Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.
So my friend has convinced me to go to a sports-ball event in Philly (by “convinced” I mean to say he said several times there would be food lol) which should be… interesting. I know nothing about track and field, or any sports if you couldn’t tell, but I think it’ll be nice to experience.
As I prepare to be around strangers outside for the first time in a while, let’s get to the club!
Nibbles and Sips
You’ve heard of a pineapple upside down cake, but what about a blackberry one? I’ve been craving and eating a lot of blackberries lately and was looking at some recipes with them. I love pineapple upside down cake, so this seemed like an interesting thing to try. This recipe also calls for pears, which I think mimic the texture of pineapples when baked into cake a little more.
Now for some books!
Women in Law
Ketanji Jackson was confirmed as the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court this past Thursday. This is such a major step in having the people who run the U.S. government actually representing what its citizens look like and experience, but my has it been a time getting to this point (with still more work to do!). I thought it would be nice to discuss some books by or about the women pushing for vital change in our government.
Book Club Bonus: Discuss specific changes brought about by each woman once they were appointed their positions. Also, talk about the general attitudes surrounding each woman that you’ve noticed in your everyday conversations. These women made history or were close to doing so (as in the case of Stacey Abrams, who would have been the first Black female governor when she ran), discuss how this influences public opinion of them compared to their male counterparts.
Our Time Is Now by Stacey Abrams
Voter suppression is somehow still an issue in this country and Stacey Abrams has been vehemently fighting against it in her state of Georgia. Here, she confers with experts and scholars and offers her own experiences on how to empower citizens and bring voter suppression to an end. I feel like watching the work she’s been doing in Georgia has made people see how much power there can be in organizing. I also think it’s pretty cool how she writes thrillers like While Justice Sleeps. We stan a versatile Queen!
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life by Jane Sherron De Hart
RBG! This book took 15 years to write, and Ginsburg as well as her friends and family were consulted throughout. It details the life of the 107th Supreme Court Justice, showing how influential the Justice was on laws, which was in part because of her unique perspective and experience as a Jewish American, Columbia Law student, and Rutgers professor fighting gender pay discrimination.
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
Sotomayor was the first Latinx person and third woman to be elected to the Supreme Court. In this autobiography, she recounts her life growing up in housing projects in the Bronx and her struggles with having a father dealing with alcoholism. She even had her own struggles with health when she was diagnosed with junior diabetes. Despite not having many professional role models to look up to, she made up her mind to become a lawyer and went on to basically be The Best, graduating from Princeton and Yale Law School with top honors. An icon, in other words.
I’ve mentioned it already, so I give an extensive blurb here again, but Civil Rights Queen by Tomiko Brown-Nagin is also one to pick up.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Suggestion Section
An article on the history of Nazi book burning
Here are the most popular fantasy books on TikTok
Danika makes the case for a variety of queer representation
I hope this newsletter found you well, and as always, thanks for hanging out! If you have any comments or just want to connect, send an email to erica@riotnewmedia.com or holla at me on Twitter @erica_eze_. You can also catch me talking more mess in the new In Reading Color newsletter as well as chattin’ with my new cohost Tirzah Price on the Hey YA podcast.
Until next week,
-E