2019 Resolutions

I’m a little behind on New Year’s resolutions, but I needed time to really think about what I wanted of 2019 and of myself. I still don’t really have that answer, but I do know one thing that I want to define the year: books. To read a plethora of books and to share my thoughts about them with all of you.

Oh and travel. A lot of traveling. So that’s two things I want from this year.

You could say those have become annual resolutions for me. In 2019, though, I yearn to do more. I want to expand my literary presence and stray a bit from my normal genres. I want to tap into the titles that make my family and friends come alive. I want to know authors whose passions and backgrounds might differ from my own.

Here, I present to you my 2019 reading resolutions.

Just a few recent adds to my bookshelf.

You (Best Be) Ready

• What: The Last Black Unicorn
• Who: Tiffany Haddish
• Pages: 278
• Genre: Memoir
• Published: 2017
• The lit: of 5 flames

The first time I watched Tiffany Haddish on TV, she was telling a story about how an old guy died while she grinded on him at a bar mitzvah. Then of course I heard the story about her taking Will and Jada Pinkett Smith on a Groupon swamp tour. From there, I read about the $4,000 white Alexander McQueen dress that she insisted on wearing at the Girls Trip premiere, SNL, the Oscars, and, most recently, the MVT Movie & TV Awards. Haddish and her antics have been everywhere the past two years, and I wanted more.

Then I came across her memoir The Last Black Unicorn. You know how I feel about memoirs. This time was different.

Haddish’s standup comedy special famously proclaims, “She ready!” Me too, girl, me too.

Critique: The Memoir is Having an Oprah Moment, But I’m Not on Board

You get a memoir! You get a memoir! Everybody gets a memoir!

If there’s been one theme that has defined literature in the past decade, it has to be the tell-all memoir. You’ve seen them from everyone, including B-list celebs, Wall Street gurus, the most obscure mayoral candidate, Hillary Clinton … multiple times (she’ll be up to four in September), and authors who should keep their words fictionalized. As I write this, James Comey announced he would write one. And not that I’m discouraging everyday Joe Schmoes from writing, but they’re getting memoirs published too. People seem to love these books, so it makes sense that so many individuals would write them. I know I might lose friends for saying this, but:

I don’t like memoirs.