another week with a few recs.
Light week this week with a few book recommendations, resources, and things to listen to.
Many of us are still reeling from last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade. I think the impact of the decision and essentially the way a woman’s life is disregarded is something we are going to continuously feel the waves of repeatedly because honestly, how evil and what the fuck? I won’t go too deep into it, but I will say that abortion rights are human rights, and a woman should always have the choice to decide what she chooses to do with her body and her life. There are a few things related to the topic that I think are worth looking into, including Jia Talentino’s article for The New Yorker, this poem on the impact of Roe v. Wade being overturned on black bodies, a great resource for Abortion funds that you can donate to nationwide, and the National Network of Abortion Funds.
In other news, last week, I mentioned I would share a review of the latest book I just finished, Delia Ephron’s Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life. Honestly, I can’t sum it up much - I had many feelings while reading it: beautiful, depressing, sad, and charming. The story is a memoir covering Delia’s second chance at love, as the title alludes to. The book covers her life after her first husband dies and her second chance at the love, which goes through many ebbs and flows, including love in your later life. While reading this book, I couldn’t stop thinking about this article from The New York Times that I read and shared a few months ago about the older generation remarrying but living apart for various reasons. However, they did not in the book. Also, from NYTimes, here was an exciting part of a review about the book:
If I have an issue with the memoir, it arises from the same quality that makes Delia Ephron come across as a singularly likable and bighearted person. Every page contains fresh accounts of wonderful, kind acts by a long cast of characters — hat tips to her hairdresser, old friends visited in Wales, neighbors in their apartment building, the woman behind the counter at the bakery, the stem cell donor — whose names and stories I had a hard time keeping straight.
Overall, I would suggest it if you’re looking for something light only.
Next on my list is Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley (OAKLAND STAND UP) and City of Likes by Jenny Mollen. If anyone is interested in a virtual book club, please let me know - would love to set one up.
Here are a few (literally just a few this week) other things that I thought were worth sharing this week:
I have told many people that Giveon sings like he is singing up a hollow Redwood tree a fact that I continue to support. However, I really, really, really enjoy his new album Give or Take. This album is just so good and the hollowness of his voice really works well on it. From the album, I can’t stop listening to “Lost Me.” On Apple Music Giveon said the song is basically about just doing him as he is typically in a relationship of some sort. In other Giveon news, don’t let his BET Awards performance malfunction sway you from not listening to the album.
My Mellow playlist is still thriving, and I added a new one for Summer.
Very interesting article about how stereotypes shape the language people use.
Lastly, with tomorrow being July 1st, I wanted to honor the last day of Black Music Month by resharing my newsletter from the beginning of the month - man how time has flown.
That’s it for this week.