My Top 2019 Beach + Vacation Reads

I am notorious for buying books and then not prioritizing reading them. So this summer, I am dedicating my beach time to actually cracking open some of my recent literary buys. For me, summer vacation reads are usually action-packed or motivational, so my reading list is a healthy mix of both.

Sandals from Dolce Vita, purchase here

"Becoming" by Michelle Obama

I am truly worried for you if this needs any explanation, lol. I think we are still in awe of our former First Lady, and this book makes me just a bit more obsessed with her. "Becoming" makes Mrs. Obama Aunty Shelly. She is transparent and candid and inspiring - all of the makings of an icon. Purchase Here

The Age Of Light: A Novel

I've mentioned this before, but I am such a francophile. I love anything Parisian-inspired, and this book is no different. Says of the Amazon Review:

"Lee Miller was already an accomplished model when she made her way to Paris in the 1930s, but her aim was to be behind the camera. A chance meeting with famed Surrealist photographer Man Ray set this plan in motion, and revealed that Miller’s artistic ability--and her ambition—rivaled that of her mentor (and eventual lover). Whitney Scharer’s sumptuous debut novel, The Age of Light, captures their passionate, and complicated, relationship, and pays homage to the pluck, determination and profound talents of a woman sometimes relegated to a footnote in Man Ray’s history. Both his and Scharer’s muse shines here. --Erin Kodicek, Amazon Book Review [Purchase Here]

The Engagement Game: Why I Said "I Don't" to Marriage and "I Do" to Me

This title holds personal weight to me because of my recent separation/divorce. As I've become more open about the experience, I realize there are more of us out here going through this process than you'd think. I love the idea of hearing someone else's experience, especially a young, Black woman. This one's definitely on my list, for sure. [Purchase Here]

Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist's Fight to Make Media Look More Like America

Again, another topic of personal interest to me! As a woman of color working in media and communications, it's good to know my history. Says the Amazon Review:

"Dorothy Gilliam is that most rare of revolutionaries, one who not only climbs the barricades, but lets down a ladder to help others up, too. In her more than six decades at the centers of journalism in New York and Washington, she has often been the first African American woman and the best of everything. Her memoir shows us that a few can be both, but no one should have to. We will have no democracy until each of us can be our unique individual selves."―Gloria Steinem, feminist activist, writer, editor, lecturer who also helped create New York and Ms. Magazine [Purchase Here]

Any reads on your list you're trying to get into summer 2019?