“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”—Stephen King
I’ve been on a tear, having just read three (entirely different) books so good that now I’m in book depression, waiting to find others as transporting, funny, and well-written.
The night I watch Athena die, we’re celebrating her TV deal with Netflix.
I’m a first-line junkie and Yellowface checks that box for me—and so many more.
* Writers writing about writing: Check.
* Extraordinary close intimate voice: Check.
* Send-up of publishing: Check.
* Unabashed look inside the squirmiest secret side of white privilege: Check.
Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
The Truth was, Maya Clondon had been thinking of French fries since last night.
Another grab-me simple first line: Check.
*A story revealing the growling hold of food desire starting with an 8-year-old girl at a Weight Watchers meeting in Harlem: Check.
* Generational pass-down of body shame issues: Check
* A revelatory look at Black girls seen as grown far too early: Check.
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer
It all began for me in the rainy spring of 2014, when I found myself locked in a lonely—okay, imaginary—battle with an appalling genius.
For years I’ve battled with the idea that you could love the work of a ‘genius’ you despise, disrespect, and disdain. And if you loved that person’s work SO much, could you forgive their sins? If you loved that person’s books, songs, music, or movies a little less, could you, with much self-congratulation, stand your ground?
When I finished Dederer’s work as an eBook, I leaped onto the computer to Bookshop.org to order it in hardcover. Cause I gotta highlight. And look up some of her references.
Not only does Dederer approach the topic with an awesome combo of accessibility, intellectual rigor, and humor, she approaches the topic so page-turning that I next ordered it in audio.
* Writing about a topic that grabs me by the throat, teaches me without making me feel stupid, and calms me while appropriately enraging me?