A GIRL YOU SHOULD DATE - Date a girl who reads...

[Ginger]

Before Marie Kondo came up with the "Does it spark joy?" criteria for whether to keep or throw something out, I was pruning my belongings for things that gave too much weight to my footprint.

I have always moved often, which was another motivating factor in trying to be conscious about what I hold on to.

That said, I only allow myself to keep poetry and reference books.

I buy three or four books of poetry a month and constantly go through my shelves, reassessing the impact of the books there.

(I do the same with every other class of objects I own.)

Recently I've been focusing on Black women poets. I'm reading Marilyn Nelson, Lynne Thompson and a recent anthology of the work of Pat Parker.

I have a stack of poetry collections by my favorite reading chair and put narrow post-its on the pages with work that really gets to me, before I put them alphabetically on the shelf.

I know this sounds very nerdy. But it feels good.

When I was in grad school and lived with a lover, I came home once to find she had consolidated our libraries; alphabetized all our books together.

I knew she meant it as a gesture of commitment to our shared home, but I had mixed feelings

I'm like that Jill Clayburgh character who says, when her lover imagines their old age together, teeth in the same glass by the bed — "I want my own glass."

[homoe]

[homoe]

[akiza]

i've gotta say that my list of black authors is kinda poor ne i know some classics one but still not enough 😕 someone has names to give me?

[homoe]

Originally Posted by akiza

i've gotta say that my list of black authors is kinda poor ne i know some classics one but still not enough 😕 someone has names to give me?

For fiction I can recommend Barbara Neely.

[homoe]

[Orema]

Originally Posted by akiza

i've gotta say that my list of black authors is kinda poor ne i know some classics one but still not enough 😕 someone has names to give me?

These are some of the Black writers I've read in the last 10 years.
– Roxane Gay
– Ta-Nehisi Coates
– Michel Alexander
– Isabel Wilkerson
– Charles M. Blow
– Samuel R. Delany
– Angie Thomas

And you can never go wrong with
– bell hooks
– Audra Lorde
– Octavia Butler
– Toni Morrison
– James Baldwin

[Stone-Butch]

A girl you date may be into brail books that you can't read but you can ask her to read to you. I love books but there is much more to a woman than her reading skills. I would date a woman who is kind, understanding, loving and honest and be thankful for the rest.

[Martina]

Originally Posted by akiza

i've gotta say that my list of black authors is kinda poor ne i know some classics one but still not enough �� someone has names to give me?

James McBride
Jericho Brown (poetry)
Jesmyn Ward
Colson Whitehead
N.K. Jemisin

[Martina]

I would be bored if I dated someone who didn't read. I have a friend with an autoimmune disease that affects his concentration. He doesn't read anymore. But when he was young, he read everything. He will always have that.