Native Son by Richard Wright (A). I had never heard of this book until reading about it in paper after paper in grad school, and I am so glad I read it. It should be every bit as part of the US Literature classics as To Kill a Mockingbird. A Black man accidentally (for the most part accidental) kills a white woman and tries to evade arrest in the 1930s.
Definitely should be required reading at some point in a person's formal education! It's been a while since I read it (I think I read it in high school) but I remember more of it than I do many of the other books I read, and what I read was excellent.
Also this...
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich (B). Not Erdrich’s best. Small town near Fargo deals with 2008 financial crisis, and a teen marries the wrong man for the wrong reasons.
I by no means disliked The Mighty Red but I also didn't think it quite lived up to all the hype. Or maybe *I'd* built it up too much in my head. I've not read anything else by Erdrich and would be willing to do so in the future.
