Sasha Fountain

I really enjoyed the hooks' perspective on love and her exploration of the concept of loving. My only faults with the book are that it was a bit to religious for my taste and it was also heteronormative.

This book lays down the framework for forming habits and shares insightful strategies for building good and breaking bad habits. Reading this book helped me approach habits I'm trying to adopt or break from different angles. Atomic Habits is about shifting your dreams and wishful thinking into knowing exactly where you want to be and planning to get there. My key takeaway was changing our thoughts about attaining our goals to focusing on the system instead. We need to have an actionable framework on how we can move toward our goals; otherwise, we will never reach them. We must develop daily habits that allow us to achieve them. Our level of commitment to the process will determine our level of progress. Associating our habits with our identity is a great way to focus on how to transform our beliefs.

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”

This beautiful collection is steeped in history, tradition, and the heartfelt emotions of generations of Black women. Jasmine Mans has woven together a tapestry of memories, regrets, joy, hopes, and prayers that is nothing short of phenomenal.

In her work, she bravely tackles challenging topics such as homophobia experienced both personally and from strangers. She delves into the harsh reality of rape culture and shares her journey as a survivor with grace and resilience. Her words are beautifully crafted; they lure you in with their lyrical flow while discussing serious issues in a manner that is both jarring yet soothing.

Despite the title's focus on black girls, Mans also thoughtfully examines issues related to being a black boy and being trans. She doesn't shy away from exploring police brutality either.

I had the pleasure of experiencing this collection through an audiobook narrated by the author herself. The emotion she poured into her performance was palpable and deeply moving. This is a collection that truly tugs at your heartstrings.

Quote I Loved

"Bless the type 4 child, scalp massaged with the milk of cruelty, cranium cursed, crushed between adult knees, drenched in pink lotion."

This poetry collection had me tearing up at times. this collection was a rumination on various lived experiences that, as a Black woman, felt familiar to me. The imagery was so vivid, and I'm definitely reading more of her work.

This book was a pretty quick and enjoyable read. The dystopian genre at times tends to be the same story told with slight variations but this book isn't one of them. The concept of a caste system that is also separated by languages is interesting. Having a a ruling system where only females are born to rule is a choice I admire. I do wish certain parts of the underlying backstory were a bit more fleshed out to give the reader a better understanding of how their world works.