𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙊𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 by Susana M. Morris is an impressive and impeccable shrine of research, care, and admiration for a genius writer of our time.

Morris’ approach to this biography feels more like an intimate conversation between friends than a formal academic study. Two brilliant women who never met, yet somehow speak to each other across time. Before reading this, I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know about Butler and I’m honestly a little ashamed I haven’t read more of her work until now.

Morris paints a much fuller portrait of Butler than just “the first Black female science fiction writer.” She was a visionary, an advocate for children and literacy, a lover of words and form, a teacher in many fields (de facto degrees, if you ask me), a storyteller for the ages, a caretaker, an othermother, a climate activist, a feminist, and a Black woman. Butler wore many hats and never received the recognition she truly deserved in her lifetime.

Morris fills the book with Butler’s accomplishments while also naming the systems—mediocre white men, racial and ableist infrastructures—that kept neurodivergent individuals and Black kids like Butler from opportunities to grow and thrive. Still, reading this made me feel honored to own and teach Butler’s work. As a professor of English, I’ve loved teaching 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 for years, but now I see the gates opening wide for the  𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 series. Butler has so much to teach us about ourselves, humanity, morality, violence, climate sustainability, and cultural warfare.

The biography is a beautiful collection that includes a timeline, family and personal photos, and journal entries woven throughout. My favorite part includes the intimate sharing of the journals and personal notes from Butler that were used here—it allowed for a closer connection to the author than I’ve ever experienced. I hope her habit of writing rubs off on me, maybe not as intensely, but with more consistency.

Karen Murray also does a wonderful job in narrating the audiobook version of this biography. Murray kept me engaged and entertained as I listened to her tell me about a life ended prematurely and a genius snubbed out before its time. The audiobook is a great companion to the book so if you can do both that is what I recommend, but, if not, either format alone will do the reader justice.

My only drawback: I’ve only read  𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 and 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧, so the biography dives deep into plot points and characters from books I haven’t read yet. Read with caution if you’re still working through her catalog. Other than that, I highly recommend this biography for longtime fans or anyone curious to know more.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🏷 #PositiveObsession #SusanaMMorris #Biography #nonfiction #OctaviaButlern#ColoredPagesBookTours #BookFeature #BooksToRead #Bookish #Bookstagrammer #BookLover #wellreadblackgirl #diversifyyourbookshelf

I have only read two of Octavia Butler's books - Kindred and Parable of the Sower, but both are books I think about regularly. I listened to the audiobook, and found the narrator to be a good fit for the subject matter. Octavia overcame a lot of obstacles to become a successful writer, and struggled with money most of her life. She was neurodivergent, and often felt lonely. Her persistence and dedication to daily writing helped her create some truly unique characters and paved the way for author science fiction authors of color. When Octavia started, SciFi was a white man's domain. Her ability to look into the future and portray what is happening now in this country is mind boggling. After listening to this book I plan to read a few more of Octavia's books. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader audiobook.

This book is inspirational. Once I opened the book I could not put the book down. As I was reading this book I felt like I was able to know more about Octavia Butler on a personal level. It felt as if she was my friend in many ways and I feel that I must read her books again because I now have a better understanding of her work and made her want to write her books in the first place. Reading this book in one setting let's me know that I truly enjoyed every single moment of this book. Susana M. Morris has done an amazing job with her research and providing information regarding the sources that she used to write this book. Overall this book is a page turner that I feel everyone needs to read because it provides so much info and I feel that since Octavia had left us so soon I feel that this book was able to fill that void.

The more I learn about Octavia Butler, the more I admire and appreciate her and her work. I have been diving into juvenile biographies, such as Ibi Zoboi's Star Child, and have been reading the graphic novel adaptation of Parable of the Sower. This biography helped shape Octavia Butler's youth and adult years, and explained her inspirations for many of her books. I really enjoyed the biographical elements and the non-fiction writing by Susana Morris, who is a self-described fan of Butler's work as well.

Susana Morris narrates with an even, rich voice and doesn't use any distracting accent or intonations. The narrative made this feel like an enjoyable podcast.

As the book goes on, it begins to feel like a series of Book Talks about Butler's works, which is helpful, but not necessarily providing the reader with unique information about Octavia Butler herself. If I wanted through descriptions of each of her works, I would read reviews. The book seemed to run out of content about Octavia and instead focused on her works.

If I were to choose this book at a library, I would like to know that going in, and might focus more on the first half of the book than the second.