday, I appear to read heavy non fiction. Maybe I was influenced by the awful weather in New Zealand?

My absolute favourite book which I read in January is The Mother Wound by Amani Haydar. I have previously reviewed this. This can be found here.

Another stand out for me in January was A Knock at Midnight – a story of hope, justice and freedom by Brittany Barnett. So many of these types of books should be compulsory reading for being a human, for existing in the world. I feel like the world would be a more accepting and inclusive place if people had more understanding of the realities faced by other people. Mr Matilda did tell me today that I have an idealised view of the world. Maybe this is an example of that? Reading books can change the world right?!

A Knock at Midnight by Brittany Barnett has won a whole bunch of awards, and has been nominated for many others. It is currently sitting at 4.6/5 on Good Reads. This book is a powerful and inspiring memoir that chronicles Barnett’s life as a Black woman from a small town in rural Texas to becoming a highly sought-after lawyer and advocate for justice reform.

The book begins with Barnett’s childhood and the devastating impact of the war on drugs in her community. This resulted in the imprisonment of many of her family members and friends. She vividly describes the trauma of losing loved ones to incarceration and the impact it had on her and her community. As she grows older, she becomes determined to fight against the injustices she sees around her. She attends law school and goes on to co-found the Buried Alive Project, an organisation dedicated to freeing people who are serving life sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. I feel like the prison system in New Zealand is so broken. It’s so much worse in the US. Devastating.

Throughout the book, Barnett shares the stories of some of the people she has worked to free, including Sharanda Jones, a mother of two who was sentenced to life in prison for a first-time drug offense. I am going to repeat that. LIFE IN PRISON FOR A NON VIOLENT DRUG OFFENSE. For those of you who want more information, you can read about Sharanda’s story here. The emotion and passion that Bennett brings to her work is palpable, and her determination to fight for justice is truly inspiring.

One of the things that I loved about this book, is Barnett’s ability to balance personal storytelling with broader social and political commentary. She skilfully weaves in discussions of systemic racism, mass incarceration, and the need for criminal justice reform without ever losing sight of the people at the heart of her work.

As a former lawyer, and social justice advocate, this book ticks a lot of boxes for me. Is this a book that you would be interested in reading? I would love to know if you have read it or if you have read and enjoyed books with similar themes. Let’s get some recommendations happening in the comments! Because life is too short to read bad books.