Reading Memoirs
To get inspiration for my fragmented memoir project, I read four memoirs: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (written in verse), Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes (written in verse), Educated by Tara Westover, and Dawn Again by Doniga Markegard. Out of these four memoirs, Dawn Again was my favorite to read, and Ordinary Hazards was the most helpful and inspiring for my own memoir project. I took notes on these books, on the parts that I liked about them as well as observations that would help me with my own memoir writing. I also got to interview Doniga Markegard about her memoir Dawn Again! It was amazing to talk to an author and I learned a lot.
Reading Nonfiction
This summer I read the nonfiction book Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks and took notes on it.
Reading Books on Writing
I read Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and discussed it with Ella and Leela.
In Quarter 3 I read the book Meander Spiral Explode by Jane Alison. It was about narratives, and how you can write in different forms of narrative other than the traditional story arc. These narrative forms I read about were inspired by patterns in nature, for example spirals, radials or explosions, wavelets, and more.
Reading Books for Fun
I also read a ton of books for fun this year. I didn't do specific projects on all of them, but here is the list of books I have read over the summer and Semester 1: