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Or, Keep It Simple Sweetie

Reader,

Happy new year! I hope yours is off to a good start, whatever form that takes for you. And if it’s had a less than stellar start, maybe take one of my words of the year: Grace. Be kind to yourself, in things large and small. For the first time in years, we’re 7 days into the year and I have no Resolutions that aren’t bookish (find those here) and it feels very different.

If you’re looking to read more in 2023, you’ve probably heard that poetry is dead, and has been for a century now. It was quite a way to end the year, seeing the poets who land on my timeline decrying the New York Times opinion piece that made the (bold) claim. What it made me think of was how some people who are accustomed to being at the centre so often publicly make statements that remind one of why this statement is still so powerful.

“I stood at the border, stood at the edge and claimed it as central. l claimed it as central, and let the rest of the world move over to where I was.”

― Toni Morrison

That piece is a fruit of the same tree as the challenges to read diversely which always assume a white audience that needs encouragement to read work by authors who don’t look like them, featuring characters unlike them and theirs. At the risk of sounding like Abbott Elementary's Jacob (it’s back!!!), NPR's Books We Love is the only one that’s aimed at a majority white American audience I’m paying attention to. 

What are you looking to read from then, you ask? Lists with books in translation, lists centring African authors (like this and this) even as I acknowledge how hard accessing them (especially if they are published outside North America and the UK) can sometimes be. That’s a huge part of what makes challenges like Amyn’s so appealing: all the discovery that comes out of them. Considering the restrictions I’ve placed for myself (see last week’s entry), I’ll probably miss a few books but there are lots to read either way; especially because I’ve promised myself I’ll abandon books at the 10% mark if I’m not captivated. Good luck to that book &c

I went back to my first audio love - podcasts - as 2022 came to an end and it’s apt that one of the last episodes I listened to was On The Media exploring various aspects of the literary world (listen here) because last year saw quite the publishing industry drama in the US (The HarperCollins strike is still on, for instance) yet the industry can so often be opaque. 

Relatedly, some interesting things lately:

• Sending out my birthday wish list (feel free to send gifts and good wishes!)

• Meeting the Laps & Livres homies today. It was especially lovely to see Gatwiri (key to the starting of this newsletter, as some of you may recall) after so long.

• Getting back to bookish podcasts, and podcasts with bookish content (let me know if you’re keen on a list!)

• Returning to Letterboxd and Serializd as I try to divest from Twitter. Let’s connect there!

• The return of my Digital Sabbath (despite, despite, despite)

I have finished a few books since I last wrote, reviews forthcoming in 2 videos. I wrapped up 2022 by reading Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (read by Anna Paquin), The Moomins and the Great Flood (Mumintrollen #1) by Tove Jansson (translated by David McDuff), Search by Michelle Huneven (read by Cassandra Campbell) and Just Kids; written and read by Patti Smith. This week saw me finish Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado (read by Carla Vega), Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto (illustrated by Ann Xu) and The Black Flamingo; written and read by Dean Atta.

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

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