Weekend Wrap up // May 24, 2019

Happy Friday, everyone!

The Jam of the Week has got to be It’s All Coming Back to Me Now by Celine Dion. I remember listening to this song as a kid in car rides with my mom and sister. We would just sit there and belt out the tune with Celine. Of course, we didn’t do it justice like she did, but we were kids and she’s THE GREATEST SINGER IN THE WORLD.

Well, this week was a pretty busy week with work, reviews, and articles all due. I spent most of my time staring at a computer screen than pages of a book because it was just that busy. But I’m feeling really caught up, accomplished, and going into the weekend with some fun books to read.

Links I Loved

The Carpool Karaoke featuring Celine Dion. I know I featured Celine for my jam of the weekend, but I can’t get enough of her. I honestly google the price for her Vegas show I’m so into Celine Dion. I think it’s her ability to be goofy and silly and bring out the serious when she needs to bring it out. I love that she’s so playful, but then gets on stage and belts out the hits. Also, she’s done some of the most iconic love songs in the entire world, which was surprising to me.

The new trailer for Star Trek: Picard. Ok, so I’m a trekkie. I absolutely love Star Trek: The Next Generation and Picard is my captain (I’m sorry fans of the OG). So when I heard that they were bringing back Picard and creating a new series around the latter part of his career, well I couldn’t resist. But I think what really solidified this news for me was the teaser trailer. It’s so atmospheric and I can’t wait for it to start!

Launching my Patreon! So this news will be a little bit more relevant next month when we finally have a June pick and I figure out how to set up the dates for the the book club discussion. A lot of folks reached out to me about my hesitation with starting a Patreon (mostly because I’m afraid people will hate me for charging money) and reassured me that this is a good move. What I’m doing will support the endeavors I’m making and there’s nothing to be ashamed of.

What I’m Reading This Weekend

Well, next week the Girls Night In Book Club is meeting in LA, so I need to read the book for the meeting. They chose American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson. Here’s more about the book:

It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant but she’s also a young black woman working in an old boys’ club, and her career has stalled out; she’s overlooked for every high profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic, revolutionary president of Burkina Faso, whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes. Yes, even though she secretly admires the work Thomas is doing for his country. Yes, even though she is still grieving the mysterious death of her sister, whose example led Marie to this career path in the first place. Yes, even though a furious part of her suspects she’s being offered the job because of her appearance and not her talent.

In the year that follows, Marie will observe Thomas, seduce him, and ultimately, have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American.

Inspired by true events–Thomas Sankara is known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”–this novel knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War you’ve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.