Show & Tell: Ohtani Scandal and Ice Cream Bars
Unstacked Digest for the week of March 18-24
Welcome to Grown-Up Show & Tell, my weekly roundup featuring whatever I’ve been up to for the week, plus nine things I loved from the week and one thing I hated for Unstacked’s paid subscribers.
This week marked the start of the NCAA tournaments. A joy. My brackets look as busted as you’d expect from a person who doesn’t watch college sports but has a lot of strong opinions about everything related to college sports. This year, for the first time, The Stacks Pack has a little tourney bracket situation, and yes I am aggressively doing terrible.
This week also brought us the latest development in the Kate Middleton saga, her announcement of a cancer diagnosis. I hope she is getting the care she needs. I hate that the castle put her through all that mess for two weeks, when they could have just said she had cancer and was taking time to get treatment. I know they could’ve done that because they just did it with King Charles. The Firm is a rotten pile of clotted cream.
This Week on Unstacked
The previous installment of Show & Tell was mostly about great novels and Kate Middleton.
Over the holidays in 2021, Mr. Stacks and I gave book gifting recs to all listeners of The Stacks Unabridged. Check it out.
Maurice Carlos Ruffin aka
was featured on Read to Know Basis. He talked about his new novel The American Daughters his reading life, and showed once again what a delight he is.For a blast from the past, I talked with Maurice back when his first book, We Cast a Shadow, came out in 2019.
Books I Read This Week
The January Children by Safia Elhillo
I liked this poetry collection, and I actually think I got (some of) it. I didn’t feel like a total moron reading the collection and loved the reflections on language and translation and the repeating poems about an Egyptian musical heartthrob. I can always relate to a celebrity crush.
Victim by Andrew Boryga
A young hustler from the Bronx realizes there is a value in using his life story to play the victim and gain access and attention from his audience. This is a strong debut, but I have a lo of questions for the author after having finished the book. Its satire, and I couldn’t always tell who the joke was on or what the joke was.
Fave of the week!
Housekeeping
I got to talk about what happens to unclaimed dead bodies with the sociologists behind the book The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels, Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans.
My monthly shereads.com column is focused on issues that will impact the 2024 election this year. The March installment was all about education. Check it out.
I am beyond excited for this event on April 2nd with Hanif Abdurraqib. We’ll be talking about his new book, There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension. It is hosted by my favorite book store, Reparations Club and at an insanely gorgeous venue! If you’re in the LA area please grab your tickets, and come through.
Nine Things I Love…
Book News
March 22-29 is the Trans Rights Readathon, an online reading event and decentralized fundraiser started in 2023 by author Sim Kern. Last year’s readthon raised over $234,000 for transgender aid organizations.
If you want to participate here is what you do:
Read books by and/or about trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and Two-spirit people.
Post on social media about what you’re reading. That can be posting reviews, stacks, reading lists, using the hashtags, or whatever else feels celebratory and uplifts these books and authors to a wider audience.
Donate to trans organizations. You can decide where you want to donate, large well known trans advocacy groups, local mutual aid organizations, or even gofundme drives for trans folks in need.
Not sure where to start? Here is a great list of some favorite books by trans authors from one of my favorite readers
(who you should know, if you don’t already). If you want more suggestions check out the #transrightsreadathon hashtag on instagram!Pop Culture
Apparently Justin Timberlake is back, which I hate. But, what I love about this comeback he is ramming down our throats, is that no one cares and it’s kinda bad. Owen Myers at Pitchfork had this to say about the album (which I shant be listening to):
Ironically, it was songs like “Cry Me a River” that helped establish a template for gossip-powered pop hits that use not-so-secret Easter eggs about artists’ personal lives to jumpstart discourse. (See Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” or Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire.”) But with Timberlake you’re not sure you even want to hear it. There’s little on Everything I Thought It Was that piques curiosity, even though its author is utterly convinced of its importance.
The whole review is a drag of JT and his mock sincerity and lackluster music. Also, remember “beat your feet”? I’ll never forget it. What an herb.
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