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Or, In This New Form

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Pinning this for the next few weeks

My birthday wishlist, now an annual tradition, is out! You can find it here and any and all gifts will be appreciated 🙂

(I’m also open to surprises; as long as it’s not a surprise party.)

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Reader,

The time since I last wrote to you has been a time. It’s tied to how many books I (didn’t read) so let’s talk about it!

Last week was really intense. The holidays bring a lot of family feelings (read this by Soila Kenya and this by Deesha Philyaw; both of whose writing I enjoy) and I was immersed in them across the week. I enjoyed reading both these writers’ writing about grief and sadness because the cheer expected during this time of the year means hard conversations find almost no purchase.

It was also the week I spent time with a dear friend on Thursday walking and talking at the space that is the Nairobi National Museum’s grounds and the John Michuki Memorial Park. He’d never been to the latter so I experienced the joy of being a guide (new career just dropped?) and we had a delightful time together. We then went to Broadwalk Mall on Ojijo Road (my first time there) for a late lunch and, needing to get another dear friend a birthday gift, I went to the bookshop in the mall. The bookshop is Educate Yourself and it was lovely to see some familiar faces and be surrounded by their interesting selection (they sell a wide variety of fountain pen ink colours - cartridges and ink bottles both - if that’s your thing!) as I got my friend’s gift. She hadn’t sent a birthday wishlist (have I mentioned I have one?) so I was happy, later in the week, to hear her say she liked the selection 🙂

My friend told me about the Hadithi Hangout that was happening at Santuri East Africa that day and, seeing as it was raining and Nairobi turns into a flood zone when it pours, I decided to attend. I’m happy I did! The convener - Santuri East Africa's Salon Events Manager Furaha Ruguru - is such a great facilitator and I’m glad I’m on their mailing list now. We were reading and discussing Shades of Benga – The Story of Popular Music in Kenya: 1946 – 2016 by Ketebul Music in the company of Ketebul’s founder Tabu Osusa. He’s such a treasure trove of information and I hope I’m able to have more conversations with him in the future (2025 podcast project, perhaps?) because he’s such good fun. Also from that meeting: this playlist (enjoy!)

Friday saw me reconnecting with someone I hadn’t seen in a long time and a lot of book talk. We stood on the side of the road and talked media for a bit; the only reason we stopped was YB reminding me we had places to be. Later, it was my turn to remind him we needed to go home as he recommended a long list of YA books to a person we met at Text Book Centre Sarit Centre. And to imagine it all started with me asking them if they were interested in magic painting books (this is now a magic painting book Stan account - they’re 50 KES apiece; as I mentioned in last week’s entry) as they shopped. They were there to get gifts for their nieces and nephew and the magic painting book chat led to YB giving recommendations. The poor AFAB person just kept listening (I mention this because there’s something gendered about giving a stranger as much time and attention as they did) but I also pitched Silent Book Club Nairobi so good chat all round! We walked out of the shop with some basic colouring books for me (as recommended in this video), magic painting books for the kids I’ll be seeing for the holidays and tempera paint for potato printing (bring this back!). YB and I also ended up talking about the newsletter, books, libraries, and films with a friendly stranger (hello, if you’re reading this!) before we left the mall — I love such moments. A lovely time all round.

On Wednesday of last week, my Nairobi Bail Fund co-convener and I thought we might be able to raise some money for bails and fines to free a mum or two from Langata Women’s Prison for the holidays and put out the poster below.

We managed to raise almost 40,000 KES (~ 310 USD) and paid off two fines - one huge one and another that was half of the first one; but still not insignificant - for two mums who were serving sentences at the prison. We were also able to give them transport funds and some Christmas money. As the person tasked with paying off the fines, picking up the release orders from the court, and taking them to prison; I totally understand why the Massachusetts Bail Fund was hiring a bail organizer (pdf here) earlier this year. It is a lot of work and I don’t think being an AFAB person helps (sorry! Misogyny is real and I’m going to say it!) — the criminal justice system costs a lot (of money, of time, of one’s spirit) and those costs aren’t evenly distributed. I could keep talking about the bail fund but we’re building out digital assets for it going into 2025 so there’ll soon be a site for those things. Before then, feel free to keep contributing to the fund (money, skills, advice etc all very welcome!); we hope to do this every month till we end bail and fines for crimes of poverty.

The weekend saw me attend the Queer Christmas Market with some friends (and reconnect there with others) on Saturday which was such a delight. Considering we went on a whim, I’m so glad we did — always a joy being around one’s siblings. On Sunday, I went back to the Museum & Michuki Park. Those green spaces are some of my favourites in Nairobi (and they’re free to enter; which is such a rarity in this city!) so it was a pleasure to share them with my bestie. Walking and talking with her, walking a waitron through running a card (I should rename last week “PDQ Week” for the number of times I took out my card and was met by folks looking like deer in headlights) and being in nature made it a great way to end the week.

All this to say I barely read last week but the book I finished was a great experience. I plan to spend this holiday time reading and watching films so check me out on Goodreads and Fable (I updated it this week after a conversation on Twitter) for the books and Letterboxd for the films. Let me know what you (plan to) read or watch during this time; I know it’s going to be an interesting selection.

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Quick news/ things that may be of interest:

• Subscribe to my WhatsApp channel for texts I find while I spend time online

• Text Book Centre is offering a 5% discount for purchases over 5K if you use a StanChart or KCB card.

• If you blink, you can see me reading on the grass in the background in this video. I'm also interviewed at the beginning, fwiw.

• If you’re in the Global North and would be open to engaging in the North-South solidarity that is sharing a library card, please email or message me so we can figure things out. Thank you!

• An interactive self care flow chart

• 2025 Public Domain Day Remix Contest: The Internet Archive is Looking For Creative Short Films Made By You!

• Links to Reading Lists, Free Books, Book Recs, Book-related Items in this document

• Since Elon seems to want (some of) us gone, I’m trying to post more often on Bluesky. Follow me there if you’re on it!

• The Queer Liberation Library 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

• Sign the Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions letter

• My friend Agnes Waruguru’s show What the water left behind continues at Circle Art Gallery. Please see it if you can!

• You can send me books, postcards, letters, and assorted items via PO Box 102439, Jamia Posta 00101, Nairobi, Kenya

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I have finished two books since I last wrote to you (I know I said one above, but I finished the second one at 1755 today so here we are): a hybrid read of I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt: Everything I Wish I Never Had to Learn About Money by Madeline Pendleton (the e-book & the audiobook; narrated by the author) and a hybrid read of Our Subway Baby by Peter Mercurio (illustrated by Leo Espinosa; narrated by the author) which was just what the doctor ordered (I heard the story on YouTube earlier this month but it still left me in my feels). I hope to get back to making videos soon so I can share my thoughts on recent titles. Before then, please go ahead and subscribe to the channel.

As ever, please write back to me and tell me what books you’re reading or looking forward to reading — it’s always a great time talking about books.

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Thank you for reading 🙂

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Enjoy the week ahead and have a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!