The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Billy @ Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blog.

Question:

How have books changed you the most? (submitted by Julie @ JadeSky) 

I read a lot, but I wouldn’t say I’m well-read. I haven’t read most of what many consider classics, rarely read out of my comfort zone, and rarely discuss the books I’ve read with anyone (no book clubs for me), not even my husband, who hates reading (shock and horror, I know). My blog is a way for me to discuss the many books I read every year.

But I do think, by my choice in books, has made me more open to new thoughts and ideas, and in turn, a new way of thinking. I realize I’m the very definition of white privilege, but often find myself reading books about African American life, or life during the Holocaust by the Jews, or the Irish when they came to settle America and faced huge prejudice. What I’m saying is I’m not isolated by my white privilege with my reading. I embrace reading about other races, other countries, other people who don’t share the same background as me. We all have a different background, and I think reading about other cultures, races, backgrounds and time periods helps you grow as a human.

I grew up thinking I wasn’t a racist because I had seen Roots at such a young age and we discussed slavery in school. In high school was when I learned that our own government locked up Japanese Americans and was shocked. I couldn’t be a racist. Knowledge of those things appalled me. But the past few years has made me realize that there was some part of me that was racist, a middle-class heterosexual white girl from the American Midwest. I’ve done a lot of reading and talking with others to combat that lately. February was Black History Month, but as far as I’m concerned now, every month should be Black History Month, Jewish History Month, Asian American History Month, LGBTQ Month etc. We should constantly strive to see how people who aren’t like us live, and celebrate their diversity while finding commonalities as well. We are all human beings, after all.