In this month’s HQM&B I.D.E.A. (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access) Book Club, we were really excited to dive into our fiction pick Luster by Raven Leilani and non-fiction pick Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel – two very different books, both packed with lots to digest and discuss.
What we thought about Luster
We’d heard a lot about the debut novel Luster, following Edie, a young black woman in the US struggling through her twenties after a series of painful life events, when she starts dating a middle-aged white man with an open-ish marriage, alluring wife, and recently adopted black daughter. Through Edie’s intense experience with the family and incredibly beautiful writing, Raven Leilaniexplores loss, power, privilege, and self-worth.
What we thought about Jews Don’t Count
Most of us felt like we’d never read anything like Jews Don’t Count before, which is the main reason why we chose it. With impactful examples and poignant personal experiences, David Baddeil outlines why and how Jews don’t seem to count as a minority and why they should. Overall, we found Jews Don’t Count to be a fascinating, important, and eye-opening examination of the Jewish British experience.
