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.
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.
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.
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 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.