This week’s newsletter is coming in on the mellow side, and honestly, mellow has been my mood as a whole lately. We celebrated my mom over the weekend, and somewhere in the middle of all of it I also deleted TikTok from my phone. As someone who works in social media and has genuinely found a healthy balance with it, I still somehow found myself deep in dash cam videos and body cam arrest footage at midnight. The tipping point was watching a woman get arrested at Ross because she wanted a discount. That was my cue to delete.

So this week, instead of a deep dive, I’m doing something I’ve been seeing all over and wanted to try for myself: last, current, and next for both reading and listening. Consider it a check-in. A look at what’s on the nightstand and in the headphones right now.

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THE BOOKS

Last: Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel

I have not stopped talking about this book since I finished it, and I’ll keep going. Enormous Wings follows Pepper Mills, a seventy-seven-year-old woman who, after a car accident, ends up living in a senior community where her ex-husband also happens to reside. She settles in, makes friends, falls for a new man, and then finds herself PREGNANT. Pepper lives in Austin, Texas, which adds a layer to the story that is very much of this moment, and Frankel doesn’t look away from it.

For me, what made this book work, is the quirkiness mixed with the weight of what was happening. It’s about female agency, about what happens when choices get made for you instead of by you, and about how love and friendship and family can still rearrange everything even late in the day.

Current: Good People by Patmeena Sabit

I’m about 40% in, and this book has not let me put it down. The story is told through interviews, assembling a portrait of the Sharaf family: wealthy, happy, a picture of immigrant success in an affluent Arlington, Virginia neighborhood. They arrived in this country with nothing and built what looks like everything. But something has happened to Zorah, the eldest daughter, the apple of her father’s eye, and the book asks you to sit with the question of what that something was.

I have a theory (I think I know what happened to Zorah, and it involves her father), but I’m not fully sure yet. What I love most is the structure: learning about this family through the eyes of neighbors, family friends, a department store owner. It’s intimate and unsettling in equal measure. I’ll report back when I finish.

I’m also doing a version of immersive reading with this one: listening to the audiobook and following along in print when I want to slow down. Highly recommend trying it if you haven’t. The audiobook has lots of different voices which as a somewhat green audiobook reader, I’m enjoying.

Next: Score by Kennedy Ryan

I must say, one of the books I’ve been most anxiously waiting for is Score by Kennedy Ryan. After completely falling in love with her writing through the Skyland series, I knew I needed more. This one is a second-chance romance, and if Ryan’s past work is any indication, I’m expecting all the tension, chemistry, and emotional dialogues — plus a fine man with a deep voice (which is exactly how I imagined Maverick and Judah in my head).

The book follows Verity and Monk, former college lovers whose breakup clearly left a lasting mark on both of them. More than a decade later, they’re reunited while working on a Harlem Renaissance biopic. She’s writing the script, and he’s creating the score. It’s very much about the aftermath of first love, old wounds, unresolved chemistry, and whether two people can really move past what happened between them.

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THE MUSIC

Last: Spring Playlist

Lately, I’ve been listening to a little bit of everything through my Spring playlist. It’s become a home for all the music I’ve been enjoying recently, from Little Brother and Durand Bernarr to Hayley Williams, Kehlani, and Larry June. It’s a solid mix, though I’ve admittedly put some of it on pause because of my current listens, which I’ll get into below.

Current: Mack Keane — Wide Eyed

I’m not sure how long I had been waiting for this album, but it was definitely a long time, and thankfully, it lives up to the anticipation. Wide Eyed is groovy from the very beginning, starting with the intro track, which immediately settles you into the album’s warm, late-night atmosphere. It’s not exactly a breakup album. It feels more like an album about living in the aftermath of your own bad decisions and figuring out what to do with them. There’s a level of self-awareness running through the project that keeps it grounded, while the production stays smooth and textured without ever feeling empty. It’s the kind of album that reveals something new with every listen.

Also in heavy rotation since Friday: Dedicated to Cadalee Biarritz (Deluxe) by Big K.R.I.T and CEREMONIAL by Black Milk.

Next: Giveon — Beloved Act II

If you’ve been here a while, you know how I feel about Beloved. It was my most played album last year. Giveon was my most played artist. Three songs from that album were in my top five of the year. So when I say I’m ready for Act II, I mean I’ve been ready.

Out Friday, the deluxe edition adds five new songs featuring Leon Thomas, Kehlani, Sasha Keable, and Teddy Swims, a lineup that should not work as well as I suspect it will. Giveon’s already previewed “JEZEBEL” and it is funky. It’s giving playa from the Himalayas, and he has on a mink. I don’t know why that’s exactly what I thought, but it is, and I stand by it.

A little bit more for this week:

• So far, as of one day, I think Pop Culture Jeopardy is already better on Netflix.

• If you missed last week’s newsletter, I had a great conversation with author Imani Thompson, who just released her debut novel Honey. You can read the conversation here.

• I also had a fun interview with author Randee Dawn about her new book, We Interrupt this Program, which you can listen to here.

Let know what’s currently on your last/current/next list!

Hi friends,

Before we get into today’s newsletter, I wanted to say Happy Mother’s Day to every mom, bonus mom, grandmother, godmother, aunt, and mother figure — every person who helped make up someone’s village.

As an only child, I grew up surrounded by women who poured into me constantly. My mom, my grandmother, my aunts, my older cousins — so much of wh…

Read more

Purchase Honey by Imani Thompson

Hi friends —

At the beginning of every year, I make a list of the upcoming books I’m most excited to read. This year, near the top of that list was Honey, the debut novel from London-based author, Imani Thompson.

I’ll be honest. Initially I was drawn to the cover first. It featured a Black arm drenched in honey, which immediately made me think of Beyoncé’s “PURE/HONEY.” But then when I moved past the cover, the description of the book drew me in:

When I finally got the chance to read the book, OUT TODAY, I found myself laughing and cringing in equal measure, pulled in by a voice that felt sharp, unsettling, and unexpectedly funny. I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I finished, which is why I am so excited that I got to speak with Imani about the book.

From our conversation, I learned that Imani knew she wanted to be a writer by age eight. She started university studying English literature, but four weeks into medieval literature, she switched to sociology because the syllabus wasn’t going to answer her questions. In her final year, over coffee with her mom, the idea for Honey came into focus: race theory, gender-based violence, and what it means to be a woman of color, all wrapped in genre. A female serial killer hunting bad men. The theory could live inside the story. The ideas could travel further if the book were also engaging.

So I’m excited to share my conversation with Imani where we talk about the book and everything behind it. In this conversation, we talk about a lot including:

• Writing as both intention and instinct

• What it means to create a character you shouldn’t like, but do

• The difference between rage and desire

• How music shapes the rhythm of a novel

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What I loved about reading Honey is how often it makes you think. Even as Yrsa makes certain choices, I found myself thinking about them over in real time. And the humor is real. There’s a moment where she’s in the garden thinking about flowers and says something like, “If I’d started collecting flowers instead of killing people.” That was so funny to me, and there are little things like that throughout.

I’m pleased you found it funny. I don’t look at reviews, but I’ve seen where people say, “this is supposed to be funny, but where’s the humor?” which I think speaks to how subjective humor is. But I wanted to make it funny because when you’re dealing with these themes and these topics, people’s defenses naturally go up. So it’s a way of relaxing the reader. And what I love about the humor is that the reader becomes complicit in the story. If you’re laughing along with her and then she does something terrible, you’ve already been laughing along with her. I wanted to play with the reader in that way. And I wanted her to be a lovable psychopath. That was important to me. I needed us to like her.

I did like her. And going into her background a little, she was studying Afropessimism in school. I had never heard the term before, but I recognized the framework. Given that it was part of her storyline, it seemed like she used it to justify her actions. For you, how important was it to educate readers on that theory and then use it as her framework for navigating everything?

It’s really interesting. My initial way of her killing people was that I wanted to switch the lens on violence, turn the gaze on its head. So I had her killing men in ways that women are often killed. It’s why she kills an ex-boyfriend of hers. It’s why she stages herself as an escort and kills someone in that way. It’s why you have this incel, manosphere-type character as well.

When I wrote the first draft, I didn’t know what she was studying for her PhD. My mum suggested I look into Afropessimism1, and when I did, I thought, this is perfect for the book. It came in at a later draft as this theoretical undercurrent, because while you think she’s killing people because of racial justice or feminist justice, it’s not actually what drives her. She is somewhat vengeful, but really, it’s about her power addiction.

That’s how I wrote her, as an addict. She binges on sugar, experiments with sex early in her life, looking for something that will satisfy her, and it doesn’t. It’s only when she kills that she’s like, yeah, that’s it. She gives herself this justification, but it’s not actually what’s driving her.

That’s interesting. I hadn’t thought about it until just now, but the way Yrsa approaches desire from such a young age and reaches for people outside of her age group, it tracks with everything you just described about her as an addict.

Yeah, and I find it interesting how the book is being spoken about. Questions I’m getting asked around female rage. I totally understand why you’d read it that way, and it’s kind of how I initially pitched it myself. But it’s really not about rage, because she’s really not angry. What I find so fascinating about her is that she goes beyond that. She understands her societal constraints. She understands why she should be angry. She does sociology. But she pushes beyond all of that because she’s just doing it for her own desire. That’s the real reason she acts. And it was quite cathartic to write. Not so much the violence, but a woman who just does exactly what she wants.

Right, and I think what makes that so clear is the contrast with her friendships. She’s not someone who’s at war with everyone around her. She didn’t really read as rageful to me.

Yeah, she definitely isn’t filled with rage. There are things that annoy her, of course, but she’s also on that psychopathic scale, so she just doesn’t interact with the world or her emotions the way most people do. She’s different.

This is your debut novel, but you’ve also written short stories. How was the process of writing a full-length book different? And how did your experience as a bookseller help shape the full-length book?

I was always very focused on the novel form. Even as a kid, I wanted to write novels. I actually find short stories more daunting. The shorter something is, the more on point it has to be. With a novel, there’s more room for error.

For me, writing is a kind of spiritual thing. When I start a novel, I have to get myself out of the way and tap into this voice or this atmosphere. The biggest thing I follow is rhythm. Yrsa’s voice came to me very immediately, and I followed that rhythm all the way through. I think Mark Twain says he creates a character, then steps back and sees what they do. I relate to that.

Honey was different from what I normally write because of the amount of plotting involved. She’s killing people, so you have to work out how she gets from A to B and how she gets away with it. That was a fun challenge, because I’m not naturally a plotter. My process was also shaped by the fact that I was writing while working full-time, finding time after work in small pockets. Then I was fired, which was actually very helpful. I planned a beautiful routine. I would wake up, do morning pages, and write five hundred words. I did not do this. I procrastinated all day, and then at 10 p.m. thought, “I should write something.” That is still my process.

And what did working in a bookstore teach you?

I was doing my editing while working there. It helped me understand the industry, how big and commercial it is, how many books are being published, and how small a drop you are in that ocean. Seeing how marketing budgets correlate with book sales was a very practical education. But what stayed with me was how many people came in wanting to talk about what they were reading, wanting recommendations, genuinely loving books. That was heartening. There is this idea that everyone just buys online and no one goes to bookstores anymore, but people do. And they are having those conversations.

I kept seeing Honey on people’s most-anticipated lists for 2026. How has it been watching that build, especially with the auctions?

It was shocking. That two-week period when the book sold was one of the most surreal of my life. I had prepared myself for not getting an agent or being published for a long time. I know how difficult it is. So when two auctions happened, I thought, “What is going on?”

Now it is less than a month until the book comes out, and I feel like I am riding waves of excitement and anxiety. It is strange when there is a long buildup, but you do not know how people will respond. There can be industry buzz, but until it is in readers’ hands, you do not know. So I try to stay present and not get too far ahead of myself. Otherwise, I think you would go a bit mad.

When you look at the cover alongside the book, I feel like it actually helps tell the story. What was the process of selecting it?

Thankfully, I really like both the US and the UK covers, because I was very stressed about it. I’m an aesthetically driven person, and I thought, if I don’t like my cover, what am I going to do? They sent me the US cover quite a few weeks before the UK one. I thought it was really strong. I liked that it had a kind of 70s vibe. My only note was whether the colors captured the novel’s lighter side, but I trusted the designers completely. What’s been fascinating is seeing the translation covers and how different markets interpret the book visually. When I show the US and UK covers to Brits and Americans, Americans always prefer the American one, which tells you the designers knew what they were doing.

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Because so much of what I write about is the intersection of books and music, I noticed the Cleo Sol mention and the Destiny’s Child moment. Was there music you were listening to while you were writing?

Yes. I actually have a playlist I made while writing that I can send you. I do this for every book. Both my novels have completely different playlists, and I listen while I work.

Music is essential to how I write, because my writing is so rooted in rhythm. Music is the closest thing to the texture I’m trying to create in a scene or across the novel as a whole. If I’m stuck, I’ll put music on loud and dance around my house, and then come back to the page. It helps me get out of my own head and hear what the story wants.

If you had to name one song or album as the core sound of Honey, what would it be?

There’s a song I heard recently where I thought, “This is the most Yrsa song I’ve ever heard, but I can’t put it on the playlist because it’s too explicit.” It’s by a musician called Imani Coppola, who I’m named after. I feel like that song is very Yrsa-coded, but I won’t be promoting it anywhere.

From the actual playlist, I listened to a lot of Nina Simone. And the Billie Holiday album Trav’Lin’ Light, that’s mentioned in the book. Those tapped into the maternal line and the novel’s spiritual core. And then Beyoncé’s “Pure Honey” was a significant one.

There’s also an artist I discovered recently, Kirby, and she has a song called “Reparations,” where I thought, yes, that’s exactly what Yrsa is doing. During our title conversations, I even floated “Reparations” as a possible title, jokingly. They were not going with that.

I read that you were moodboarding with Danielle McKinney’s work. I could absolutely see parts of the book in her paintings.

Yes. And now I’m thinking if I mention Danielle McKinney enough, maybe one day she’ll paint something for me. Her work is so beautiful. I watch a novel like a movie in my head as I write, so visual cues are really helpful. I use Pinterest a lot for moodboarding. With the book I’m writing now, I sometimes go back to those boards and get direct ideas for scenes. I also try to go to exhibitions, watch films, and constantly feed the imagination.

You describe your writing process as spiritual. How much does that shape how you work?

It’s hard to articulate, because it’s not spirituality in a traditional sense. The concept for Honey was strategic. I thought about how to write something that could get published. But once I had that, I had to get out of my own way.

It feels like a spiritual practice because I’m tapping into something I can’t fully explain. I have to listen. That’s why I rely on music, why I move around, why I try to get out of my own head. I’m trying to hear what the story needs.

And I think if it comes to you that way, it’s easier to sustain than trying to force it.

Yes. But I also believe deeply in craft. You have to read. You have to study. You have to understand how books work. When that discipline meets the more intuitive side, that’s when something really strong can happen.

Can you tell us anything about the second book?

It’s quite different. There’s less dialogue and more focus on prose, and it’s written in first person, which has been really enjoyable. In some ways, I feel more comfortable with it because there’s less plotting. But I always want to push myself and try something new with form. What’s strange is that I’ve already written another book, but it might be years before anyone reads it. In a world that moves so quickly, publishing is still very slow.

Purchase Honey by Imani Thompson

1. Album as a Book: ‘Superbloom’ by Jessie Ware

2. Leonor Mamanna on Consistency, Reading & Curating

3. on the jungle floor and the phases of love

Hi friends —

I started writing this week’s newsletter while sitting in the braid shop for eight hours on Saturday. I’d like to believe that had more to do with the complexity of my style than the size of my head. It turned out to be a good place to read: I finished Start With Yourself, made good progress on Enormous Wings, and started A Harlem Wedding. It was also a good place to sit with my thoughts.

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation about taste and preferences when it comes to books and music. I’ve always believed you can tell a lot about a person by what they return to: the books they reread, the albums they can recite, and the memories they bring up unprompted. Taste is never just taste. It’s biographical.

So today, I’m sharing five books and five albums that don’t just entertain me. They explain me. And as an indecisive Libra, narrowing this down was a challenge — almost as hard as the desert island book list I once asked to make.

Five books and what they say about me

I’m Down by Mishna Wolff
If you’ve been a reader of this newsletter for a while, you’ve probably seen me mention this book tons of times. It’s my favorite book. It’s a memoir about a girl trying to fit in, trying to belong, and trying to be seen in a world where she sticks out like a sore thumb, and she learns to find humor in that. Every time I reread it, I find something new to hold onto. Some books you meet once. This one has met me at many points in my life and speaks to the gap between who you are and who the world thinks you should be.

Jazz by Toni Morrison
My first Toni Morrison book, stolen from my stepmom’s bookshelf because I wanted to read an adult book. The way she puts words together mesmerized me. The subject matter was something I had never lived through, but I felt I understood it instinctively. That was when I learned stories don’t need to be your lived experiences to stick with you. This book made me feel like I could read other people’s truths and secrets as if they were my own.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Not to be hella dramatic, but this book kind of changed my trajectory. I read it in college and wrote a review about it for my journalism class. Professor Wallace, my favorite professor ever, read it and told me to pitch it to my school newspaper, The Pioneer, and it got published. At the time, I was a conflicted broadcast major: I enjoyed talking but hated having to redo segments because of my facial expressions (still tracks), so this book and that encouragement gave me the confidence to focus on print journalism instead. If I had to sum it up, again in dramatic terms, this book helped me find my confidence. Not to mention, the story stirred up so many emotions.

The Color of Water by James McBride
This is my second-favorite book of all time. I had to read it for class, but I kept highlighting passages and copying lines into my journal. This is the book that made me a James McBride fan. With this book, I loved how he wrote about his family with tenderness, specificity, humor, and grace. He understands that the smallest details are often where love lives. Every time I return to it, I’m reminded that great writing is not just about what happened, but how closely you paid attention.

Love by the Book by Jessica George
This is a newbie book. It came out last month, and I loved it so much. What I loved about this book is how honest it felt about the kinds of relationships adulthood asks us to maintain. Friendships. Love lives. Careers. Responsibilities. The people we show up for, and the people and things we unintentionally neglect. This book made me think about how I move through my own friendships and the ways I want to be better in them. To me, this book shows me constantly learning how to show up for the people I love, and I loved Remy and Simone’s friendship.

Five albums and what they say about who I am

Christina Aguilera’s self-titled debut
This album made me a digital creator. Before Tumblr, Myspace, and Blackplanet, where you could show off your coding skills, there was Geocities, and a girl with braces, a press and curl, and glasses who had a love for Christina Aguilera. My best friend and I created a fan site for Christina, xtinaland.geocities.com, devoted to her, complete with a scrolling marquee of lyrics and nicknames. Long before “content creation” was a career path, I was already making things because I loved something. This album still hits, though I must say. Let this be your push to listen to “Love for All Seasons,” “Somebody’s Somebody,” and “When You Put Your Hands on Me” on a loop.

Secrets by Toni Braxton
This is one of the first albums I remember knowing every word to. I even got in trouble for knowing every word to it, which somehow told me she was talking about a lot. Toni Braxton was, and still is, one of my favorite singers ever, and growing up, she was everything to me. This album raised me before I understood what it was teaching. I revisit this album when I’m in a mood — any kind of mood: obnoxious and wanting to sing loud in the car with my windows down, domestic and want to clean up my house, annoyed and wondering “Why Should I Care.” Truthfully, an iconic album.

Share My World by Mary J. Blige
This is one of the albums I was raised on. It was one of my mom’s favorites, and she would play it ALL the time: while cleaning, and even now, as I type the title, I can hear the title track in my head. Some albums stop being music and become part of your story, and this is that album for me. This one became home. I think with relationships and life, my mom felt the lyrics a lot as I was growing up, and it wasn’t until I was older that I really understood the lyrics of the songs I knew all the words to.

The Listening by Little Brother
To know me is to know I love Little Brother. I’m not sure why I keep using that as a phrase, but let’s roll with it. This album is my comfort album for sure. It’s an album I can play from start to finish without a single skip. If I need to feel lighter, steadier, happier, this is where I go. I think there’s something powerful about knowing exactly what restores you, and what album can change the path of your day. This album also features one of my favorite runs of sequencing, starting with “Speed” and continuing through “The Way You Do It.” Those 8 songs are all back-to-back, so I’m just reiterating that point in hopes you’ll listen if you haven’t.

Heard It In a Past Life by Maggie Rogers
Some albums belong to a season. This one belongs to my life. I listen to some part of this album every single day — on walks, while working, in the car, at the coffee shop, through moods I can name and the ones I can’t. It meets me wherever I am and somehow always leaves me steadier than it found me. For me, this album feels like learning to trust the season that I am in.

Looking at both my book and music lists, I don’t just see favorites. I see breadcrumbs into who raised me, what moved me, what gave me language, what gave me perspective, and what steadies me now.

Maybe that’s all taste really is: a record of the things that helped make us, and the things still shaping who we’re becoming.

⚡ I’m curious: what books or albums do you keep returning to, and what do they say about you?

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A little bit more for this week:

🔗 wrote a GREAT piece on Beyonce’s Lemonade which just celebrated its ten-year anniversary. Reading it reminded me that I need to spend more time consuming the album and visuals.

🔗 I sent this to all the Sade fans in my life. As always writes such a great edition and this one is on Sade who is one of the newest inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

📚 I finished Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel on Sunday and thought it was quirky and fun, with a deeper storyline than it first lets on. I wrote about it on my Storygraph and Goodreads and believe it would be a good book for a book club discussion.

📚 If you’re curious what books should be on your radar next month, made a pretty good list, which you can read here.

🎧 I have not stopped listening to Kehlani’s new self-titled album.

🎧 Last week I went down a full Disclosure rabbit hole after Spotify shuffled to “Omen” featuring Sam Smith. From there I went to “Holding On” featuring Gregory Porter, then “Voices” featuring Sasha Keable, which is how I first discovered her. That led me to “Giving It All” by Bondax, one of my favorite songs of 2013—which somehow introduced me to Disclosure in the first place. Full circle. Play any of those songs if you need an afternoon dopamine hit. | They are all on my SPRING playlist as well.

⚡ With the lists up top, as mentioned, it was a little hard for me to just one album or one book, but I have written about a few of the other albums that have shaped me recently, so sharing those as well:

That’s it for this week - I’ll catch you next week.

Hi friends,

​As I mentioned in last Tuesday’s newsletter, I wanted to spend time with Jessie Ware’s new album, Superbloom, which was released April 17th.

​To know me is to know I love Jessie Ware.

​I’ve been a fan since Devotion in 2012. And what has kept me as a fan throughout the years is her constant evolution. Her sound changes with each era, but intimacy, relationships, and her vocals remain central. Superbloom continues this tradition, and it might be her most complete statement yet.

In the press release for the album, Jessie said she wanted to move past the escapism of What’s Your Pleasure? and explore real relationships—the love she has and the fear of losing it. This album does just that. It closes a trilogy beginning with What’s Your Pleasure? and That! Feels Good! Those records were about discovering pleasure; this one is about integration, trading fantasy for presence, and embodying desire, love, and motherhood together without contradiction.

Listening to this album, I couldn't stop thinking about it as a story. So I opened it like a book and here’s what I found.

If this album were a novel…

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For this week’s newsletter, I am excited to share an interview with Leonor Mamanna, who writes one of my favorite newsletters, Leave It to Leonor.

I have been reading Leonor’s newsletter for a long time, almost 200+ editions, I think. For me, this tells me two things: first, wow, time flies when you’re reading well, and second, Leonor has the consistency I aspire to.

Leonor started her newsletter in August 2016, ten years ago this year, and what began as a place to share what she was reading, watching, and loving has grown into one of the most reliably good things in my inbox week after week. By day, Leonor works as a visuals director and has been the person behind the Instagram account for the novel A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.

Leonor has been reading all her life—devouring Babysitters Club, borrowing books from her aunt, and even reading VC Andrews at a young age. The House on Mango Street was the first book that truly reflected her and her family, shaping her reading journey.

We bonded over our love of Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang. In our conversation, we covered a range of topics, including:

• How did Leave It to Leonor evolve from a simple link roundup into the essay-and-recommendations format it is today?

• The way her day job as a visuals director shapes how she curates and what she looks for when she’s putting the newsletter together

• Our years of being chronically online: Livejournal, Myspace, Geocities

• Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, her dream guest list, and why Tracee Ellis Ross needs to be on it immediately

• Reading three books at a time without losing the thread, and her two current recommendations: The Safekeep (go in blind) and The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy.

• The A Little Life Instagram, Book Face Fridays, and what eleven years of watching people rediscover a book looks like up close

Below you will find a few links to things mentioned in our conversation. You can listen to the interview on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or Pocketcasts.

Listen to Podcast on Spotify

Listen to Podcast on Apple

Subscribe it to Leave it to Leonor

Books mentioned in this episode:

• The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

• The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

• To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

• Less by Andrew Sean Greer

• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

• Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

Good Hang episodes we referenced:

• Dakota Johnson

• Regina Hall

• Gwyneth Paltrow

• Viola Davis

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A little bit more for this week:

🎵 Jessie Ware released her sixth album, Superbloom, on Friday, and I love it. To know me is to know that Jessie is my girl, and one of the things I appreciate most about her music is how she constantly evolves her sound. I’ll be writing more about this album for my Sunday newsletter, but please listen to it.

🔗 Imperfect Women is keeping me on my toes and here is an interview with the cast. If you’re watching it, let’s discuss, please.

🔗 My gal wrote a great piece about why the Dallas Wings were right to shutdown the questions around Azzi Fudd’s relationship with Paige Bueckers.

🔗 If you have seen The Drama and/or having followed the career of Zendaya, I thought this was an interesting perspective from Doreen St. Felix for The New Yorker.

📺 Enjoyed watching this conversation with Jill Scott and Tyler the Creator so much.

📺 As someone on social media, and someone who works in social media, I really enjoyed KevOnStage’s interview on Cam Newton’s podcast. Cam asked good questions which… also has me flabbergasted.

📺 I know that Emma Grede has ruffled some feathers on her press tour for her new book, Start With Yourself, about WFH and motherhood, but I must admit I have been enjoying it. Here are a few of her tour stops that I enjoyed: Joe Budden podcast, She’s So Lucky Podcast, Baby it’s Keke Palmer Podcast and Monica Lewinsky’s podcast.

Well that’s it for this week. I’ll catch you on Sunday!

• Interview with Jordan Hernandez of

• Q1 in Books, Music and Everything Else

• Continued listens and reads inspired by FX’s Love Story

Hi friends —

Happy Tuesday. Over the weekend, I was writing about one of my favorite albums of all time celebrating it’s 20th year anniversary, and also, started writing about Brandy’s memoir, Phases, and Jessica George’s new book, Love by The Book, so instead of writing three separate newsletters, I put them all in one place with a few other things I’m recommending this week so let’s jump into it.

Anniversary: Van Hunt’s On The Jungle Floor

Earlier this month, one of my favorite albums of all time, Van Hunt’s On the Jungle Floor, celebrated its 20th anniversary.

The album came out during my senior year, and I remember my stepmom taking my friend and me to Virgin Records in Union Square in San Francisco just so I could get it. I then made her play the album all the way back to Foster City. By the time we hit the bridge, I had already established that I loved this album — that for me, it would be an instant classic, in my heart.

That's the beauty of this record. It's the opposite of a slow burn — so I guess a fast burn? From the first few songs, you could tell that something different was happening here. It's a funky album with a beautiful blend of rock and soul, and the writing, the singing, the instrumentation — all of it. One of the saddest things about it, to me, is that not as many people know it as should. When I say I played the hell out of this album, that would be an understatement. It was the backdrop to so many of my favorite memories, including one in particular: driving my Ford Escort Sports Coupe up Webster trying to get to the Fillmore, not understanding the light-braking-on-hills thing, and watching my car start rolling backwards. Van Hunt was playing. I survived.

The songs I revisit often are: “If I Take You Home” “Hot Stage Lights”“Being a Girl” “Suspicion (She Knows Me Too Well)” “Character” “The Thrill of This Love” and “The Night is Young.” I could describe each of these songs to you, but what I really want you to understand is that, this album is full of songs that give you something new every single time. Van Hunt writes songs and relationships the way authors do, with interiority and contradiction without judgement.

Twenty years later, I still have the same reaction to these songs that I did when I was a teenager, and I think that’s beautiful.

Also, if you want to be entertained: I interviewed him in college for my blog, and you can tell from literally the very first second how excited I was to be talking to him.

Listen to interview here

Book: Brandy’s memoir Phases

I had been excited to read Brandy’s memoir since last year, when I first heard it was coming out. To know me is to know I love Brandy. She has been one of my favorite singers since childhood, and as a fan I was confident the book was going to be good — and truthfully, it delivered.

Read more

As a reader, I have always thought about the reading community and how I show up in it. With so many readers having book clubs and a new wave of silent book clubs popping up around the country, it’s clear that I’m not alone in that thinking. People are looking for both connection and community around reading, both digitally and in-person, and Jordan Hernandez, founder of Completely Booked, has made it her mission to build exactly that.

​Jordan started the community in February 2020, before the pandemic stopped the world, and what began as a platform to share what she was reading has grown into a virtual book club, in-person book swaps, author conversations, a thriving digital community on both Instagram and TikTok, and a Substack where she writes with the kind of specificity and honesty that both invites you in, and also makes you save a few notes and reads for later.

​I have been following Jordan’s content for a while, and was excited to chat with her about the importance of reading diverse books, the community she’s cultivating on social media, and even some of the parallels between reading and her passion for running. In our conversation, we discussed many things including:

• Her origin story as a reader and how magazines changed everything

• The responsibility and joy of curating books for a community

• What it actually means to read diversely and why it matters right now

• How she thinks about building community across different platforms

• What makes a great audiobook and her immersive reading method

• The parallels between marathon training and being an avid reader

You can listen to the interview on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or Pocketcasts.

Listen to Podcast on Spotify

Listen to Podcast on Apple

Connect with Jordan:
⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠TikTok⁠ | ⁠Threads⁠ | ⁠Substack⁠

Completely Booked newsletters mentioned:

• 11 Novels Coming by Black Women in 2026

• From Bad Bunny to Boricua Books: 10 Puerto Rican Authors You Should Be Reading Now

• 5 Audiobooks That Made Me Fall Even Deeper in Love With Reading

Books mentioned during our conversation:

• If I Ruled the World by Amy DuBois Barnett

• The Slightest Green by Sahar Mustafah

• What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez

• Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams

• The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Motley

• The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

• Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi

• Kin by Tayari Jones

• I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For by Bsrat Mezghebe

• Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

• The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery by Clarence A. Haynes

• Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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A little bit more for this week:

🔗 Angel Reese was traded to the Atlanta Dream, and I’m pretty excited about it personally. I think she will do great on that team and I’m excited to see her play with Howard and Gray.

🔗 Also in WNBA news, I am counting down the days to the draft next week and am hosting a baby dinner party: wings and salad are currently on the menu.

📚 American Fantasy by Emma Straub is out today and it was a fun read. I finished it last week and will say that while the topic was kind of random, boy-bands on a cruise ship, it was a fun and light read. If you read it, please let me know your thoughts.

📚Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke comes out today as well, and I can’t wait to read this book. From all the reviews I have listened to or read about this book so far, it seems like it will be such a good book. Here’s an interview with the author, and a short description of the book:

Well this is all for this week, I’ll catch you next week. In the meantime, here is my new playlist: Spotify | Apple Music

Hi friends,

It’s hard to believe Q1 is already over. So much has happened these past few months, so let’s dive in.

Things I Read

This quarter, I read 23 books, averaging about four days per book. 57% were fiction and 43% nonfiction. I read Kin by Tayari Jones twice—more on that below. I also did my yearly rereads of two Jocelyn K. Glei books. Below are the ones I rated 4 stars or higher.

My full list is on Storygraph. If you’re on there, add me! I still haven’t figured out how to add people.

Truly — Lionel Richie
I was really pressed to read this, and it quickly became one of my favorites this quarter. This memoir shows how Lionel Richie stayed relevant across different eras of music, which is harder than it sounds. The stories are funny, the career retrospective is fascinating, and Blair Underwood’s narration adds something special. Full thoughts here.

Little One — Olivia Muenter
I’ve wanted to read this ever since Olivia mentioned it on her podcast, Bad on Paper, and I devoured it. This is Olivia’s second novel, following Catharine West, whose perfect-looking childhood on a Florida wellness commune hid a much darker truth. When a journalist digs into her past ten years later, the life she rebuilt starts to unravel. The book is atmospheric and tense, with a timely look at wellness culture and what we give up chasing perfection.

With Love From Harlem — ReShonda Tate
I couldn’t stop recommending this book, leading me to interview ReShonda Tate. She summarized the story well:

“It’s a historical novel about Hazel Scott, one of the most brilliant and groundbreaking entertainers of the 20th century, and her high-profile, deeply complicated relationship with Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. The book is set against the backdrop of 1940s and 50s Harlem and explores what happens when two ambitious, larger-than-life Black icons collide at the height of their power. At its heart, the story is about fame, love, ambition, and sacrifice. It asks what it costs to be a trailblazer when the world is applauding your talent but still trying to control your voice.”

Watch/Listen to the full interview here.

I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For — Bsrat Mezghebe
This was another favorite of mine this quarter, and I even got to talk with the author, Bsrat Mezghebe. This is Bsrat’s debut novel, published in the Well-Read Black Girl series. It follows three women in an Eritrean-American family as they figure out what peace means while Eritrea moves toward independence from Ethiopia in 1991. The characters are vivid, the writing is beautiful, and this story has really stuck with me.

Watch/Listen to the full interview here.

Keeper of Lost Children — Sadeqa Johnson
After loving House of Eve, I was excited to read this one. Keeper of Lost Children weaves together three storylines set in Occupied Germany (1948) and Maryland in 1965. They all come together around one woman’s vision and the power of love in its many forms. Sadeqa Johnson writes with warmth and detail. If you enjoyed House of Eve, you’ll want to pick this up next.

Kin — Tayari Jones
I loved this book so much I read it twice—first as a digital ARC, then again when it was released in print and audio. Kin tells the story of Vernice and Annie, two motherless women raised together in Louisiana who end up living very different lives. One finds stability and sisterhood at Spelman, while the other searches for the mother who left her, facing danger and unexpected love. The praise for this book is well deserved—the writing is beautiful, and it’s a story that stays with you. I also got to talk about it with my friend Kate of , and you can watch our conversation here.

It’s No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy — Margena A. Christian
Before reading this, I didn’t know much about Sylvia Moy, but now I want to keep learning about her legacy. It’s No Wonder tells the story of Motown’s first certified female in-house songwriter and producer, a Detroit native who saved Stevie Wonder’s early career and wrote classics like “I Was Made to Love Her” and “It Takes Two.” This book is a much-needed historical correction and a reminder that without Sylvia Moy, Stevie Wonder’s music wouldn’t be the same. Imagine a world without Songs in the Key of Life—it would honestly be so sad. Please give this book a read.

Black.Single.Mother. Real Life Tales of Longing & Belonging — Jamilah Lemieux
I’ve followed Jamilah since her days at Ebony, so her new book was a big deal for me. The fact that it’s about Black single motherhood made it even more special. Black.Single.Mother. mixes personal stories, cultural analysis, and honest interviews. It gives a real, unapologetic look at Black single mothers and the world they move through. Lemieux doesn’t hold back. The book is both a celebration and a much-needed correction.

Big Girl Blitz — Danielle Allen (out 4/14)
I loved this book—even though romance isn’t usually my go-to, this one had me blushing and flipping pages the whole time. Big Girl Blitz is about Jazmyn, who leaves her hometown for a fresh start, only to be pushed back into dating by her Aunt Addison and a charming guy named Lamar she meets at a sports bar. It’s fun, warm, and handles body image with a gentle touch. I listened to the audiobook, which was the perfect way to experience it. Highly recommend.

Arsenio — Arsenio Hall with Alan Eisenstock
I was so excited when I heard Arsenio Hall was releasing a memoir. My parents say I was so obsessed with his show as a baby that I learned to walk just to watch it. I grew up as part of the Dog Pound. I loved reading about his beginnings in magic, the story behind his show, and Coming to America. I also enjoyed how he spoke about the people he looked up to. The book feels like he’s talking right to you, which made it a really fun read. I’m glad he got to share his story.

Additionally, here a few pieces I read and saved this quarter:

If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books? — The New Yorker
This article came out in December, but I read it in January. Since I work in social media and read a lot, my answer to the question is: not really. The author met his book goal but didn’t actually read more. The stats about kids reading less were especially sad.

Thelma Golden on The Literature of Harlem — The New Yorker
Thelma Golden’s work at The Studio Museum of Harlem makes her one of the best people to ask for Harlem reading recommendations. Period.

Book Date No. 19 — ’s Extracurricular
Speaking of Thelma Golden, I liked her conversation with Tembe about her reading habits. They talked about the first book that changed her and how she would describe her taste in books.

For Tayari Jones, All Roads and All Novels Lead to Atlanta — The New York Times
Just a heads up: Kin is mentioned a lot in this newsletter. This profile by Elisabeth Egan covers Tayari’s background as a writer and the story of her return home that inspired the book. It’s worth reading.

On ‘Shrinking,’ Jessica Williams Moves the Needle — The New York Times.
Pretty pictures. Good profile. I love Jessica’s role in Shrinking.

Exclusive: The Jay-Z Interview — GQ
This was a great interview, both in print and video. I took notes on a lot of Jay-Z’s thoughts about blessings, wealth, and managing relationships. The companion piece with his friends—Kevin Hart, Pharrell, Chris Martin, and Alicia Keys—is a fun extra.

A’ja Wilson Is Just Getting Started — Vogue
I absolutely loved this profile. It was so good.

Things I Listened To:

This quarter brought some great musical milestones.

Two of my favorite albums, Corinne Bailey Rae’s self-titled debut and India Arie’s Acoustic Soul, celebrated big anniversaries—Corinne’s turned 20 and India’s turned 25. I talked about Corinne’s album before, here, but wanted to share a few notes on India’s.

I can remember the first time I heard “Video”—it was at Great America after a dance recital and a girl was singing it at karaoke at this little town square thing. I immediately felt like someone had finally put my feelings into words. I went home, begged my mom to buy me the album, and sang every word in my room like it meant everything. Acoustic Soul gave me words for feelings I’d have later and things I wanted to understand. Not every album does that. It came out in 2001, went double platinum, got seven Grammy nominations, but didn’t win any. The Grammys missed it, but the culture didn’t.

Besides those two albums, I spent a lot of this quarter blasting Guapdad 4000’s “Champagne Showers” and perfecting my gym playlist, which you can listen to via Spotify or Apple Music.

Other favorites from the quarter:

• Big K.R.I.T - Cadalee Biarritz - Duh, this would be on my list. K.R.I.T is my guy and this album sounds perfect now that the weather is getting a little better.

• Alex Isley - When The City Sleeps - This album is beautiful and truthfully, only has one skip for me. Sorry, not a fan of “Hands,” but love this album a lot.

• Samm Henshaw — It Could Be Worse — I listen to some version of this album almost every day, especially the song “Wait Forever.”

• Jay-Z — In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 — I’ve had this on repeat lately, though I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the weather. Either way, it’s been playing a lot.

• Jill Scott — The Real Thing, Words & Sounds Vol. 3 — I revisited this because of Jill’s new album. I still need to listen to the new one more, but this album is my favorite.

• Maggie Rogers — Heard It In A Past Life — This album is always on my list. Also, Maggie moved her newsletter to Substack, so subscribe if you haven’t already.

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Additionally, here are a few podcasts and shows I loved this quarter:

• FX’s Love Story — I finished this show and have quite a few bones to pick with it. I do think though, while there were definitely cringy things that happened in the show, and most of it is unverifiable, the saving grace was the music and the fashion. The last episode was really sad though, and again, I only believe about 15% of that episode.

• Shrinking - This is one of my favorite shows, and I’m so happy it’s back. This season, again the character development is good. Last week’s episode did make me cry though.

• Amy Poehler’s Good Hang — There were so many great episodes this quarter. My favorites were Steve Carell (he’s really in his silver fox era), Viola Davis (it was so fun hearing her curse), Ryan Coogler, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

• The Oprah Podcast — The Tayari Jones episode was excellent. Oprah asked really thoughtful questions. I also loved the Jennifer Wallace and Ina Garten episode about what it means to matter to yourself and others. Also enjoyed Oprah’s conversation on the Wild Card podcast.

• The Pivot Podcast — It was a strong quarter for this show. My favorite episodes featured Jayson Tatum, Aldis Hodge, Breanna Stewart, and Jeezy.

• Aspire with Emma Grede - Emma has so many great conversations on her podcast throughout the quarter and some of my favorites were her conversations with James Clear, Angelica Nwandu and Issa Rae just to name a few.

That wraps up Q1.

Looking ahead, I’m excited for Brandy’s memoir Phases (out today), Jesse Ware’s new album Superbloom, finally seeing Big K.R.I.T. live again, both WNBA drafts, and hopefully some good weather.

That’s all for this week. In the meantime, here are a few newsletters from this quarter you might have missed:

It’s my dad’s birthday today, and it’s kind of tripping me out.

Watching your parents age is beautiful, and also a reminder that you, too, are getting older. It’s interesting seeing the roles shift: the parent coming to you with new discoveries, curious about your interests and opinions on things. I can’t necessarily pinpoint the shift, but it just makes me smile. My dad’s latest discoveries have been J. Cole’s The Fall-Out and Kendrick Lamar’s GNX.

As an only child, I spent a lot of time with my dad. In many ways, we grew up side by side. I was learning about life while he was learning about fatherhood. We shaped each other as we went, often without realizing it. With that, he’s always been my guiding light and one of my daily sounding boards.

Throughout our life together he taught me so many things: how to use chopsticks, the importance of learning people's names in conversation, the importance of routines, money management, and that people-watching could be transformative for my creative process. While he’s taught me so much, one of my favorite things he has given me is a love of music.

Talking about new artists and songs with my dad is one of my favorite things — it always makes me giddy. And since this newsletter is about books and music, I want to talk specifically about what he has shared with me in those spaces. Some of my earliest experiences with him laid the groundwork for the way I connect stories, sounds, and memories.

MUSICAL MEMORIES

My dad took me to my second concert ever, which was to see Cameo at Kimball’s East in Emeryville. I was about five or six and I can remember my feet swinging in the chair as I ate popcorn shrimp. I can’t remember the concert in full, but what I do remember is my dad truly in his element, singing along to the songs and happy to be there. That is one of the memories that birthed my love of music and concerts. It gave me my first real understanding of what music can do to a person when it really gets you.

And it only grew from there. Throughout the years my dad exposed me to so many of his favorite artists: Marcus Miller, De La Soul, Loose Ends, Eric Benét, and Whodini. He also introduced me to my second crush ever, Warren G, via a cassette tape in the back of his Honda Accord (my first crush was Martin Luther King, in case you were wondering). He introduced me to Musiq Soulchild, which led me to some of my favorite artists of all time: Van Hunt, Ledisi, Kem, Corinne Bailey Rae, Dwele, and Eric Roberson. He has taken me to see many of these artists live, and those concerts have been some of my favorite memories with my dad.

BOOKISH THINGS

Every other weekend my dad would take me to Barnes & Noble to get new books. I’d ball out, getting lost in the store, grabbing everything I wanted. To this day when I faux-complain about how much I spend on books, he always says there are worse things I could be spending money on.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is one of his favorites, and it shows: stay open, save when you can, splurge when necessary. He read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch for a book club and came back with so much to say that I went and read it myself. It has been one of my favorite books ever since, while it’s not quite a desert island book, it’s one I return to often.

More recently, Rich Paul’s Lucky Me has become one of those books we both consumed and keep coming back to in conversation. He listened to the audiobook while I read it in print, and he says it’s one of the best audiobooks he has ever listened to. In Rich’s story he talks about his relationship with his dad and how he instilled so much in him throughout his life. While our situations were different, I can resonate with that wholeheartedly. So much of what I write and enjoy started with my dad. From car rides and roaming the city to our second concert together, those moments shaped everything I share here.

Happy birthday to my dad.

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A few other things worth checking out this week:

Last year for my dad’s birthday, I made a playlist for his birthday party and it was pretty good. You can listen to it here via Spotify — truthfully it was jamming.

Arsenio Hall’s new memoir, Arsenio, comes out on March 31st (some B&N’s already have it) and I could not recommend it enough. It was a great read and I loved learning the stories about how his show came to be, the backstory on Coming to America, his relationship with Eddie Murphy, Quincy Jones, and Richard Pryor.

Also, on Arsenio Hall, here’s an interesting article on him and his memoir for The New Yorker. And just because, here are a few of my favorite performances from the Arsenio Hall Show—yes, I do often watch old things like this on YouTube.

• Heavy D and The Boys “Somebody For Me”

• MC Hammer - “Turn This Mutha Out” also “They Put Me In the Mix”

• Tupac ft. Digital Underground - “I Got Around”

• Prince - Let's Go Crazy & Kiss

Judy Blume’s biography came out earlier this month, and I saw that she was not doing any press for the book. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, but did think this was an interesting article about biographies.

Not sure if I have shared this yet, but this was a great read on Audi Crooks. I am also wishing everyone well wishes on their March Madness brackets.

That’s it for this week. I’ll catch up with you :)

Hi friends,

That might be my longest subject line in a while, but I’m pretty excited to write this one because I’m watching episode seven of the show as I write.

This episode follows John and Carolyn’s wedding and the paparazzi are doing the absolute most. Seeing how difficult the adjustment was for Carolyn was sad to watch, which might explain why my mind kept drifting to my own memories of their relationship. I remember seeing their photos splashed on the covers of my mom’s weekly magazine haul — she was a Life & Style and US Weekly lady, so naturally, I was as well. And I recall the plane disappearance making headlines everywhere, including the Today Show, which we watched every morning before school.

For me, watching this show was not about discovering something new. It's about re-experiencing a familiar story through a fresh lens and deepening my understanding of who John and Carolyn actually were to each other, beyond what the magazines showed me.

It’s been a good show so far, and for me, the strength of the show is the music.

The musical direction is superb.

With each episode, I kept writing down songs that caught my ear—until I realized FX had already released an official playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Listening to it, you get a sense of what it felt like to be young, in love, and maybe slightly overwhelmed in the 90s. It’s the quintessential 90s playlist.

Here are some of my favorite songs from the show:

“We Got a Love Thang” — CeCe Peniston

I forgot how much of a jam this song is. Growing up, CeCe Peniston was my mom’s third-favorite singer, after Whitney Houston and Cherrelle. Constantly playing her music at home, my mom made sure to see CeCe whenever she came to Oakland. So when this song came on in episode one, I was like heyyyyyyy—it instantly makes me want to dance and took me back to dance parties with my mom as a child.

Hearing it sent me back to CeCe’s album Finally, where this song lives. Since I was so young when it was released, I only remembered certain tracks by ear. Now, listening again, I get a window into who my mom was in her late twenties. Like that first song, the whole album is jamming, making me want to dance with squared shoulders and my eyes closed.

“Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” — P.M. Dawn

I fell into a Love Story subreddit and found a detail I haven’t been able to stop thinking about: reportedly, this was one of Carolyn’s favorite songs to dance to. Someone wrote about magazines from that era documenting her dancing to it. We spent so much time watching Carolyn through a lens of scrutiny. But she was also just a woman who had a favorite song to dance to.

“No Ordinary Love” — Sade

There’s a scene early in the show where John and Carolyn sneak out of the city and end up at a diner—just the two of them, no cameras. A jukebox sits in the corner. Suddenly, this song comes on, and they both light up. Carolyn mentions she was about to request it, while John laughs and says, ‘Who doesn’t like Sade?’ Although it’s such a small scene, it stuck with me. The moment you see exactly who he was when no one was performing. It also sent me straight back to Love Deluxe. What an album. For the record, my personal favorite from it is ‘I Couldn’t Love You More,’ in case you wanted to know.

“This Woman’s Work” — Kate Bush

I had no idea Maxwell’s “This Woman’s Work” was a cover until this show. At first, I assumed it was just a song in a different style. But Kate Bush wrote and recorded it first. Hearing her original stopped me. The song plays in the background at a party where John and Carolyn first connect. It fits so perfectly, you’d think it was written for that moment. If you only know Maxwell’s version, go back to the source.

“Sullen Girl” — Fiona Apple

This plays at the end of episode seven, right after the wedding, and just as the paparazzi are at their most relentless. It’s the perfect song for that moment. It captures everything Carolyn was carrying in song form: the exhaustion of being watched, the slow erosion of privacy, and the way you eventually learn to go quiet just to survive it.

“It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over” — Lenny Kravitz

What a perfect, complicated song to include in a story we already know the ending to. I can’t fully explain what it does to me. But I felt it.

“Kiss Me” — Sixpence None the Richer

This is the quintessential 90s romance song—full stop. Innocent and hopeful in a way that feels almost cruel in retrospect.

“Heaven or Las Vegas” — Cocteau Twins

Dream pop that sounds like longing you can’t quite name. The show spends its entire run chasing exactly this feeling.

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My continued listening

There were two other artists who were not featured on the playlist that I think could speak to their relationship and the time in general and that was Lauryn Hill and Maxwell.

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

In the subreddit streets, people were talking about how Lauryn Hill was one of their favorite artists, and how there were photos of them at her concert. No one posted them, and I never went back through the thread to find more, but I could see songs from this album like “When It Hurts so Bad” “Ex-Factor” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” being songs of their love story.

Maxwell - Urban Hang Suite

This album was released the year John and Carolyn got married and is still my favorite Maxwell album. This album is lush and intimate and sounds like a relationship that belongs to two people. Listening to the playlist also, can’t you hear “… Til The Cops Come Knockin’" or “The Suite Theme?”

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Books for continued reading

Here are books I thought of in relation to the show.

Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller—the book that inspired the show and reframes everything. Beller argues Carolyn was sharp, driven, and misrepresented, laying the groundwork for the show’s perspective.

What Remains by Carole Radziwill — Carole writes with directness about her experiences inside this world. Her memoir reflects on losing her husband, Anthony (JFK Jr.’s cousin), and then John and Carolyn, all within the same year. The narrative remains intimate and engaging, offering a portrait of Carolyn as a real person rather than as anyone’s public persona.

Fairy Tale Interrupted by RoseMarie Terenzio recounts the experience of JFK Jr.’s personal assistant and Carolyn’s close friend. This behind-the-scenes account proceeds with clarity, resembling a 90s workplace novel while focusing on personal and professional dynamics.

The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown introduces the Princess Diana parallel—a link the show gestures toward. In doing so, the book explores what it costs a woman to live inside a myth not entirely her own.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid is, at its core, a love story. It is told in retrospect, through others’ accounts, of two people whose relationship grew beyond what either intended. The mythology that forms around them feels very John-and-Carolyn.

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld imagines Hillary Clinton’s life if she had never married Bill. At its core, it asks what happens to a brilliant, ambitious woman when the world sees her only as part of someone else’s story. Sittenfeld writes it as fiction, but it lands like a biography. The way Carolyn navigates the Kennedy machinery reminded me of this novel and sent me straight back to it. I have read this book three different times and have enjoyed it every single time.

A few more things worth sharing this week:

• Derek is my absolute favorite character on Shrinking so naturally, I loved reading this profile on Ted McGinley.

• Also on Shrinking, if you watched last week’s episode, let’s discuss. I was so sad at the ending.

• I have finally fixed my little home for my podcasts. Please subscribe via Spotify, Apple or wherever you find podcasts.

• On Friday, Jack Harlow released his new album, Monica. There has been mixed reviews on the album including how he leaned more into R&B, but I didn’t mind it. I did enjoy this interview on Popcast also.

• Michael B. Jordan won a Oscar for Best Actor and I have been smiling ever since.

• Additionally, Ryan Coogler won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and I’ve been clapping ever since.

• I loved learning more about Elmiene’s story on the latest episode of R&B Money.

I have been talking about With Love from Harlem by ReShonda Tate to anyone who would listen. I even wrote about the book here.

ReShonda is the author of 54 books – yes, 54 books – and With Love from Harlem is her latest released on January 27th. It’s a historical novel about Hazel Scott, one of the most brilliant and groundbreaking entertainers of the 20th century, and her deeply complicated marriage to Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Set against the backdrop of 1940s and 50s Harlem, it’s a story about fame, love, ambition, and sacrifice. And at its heart, it asks what it truly costs to be a trailblazer when the world is applauding your talent but still trying to control your voice.

While reading, I took so many notes, and what I did not fully expect was how Hazel’s story would stay with me after reading.

Hazel was the first Black person to host a national television show. She was commanding $100,000 a year at a time when most Black women couldn’t walk through the front door of the venues she was selling out. And yet her legacy was largely erased — a casualty of the Red Scare and the particular way history treats Black women who refuse to be quiet. ReShonda wrote her back in, and I’m so grateful she did.

I got a chance to speak with ReShonda about the book and in our conversation, she talks about how she lays the foundation for her historical fiction with facts and fills in the private spaces with imagination, what drew her to Hazel Scott, the beautiful and complicated sisterhood between Hazel and Billie Holiday, and what she believes Hazel would say to artists navigating this current moment.

As always, you can watch the interview here on Substack or here via YouTube. You can also listen to the interview using the links below.

Listen/Watch on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

On finding creativity over time to write 54 books:

It includes my teen books. I used to write for teenagers, so that counts toward the total. But honestly, I just have an active imagination and I get inspiration from everywhere. I’ll be sitting in Starbucks working and someone walks in for their morning coffee with no idea they just became the inspiration for a character in my next novel.

On writing historical fiction:

I lay the foundation with facts. That’s what historical fiction is for me. I use real events as anchors while imagining the private conversations that happened behind closed doors. The fiction comes in filling in the blanks, but the majority of the story is grounded in what actually happened.

A quick synopsis of With Love from Harlem:

It’s a historical novel about Hazel Scott, one of the most brilliant and groundbreaking entertainers of the 20th century, and her high-profile, deeply complicated relationship with Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. He was known as the King of Harlem. The book is set against the backdrop of 1940s and 50s Harlem and explores what happens when two ambitious, larger-than-life Black icons collide at the height of their power. Hazel was a musical prodigy, a glamorous star, and a political force who refused to perform for segregated audiences.

At its heart, the story is about fame, love, ambition, and sacrifice. It asks what it costs to be a trailblazer when the world is applauding your talent but still trying to control your voice.

On what drew her to write about Hazel Scott after writing about Hattie McDaniel:

Hattie tried to change the world through endurance, through getting along. Hazel was the complete opposite. She wanted to change the world through defiance. She felt the world wasn’t adapting to what was right, and she wasn’t going to wait for it. I loved that contrast because there’s room in this world for both types of people.

The importance of Hazel Scott’s legacy:

She should be a household name, and the fact that she isn’t tells you everything about how history treats Black women. She was one of the most gifted musicians of her generation. She was the first Black person to host a national television show. She was commanding stages, reshaping classical music, starring in films, and earning $100,000 a year at a time when most Black women couldn’t walk through the front door of the venues she was selling out. And then her legacy was largely erased, a casualty of the Red Scare, of being labeled a communist for speaking up. I wanted to write her back into history.

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The Outro:

A few other things worth sharing this week:

📖 Reading Four new books dropped today worth your attention: Black. Single. Mother. by Jamilah Lemieux, Westward Women by Alice Martin, and Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer. I already finished the Blume biography and while I thought it was a good read, it didn’t capture me in the way I thought it would. It felt almost like an extended interview or something to me — can’t quite put my finger on the disconnect. If you read it, I’d be curious to know your thoughts.

🎵 Listening I started with Yebba’s new album Jean and while I enjoy Yebba, this album didn’t move me the way I hoped. The vibe isn’t the vibe I’m in right now. This might be her Man in the Woods moment for me, but I’ll spin the block on this later. What actually did grab me this week was Kokoroko’s new EP From Metropolis Studios, which includes three songs, including “Idea 5,” which has been a favorite since Tuff Times Never Last.

🔗 Clicking

• School is in Session — My conversation with ReShonda has Harlem on my mind, and if you know me, you know I don’t need much of a reason. Last summer I put together a whole curriculum around it. This is that.

• New Music Drops: March 6 — It was a big Friday. If you’re trying to figure out where to start did the work so you don’t have to.

That’s it for this week — I’ll catch you next week.

Hi friends,

The sun was out, my hair looked good, and the world needed to see it. So naturally, I ended up at the coffee shop. The Starbucks cafe inside Barnes & Noble, to be exact. I have no idea why it took me this long to realize this is the perfect coffee shop.

The usual appeal is there: peopl…

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There are some books you finish and immediately want to put into someone else’s hands. Bsrat Mezghebe’s debut novel, I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For, is one of those books for me.

Released on February 10th via Liveright Publishing, the book is the second novel published as part of the series. Set in 1991 in Washington, D.C., it follows three women in an Eritrean-American family on the brink of Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia.

Thirteen-year-old Lydia and her family are grappling with what peace after decades of war might mean for their future, just as they welcome Berekhet, a distant cousin newly arrived from Ethiopia to attend medical school in the States. Meanwhile, her mother Elsa, a former rebel fighter, and family matriarch Mama Zewdi must reckon with regrets long buried in the years their country has been at war. And Lydia, emboldened by Berekhet, becomes committed to uncovering the secrets of her and her mother’s past, including the truth about her father, who was martyred in the war.

I got a chance to speak with Bsrat about her debut, the importance of sharing this story, what being a Well-Read Black Girl means to her, and so much more. Below, you can find a few takeaways from our conversation, and you can watch the full interview here on Substack — also on YouTube, which I’m trying to figure out. Additionally, you can listen to the interview on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or Pocketcasts.

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On being a Well-Read Black Girl

Bsrat’s book is part of the Well-Read Black Girl imprint, founded by Glory Edim, and when I asked her what being a Well-Read Black Girl means to her, as well as that community, her answer stayed with me.

“I think it starts with natural curiosity. There’s no coincidence that people who are naturally curious about the world tend to be readers, and the more curious you are, the more empathetic you are. That’s at the core of reading. And what I love about Well-Read Black girls and women specifically is that the art of reading, of being curious about other people’s stories, is about making space for everyone to be centered. That’s not always a privilege granted to us, but I think it’s really lovely that, as Black women readers, we understand we can make space for learning about so many cultures and stories. It’s very natural for us to come from a place of empathy and understanding.”

She also spoke beautifully about Glory Edim’s journey, from building the Well-Read Black Girl community to partnering with Liveright to get more Black women writers published.

“She’s a bridge builder,” Bsrat said. “She builds homes, communities and worlds. She started by wanting a space to celebrate Black women writers, then got into the publishing industry, because that’s really how you get more Black women writers out there. You can’t avoid it—you have to get involved and she did.”

On what made her write this story

Bsrat came to writing during what she describes as a quarter-life crisis in her mid-to-late twenties. She grew up in DC inside a tight-knit Eritrean community, at the tail end of the 30-year war for Eritrean independence from Ethiopia. The stories she heard from her parents and their community were, in her words, “beautiful, hilarious, tragic” and she knew she had to capture some of them.

But there was also urgency behind it. “Part of the urgency came from being an elder millennial. Our parents are getting older, getting sick. We're losing them. Me and my friends have always felt this tick, tick, tick — we have to start capturing these stories before we can't anymore,” she said.

The three women at the heart of the novel came to her almost mysteriously. “I don’t know why these three women chose me—creativity is a mystical thing and I feel like they did. Zewdi especially came to me and stole my heart. This older woman who never married and never had children, turning 50, imagining what the rest of her life will look like. I wanted to see where her story would take me, and I brought everyone along for the ride.”

On the title of the book

The title, I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For, was actually found by Bsrat’s agent, who went back through the manuscript pulling out lines that could work after Bsrat’s original title wasn’t landing with the team. The line comes from a specific moment between Berekhet and Lydia, when she pours her heart out to him about her quest to uncover the truth about her father, and he responds with those words.

“The line applies to everyone,” Bsrat told me. “They’re all on this journey. And what we’re looking for changes depending on where we are in life. At a high level, and at the risk of sounding cheesy, they all find themselves.”

There is so much more in our full conversation, including Bsrat’s thoughts on what it costs to truly be part of a community, the music she wrote the book to, her book recommendations, and a very good story about a Digital Underground lyric that didn’t make the final cut. It’s a conversation I think you’ll really enjoy.

Before you head out, here are a few recommendations for the week:

• My friend started a new newsletter, that will be a mix of marketing tips, Bravo gems, and everything in between. I’m excited about it because it’s going to be good I know. Be sure to subscribe.

• I really like the song “Cha Cha Cha” on Bruno Mars’ new album, The Romantic. It makes me want to go dancing in a red dress for whatever reason.

• On Saturday, I finished reading Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer and felt very indifferent about it. While I thought it gave a good amount of detail about Judy and her life, I didn’t walk away with many thoughts. I will say though, this could be because I am still living in the afterglow of Kin by Tayari Jones.

• Everette Taylor on what it’s like to lead a company with a four-day work week for the New York Times.

• Paradise is finally back on Hulu and I am hooked all the way in.

I feel like I have said this before, but one of my favorite things about writing a newsletter on Substack is the community that you cultivate through the platform.

Through Substack, I have been exposed to so many creative and thoughtful writers, and one that I discovered along the way is , who writes one of my favorite newsletters, .

is a new…

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1. A short interlude: a few recs for the week

2. Love deserves its soundtrack

3. Last, current, next reads with bookwild

4. Reading List: If I ruled the world by Amy DuBois Barnett

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This week’s newsletter is a little shorter than usual, more of a snapshot than a deep dive. I’ve been consuming so much lately that’s made me smile and think and I wanted to share some of it with you. So let’s get into it.

I’m currently reading Kin by Tayari Jones and am loving it. Please add this to your TBR lis…

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Hi friends —

Last week, I finished reading With Love from Harlem by ReShonda Tate in under 24 hours because I could not put the book down.

The book follows acclaimed pianist Hazel Scott, once the most famous Black female entertainer in America. While it introduced me to Hazel and her friendships…

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For today’s newsletter, I’m sharing an interview I did with my friend, for her podcast Bookwild. If you read books, and like good conversations, be sure to subscribe to her podcast as well.

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1. reading + listening: january digest

2. on music that tells the whole story

3. making time for the “what” is important

4. musical memoirs worth reading

5. reading and music goals for the new year

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