Happy Festivus! A Mini Booklist About Families
"I've got a lot of problems with you people, and now you're gonna hear about it!" So began our introduction to the Festivus, a winter holiday invented by Frank Costanza (Seinfeld, 1989-1998) as an alternative to Christmas. It involves a metal pole intead of a tree, The Airing of Grievances—where you tell everyone gathered why they've pissed you off—and the very exciting Feats of Strength (which is exactly what it sounds like). Since that episode aired, Festivus has become an actual holiday celebrated by many, and I'm not sure if it's a nod to the popularity of Seinfeld or to the fact…
A Halloween Tribute to Lois Duncan
Curious about what it was like to grow up a little girl in Brooklyn with an affinity for the macabre, a non-censoring mother and carte blanche use of her library card? Well, let me tell you: her to-be-read pile was filled with copies of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood, volumes of Truly Tasteless Jokes, Judy Blume’s Wifey and countless YA thrillers and horrors. And in the 80s, the YA horror masters were Joan Lowery Nixon, Christopher Pike (Fall into Darkness), Richard Peck (Are You in the House Alone?), and the QUEEN—Lois Duncan (1934 – 2016). Why is Duncan the uncontested…
Words & Riddims: A Book (and Play) List to Survive Another Canceled Carnival
Add to the list of things the pandemic has taken from us: the joys of playing mas on the Parkway on Labor Day.
Books to Inspire a Revolution (Kinda): A Mini List
The Fourth of July is just a couple of days away—did you buy enough burgers for the grill? Fireworks to drive the neighbors crazy? Blueberries, in order to make that red, white and blue fruity cake Americans love so much? Awesome! You're well on your way to a great Independence Day. All you're missing now is a good book for when you've grown tired of the hoopla and want to escape, but you've already watched Hamilton a trillion times and could maybe use a break. Here are some books set against uprisings around the world that will satisfy your fighting spirit: Animal Farm by George…
Need to Ease Back Into Reading? We Got You!
The last book I read in full was Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson, back in June of 2019. You read that correctly: June of 2019. After that, I just dabbled with a few novels or cookbooks, skimmed Lamar Odom's memoir, Darkness to Light, for Kardashian gossip, and paged through a couple of books about late Patriots' tight end Aaron Hernandez after watching a scathing documentary about his crimes. Then the holidays occupied my time. Then COVID-19 locked us down and my brain could no longer focus. As the world begins to reopen, and more and more of us get fully vaccinated, I'm…
A Quick Chat with Brooklyn's Own Tiffany D. Jackson
If you were to scour the twitter account of best-selling YA author Tiffany D. Jackson (Grown), you’d surely come across a few readers who adamantly cuss her out for ripping through their emotions with her characters and plot twists (see: Allegedly and Monday’s Not Coming, especially). You’d also notice that she revels in the reactions. But more than that, you’d notice that, since her first novel debuted (and even before), Jackson has been a champion, advocate, and vocal supporter of Black stories and their right to be heard. I met her about a decade ago in a writing workshop she was running…
We Are Not OK: Mental Health Resources for BIPOC Communities
Among the myriad of issues and system breakdowns exposed by our national COVID-19 problem, the mental health of our citizens hovers near the top of the list. Add in the current social and political unrest and a daily struggle with generational trauma, and you’ll uncover that our Black, Indigenous, and PoC communities have had an extra helping of stress and strife on their collective plates. Before the pandemic, I often struggled with leaving the house. Now? Fuggedabouit. I have to literally only have crumbs and memories in the fridge before I step out to buy groceries, and I know I'm not…
Must Reads on the Black Experience: A Juneteenth Booklist
From General Order Number 3: "The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer." And thus Juneteenth was born (in 1865) when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved Africans were now free. Yes,…
More Poems for the Quarantined Soul
In NYC, we’re going on two months of social distancing, quarantining, and existing on the fumes of what our hometown used to be. During this time, cultural organizations like BPL (and others) across the world have provided digital content to keep some semblance of normalcy in our lives: classes, readings, performances—heck, even Saturday Night Live is cobbling together fresh episodes ‘from home.' But sometimes, it can help to lean in and embrace the deeper, harsher, raw emotions bubbling up with each day we remain at home. To close out National Poetry month, here are a handful of poetry…
So, We're All Bakers Now...
...and professional chefs, organizers, carpenters, make-up artists and even teachers. If you go by what the empty supermarket shelves or curated Instagram posts are telling us, our collective #QuarantineLife has turned us into Ma & Pa Ingalls, doing things for ourselves that many of us have been outsourcing for years. But if you’re struggling a little bit with getting your skills up, we’ve got a (digital) book for that! B A K I N G Happiness Is Baking by Maida Heatter We could all use some cheering up, and some folks believe that baking can (and probably eating all the products of…
For Mystery Lovers (and More): Honoring Mary Higgins Clark
Understanding Impeachment
The latest news in America’s political rollercoaster ride is the (maybe?) impeachment of the current president, Donald Trump. But what does that even mean? Those of us who remember Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings maybe recall it as just being a bunch of inquiries into his extramarital dalliances, and then a big nothing; he was still president afterward. So could this be more of the same? What exactly is the President being accused of (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, by the way), and how is Congress attempting to call him on it? And, the most important question of all, what…
#OwnVoices Tell Our Story
Peaceful Pilgrims escape the evils of England; neighborly ‘natives’ share their bounty with the new immigrants: a beautiful beginning to an even more beautiful country.... We are made familiar with such Thanksgiving mythology at an early age; hopefully we grow as familiar with the uncensored version by adulthood? Perhaps at some point, possibly on a college campus, we learn about the pox blankets, raping and pillaging, broken treaties and the disregard for sacred lands that amalgamate our complex history? And perhaps you've noticed, potentially in overdue acknowledgement…
Was the Book Better?: Horror Edition
Comparing 10 of Stephen King’s Scariest Tales Happy (almost) Halloween, the time of year I like to remind folks of my absolute obsession with the literary classics by horror aficionado, Stephen King. From as early as the third grade—thanks to loose library regulations and a beautiful un-censoring mother—I’ve devoured King’s tales of the supernatural, macabre, and things that go bump at all hours of the day. Imagine my blissful joy when I began to notice that his books had been turned into films! Dee Wallace and her magical crying gave Donna her power in Cujo. Miko Hughes made me never want…
¿Got Libros? A Hispanic Heritage Month Primer
Sometimes it takes special monthly observations to highlight what other cultures are doing. Having been educated in the US my whole academic life means 90% of my classes were America-centric and it wasn’t until college that I was introduced to literature from other nations (besides the UK). This is why National Hispanic Heritage Month—celebrated in the US from September 15 to October 15, is so special. Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to highlight the rich and varied history of Latinx people as well as their contributions to American culture (and let's be honest: the world—though…
A Love Letter (Booklist) to the Caribbean
Crime Fiction Recommendations? We’re on the case!
*Cue haunting podcast intro* Brian Griffin was the strictest, most demanding teacher at Del Norte High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His students knew he tolerated nothing the best from them, never accepting late work. And plagiarizing would yield the biggest penalties his classes could imagine: repeating the course the following year. In the late spring in 1987, Mr. Griffin bestowed this punishment to a small group of students, as he did every June. Except that, at the end of this school year, Mr. Griffin never made it home. And that summer, he was found buried in the mountains. What…
High SPF Reads for Your Summer Getaway
I love the beach. I love it when it’s full-on sunny or even partly cloudy; I have been known to visit a shore or two even in fall weather, just because...I live for that salty, sea air! Hot sand doesn’t bother me at all and no matter the season, the people-watching can’t be beat. So just imagine my joy at discovering a way to marry my love for the shore with my love for exploring new worlds between the covers of a good book. Part of the attraction of picking up any new read is the very real possibility of being transported to another place, time or dimension. Though I’ve never been to…
Julia Alvarez’s Book Birthday: A Celebration of #OwnVoices
On November 25, 1960, three of four Mirabal sisters—Patria Mercedes, María Argentina Minerva, and Antonia María Teresa—were assassinated on orders from the long-standing Dominican dictator, Rafael Leonida Trujillo, because of their involvement in underground activities that sought to unseat him. Known as Las Mariposas, their deaths (the anniversary of which is now known as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) set into motion a surge in opposition that led, finally, to the assassination of Trujillo. The lives of Las Mariposas is the basis for the novel by Julia…
What to Read (And Listen To) to Celebrate 2019's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees
The Soundtracks of Our Lives Do you remember where you were when you first heard Stevie Nicks taking her love and taking it down? Or when you realized that the littlest Jackson was all grown up and in Control of her own career? Or when Bill Murray sang “More Than This” in Lost in Translation and you knew you’d heard the song before but couldn’t remember where? If so, then this year’s batch of inductees in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame will definitely spark joy. On Friday, March 29, Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Roxy Music, Def Leppard, The Cure, Radiohead and The Zombies will recognized as…