This week was the dreaded week where The Mini Stacks were not back and school but also there was no summer camp. So naturally my mom decided she and I should take them to Legoland. Naturally.
It was great in the sense that the Minis had the best time and rode on real rollercoasters and got so many treats and were totally spoiled and blissed out. It was not great because I was in a land that is so saturated in primary colors that my eyeballs no longer work. That level of stimulation and enthusiasm is not safe for adults. It is also true that every night from 7pm to 7am my mother and I were trapped in a room with my offspring. It was a forced silent retreat, because the Minis were asleep a few feet (no door) away snuggled up in hot pink and purple bunkbeds.
I am still recovering from this week. I am not well. Not even close. School starts Tuesday and that day can’t come soon enough. If I owe you an email, it likely is never coming. I can no longer access that pre-Legoland version of myself.
Similarly this is a short Show & Tell because of said silent retreat, I basically consumed no (non-book) media from Monday to Friday of this week. No TV, no movies, I listened to one podcast episode. I am however, very up on Lego castles if that’s your thing.
This is Show & Tell where I tell you some things I loved from the week and the one thing I hated, plus round up everything else going on around these parts. The first half of Show & Tell is free to all. The adoration and hateration are for paid subscribers only.
This Week on Unstacked
I just miss the Olympics so much.
Liz Moore, author of a serious contender for “Book of the Summer”, The God of the Woods, answered my questions this week for Read to Know Basis.
Books I Read This Week
Feeding Littles Lunches: 75+ No-Stress Lunches Everyone Will Love: Meal Planning for Kids by Megan McNamee & Judy Delaware
You all know I love to read a cookbook cover to cover and this one hit me exactly when I needed it. I sat down with this book after four straight days at Legoland (more above) and proceeded to read it cover to cover (twice). The Mini’s are extremely picky (I was/am too) eaters. I have a lot of anxiety about what goes in their lunch and how I am failing them. They start big boy school next week and sitting down with this was helpful. It reminded me to keep trying to broaden their eating horizons, but also respect their tastes. It was perfect for me in this moment. Also the photos are so enticing. I did go ahead and buy a bunch of lunch related paraphernalia1 for them because you know things make all anxiety better, right?
Fave of the week!2
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
Overall I really liked this especially for a first novel. It is about eight teenaged girls in a boxing tournament in Reno, NV. I liked the writing from the first page. I was super impressed with the way Bullwinkel shifted the perspective from interior to exterior with each girl. The style was unique and gratifying and captured something about the maturity and complexity of teen girls. Headshot moves quickly and feels a lot like a series of interconnected short stories. By the end of the book, the novelty of the style and structure wore off and the lack of plot/emotional arc was exposed, which made the book stall out. I was left wanting something more for myself as the reader.
Housekeeping
Debut author and playwright LaDarrion Williams talked to me about his YA fantasy novel Blood at the Root which is set at a magical HBCU. We talked about centering Black boys and online criticism.
Yes, I am freaking out. I get to be in conversation with thee Jesmyn Ward on September 4th in Los Angeles. The event is hosted by ALOUD as part of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, and it is FREE! There is also an online option for folks outside of LA.
Things I Love…
Book News
My favorite bookstagrammer just posted his summer reading list and it is… actually pretty good? I have read five — James, There’s Always This Year, Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here, Headshot, Martyr! — and really enjoyed them all. I am also a few pages into a sixth one — The God of the Woods — that I am really enjoying as well, but had to set down for deadline purposes. I will go back.
I hope he can sustain this quality when he reveals his list at the end of the year.
Pop Culture
This is might actually be book news, but I don’t care. Chelsea Devantez is a pop culture phenomenon in my life. This is where she belongs. Her book, I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This was just picked as RuPaul’s September book club pick over at Allstora. So fucking cool.
In case you missed it, Chelsea was already on The Stacks back in June. I’m a little ahead of Ru, no offense.