Two powerful books

I don’t normally do this but today I am going to write about two books instead of one. The reason for them sharing the spotlight is double. First of all, they both are books that I wouldn’t normally be drawn to. Lastly, they both touched me in an incredibly profound way and, when this happens, my words dry up and feelings take over, making the process of writing a review slightly awkward.

First up, purely based on the fact that I read it before the other, is Becoming by Michelle Obama. This is one of the few memoirs I've read and I chose it because I had heard a lot of positive feedback. I became curious and I am so happy I did. I am not what you might call a ‘political person’ so I wasn’t biased one way or the other. As I said, I don’t know how to convey what this book gave me so, please, go and read it. Or even better, listen to the audiobook because hearing it first-hand from Michelle Obama herself is a wonderfully human and humbling experience.


The second book I’d like to present to you is Don’t Tell Me You’re Scared by Giuseppe Catozzella (translated from the Italian Non dirmi che hai paura). In this book, the author recounts the inspiring true story of Samia Yusuf Omar, who grew up in Somalia and – after competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics – decided she would participate in the 2012 games in London. This novel broke my heart in unprecedented ways and I urge anyone to read it. In fact, I think it should be part of the school curriculum. That’s how strongly I feel about it. Just one word of advice: if you don’t know her, don’t look her up. Trust the reading experience to show you the way.


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