Wowweeeee! BOOK CLUB TIME! Y’all I don’t know if finishing Lonely Crowds on the same day that I saw “Is God Is” was a good idea because my mind was racing until about 3 am last night, but that is what happened. This book about friendship and love and making art by Stephanie Wambugu is a MUST READ! For fans of Kin by Tayari Jones but also definitely its own thing. Want to talk about it? It’s this months @thestackspod book club selection and I’m the book club guest which means we will be talking about it on the pod and The Stacks Virtual Book Club will be having a conversation about it in June. Grab a copy from (Black woman-owned!) @reparations.club with the code STACKS10 to get 10% off. Trust me when I say this is worth your time.
Surprise! We’re mixing it up a bit with this bonus episode! In episode 178, we’re joined by Traci Thomas of The Stacks podcast to debrief Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel Yesteryear - yes, the book you’ve been seeing all over social media.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts 🎧
#yesteryear #tradwife #bookdiscussion #tradwifelife
go on be naughty but nice: the rest of the month was certainly defined by my april fool’s day fortune cookie.
in no particular order, and saving my nyc things for another photo dump at some point (still processing the trip oooof.)
• @thestackspod london meet up was so lovely! and @nationalpoetrylibrary@southbankcentre was the perfect place for it.
• descent was a throughline in the current show at @ydp_space
• lots of the usual spring blooms and birbs. excited to see bluebells and new leaf unfurling!
• still thinking about @cynthiaerivo (AND THE WHOLE CREW!)’s tireless dracula performance
• ate well, and sat on a bus for 70mins before giving up and being surprised at my tube commute luck during strike week
• food in print indie mag fair made me hopeful for an industry that i still hold smol hopes of being a part of one day
• whoever said it’s always grey in london hasn’t lived here
• we all become mules when we travel from one home to another
• still missing my fav volunteer gig in a while and trying to figure out a way back to books
(also have i used this song for a prev post? sorry not sorry, it’s still on heavy rotation.)
✨🌃 📖 It was a joy to welcome thousands of Angelenos into the @lapubliclibrary ’s Central Library after hours for #NightattheLibrary, a magical evening of creativity and storytelling. Our city’s artists, writers, and musicians activated our beloved library with unforgettable experiences; and our community of library lovers packed the stacks with curiosity, delight, and a sense of discovery.
Thank you for celebrating a century of light with us! View more photos from the evening and explore upcoming programs via the link in bio.
📸: @aaanthonytran
One week of the West Coast Best Coast life in April.
(I had as much fun meeting Rex the Shih Tzu as I did my favorite author at the moment and fellow Florida Gator, Rachel Khong. Dogs are the best.)
LA Phil Insight and artist Sarah Rara present a radical exploration of orchids at the LA Central Library.
Night at the Library: A Century of Light, transforms the beloved historic Central Library into a vibrant, after-hours playground—celebrating 100 years of illumination, inspiration, and impact in spectacular style.
Discover interactive art installations around every corner, delight in surprise performances, engage in intimate conversations with creators, and enjoy live music, DJ sets, local food and drink, and dancing among the stacks!
For Night at the Library: A Century of Light, LA Phil Insight presents Sarah Rara’s performance Orchis (Book of Flowers), a floral odyssey for video, voice, and software in The Children’s Literature Department puppet theater. Attendees are encouraged to transform themselves into vibrant blooms at an orchid mask painting station.
Celebrate a century of light at the iconic Richard J. Riordan Central Library in Downtown Los Angeles with an immersive festival featuring more than 200 performers, artists, and storytellers.
The late-night party will include performances by Bob Baker Marionette Theater, Da Poetry Lounge with Yesika Salgado, DJ sets and installations by dublab, Heidi Duckler Dance, Los Angeles Master Chorale, a gospel choir presented by NOMMO Cultural Strategies, and History of Blues with Rob Stone Blues.
There will be also live screen-printing, sound baths, tarot readings, local food trucks, drinks, and more to make this an unforgettable after-hours celebration at the library.
Our next read is… Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke!
A tradwife influencer known for her soft-focus, old-world content wakes up to find herself in 1855 living the life she’s been selling, except it’s no longer aesthetic. Stripped of modern comforts and control, she’s forced to navigate a version of the past that is far less forgiving than the one she’s curated.
What happens when the life you romanticize (fetishize?) is the one you’re forced to live? (Something tells me Ballerina Farms won’t like this one) 🫣
🗓 Sunday, July 12 @ noon
📍 @theholly_wine
Wine pairing TBD ✨🍷📚☀️🍞🐄🥛
What a dream to be back in LA for the @latimesfob ! I was honored to moderate a panel, see so many bookish friends and make some new ones! Moderating author talks and panels is one of my favorite things to do and I absolutely love attending book festivals! What are some of the bookish events and festivals do you recommend I attend and moderate for? Lmk your faves!
#ReadingisMagical #LATimesFestivalOfBooks #MyBookishLife
Happy I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T Bookstore Day from your fave Black booksellers at Rep Club! Open til 7pm, online 24/7. Come see about us! 🤸🏾♀️#indiebookstoreday
UPCOMING FEATURE: Commenting on friends’ news feed updates and reviews.
PLEASE READ THE WHOLE CAPTION BEFORE COMMENTING 🙏🏾
How would you like this feature to work?
Here’s some of what we’re thinking:
- Default OFF for everyone, with a prompt by your reviews and news feed updates when the feature first goes live, so you can choose a setting re who can comment on your stuff
- Originally it was going to be friends only. It might still be that. But maybe we should also allow “people you follow” to comment. Should we allow “anybody” and a user chooses that at their own risk? 👀
- Anybody can see the convo as per your privacy settings, but they can only comment as per your commenting settings
- Do we need a separate setting for reviews and news feed updates, or will one suffice?
- We’ll also have to add new notification preferences for this too!
- Before we launch this feature, blocking users and marking books as ‘private’ will be available
- Before we launch commenting on news feed updates, more styles of updates will be launched, along with the ability for you to customise what of your activity gets shared and what you see in your news feed
Any key points missed? Any other ideas or questions?
Listened to this one on @librofm . An incredibly thorough and well-researched book on the Bernie Goetz case, vigilantism, and racial tensions. Excellent recommendation from @thestackspod
