Hi friends –
Happy Tuesday.
We are officially in September, which means my birthday is one month away.
That has nothing to do with anything, but I wanted to share with you just in case you forgot. August was a fairly solid month for the most part, and I had a lot of great rest and reading time. During the month, I had some friends reach significant personal milestones in their lives, which I have been excited about. Similar to last month, I created my stats and figures around reading and listening, so let’s get into it.
But first, here are a few of the dispatches from the month:
Now, let’s get into this week’s newsletter:
As mentioned in last month’s recap, I am using both Goodreads and StoryGraph to track my reading. While I am still partial to Goodreads, I can see the benefits of using Storygraph: it’s a black and female-owned platform, and it offers pretty statistics.
I hit my reading goal for the year!
My goal for the year was to read 44 books, and I have now read 48 books. I have had fun with my reading this year. I have read some excellent books, and I have also spent more time refining my reading habits. Typically, I’ve only been a print or Kindle girl, but this year, I have also started incorporating audiobooks, which used to give me the reading ick. Working remotely also helps. I go to the gym at 5, and spend my hours before work reading. Also, when I’m being good and not scrolling on my phone, I read for an hour or so before bed as well. Since I’m always early, I use that waiting time to read too.
In August, I read 8 books:
Full Bloom by Francesca Serritella
Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty by Kaila Yu
I Should Be Smarter By Now by Issa Rae
My Life with Earth, Wind and Fire by Maurice White and Herb Powell
Plain Jayne by Jayne Kennedy
Dominion by Addie E. Citchens
I’m Down by Mishna Wolff
It Was the Way She Said It: Short Stories, Essays, and Wisdom by Terry McMillan
Themes from what I read:
Reread a favorite in a new format
My favorite book of all-time is I’m Down by Mishna Wolff. I have read this book maybe 7 or 8 times because it’s like my comfort book. For the first time, I tried reading it in a new format and listened to the audiobook to see if I would still enjoy it, and I loved it just as much. This is a coming-of-age memoir, and it is so good. My favorite part is when Mishna learns how to cap for the first time.
Here’s the description:
Mishna Wolff grew up in a poor black neighborhood with her single father, a white man who truly believed he was black. "He strutted around with a short perm, a Cosby-esqe sweater, gold chains and a Kangol—telling jokes like Redd Fox, and giving advice like Jesse Jackson. You couldn't tell my father he was white. Believe me, I tried," writes Wolff. And so from early childhood on, her father began his crusade to make his white daughter down.
Unfortunately, Mishna didn't quite fit in with the neighborhood kids: she couldn't dance, she couldn't sing, she couldn't double Dutch and she was the worst player on her all-black basketball team. She was shy, uncool, and painfully white. And yet when she was suddenly sent to a rich white school, she found she was too "black" to fit in with her white classmates.
I'm Down is a hip, hysterical and at the same time beautiful memoir that will have you howling with laughter, recommending it to friends and questioning what it means to be black and white in America.
Read four memoirs
So far this year, I have not been reading as many memoirs as usual, because I've been trying to read more fiction. That being said, in August I read four different memoirs. One was "I'm Down," but I also read the memoir on Maurice White, one of the founders of Earth, Wind & Fire (Questlove is doing a documentary on them), and one on Jayne Kennedy, which I was excited to read. I also read Fetishized, which is part memoir and part cultural exploration, but I'm grouping it with memoirs.My favorite of the new books was Maurice's memoir. I had been wanting to read that book for so long, and it really delivered. I loved learning about the origins of EWF, his upbringing, and more. There were interesting cameos, including Carlos Santana and Sly Stone, and I would recommend it. I read most of this book in one setting, while getting my hair braided, but I enjoyed it. This book also made me want to read a memoir from Rudolph Isley of the Isley Brother's but I don't know if it exists. I'll circle back.
I had really high hopes for Jayne Kennedy's memoir because my mom would often talk to me about her own growing-up experiences, and Jayne is such a beautiful and seemingly pleasant woman. This book was a little meh for me. It took a while to capture my interest, despite enjoying most of it. The beginning was very slow, and it provided too much context about her early years and random people from that time, which made me a little uninterested.
Read two collections of essays
Both Issa Rae's and Terry McMillan’s books were collections of essays. Both were easy and enjoyable reads. Issa’s was motivating because it talks a lot about her journey and how she works with people, finding her confidence. Terry’s were a mix of essays from her time in college and before she was well known, and some were unfinished essays.Read one book in multiple formats, and loved them all
People keep talking about books of the summer, and for me, Dominion was my book of the summer and easily one of the best books that I read this year. The story follows two central protagonist, Priscilla and Diamond. Here’s the premise:Reverend Sabre Winfrey, Jr., shepherd of the Seven Seals Missionary Baptist Church, believes in God, his own privilege, and enterprise. He owns the barbershop and the radio station, and generally keeps an iron hand on every aspect of society in Dominion, Mississippi. He and his wife, Priscilla, have five boys; the youngest, Emanuel, is called Wonderboy—no one sings prettier, runs as fast, or turns as many heads. But Wonderboy, his father, and all the structures in place that keep them on top are not as righteous as they seem to be. And when Wonderboy is caught off guard by an encounter with a stranger, he finds himself confronted by questions he’d never imagined. His response sends shock waves through the entire community.
Priscilla and Diamond, two women who love these men, bear witness to their charms and bear the brunt of their choices. Through their eyes and their stories, Dominion offers an intricate, intimate view of how secrets control us, how shame stifles us, how silence implicates us, and how even love plays a role in the everyday violence and casual sins of the powerful.
I listened to this book and read it in print, and I much preferred listening to it. I have never listened to a book with multiple narrators, and I enjoyed it. This book is a quick read and so good. Do yourself a favor and also listen to Addie’s interview on The Stacks podcast.
Let me know what you read in August!
August listening report:
As mentioned in my last edition, I used Stats of Spotify to identify the top music I listened to in August. As a reminder, this app identifies the top music you listened to in terms of artists, 50 songs and genres.
Some of my stats were:
Like last month, my top artists were Giveon, Sasha Keable, Maggie Rogers and Kokoroko. Added to the mix though were JID, Leisure, Kem and DESTIN CONRAD.
Of the 50 songs that I listened to the most:
“WRK” by JID was my most played song of the month.
15 songs were by Giveon (13 from BELOVED) two from other albums
4 songs were by MF Doom
3 songs were by Maggie Rogers
My Top 10 Songs were:
“WRK” by JID
”Avalanche” by Giveon
”Mud” by Giveon
”I Can Tell” by Giveon
”Keeper” by Giveon
”Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit (my cardio song)
”Can’t Stop” by Sasha Keable
”SUPAFLEE” by Joey Bada$$ - a trip since this song came out on Friday
”When I Was Gone” by YG (my traffic song)
”Hoe Cakes” by MF Doom
This exercise showed me that the Giveon album in fact does have me under the biggest chokehold.
On my radar for September.
Things I want to read:
The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
An era-defining novel about five Black women over the course of their twenty-year friendship, as they move through the dizzying and sometimes precarious period between young adulthood and midlife—in the much-anticipated second book from National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy.All The Way to The River by Elizabeth Gilbert
All the Way to the River is for everyone who has ever been captive to love – or to any other passion, substance, or craving—and who yearns, at long last, for peace and freedom.Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola
Three years after their break-up, Kiki's worked hard to forget her first love. But just as she thinks she's got her life under control—jumping into the distractions of her romance-by-calendar-invite boyfriend, and plans for her best friend, Aminah's, wedding—Kiki's career implodes, the family business teeters on collapse, and Malakai returns. As Malakai takes up his role as best man opposite her maid of honour, suddenly Kiki can think of nothing but their simmering chemistry, what went wrong, and why it is now impossible to act normal around each other.Heart the Lover by Lily King
Written with the superb wit and emotional sensitivity fans and critics of Lily King have come to adore, Heart the Lover is a deeply moving story that celebrates love, friendship, and the transformative nature of forgiveness. Wise, unforgettable, and with a delightful connective thread to Writers & Lovers, this is King at her very best, affirming her as a masterful chronicler of the human experience and one of the finest novelists at work today.
Things I can’t wait to listen to:
Last week, there was so much good music that came out. I am still making my way through them all, but from the list of new albums out, I loved the albums from Joey Bada$$, DESTIN CONRAD’s jazz album, Westside Gunn and Kirby. I also loved “Tears” from the new Sabrina Carpenter album. I knew that would be a single, before realizing it was the single.
I can’t wait to listen to these albums:
Leisure - Welcome to the Mood (9/12)
Elmiene - Heat The Streets (OUT FRIDAY)
Olivia Dean - The Art of Loving (9/26)
Well that’s everything for this week.
Also, today is
’s birthday. If you can, be a dear, and subscribe to her newsletter for a sweet little gift. If you’re in to branding, sports, and the intersection of both, you’ll enjoy this newsletter.