When in your life did you feel the most powerful? My friend asked me this question over the long weekend and it was a lovely reflection question. Within the group of frands the general time period of our lives was actually right now--what a beautiful thing! How would YOU answer that question?
Then we narrowed it down to specific times in our life that we felt the most powerful whether it was at work, in love, or another sphere of life. I also read the book and the The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. There are some great quotes in there about what is the bravest thing you can do? The answer: show your weakness. What is the bravest thing you’ve said? Help.
I was also at my middle school teacher/broadcast teacher and now friend’s house in Vermont this weekend and she had this mug from 2013 when we went on our 8th grade field trip to Washington, DC. That’s literally 8 years ago. What the fuck. So much has changed since then and some things have changed the same, like holding onto relationships that bring you joy.
Anyway, needless to say i’m feeling very meta. Soon the leaves are going to change and we’ll be in a new season.
Books I wish I read in high school
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Riviera, Riviera wants young brown queer girls to see themselves everywhere and we loveeee to see it. Another coming of age story that is not about a Holden Caulfield. (Even referenced in the book jacket) Juliet is diving into her identity, just shared she has a girlfriend with her fam and is pursuing a dream internship across the country with her fav author. A good summa read, clinging onto the season.
Read if: you’re into people seeing themselves, believing in themselves and having the courage to live out loud all before you’re 20 ;)
Books where you save yourself
Decoding “Despacito” An Oral History of Latin Music by Leila Oobo, whether it’s Christmas and folks are singing Feliz Navidad or you’re at the club or on the streets dancing to Despacito or Gasolina- Latin music has influenced songs of the summer and continues to shape pop culture in a big way. In this book, the author explores 19 other hits and how they came to be.
Read if: you’ve ever screamed, “dame me gasolina”
Not your typical eat pray love
in Valeria’s Shoes by Elisabet Benavent. If you know me, you know I love Valeria on Netflix. The better sex and the city exploring five women with complicated, full life’s: a friend thinking about cheating on her husband, a friend who doesn’t know how to belong deeply to herself, a friend choosing between being authentically herself and a trust fund. But the root of the show goes to this book and so my rec goes to it.
Read if: you’re excited for sally Rooney’s new book but want some time to process it separate from the media frenzy
Read if: you’re excited for sally Rooney’s new book but want some time to process it separate from the media frenzy.
On trend
this changes everything: capitalism vs climate change by Naomi Klein. Look, as we send penis rockets to the moon, I wonder: what about this earth we continue to shit and it in return shits on us. In the form is tsunami, tornadoes, heat waves?? Naomi Klein, a woman who inspired Jane Fonda to move to dc to fight climate change (dc do you understand the power of this woman), is a genius and this book is our pilgrimage.
Read if: climate change inspires al gores an inconvenient truth and that’s all because you haven’t read much about it since 2002.
Decolonize your mind
Love isn’t binary, on being both, beyond and in-between by Meg-John Barker and Alex Iantaffi, At least 1.2 MN non binary folks live in the US and Argentina is the first South American country to officially have Non Binary as an option under Gender for your passports. In this book, both authors challenge the way society typically thinks about decision making and the world, the classic decisions being right and wrong and people being good and bad. Sometimes people are uncomfortable because thinking like this disrupts their norms but the reality is there are more than two ways of looking at the world and certainly more than two genders. Amandla Stenberg, Brigette Lundy-Paine from Atypical, and Demi Levato are a few celebs that identify and have been open about being NB.
Read if: you’re interested in unlearning blue and pink are the only options out there.
Local bookshop spotlight: This week we’re shouting out Zawadi Books in Buffalo, NY. Zawadi means "gift" in Swahili. Sharon and Kenneth Holley started the biz in 1976! They also host community events and collabs at their store. Check them out fam.https://www.zawadibooksbflo.com/about