My 2022 in Books
Holy smokes… 2022 was definitely one for the books.
I read A LOT more than I thought I would this year. For some reason, especially as pandemic restrictions eased up, I thought I would spend less time reading and more time out and about. But I ended up reading more, going outside more, and reading outside more. Truly a beautiful combination. And reading 12 books more than my reading goal, (I aimed for 40 and reached 52 [~ 1 book/week]), was possible because the ever iconic medium of AUDIOBOOKS!
When Adelaide Befriended A Squirrel
Adelaide used to tell us this story often. She carried this narrative with her in a cool layer beneath her skin. And because her storytelling gaze always shone with stubborn hope, even in the darkest hours, We never grew tired of hearing her tale.
Review: Poems from the Edge of Extinction edited by Chris McCabe
And I also wonder, rather gruesomely, how many languages died on the tongues ripped out of speakers’ mouths. I wonder how many people are losing the most intimate way of articulating themselves in the wake of globalized modernity. All of this makes me angry and makes me wish I could scrape English, a language of ultimate hegemony, out of my being. Of course, that would mean I’d lose access to my own native tongue.
Review: Twenty-One Years Young by Amy Dong
It is this appeal to the universal within the stunning rendering of specificity that makes Twenty-One Years Young such an enthralling collection. As Amy Dong is unabashedly vulnerable in her storytelling, I feel safer in embracing my own narratives as I reminisce and lean into my continuing coming of age.
My First Half of 2021 Review Round-Up
It’s hard for me to believe that 2021 is halfway over. It’s bizarre really, but I’m excited. Watching much of the world begin to move again fills me with hope, but I’m cautious. It almost as if we’re all butterflies who’ve just emerged from our chrysalises of collective grief waiting for our wings to dry to then figure out the whole flying thing. Anyway, during these past few months of metamorphosis, reading books has been one of the few things keeping me at least a semblance of sane. My pace of reading has slowed down a bit since picking up on some writing projects, but I’m fortunately still on track to meet my Goodreads goal for the year. 20 books down and 20 to go! I don’t leave reviews for all the books I read and/or listen to, but I’m trying to get into the habit of doing so more often. Reviewing books helps me grow as a reader and a writer and also, it’s a lot of fun! So without further ado, here are the books I’ve reviewed during the first half of 2021…
To Wish, To Pray
Sometimes, I wish that I could wish away my frolicking youth,
clasping together my then worn sun-weathered hands in prayer,
grateful for all I had, thankful for the bountiful harvest.
I long to see the joy of being unmoored,
hopeful of life’s beginning,
as carefree as a warm spring breeze,
carried towards horizons I can’t imagine now.
A Writer's 23rd Birthday Declaration
Today is my 23rd birthday. This is what my family calls the Psalm 23, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan year, a year of intentionality and transformation. Admittedly, I'm excited and scared. If 2020 taught me anything, it’s that I'm not always entitled to the plans I make in life and that even the most quotidian things shouldn't be taken for granted. Over these past couple of months, I have been sketching my next novel, drafting a couple of sections at a time. Right now, the novel has the working title Behold Azara’s Blaze. But if I'm being honest with myself, I haven’t been working on this next writing project in earnest. I’m nervous about entering into the creative process while establishing necessary boundaries for myself.
Lying in Fire’s Truth: Because of Anansi
I am a spider.
No. More than that.
I am a spider braver and wiser than your griot.
He told me this himself at dawn.
Listening to Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon While Taking My Braids Aloose
There was something very honest about listening to a Black woman tell a story about Black people while I was doing a very Black thing. It felt very central, ancestral. Toni Morrison’s voice was softer, more delicate than I expected it to be. But there was also something raw and coarse about it, in a very familiar way. If you listen closely, you discover that there’s something buried in her voice, like there’s a thick lump of molasses caught in her throat, like she’s swallowing back what’s not quite sadness, not quite rage, but more like the awe of both of them. Listening to her felt natural and intimate, like my kinky hair roots, the story unraveling like my braids.
A Bit About Me: 25 of My Favorite Things
In a world of heightened content creation and consumption, sometimes it is easy to slip into seeing yourself in terms of the content you share. That’s all too true for me at least… A lot of my friends have mentioned dealing with something similar as they’ve presented themselves on different platforms. But you know what? Sometimes, I think we all need to remind ourselves and our broader audiences that we are all whole human beings and not just sources of specific types of content. In curating my “I”, I am not obligated to fit inside of any fixed mold all the time. NO ONE IS! So, I wanted to share this silly and somewhat random post because I wanted to share more of myself with you all in a less filtered way. Without further ado, here are 25 of my favorite things…
Black Rose
What could have caused such a grotesque deformity?
I always answer you
in a language you refuse to hear,
from roots you try to curse,
with beauty you fail to acknowledge.
“What inspired you to write 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ?”
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that 2021 has been treating you all well so far. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I have full faith that this will be a year of transition, progress, and healing. With this new beginning, I can’t help but reflect on my writing journey. I often find it hard to believe that The We and the They has been out in the world for five months already. It’s been an honor engaging with you all as we’ve explored different aspects of the story together. Though I am beginning to shift my focus toward other writing projects (more to come on that! 🤓✍🏽), The We and the They will always be, not the beginning, but a beginning of me seeing myself as a writer. It’s not a linear process in the slightest, but that’s what makes it all the more rewarding.
My Hindsight of 2020 in Reviews
As the queen of puns, all throughout college, I would talk about how my classmates and I all had “2020 vision.” Needless to say, 2020 hasn’t been anything like I had envisioned, but I’ve still gleaned some positive things from it. In the midst of so much not making any sense, I’ve developed a more profound appreciation of books and stories than ever before. I was more intentional in setting aside time to read for fun and documenting my thoughts as narratives unfolded. This was the first year I really leaned into using Goodreads, reveling in book challenges, digital shelves, giveaways, recommendations, and of course, reviews. Here’s a curated list of 10 reviews of books I read in 2020…
The Free We
We are the Forgotten
Poem’s children.
We drink ground morphemes distilled in alkaline water,
gurgling syntaxes pooling in our saliva.
Primordial stardust
coalesces into the hornets
that swarm and rage in our small intestines.
That sting is our fuel.
A Writer’s Faith
I try to carve her
from hallowed words in my thesaurus,
but maybe she isn’t one person.
Perhaps she is a chorus
of harmonious dissonances
gurgling from honeyed ash-like timbre choices,
one shared mosaic face
with a kaleidoscope of voices.
The We and the They and Our World Today
When we think about our collective identities, we like to position ourselves as the We and those who disagree with us as the They. We are more comfortable being the protagonists in our shared narratives. But what if we are more like Tabitha or even the rest of the They than we are willing to confess to ourselves?
“Where do you see yourself in The We and the They?”
On September 26, 2020, I hosted my first author talkback and had the opportunity to engage in a fantastic discussion with some of the most amazing people I know. It’s hard to believe that the book event happened four weeks ago, but I was so spellbound by the experience, I needed that time to do my due diligence in processing it all. When I first started drafting an event reflection, I quickly realized that I had a lot more to say than the quick little blurb I initially planned. But then again, brevity has never been the way that I show my wit.
Language 4R and Mix-Placed Roots of Selfhood: Conclusion
Everyone grapples with questions of belonging at some point in life. But for me and perhaps other African Americans, these questions are like concrete. They pave manicured and gentrified roads. They make up the walls of overcrowded prisons. They symbolize progress while simultaneously shrouding it with doubt. And to make matters worse, or at least more complex, I struggle to call the very language I use to answer these questions my own, adding yet another layer of uncertainty. I still do not know if African Americans have a true mother tongue. The issue remains unresolved. But I do know that African Americans have roots in both African and American soils and that there is a remnant estrangement from both by distance and pain respectively.
Language Restoration: Ancestral DNA Testing and Links to Language Legacy
Ancestral DNA testing has sparked international fascination. People are enthralled by DNA testing’s scientific contribution in defining their lineage narrative. Family stories of movement and historical records can be fortified by this biological analysis. But for the African American community, ancestral DNA testing has an even greater responsibility; it combats the historic erasure of African American lineage by indicating explicit genetic links to African shores. Ancestral DNA results do not provide a narrative that is as comprehensive as Alex Haley’s legendary novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family, based on the author’s traced lineage back to the African continent. Yet, genetic testing can be a very crucial starting point to restoring a coherent ancestral identity.
Language Reclamation: Gullah Language and Creolization with African Roots
When I was a child, I used to love watching reruns of a show called Gullah Gullah Island. It was about a family who lived on an island off the coast of South Carolina with a giant yellow tadpole named Binyah Binyah Poliiwog. And though five-year-old me was probably most intrigued by the giant yellow tadpole, I also marveled at seeing people who were African American like me speak another language. Alongside presenting lessons on friendship like other children’s television shows, Gullah Gullah Island was also centered around teaching the Gullah language and demonstrating the intentional maintenance of African traditions on the island.