What’s Your Plot? ft. Ashanti H.
@Ashantih__ and @hardy.compositions on Instagram
“I become more aware that every person carries a story shaped by circumstances I may never fully see.”
What’s Your Plot? is an interview series featuring Thickerplots community members celebrating their personal life libraries—the reasons they read, the books that shaped them, and the stories they’d recommend to you.
Why do you read?
Reading allows me to immerse myself in worlds I didn’t even know existed. Through books, I can step into different cultures, time periods, and perspectives that expand far beyond the boundaries of my own daily experience. It reveals realities and possibilities that challenge my assumptions and invite me to think more critically about the world around me. By encountering characters with different values, fears, dreams, and identities, I learn to see situations from multiple angles. That practice of perspective-taking makes me more empathetic; I become more aware that every person carries a story shaped by circumstances I may never fully see.
Who are your must-read authors?
Daniel Black, Ayobami Adebayo, Jesmyn Ward, James McBride, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Toni Morrison, & Alice Walker
What's your genre of choice and why?
I enjoy fiction because even the most imaginative stories are spun from some thread of truth rooted in someone’s reality. No matter how fantastical the setting or how extraordinary the plot, fiction begins with real emotions—love, fear, jealousy, hope, grief. Those emotions anchor the story in something deeply human. Because of that, fiction never feels completely distant from real life; instead, it becomes a creative reflection of it.
Think back to the first book that truly moved you. What did that moment feel like?
The first book that truly moved me was They Tell Me of a Home by Daniel Black. What stood out to me most about it was how deeply it explored identity, family, and the quiet sacrifices people make for one another.
If you had to recommend a book that everyone should read at least once, what would it be and why?
People should read Deacon King Kong by James McBride if they are looking to delve into a tight-knit, Black community in the mid-1900s that shows the true meaning of community.
What are your top titles that everyone should read?
They Tell Me of a Home by Daniel Black, Deacon King Kong by James McBride, Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo, Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw, and Bicycles: Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni
