On reading and writing and literacy

Below you’ll find some of the books I’ve read and enjoyed over the last few months… plus a few ‘next ups’ (Good Girl and Butter) and one currently in progress. Those I’ve read already come highly recommended. As for the others, I’ll just have to let you know about those. In any case, this is a shameless article about books, and for yesterday’s World Book Day no less, but it is also about literacy and something I’m really excited to be part of this year. Read on to find out more.

Book list

• Go Tell it on the Mountain – James Baldwin
• Good Girl – Aria Aber
• Butter – Asako Yusuki
• Ways of Seeing – John Berger
• Night People – Mark Ronson
• Notes of a Native Son – James Baldwin
• Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin
• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
• The Fire Next Time – James Baldwin
• Homesick for Another World – Ottessa Moshfegh
• Another Country – James Baldwin
• The Lonely Londoners – Sam Selvon

When I posted this list on Instagram one friend responded wryly (and accurately): “Have you considered reading any James Baldwin :)” And yes, there is A LOT of James Baldwin, I’m definitely going through a phase. Let me explain.

Escaping the algorithm

A few months ago I decided to escape the algorithm that would invariably send me adverts for all the latest book releases, and instead let ‘IRL’ guide my reading choices. So rather than being influenced by digital marketing (which in theory I’m all for especially if you’re the one trying to market a great idea or a product you really believe in) I decided to let myself be directed by my immediate surroundings. And it has been so refreshing.

Alongside being a writer and digital marketer, I do quite a bit of cat sitting. Often I will be staying in other people’s homes and looking after their cats. Last summer, rather than buying the latest book on Amazon, I decided to limit my reading choices to either the bookshelf in the living room, or the books in the bedroom I was sleeping in. This approach has introduced me to a panoply of new authors and books I’ve only ever glanced at before. I also joined my local library, which happens to be quite large with lots of choice. So that too, has been a brilliant non-digital / real-world / analogue (*delete as appropriate) way to find new books to read which doesn’t depend on endlessly scrolling my social feeds.

And so, when it came to choosing my next great read, I would take my time, and stand quietly in front of the bookshelves. Just letting my attention rest on books I’d not seen before, or those I had heard of and always wanted to read. No hurry, or compulsion. I then might take a book off the shelves, hold it for a moment, turn it over in my hands and read the back, before skimming a few pages and deciding whether to read this one or not. And then I’d either set it down on the coffee table or at my bedside ready to read later, or put it carefully back on the shelf. This approach has been leading me to lots of great books that I don’t think I would have read otherwise. Perhaps I thought they were too old-school, or they just didn’t come into focus long enough for me to notice. 

This is how I finally read a book by the great James Baldwin. And I can tell you now, his writing has impacted me more than I could ever imagine since I read him for the first time last Autumn. Better late, than never. And this feels like just the right time in so many ways. I started off with reading Another Country which I found on a library shelf, and was a very good place to start. I have since read four more books by him; The Fire Next Time, Giovanni’s Room, Notes of a Native Son. And I’m currently reading Go Tell it on the Mountain. The way he conveyed and expressed meaning; his craft, blows me away. I’m basically in love with his writing; it is tender, heart-breaking, incisive, inspiring, angering, confronting. It is very very good.

Music and social commentary

There are two things I especially love about his writing:

Firstly, it feels like music to me: the phrasing, the cadence, the rhythm and the way the words sound together. Most of all it feels like jazz, there’s that sense of push and pull, and a freshness that reminds me of improvisation. As someone who’s really ‘into’ music, the experience of reading words that feel musical really resonated with me. One thing I take a lot of pleasure in when I write, is channelling my musicality into it. When I wanted to understand more of this I discovered that James Baldwin’s writing style was strongly influenced by music, he said this: “I think I really helplessly model myself on jazz musicians and try to write the way they sound”. And boy, did he…

Secondly, what I’ve read so far (and there’s a lot more to read), whether fiction, essays or memoir – contains a searing social commentary on the world he moved through. His insights into what it means to be American and a person of colour are totally confronting, accompanied by a clear-eyed perspective on white sensibilities and how they have shaped the dominant culture in the West. It has shed a lot of light on our present moment and the way in which American culture imagines itself. He was an observer, a true artist, and someone who didn’t conform. He could put himself into the shoes of people very different to him to connect with them – writing with an empathy and tenderness which drew out their essential humanity. This approach is so inspiring, as is the way he used his creativity to hold up a mirror to society, where would we be without it? His work stands the test of time and still feels so relevant, and I’m learning so much from it.

There’s a lot more to say about James Baldwin and each of these books I list above, but that’s for another time. And now for what I mentioned at the beginning:

Writing and reading are totally intertwined, you can’t do one well without the other, (whichever tools you’re using). That’s why, this year I’ve become a National Year of Reading champion with the National Literacy Trust. If you’re looking for someone to talk enthusiastically about books, reading… (and writing), and literacy in general – do get in touch. I’d love to help!

© Alexandra Noel 2026 All rights reserved.