Summer 2024 Footnotes

To be in my late 20s (the final year to be exact), I spent a lot of time this summer being invigorated — seeking out joy and adventures like a fresh 21-year-old. Probably akin to the fact that I spent most of my days with my youngest sister, who did in fact just turn twenty-one. (Oh, the fresh feeling of freely gallivanting into adulthood.) It called for high-spirited days, seriously the spirit of choice is the least bit shocking since it happened to be tequila, that runneth over with the pleasure of exploration. Boundless hobby chasing, spur-of-the-moment quests, and friendship — I’m now ready to close out the summer of twenty-twenty-four.

These 2024 Summer Footnotes are meant to serve as a capsule of moments in time, including the books that found their way into the long summer days that flew by way too fast and the interesting hobbies I picked up along the way. Enjoy these moments, steal a book recommendation, or share a footnote of your own.

FOUR FAVE BOOKS

Last summer, I was reading banger after banger after banger. Sadly, that wasn’t the case this year. It’s not like I read ‘bad’ books… there were just very few that felt groundbreaking in my universe. No one tells you how the more you read, the harder it is to find those five-star, life-shifting books, so let me be the one to tell you that it absolutely is. That’s fine though, I’m fine-tuning my palette and on a conquest to find the ones that will shake me to my core. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a few to shout to the rooftops about, because I actually have four that I want everyone to read:

Coleman Hill by Kim Coleman Foote
A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins
They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar
The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington.

If I could include some honorable mentions, they would be: Swift River by Essie Chambers, Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi, and Louder than Words by Ashley Woodfolk and Lexi Underwood.

TOP THREE MEMORIES

1. My daughter rode her first rollercoaster at three years old and absolutely loved it. Hearing her little voice playback in my head saying “I’m tall enough! I’m in the yellow!” after checking her height (a hair taller than 36 inches) to ride the skater coaster at Kentucky Kingdom, was the excitement I had been waiting for all summer. Seriously, our first day at the top of the summer at her beloved ‘Tucky Kingdom she was fearful of every ride — it’s fascinating how fast they grow * weeps weeps *. Ugh, her joy is so contagious! I pray she holds on tight to it.

2. The day Jay Ellis announced his book tour dates for his not-quite-memoir Di Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or just me)? I immediately called my little sister and told her I was booking us a trip to see him in Washington, DC. She was on board, she had never been. It was one thing to see Jay Ellis, mainly due to my unwavering support of Insecure and his role as Lawrence, but I also had the chance to finally meet so many other bookstagrammers that I love in real life for the very first time! Morgan (aka @PrettyLittleBookshelf) is basically my long-distance book bestie, so this moment was everything.

3. This is really on the cusp of the end of summer since it was after Labor Day weekend, but I spent the entire summer planning my first Readers Market. It couldn’t have been possible without partnering with my favorite local independent bookstore Foxing Books and local non-profit Young Authors Greenhouse. Every adult reader wants that literary rush that we initially felt as children when the Scholastic Book Fair arrived at our schools, so that’s what we were determined to gift back to people with the Readers Market.

TWO NEW HOBBIES

A few days before my 29th birthday, I woke up and told myself I’m going to learn how to DJ. All I needed was a turntable and I’d be set, so I thought. My dad gifted me one for my birthday and I was humbled so fast. Trying your hand at something new at this age was an awakening to the fact that I could suck. That I have to take the time to learn. It honestly threw me out of my comfort, but I know I needed it.
Scrapbooking. Should I say more? I do it month-to-month. Hoarding as many photos and videos in my phone just wasn’t enough for me anymore. I’ve always loved collages, hence my yearly vision boards and digital versions as my wallpaper on my phone, iPad, and laptop, putting these monthly pages into a physical scrapbook is always a fun way to look back on the memories.