Aftershocks: A Memoir | 
pickCompelling, devastating, gloriously written memoir that explores issues of abandonment, identity, family, mental health and so much more. This is not an easy read but it is a powerful examination of growing up not knowing quite where you belong in a fractured family where you have no one to rely on but yourself—only to discover that at your worst, you can‘t be relied on. Occasionally repetitive, this book is nonetheless an excellent read.
pickMy librarian handed this memoir to me saying I would appreciate it. She wasn‘t wrong. Owusu covers so much-her mother‘s desertion, her beloved father‘s death when she was a teenager, the cultural history of the many countries she lived in as the daughter of a UN worker, her stepmother‘s abandonment, blending into cultures, racism, about the earthquakes we experience as part of trauma. While this many not sound cheery, it sure was captivating.
pickI seldom regret choosing to listen to an audiobook, particularly when it's as good as the audio of Nadia Osuwu's Aftershocks—narrated by the author—is. My regrets came, however, because this story is so powerful and so beautiful that I wanted to savor the writing in the way I only can in print. ⬇
1. New Zealand, Paris and Western Isles
2. Relaxing with a book
3. It was Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu
4. My family are doing ok
#wondrouswednesday @Eggs
pickI really enjoyed this nonfiction book, about the author's life. Nadia lived all over the world, she has had a lot to cope with, her mother abandoned her when she was two years old and later her father died. It was moving memoir and it has had a lot of cultural history about the many countries she lived in.
pickThis is a beautifully written memoir by the daughter of a Ghanaian UN worker aid worker. Owusu was abandoned by her Armenian-American mother when she was 3, and lost her father to illness at 13. I loved her thought processes in connecting her life stories to earthquake terminology and events. It gave her memoir another level that really stands out.
#booked2021 #relatedto911 because of 1 chap about her experience very near the towers that day
so-soBook 82
I listened to Aftershocks, a memoir about racial identity. I better appreciate the role identity, including accent, plays in, not only the connections you form with others, but also in the relationships they make with you. The memoir feels scattered, as it's not written chronologically. Proselike, she uses metaphorical earthquake language to write her challenges. Overall three stars, though 2.5 the majority of the time.
This memoir asks for witnesses, of her life and pain and meaning making. Using the metaphor of earthquakes, she shares the literal and figurative ways life shakes underneath our feet.
so-so3 ⭐️
I don't read many memoirs and wasn't sure what to expect from this. For me, it fell flat. I was very intrigued in the beginning of the book as she discussed and explored what it meant to be her mother's daughter. At one point, I had the feeling one gets when in the company of an acquaintance who is oversharing and really should go see a therapist. At another point, stories haunted me at bedtime. It felt like it should have been two books.
pickA book that celebrates the search for belonging and self as well as family and displacement. The use of an earthquake as a metaphor for the challenges faced by the author worked well and provided a great framework for the events of her life. I‘m looking forward to reading more by this talented author. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #AxeTheStacksApril
pickWritten in a style meant to resemble pre-shocks, earthquakes, and aftershocks, this memoir keeps us off balance until the end. When you are uncertain of your own identity and your only God is human, the ground is going to be unstable. Creating her own identity is Nadia Owusu‘s saving grace. A powerful read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickInteresting telling of a life story spanning countries and traumas. Instead of a chronological sequence of her life, Owusu tells the story of her life in themes/chapters of her life-which I really enjoyed. I also thought her description of how different blacks are treated in a variety of countries and living in a variety of countries in an UN enclave fascinating. Her processing of her abandonment issues was vulnerable and unapologetic. Great read.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I listened to this on audio and it was excellent in that format. She deals with complex issues surrounding her childhood on through her twenties. She is honest about her privilege as a diplomat‘s daughter but is also honest about the rough situations she has faced. A time or two felt like TMI for me, but I reminded myself it‘s her memoir not mine! Beautifully written, it gave me a lot to think about.
pickReading memoirs just seems right to me at this point in my life; to get inside the mind of another and see life through their perspective is a bit of magic. Aftershocks reinforced this. I loved the #audiobook narrated by the author. I was taken by surprise at how well the nonlinear layout worked for me. Usually it feels repetitive, but here it reinforced feelings and experiences for greater impact. Owusu had an incredibly diverse upbringing.
“My parents are a representation of what is possible when love wins and freedom rings and the pendulum swings toward justice.”
I wonder if that‘s what we are in our son‘s eyes. 2020 introduced him to deeper thinking about Race. The lesson came much earlier than we anticipated or would have liked, but it was necessary nonetheless. I wonder if he sees our family as a kind of triumph, or as just a regular family. Can it be both? I kind of hope so...
pickI have Aftershocks four stars on Goodreads. I was impressed with how well she crafted her story, particularly with using earthquake terminology as metaphor to structure the book. And while I do not have a wide range of ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity in my own background as Owusu does(or the best private and international education), I can certainly relate to her need to understand her parents and her relation to them as a young adult.
“God of fire help me, I begged, or if you cannot help me, then show me how to set my world ablaze.” I know this picture is the complete opposite of fire, but there‘s something about it—the desolate vibe, maybe—that seems to fit. This book is amazing, you guys.
Stumbled upon this article and pilaf recipe from Aftershock author Nadia Owusu in the new Healthyish issue of #BonAppetit. A pleasant bookish surprise!
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/my-mothers-pilaf
pickNadia‘s stepmother drops a bombshell about her dead dad in this non-linear memoir that explores intergenerational trauma and healing. Her Armenian-American mother left when she was 3, and she was raised by her Ghanaian dad and stepmother until her dad‘s death when she was 13. She examines these events, her unusual upbringing across Europe and Africa while her father and stepmother worked for the UN, and her tumultuous adulthood in NYC. 4.5⭐️ #botm
I may have created a brief account just to order this single book. 🤷🏻♀️ what are ya gonna do? At least I paid the same. But I forgot to refer myself. #amateurmove lololol @Reviewsbylola #botm
I was really hoping Aftershocks would be a main pick this month, but I've always enjoyed Jane Harper, so here I am with two picks and my freebie!
I can't wait to hear what you all think about these January books, they all sound so interesting! 🤓🎉
#botm
pick#ARC #NetGalley
A powerful new voice for this generation. Told in nonlinear order, Nadia retraces pivotal moments in her upbringing that leave her confused, unmoored, longing.She tackles the heavy topics of colonialism, privilege, pride, mental illness, trauma and self acceptance.
The writing is gorgeous, poetic although at times the content felt repetitive. This book is timely& will appeal to many readers.
BONUS #ReadingEurope2020 #Armenia
Is this true @TrishB @squirrelbrain @jenniferw88 @RachelO “White English people could say they were English, but black and brown people called themselves British, even if their parents and their parents‘ parents were born and raised in England.”
“I write toward truth, but my memory is prone to bouts of imagination.” How true of memoirs. My telling of truth is only my telling/ another person can experience the same event but recall it‘s memory in another version of the truth. “I can only tell my version.” #ARC #NetGalley
