#Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title

[ackb]

2022 Reading Challenge Report

Creating this spread in my journal has become a highlight of my year. Past efforts are here: 2019, 2020, 2021. Each year I spend a little more time on my mini cover drawings and each year I'm a little happier with how they turned out.

My reading goal for the year was 100 books and I barely made it: 101. I had to really book it to reach my goal (heh, see what I did there)

Some years it's sort of hard to pick my "Best Books", but this year it was relatively easy. Eight books in particular really stood out. I could have just left it at eight, but there were two additional authors that I came across this year that I read several books by and am quite sure I will continue gobbling up their oeuvres as long as I can. (I've never in my life seen that word as a plural—can that be right?) So as a 9th pick, I just named them both: Ashley Herring Blake and Alexis Hall. I read several of Blake's books this year that would have absolutely changed my life if they'd been around when I was a kid/teen and Hall is here because literally everything he writes is fucking hilarious.

The full list with metrics are after the jump:

My top 8 and other stand outs are in bold below

Non-Fiction (23)

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler, Ibi Zoboi

How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Kiese Laymon

(gn) The Drawing Lesson, Mark Crilley

The Art of Visual Notetaking: An Interactive Guide to Visual Communication and Sketchnoting, Emily Mills

(gn) Windows on the World, Robert Mailer Anderson, Jon Sack, Zack Anderson

All Boys Aren't Blue, George M. Johnson

Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title, Leslie Gray Streeter

(gn) WE HEREBY REFUSE: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration, Frank Abe, Tamiko Nimura, Matt Sasaki (Illustrator), Ross Ishikawa (Illustrator)

(gn) Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, Rebecca Hall, Hugo Martinez (Illustrator)

(gn) Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, Lucy Knisley

(gn) Foundations of Chinese Civilization: The Yellow Emperor to the Han Dynasty, Jing Liu

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America, Beth Macy

Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement, Tarana Burke

(gn) Go to Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons from the Fog of New Parenthood, Lucy Knisley

Notes on Grief, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

(gn) The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History, David F. Walker, Marcus Kwame Anderson (Illustrations)

BLUU Notes: An Anthology of Love, Justice, and Liberation, Takiyah Nur Amin, Mykal Slack, eds.

(gn) Passport, Sophia Glock

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People, Kekla Magoon

(pb) Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued, Peter Sís

Refugee High: Coming of Age in America, Elly Fishman

(pb) Afghan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan, Tony O'Brien, Mike Sullivan

(pb) Wishes, Mượn Thị Văn, Victo Ngai (Illustrator)

Fiction (59)

Red at the Bone, Jacqueline Woodson

American Street, Ibi Zoboi

Husband Material, Alexis Hall

Rise to the Sun, Leah Johnson

(gn) The Last Session, vol. 1, Jasmine Walls, Dozerdraws (Illustrations)

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, Becky Chambers

(gn) The Montague Twins: The Devil's Music, Nathan Page, Drew Shannon (Illustrations)

Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers

Something Fabulous, Alexis Hall

Honey Girl, Morgan Rogers

(gn) Fantasmas, Raina Telgemeier

Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie

The Violence, Delilah S. Dawson

(gn) Coven, Jennifer Dugan, Kit Seaton (Illustrations)

Children of God, Mary Doria Russell (re-read)

Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall

Skye Falling, Mia McKenzie

Liar & Spy, Rebecca Stead

The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell (re-read)

A Psalm for the Wild Built, Becky Chambers

(gn) Oddball: Sarah Scribbles #4, Sarah Andersen

Girl Made of Stars, Ashley Herring Blake

Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon

A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers

(gn) Slaughter House Five, Ryan North (adaptor), Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Albert Monteys (Illustrations)

Pretend I'm Dead, Jen Beagin

(gn) The Crossover, Kwame Alexander Dawud Anyabwile (Illustrations)

Don't Check Out This Book, Kate Klise, Sarah Klise (Illustrations)

Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki

The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James, Ashley Herring Blake

Hang the Moon, Alexandria Bellefleur

(gn) Alice in Leatherland, Iolanda Zanfardino, Elisa Romboli (Illustrator)

Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World, Ashley Herring Blake

Delilah Green Doesn't Care, Ashley Herring Blake

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls, Anissa Gray

(gn) Across a Field of Starlight, Blue Delliquanti

Ain't Burned All the Bright, Jason Reynolds, Jason Griffin (Illustrator)

Count Your Lucky Stars, Alexandria Bellefleur

I Kissed Shara Wheeler, Casey McQuiston

(gn) The Bride Was a Boy, Chii, Beni Axia Conrad (Translator)

Payback's a Witch, Lana Harper

The School for Good Mothers, Jessamine Chan

(gn) The Sacrifice of Darkness, Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver, Rebecca Kirby, James Fenner

Read Between the Lines, Rachel Lacey

The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ex-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend: Advice on Queer Dating, Love, and Friendship, Maddy Court, Kelsey Wroten (Illustrations)

(gn) A Shadow in RiverClan, Erin Hunter

How to Find a Princess, Alyssa Cole

The Girl in the Well is Me, Karen Rivers

American Spy, Lauren Wilkinson

Stay With Me, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

(gn) Be Gay, Do Comics, Matt Bors, ed.

(gn) Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms, Crystal Frasier, Val Wise (Illustrator)

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

This Winter, Alice Oseman

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Abbi Waxman

(gn) Stone Fruit, Lee Lai

Heartstopper, vol. 4, Alice Oseman

(gn) Squad, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Lisa Sterle (Illustrator)

(gn) Shadow Life, Hiromi Goto, Ann Xu (Illustrations)

Read with the kids and/or for Homeschool planning (19)

Front Desk, Kelly Yang

The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman

(pb) Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Daniel Minter (Illustrator)

The Wednesday Wars, Gary D. Schmidt

(gn) Twelfth Grade Night, Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, Jamie Green (Illustrator)

(gn) The History of Western Art in Comics Part One: From Prehistory to the Renaissance, Marion Augustin, Bruno Heitz (Illustrations)

(gn) Magical History Tour #4: The Crusades, Fabrice Erre, Sylvain Savoia (Illustrator)

A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck (re-read)

A Long Way from Chicago, Richard Peck (re-read)

The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman (re-read)

The Night Diary, Veera Hiranandani

The Subtle Knife, Philip Pullman (re-read)

(pb) Prisoners of Geography, Children's Ed.: Our World Explained in 12 Simple Maps, Tim Marshall

The Great Brain at the Academy, John D. Fitzgerald

(pb) The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, Nikkolas Smith (Illustrator)

(pb) Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, Carole Boston Weatherford, Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera

(pb) Mr. Watson's Chickens, Jarrett Dapier, Andrea Tsurumi (Illustrator)

The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman (re-read)

(gn) = graphic novel or graphic novel format (pb) = picture book

I read 101 books this year

Authors of color: 40 Black authors: 28 Cis-women, trans & nonbinary authors: 73 Graphic novels: 34 Queer characters: 47 (34 main characters) Audiobooks: 22 Picture books: 8

Read 25 Books by Black Women Authors: Only read 23

I think next year I won't do the Black Women Authors challenge. I hope I will still read as many or at least a significant number of books by Black women, and I think it's a really great idea. I'm going to resist doing it this year, though, because I noticed a crummy impulse in myself as I was keeping track of the books, like I was "getting credit" for reading books in this category and that feels kinda gross. We'll see how I do without striving for a cookie.

I would like to read more picture books in 2023, and maybe be a little choosier about the graphic novels I read. I really love graphic novels, but I read some clunkers this year. I was also pretty light on nonfiction and I'd like to read a little more this year. In any case, I know it will be another great year of reading! See you next year!

[universitybookstore]

A great love story, truly. New from Little Brown, Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title, by Leslie Gray Streeter. Funny, moving, beautiful.

[aydenwalter]

kindle onlilne Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like ¿Journey¿ in the Title for android

[mitchipedia]

“My therapist told me that it was okay to be mad at him for dying, whether or not it’s rational. Because nothing about this is logical or makes sense.” Five years ago, Leslie Gray Streeter’s husband, Scott, had a heart attack and died. He was just 44 years old.

Leslie’s book is, “Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like Journey in the Title.”

A Widow’s Guide To Grieving

[kkoehn17]

Hello and welcome back to another edition of favorites!

I have officially given up on creative introductions.

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Podcasts

I haven’t been in a huge podcast mood these past couple months, so not only am I behind on most of the shows that I already listen to, I haven’t been actively hunting for new ones either. That being said however, I did come across The Next Right Thing, which is a short, faith based podcast that, like the song in Frozen 2 (even though this podcast pre-dates the movie) encourages you to take one positive step forward. Almost all of the episode are less than 15 minutes, giving you a little burst of inspiration each week. Highly recommend!

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Books

What I’ve been lacking in podcast motivation, I’ve definitely made up for in good books. First off, This is Going to Hurt, written by (now) TV writer Adam Kay. It chronicles his 6 years as a doctor and is full of hilarious, terrifying, and heart wrenching stories. As soon as I started it I recommended it to my mom so we could laugh and cringe our way through it together and we both loved it!

Next, A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost. This is truly one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. I already loved Colin Jost from Saturday Night Live, but his wit and sense of humor shine in this memoir, and it was exactly what I needed during this crazy year. I listened to the audiobook which was fantastic, but if you are able, I’d recommend reading the eBook/physical copy, as there are tons of hilarious stories that have accompanying photographs I wish I could have seen.

And finally, Black Widow by Leslie Gray Streeter. The full title of the book is Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like Journey in the Title, which is long, but accurate. After suddenly losing her husband to a heart attack, the author documents the next year of her life, somehow finding humor that can make you laugh out loud. As a writer, I greatly admired her ability to turn to writing during such a hard time, and then to have the courage to share it, it was a very inspiring, heartbreaking and heartwarming read.

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TV Shows

I don’t know how many times my brother recommended Community before I finally started watching it, but I’d like to formally apologize for waiting so long. It is so funny, so smart, so clever, and it never fails to make me laugh. I’m genuinely bummed I didn’t watch this show when it was on the air, but I’m so glad I’m watching it now! (find it on Netflix)

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Movies

I have been trading movie recommendations with a friend of mine and Enemy came up a couple weeks ago and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. What is it about, you might ask? I can’t tell you. Because 1) it’s really, truly, a you need to see it to believe it type of movie and 2) I’m still not really sure. I will say though, I found this article really helpful in the aftermath. (find it on Amazon)

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Music

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that the main album that stole my heart over these last couple months is folklore by Taylor Swift. It was such a great surprise and a welcome comfort in this crazy times. I have fully embraced its rainy day attitude, even on the hottest of days in Southern California.

Alongside that, I have also had a handful of songs I’ve been playing on repeat, some summery, some sad, some comforting. A little bit of everything:

MadHappySad by BabyJake

Pretty Please by Dua Lipa

Catching Feelings by Drax Project & SIX60

Famous For (I Believe) by Tauren Wells & Jenn Johnson

Hurting by Kygo & Rhys Lewis

Closer by POWERS

Rager teenager! by Troye Sivan

Passerby by Patrick Droney

Waste of a Lime by Ingrid Andress

Fighting for Me by Riley Clemmons

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These Amazon Shelves

I am a collector of vintage cameras, and I have long been looking for a way to properly display them and so I was very excited to find these frames on Amazon. They are affordable, easy to hang, and sturdy enough that I could set up my cameras without fear. I would also recommend some Museum Putty, which I used to stick the cameras to the shelves (and the wall) since California seems to be a little earthquake happy at the moment. (find them here)

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Face Mask Applicators

I had heard rumblings about these guys around social media, but wasn’t sure if they were really worth the money. But upon finding a cheap two pack on Amazon, I pulled the trigger and can honestly say they are WORTH IT. They save product, help you apply masks more evenly, and make you feel like you are painting a masterpiece on your face, which is delightful. (find them here)

  July/August Favorites Hello and welcome back to another edition of favorites! I have officially given up on creative introductions.