I Don't Hate It | Where has summer gone?
Hey there. It’s the middle of August. I’m not quite sure how that happened. You know that quote, “The days are long but the years are short”? I am really feeling it this summer, with the endless groundhog days of working from home but waking up this morning and realizing it is the exact middle of August.
This newsletter is meant to recommend books, other media, and the occasional eccentric item. In an attempt to be brief and not overwhelm you, I have tried to limit myself to three recs per missive. This time I have a few more than three to share, maybe because I haven’t written all summer. Thank you in advance for indulging me.
The poet Nicole Sealey first issued the Sealey Challenge in 2017: read 31 books of poetry in 31 days (the month of August). You can read more about it here and here. I am reading Wicked Enchantment by Wanda Coleman, among others.
I first met Rachel Beanland at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont several years ago. She was working on nonfiction at the time. I got to hear a lot about her project when she saved the day by offering me a ride all the way back to Virginia after a series of travel mishaps left me stranded on that mountain with no other way home. You really get to know a person when you spend 11 hours in a minivan with them. Her debut novel is out now: Florence Adler Swims Forever is based on a family secret Rachel’s mother told her when she was younger; it’s an engrossing tale that asks us to question the stories we tell even ourselves.
This Tuesday, Aug. 18, at noon Eastern I will be in conversation with De’Shawn Charles Winslow as part of the Virginia Festival of the Book’s Shelf Life series. We will talk about his debut novel, In West Mills, which won last year’s Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It is so good. You can register for the event here (to watch on Zoom). You can also view on Facebook. There will be a Q&A, too.
I recently listened to this new podcast, Not Great with Scaachi Koul. It’s not too long (a big plus, IMO), and is topical—the first episode featured a conversation between Koul, Michael Baysmore, a Black cop in Baltimore, and Albert Samaha, a BuzzFeed News investigative reporter who’s been writing about law enforcement for years and first spoke with Baysmore in 2016.
In a similar vein, this TIME feature on police reform and “rethinking safety” breaks down what it means to “defund” and “demilitarize” police.
Have you seen Padma Lakshmi’s new show Taste the Nation? The first episode features burritos in El Paso, so obviously I was hooked from the get-go. In the second episode, I learned something about processed food packaging and Oscar Meyer (I’m not spoiling it for you). I highly recommend it. On Hulu, maybe available elsewhere.
Sequel Rights is a podcast about movie franchises. I was interviewed on this episode, talking about the Bring It On franchise.
And finally, a recommendation totally unrelated to media consumption: this toothbrush. My previous electric toothbrush died sometime last year and I had been using a standard brush, but I have a dentist appointment coming up and decided it was time to upgrade. This new one is very reasonably priced (less than $30!), holds a charge for 30 days, and has a setting for sensitive teeth.
I hope you’re safe and healthy. Keep wearing those masks. Wash your hands.