Hi friends —
A few weeks ago, in my conversation with Isaiah Diaz-Mays I mentioned that one of my favorite things about writing a newsletter on Substack is the community you cultivate. And one person I’ve been in community with on the platform is Alexis Reliford who writes one of my favorite newsletters, “Feeling My Shelf.”
In the newsletter, Alexis shares book recommendations for every kind of reader— someone who wants to read YA, someone who wants to read romance, or someone who wants to read about messy characters, just to name a few. Many of the recommendations Alexis made have made their way to either my TBR list or my favorites list, which is why I was so excited to speak with her about books and more.
In this interview we discuss:
* The origin story of her newsletter
* How Alexis makes time for reading and her reading preferences
* Her favorite books and the books she recommends to people
* The complexity of messy characters e.g., Queenie from Candice Carty-Williams’ book and television show
* Beyonce’s best music
You can listen to the interview on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Pocketcasts. You can also watch the interview below:
Also, Alexis’ birthday is later this week. Be sure to give her a shoutout and subscribe to her newsletter as well.
Books mentioned during our conversation:
* The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
* Jason and Kyra by Dana Davidson
* Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
* Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering
* Love You to Death by Christina Dotson
* We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry (listen to my interview w/Kristen here)
* The Art of Vanishing by Morgan Pager
* The Best Man by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen
* The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
* Razorblade Tears by S.A Cosby
A few reads for this week:
* I am currently reading two books, The Wilderness (mentioned above) and Mood Music: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly. The Wilderness, I’m not sure about but Mood Music is very interesting. I’ll definitely be writing about it soon.
* Truthfully, I miss Wendy Williams always.
* “I always joke that I don’t dream of labor. … If people were truly passionate about their job, it wouldn’t pay anything. Passion is for your 5-to-9 after the 9-to-5.” via Fast Company
* I can’t wait to read Lionel Richie’s memoir. This was a great read about how he mastered the love song.
* The fight for the future of the WNBA. Step 1) Cathy has GOT to go.
A few things to listen to this week:
* Really enjoyed Lela Rochon’s interview on Lena Waithe’s “Legacy Talk” podcast.
* Still have not stopped listening to Olivia Dean’s new album, The Art of Loving. Let’s talk about a beautiful album.
* A listen/watch, Black Thought with Sean Evans on “One More Round.”
* I have been listening to the new BOY SODA album, SOULSTAR and it’s a good time. Not to be confused with one of my favorite album intros from one of my favorite albums by Musiq Soulchild.
* Not sure if I mentioned the new album from CARRTOONS in a previous newsletter, but this album is so good.
That’s it for this week… kind of.
I haven’t talked about productivity tools in a while, but did just want to say, I am no longer with Hobonichi for the upcoming year (say it like this) I am now with Sterling Ink. There are tons of writing pages which makes me very excited. Once it comes, I’ll share with you, but just flagging that I am already starting my birthday shopping (13 DAYS).
