Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime is Trevor Noah's memoir of his childhood in South Africa. He was born during apartheid when miscegenation laws were still on the books in South Africa, making his conception - his mother is Black and his father is White - literally a crime. Given that Noah was born during apartheid, I expected stories of violence and sadness. I wasn't expecting to laugh as much as I did. There is some violence and sadness but I laughed more than anything else. Noah tends to see the positive side of life and the absurdity of it. At least that is how he comes across in this book.

In addition to providing plenty of laughs, Noah uses his childhood to comment on issues relating to race, gender, poverty, and family. Even though he was talking about his childhood in South Africa, he could have been talking about ghettos in America. I heartily recommend this.