Nadia L. Hohn
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The Best Books I've Read in 2018

12/22/2018

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This year has been a record for me.  I started with a goal of reading 50 books in 2018 and as I write this, I have read 167 and I continue to read others.  I estimate that by December 31, I will have completely read 175 books.  That would be 350% of my goal.  As a writer, being an avid reader is essential.  Reading helps me to appreciate different styles of writing, learn about trends, read my writing colleagues' works, improve my own work, see what makes an award-winning novel a success, and other possibilities.  Today, I decided to rank my top 10 favourite books that I read this year. 

My 2018 Top 10 Favourite Canadian Books I Read:
  • Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
  • A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
  • The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Beware that Girl by Teresa Toten
  • All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
  • We Are All Made of Molecules and Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen
  • Saints & Misfits by SK Ali
  • Boat People by Sharon Bala
  • The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
  • Brother by David Chariandy​​

My Top 10 Favourite Young Adult (YA) Books I Read in 2018:
  • Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  • I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez
  • A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
  • The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
  • November Blues and Fall of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper
  • When Dimple Met Rishi by Sadhya Menon
  • The Fault In Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, Abundance of Katherines, and Will Gayson by John Green​
  • We Are All Made of Molecules and Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen​
  • Piecing Me Together and This Side of Home by Renee Watson
  • The Marrow Thieves by Christine Dimaline

My Top 10 Favourite Middle Great (MG) Books I Read in 2018:
  • The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
  • Gone Crazy in Alabama and Clayton Bird Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
  • Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender
  • The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake
  • As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
  • Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
  • Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
  • Unstoppable Octobia May by Sharon M. Flake

My Top 10 Favourite Picture Books I Read in 2018:
  • Crown by Derrick Barnes; illustrated by Gordon James​
  • Deep Underwater by Irene Luxbacher
  • Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
  • All Are Welcome Here by Alexandra Penfold
  • Africville by Shauntay Grant; illustrated by Eva Campbell
  • Stolen Words by Melanie Florence; illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
  • Auntie Luce's Talking Paintings by Francie Latour; illustrated by Ken Daley
  • The Boy and the Blue Moon by Sara O'Leary; illustrated by Ashley Crowley
  • A Greyhound, A Groundhog by Emily Jenkins; illustrated by Chris Appelhans
  • Even Superheroes Have Bad Days ​by Shelly Becker; illustrated by Eda Kaban

My Top 10 Favourite Black Speculative/AfroFuturism Books I Read in 2018:
  • Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
  • Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • The Jumbies and The Rise of Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
  • American Street by Ibi Zoboi
  • Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender
  • Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
  • Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
  • Shadow House Fall by Daniel José Older
  • The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
  • Fledgling by Octavia Butler
Top 10 Overall Favourite Books I Read in 2018

My criteria for selecting these books is for the fresh ways that they told stories.  These were the stories that clasped my heart and would not let go.  These audiobooks made me want to sit in my car and not leave so that I could listen to them in their entirety.  These books, I held tightly.  These were the fresh stories that I really needed.  These were the stories I did not want to end.

Some of these books were actually published in 2018 and a few are oldies and it was tough pick.  You can see the reviews and the covers below.

This was so tough so first I picked ten runner ups... no twelve. 

Very close runners up of books I read in 2018:
  • The Fault In Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, Abudance of Katherines, and Will Gayson by John Green
  • Harbor Me, Miracles' Boys, and Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
  • Fledgling by Octavia Butler
  • Beware that Girl by Teresa Toten
  • Crown by Derek Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
  • Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
  • We Are All Made of Molecules and Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen
  • Gone Crazy in Alabama and Clayton Bird Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
  • When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
  • Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
  • History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
  • Piecing Me Together and This Side of Home by Renee Watson

​Top 10 Overall Favourite Books I Read in 2018
  • Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  • I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  • A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
  • And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
  • The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
  • The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • every book by Sharon M. Draper
  • When Dimple Met Rishi by Sadhya Menon
  • American Marriage and Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Egmont Books, 2018 
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Ember, 2018
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
​Crown, 2010
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A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
​Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2018
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And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
​Riverhead Books, 2013
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The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
Penguin Random House, 2016
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The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic, 2018
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every book by Sharon M. Draper​
various,
I can't believe I never heard of Sharon M. Draper until this year.  I got to meet this author at her signing in Toronto this year too.
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When Dimple Met Rishi by Sadhya Menon
Hodder & Stotton, 2017
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American Marriage and Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Oneworld, 2018
Algonquin Books, 2011
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Harriet Tubman: Freedom Fighter Launch on Jan 22, 2019

12/15/2018

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Mark your calendars!
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Storyteller reflections... part 1

12/15/2018

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​I live in a world of magic and story. My stories are woven from memories, conversations, inspirations, dreams, and facts. I work with a team to help bring tales to fruition on printed pages. What a blessing to be in this process! Written after reading edits on #book8?
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Viajar no mundo lusofono

12/7/2018

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I have been learning Portuguese since 2015.  Yesterday, I did a final presentation for my Portuguese Level 3 class.  The topic I chose was travelling in Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) regions, that is, places with Afro-Portuguese roots.  In this piece, my travels encompass three countries-- Ghana, Portugal, and Brazil.  My original goal for studying Portuguese was so that I could communicate when I travelled to Brazil to conduct research and read local texts for a book project.  Since then, I have since decided to continue studying the language so I do not regress in my ability and because I enjoy speaking it so much.  Expect to see more second language and third language posts up soon.  
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Primer vez na Gana e na Africa, en frente de meu hotel/First time in Ghana and in Africa, in front of my hotel
Viajar no mundo lusofono

Quien somos quando nos viajamos? Mudamonos? Tornamonos? O encontramos um outro aspecto de nós mesmos?  

Quando eu viajo, eu posso sonhar, respirar.  Eu posso me vir. Eu posso imaginar e jogar com os possibilidades novos.  Eu me aprender e me estudar enquanto estou aprendendo e estudando o mundo.  

Quando eu falo português, eu sou alegre e criativa.  Eu sou pensativa e reflexiva. Eu sonho das histórias para escrever.  Eu imagino das histórias das gentes africanos no mundo.

Embora eu viajo solteira, eu sinto como eu estou viajando com os amigos.

Quando eu estou viajando, estou realizando um sonho especialmente no Portugal, e mas no Brazil.  Brasil e sempre lado para meu coração.

Eu gosto de viajar.  Em total, eu visitei vinte países no mundo.  Hoje, eu vou contar um pouco de tres de meus viagens.

Em 2014, eu visitei Gana na África, meu primeiro viajem solitário.  Eu passei três semanas alli em Accra, Ho, Cape Coast, et Elmina. Essa viagem e importante para mim porque ele esteve começando de minha vida de viajar.  Esse viagen esteve um peregrinação para meu como uma descendente africana também.
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Lado dela fronteira entre Gana e Togo/Close to the border between Ghana and Togo
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Na comunidade de Ho/ in the community of Ho
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na casa Brasil em Acra/ in Brazil House in Accra
Quando eu viajo, eu procuro a evidencia de gentes africanos.

Em julio 2017, eu visitei Portugal em Cascais, Lisboa, et algumas horas em Sao Miguel, numa ilha de Açores.  Esse viagem foi significativo porque ele esteve enquanto eu estava me mudando e retornando ao Canadá. Eu morei e trabalhei em Dubai e Abu Dhabi durante o ano ante.  
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uma praia na bahia em Cascais em Portugal/ a beach in the bay in Cascais, Portugal
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na palacio da Pena em Sintra/in the Pena Palace in Sintra
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a cidadela em Cascais/ the Citadel in Cascais
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o Torre de Belém em Lisboa/ the Belem Tower in Lisbon
E no verão passado, eu visitei Brasil, finalmente.  Eu passei três semanas alli. Eu fiquei em Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, e Salvador da Bahia.  Eu fui ao Brasil a procurar para um livro que eu estou escrevendo e para um projeto com os outros professores americanos.

E Brazil completa o triangulo, uma trindade.  
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como uma baiana em Salvador da Bahia/ like a Bahian woman in Salvador de Bahia
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ladeira do Carmo em Salvador/ staircase in Carmo in Salvador
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en frente de museu do Carnaval em Salvador/ in front of the Carnival museum in Salvador
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depois de um jogo de futebol da copa Mundial em Pelourinho em Salvador/ after a World Cup football game in Pelourinho, Salvador
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Beco de Batman em Rio de Janeiro/ in Batman Alley in Rio de Janeiro
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a praia Copacabana/ Copacabana beach
Viajar e um privilegio.  A gente preciso o dinheiro para viajar.  Viajar e caro e raro especialmente em este epoque.

Viajar é uma forma de resistência.  Eu retornei para as terras de onde meus antepassados estavam roubados.  Eu escolhi me mudar onde eu quiz. É um privilégio a viajar.

Porque eu tiro fotos de meus pés? Esta prova que eu estava lá.  Que eu estava na terra de meus antepassados. Que eu sonhei e meu desejo tornavam-se realidade.  Que as descendentes africanos e africanos retornavam e retornam. Que meus pés tocavam as terras esquecidas.  Que eu sou um ababio-- uma retornar. Que meus pés fatigados completam um viaje.
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meus pés/ my feet
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Writing the Future: Kidlit and YA panel, Dec 1 2018

12/7/2018

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l to r: Jenn Knoch, Zoraida Córdova, Tochi Onyebuchi, L.L. McKinney, Carolyn Forde, me Nadia L. Hohn
On November 30, 2018, I flew to Ottawa to participate in the TOK Magazine's Ottawa Two Day Symposium.  That day, I attended a session on finding an agent and getting published and then later a meet and greet.  On December 1, 2018, I appeared on a panel called Writing the Future: Kidlit and Young Adult which gave a diverse cross-border/US-Canada perspective on our experiences in children’s and young adult literature and the publishing industry. What a rare opportunity to speak with my colleagues south of the border about #kidlit and #yalit but it was a necessary conversation. I am so honoured and blessed to have shared the stage with such talented individuals. Hosting is Idil Mussa of CBC Ottawa. On the panel were Carolyn Forde agent of Westwood Creatives, Jen Knoch senior editor at ECW Press, and US young adult fantasy authors Zoraida Córdova of the Brujas series, L.L. McKinney of A Blade So Black, and Tochi Onyebuchi of Beasts Made of Night. Thanks to Diaspora Dialogues for inviting me to participate and organising this amazing event.  Thanks to Idil and CBC Books for covering this event. The podcast should be up soon. This event took place at the Ottawa Public Library main branch.  Last time I was at this library, I was conducting research for my final paper for an online course on multicultural children's literature in undergrad 15+ years ago. Now I'll be on a panel discussing it. Also, I screened the opening night film for ICED IN BLACK, a Black Canadian touring film festival I founded in 2001, at this library too. Full circle!!!  The podcast should be available soon and will post it here when it does.  Photo credits: Christian Sharpe of Diaspora Dialogues, Nadia L. Hohn (me)
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    Nadia L. Hohn

    Write or die chick.

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