Bookish Fam, I'm back. I basically took the second half of the month of August off with the hopes of resetting. Hence, the late arrival of this e-newsletter! It felt important to slow down and allow for a bit of casualness in my life. I have a lot of thoughts about how to actual do this effectively with a toddler which I may share later. For now, I'm excited to be back and looking forward to connecting. First things first, we're bringing back the bestsellers of the month e-newsletters to our monthly communication rotation. I enjoy seeing what our community members are buying. It gives me an idea of who they are, what they are thinking about/ prioritizing and what types of books resonate at any given time of the year. Analyzing the list below, our community members are not believers in light summer reads. Lol. I respect that; I'm reading "In the Dream House" by Carmen Maria Machado. There's nothing light about this book. This list also says many folx are committing to some type of political education and organizing work. I'm impressed. I hope the July bestsellers inspire you to try something new. Most of all, I hope that you feel part of something beautiful and reflective of your own values. I know that I do. On another note, a quick thank you to everyone who tip the staff. One of the benefits of a mixed model of a bookstore and coffeeshop is the ability for our staff to earn tips. In traditional bookstores, it is rare for tips to be an option. However, in our space it is. This extra bit of money makes all the difference. While we aim to pay above the minimum wage, unfortunately, we fall short of a living wage in a place like NYC. Your generosity often means the equivalent of an extra days work for the staff. For this, I am grateful. I know it's a tough time for folx to give anymore than they already are. Please do not feel guilt or otherwise if you're not able to. Your presence matters more. However, for those of us who can afford it, I ask that you do tip. Low wage workers need as much of our solidarity as possible and this is certainly one way to show it. Thank you in advance for demonstrating with your dollars an ethic of community care. always, -kqd. PS: Reminder that we're closed on Monday, September 5, 2022 for Labor Day! |
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How to Be an Antiracist Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society. |
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Smart Growth : How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company The growth and learning journey comes in three phases: the Launch Point, the Sweet Spot, and Mastery. Compelling examples of successful people will show you when and why growth is slow, how to keep going, what to do when growth and learning are almost too fast to keep up with, and how to leap from one growth journey to another. |
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The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together The Sum of Us is a brilliant analysis of how we arrived here: divided and self-destructing, still the richest country in the world, but spiritually starved and vastly unequal. At the heart of the book are the humble stories of Americans yearning to be a part of a better America, including white supremacy's collateral victims: white people themselves. With startling empathy, this heartfelt message from a Black woman to a multiracial America leaves us with a vision for the future of our country--one whose population has ties to every place on the globe--where we finally realize that life can be so much more than zero-sum. |
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The Old Woman with the Knife Double-crossers, corporate enemies, cheating spouses—for the past four decades, Hornclaw has killed them all with ruthless efficiency, and the less she's known about her targets, the better. But now, nearing the end of her career, she has just slipped up. An injury leads her to an unexpected connection with a doctor and his family. But emotions, for an assassin, are a dangerous proposition. As Hornclaw's world closes in, this final chapter in her career may also mark her own bloody end. |
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High Spirits
It is a book centered on one extended family – the Beléns – across multiple generations.
It is set in the fictional small town of Hidalpa – and Santo Domingo and Paterson and San Juan and Washington Heights too.
It is told in a style both utterly real and distinctly magical – and its stories explore machismo, mental health, family, and identity.
But most of all, High Spirits represents the first book from Camille Gomera-Tavarez, who takes her place as one of the most extraordinary new voices to emerge in years. |
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Where You Are Is Not Who You Are : A Memoir Burns writes about overcoming the limitations she faced, as well as the challenges and realities of the white-male dominated corporate world. Candid and outspoken, she offers a remarkable look inside the C-suite through the eyes of a Black woman—someone who puts humanity over greed, and justice over power. Empathetic and dedicated, idealistic and pragmatic, Burns demonstrates that no matter your circumstances, hard work and leadership can change your life—and the world. |
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A Caribbean Heiress in Paris Luz Alana set sail from Santo Domingo armed with three hundred casks of rum, her two best friends and one simple rule: under no circumstances is she to fall in love. In the City of Lights, she intends to expand the rum business her family built over three generations, but buyers and shippers alike can’t imagine doing business with a woman…never mind a woman of color. This, paired with being denied access to her inheritance unless she marries, leaves the heiress in a very precarious position. |
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The 1619 Project The animating idea of The 1619 Project is that our national narrative is more accurately told if we begin not on July 4, 1776, but in late August of 1619, when a ship arrived in Jamestown bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival inaugurated a barbaric and unprecedented system of chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country's original sin, but it is more than that: It is the country's very origin. |
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I Color Myself Different When Colin Kaepernick was five years old, he was given a simple school assignment: draw a picture of yourself and your family. What young Colin does next with his brown crayon changes his whole world and worldview, providing a valuable lesson on embracing and celebrating his Black identity through the power of radical self-love and knowing your inherent worth. |
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Do Better Do Better is a revolutionary offering that addresses racial justice from a comprehensive, intersectional, and spirit-based perspective. This actionable guidebook illustrates how to engage in the heart-centered and mindfulness-based practices that will help us all fight white supremacy from the inside out, in our personal lives and communities alike. It is a loving and assertive call to do the deep—and often uncomfortable—inner work that precipitates much-needed external and global change. |
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All About Love : New Visions “The word ‘love’ is most often defined as a noun, yet...we would all love better if we used it as a verb,” writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, the renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness. |
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