Hello, and welcome to August!

               I can hardly believe we’ve arrived, but July was so full that I feel like I’m just slowing down. While there were events and catch-ups and camps and new norms, there were also many books that need reviewing!

I collected the pile of my finished books from July. They run quite a gamut of genres, authors, and possibilities!

Books (in order of completion)

• Wisdom for the BusyCoach by Stephanie Konars
• Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
• The Crossroads of Should and Must by Elle Luna
• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
• Gather Together in my Name by Maya Angelou

After taking some time to admire and remember, there were a few thoughts that came to mind about each book, and about the stack as a whole. In no particular order, here we go!

Thoughts for July

• The devotional, Wisdom for the BusyCoach, was a daily reading for many months. I started it in February. I don’t usually stick with devotionals; I think the fact that it didn’t have specific dates or numbered days was helpful, because there were days I forgot to read but felt comfortable reading two the next day, or two a day for a few days. Each reading took no more than ten minutes at a time, with a Bible verse and quote from a famous leader, but the impact lasted much longer. I liked getting a bite-size piece of truth every day!
• The Crossroads of Should and Must was a creative read that I breezed through in an evening. It’s unconventional, featuring creative spreads of free writing and questions that sometimes fill the page without margin. It sat on my shelf for a long time, challenging me, someone who usually defaults to what I should do when making big decisions, and prevents myself from dreaming when I’d rather do something other than what I chose. My heart is slowly awakening to the things I must do to come alive, and that’s a great reality to enter.
• Three Black authors are represented in my July reading: Jesmyn Ward, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou. In June, when I first took inventory of my library for diversity, I realized that I haven’t read many “classic” Black authors, let alone any contemporary ones. I only owned books by Jackie Hill Perry, Maya Angelou (which I read in July), and Tony Evans (a pamphlet, hardly a book). I owned works by a few Indian authors, but almost no Black people. I then ordered The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, two works by Toni Morrison, The New Jim Crow, and I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown. A post by Rachel Kang on Instagram hit me hard, asking if my bookshelves reflect the Kingdom of God: showcasing numerous cultures, views, and styles. I’m determined to mix up my author demographic each month, and also support Black-owned bookstores while I’m at it. (Current favorite is Semicolon in Chicago.)
• Gather Together in my Name is the continued memoir of Maya Angelou’s life, covering ages 16-19. I had NO idea her life was so action-packed in such a short period of time. I have newfound respect and admiration for this woman who kept picking herself back up, from strange business arrangements or broken relationships, while raising her son, and moving on. Note: this read is NOT for children.
• Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped had been on my to-read list since 2018, and the recent surge of interest in Black Lives Matter and Black testimonials, especially about the disproportionate number of arrests and deaths of Black men, brought this book to the top of the pile. Ward tells the story of her childhood and coming-of-age years, broken up by the deaths of five men in her life in a five-year span. Each death was a little different, but all of them pointed to the systemic hurdles that hinder long-term positive changes for the Black community. I’d recommend to those who want an inside look at the greater loss that occurs from the regular loss of opportunity and hope, followed, inevitably, by loss of life.
• I hadn’t read Toni Morrison before this month, though I knew she was an influence to one of my favorite Bible teachers, Jackie Hill Perry. Song of Solomon is contemporary (at time of publishing, 1977) fiction that paints a life of a Black man who searches for his own identity in work, in the beds of other women, and in his family heritage. With interactions that tackle difficult issues and several scenes that are not for children, Morrison writes poetically. I caught myself savoring her phrases over and over.

So, that’s July! I’m grateful for the variety of voices and genres I received. The quality of writing blew me away and I fell in love with the prose, particularly in the novels. Below are two of my favorite lines from the stack:

“He wanted to walk and breathe some other air. He wouldn’t know what to feel until he knew what to think.” – Morrison, Song of Solomon

“Thus we lived through a major war. The question in the ghettos was, Can we make it through a minor peace?” – Angelou, Gather Together in my Name

August looks like it will have a very different tone, as I’m reading more books at a time, piecemeal. I’ll keep you posted about how that looks! In the meantime, check out Goodreads for more great books and to help you keep track of what you are reading and want to read.

What about you: What have you read lately? What are you anticipating in August?