White Tears, Hari Kunzru

For the start of 2018, we read a book about music and race. It was also about money, time, and coming of age. What matters? What are you good at, and how do you become good? This book follows two college kids who are two very different kids: one very, very rich and popular, and one who seems to lack both money and social graces. They come together over a passion for music and that passion takes them on a trip South. Questions arise over what it means to be black and what it means to be white, and how does your race affect what you put out into the world. It also follows the awkward kid's sense of self and fitting in, and it gets a little messy.