Reading Ladies Book Club asks who’s my most captivating character of the month and hmmm…I have a couple of answers, I think…so let me talk first about…
What I’m reading – BIM: Arts for the 21st Century vol. 12 May 2025 (e-copy and physical book, e-p. 163/p-p. 135) Creole Clay: Heritage Ceramics in the Contemporary Caribbean by Patricia J. Fay (print book; p. 70) Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (audio book narrated by Liz Femi, Anthony Oseyemi, Jason Culp & Chris Djuma;14:13:26) Middlemarch by George Eliot (audio book narrated by Juliet Aubrey; 11:53:40) Mirie’s Magic Recipe: Loving, Leading, Legacy by Miriam Samuel (ebook; p. 63)
Looking at that list, the characters that stand out (without me having to double check anything) are from Death of the Author, beginning with the author in question whose family interactions especially are stoking my empathy – most recently, her interaction with her sister after a traumatic event especially brought angry tears to my eyes. Like I feel her deeply, her insistence on living fully despite her physical challenges, that she is a writer whose family consistently underestimates her potential when she’s down then when she gets up ignores her accomplishments. She’s not perfect, of course, she’s bullheaded and her ego can get away from her, but it’s that same impetuousness (or recklessness if you must) that makes her dare, including when her actual survival is on the line, and the flipside of her ego is a fragility (or maybe humanity) that makes you feel for her. No one is perfect; she can be as frustrating as any complex character but anyone could write a book? Really?! Her sister is so enraging. Because it was said specifically to make her feel small. The dismissiveness. I also hate that – much like the movie The Wild Robot – the sentient AI in the story within the story are so well written that I am legit worried for them. As much as I side-eye AI in real life; don’t make me feel things for them, Book. The book, too well written for me to dismiss as AI propaganda, goes back and forth between the real world and the fictional story and I am equally engaged by both.
Then there’s also…
What I’ve been watching –
Project Hail Mary (movie based on a book I haven’t read but the movie was dope) Office Romance (a Netflix J-Lo rom-com and…enough said) Four Seasons (well, part of the first part of season 2 of Four Seasons with Colman Domingo and Tina Fey)
& the dynamic between Project Hail Mary‘s Grace and Rocky, and Grace and everybody really, including Stratt, who betrays him, is part of this movie’s magic. The thing that sticks with me though is how many people I’ve seen refer to Grace as a coward as if it’s easy to give up your whole life even with the future of earth on the line. I always say none of us know who we are until we are actually in certain situations but everyone likes to think they would be the hero. Maybe you would but you don’t really know, and his hesitation felt like a reasonable human reaction to me. The payoff for which came in the arc that allowed him to find someone with whom he connects in a more than superficial way and, as a result, for whom he’d be willing to sacrifice his life.
Finally, there’s my own writing –
I’m in the process of adapting this book into a play.
With each revision, the play becomes its own thing and that’s fascinating to discover. The characters captivating my mind most, therefore, are the ones I’m rethinking, reintroducing, and adding complexity through that process. More on my writing in Journaling Writing on my Patreon.
Speaking of Patreon, my Caribbean Media Award nominated articles have now been re-posted to the CREATIVE SPACE Collection on that platform. They can be read there for free…though I do hope if you like what you see you’ll consider becoming a member, gifting a membership, purchasing a collection, or even assisting with spreading the word.
Post contains libro.fm affiliate links. Remember, as I said in my last Sunday Post, I have 3 credits to give for June, audiobook month; just let me know which of the Caribbean books you want from this libro.fm playlist, and remember I’ll need your email address to gift the book to you if you win.
My reason for emphasizing Caribbean books is June being #readCaribbean and #Caribathon and my latest instagram post in recognition (which I’ll also make my News from Home) is my one Caribbean book for each year I’ve been blogging post, check it out.
As for my week, more time at the hospital assisting a family member, another birthday in the family, plus some well well well seasoned chicken pasta I only got to sample (one of my young ones, not the budding chef who is also the birthday boy, trying his hand in the kitchen) …that’s all I got, lol.
There are definitely more backlogged books in my reading stacks but I’ll talk about one I just finished – keeping 2026’s at least one book completed a month streak unbroken. I picked up the Blackheart Man audio book, written by Nalo Hopkinson and narrated by Ron Butler, in early January, just before my birthday. Maybe it was a birthday gift to myself; I don’t remember. But I’d wanted to read it since I first saw the cover – because just look at it.
It was published in 2024 by Simon & Schuster Audio.
Why did I add it to my bookshelf?
I’ve liked the author’s work in the past – one previous book I’ve read, Brown Girl in the Ring, of her extensive, award winning catalogue, and various short stories (including in New Daughters of Africa and Reclaim Restore Return); and I’d had some interactions with her (including one time she probably doesn’t remember of her advising me earlier in my blogging journey) since we met at the first literary festival in Antigua-Barbuda.
(She’s third from right in the grey dress above and I’m right in the pink skirt at the 2006 lit fest with other Caribbean writers)
I decided to post this giveaway here exclusively because it is book community specific and this is where I am in community with book bloggers. That said, anyone can get it.
It is one of three possible credits for a book from my libro.fm Joanne’s Picks playlist put together as part of audio book month, June, on libro.fm. Yes, it’s my favourites of the books I’ve accessed and read via the platform. But the giveaway is book specific so – as it’s #ReadCaribbean and #Caribathon season – I’ll be gifting Caribbean books from the list specifically. There are two Caribbean books on the list – one I read and wrote about in 2025 and one in 2026 (don’t click the years if you don’t want to be spoiled). Just let me know which one (as in actually say the title of the one) you want in the comments below. I’ll keep it simple and gift these credits I’m holding to the first three (I’m not even going to ask an ask – though using my affiliate link when purchasing from libro.fm and/or my patreon asks above would go along way). All you need to do is say which one of the Caribbean books from my playlist you’d like to try, plus your email address (you can use my contact page to send the latter if you’re not comfortable putting it in the comments but give me a heads up in the comments if you do).
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A Post of the Day
How are we feeling about wordpress’ on this day feature? Well apparently on this day-ish in 2025, I had a rant in my Sunday Post/Sunday Salon about the state of the world (what’s changed?), shared that I was reading The Dutch Houseby Ann Patchett, Sweet Cherie by Maella, and Interviewing the Caribbean Vol 5 No 1, all of which I finished (see title links for my reviews), and BIM: Arts for the 21st Century volume 12 May 2025, which is still in progress. I also mentioned, among other things, that I was reading the year’s winning regional Commonwealth stories on Granta (which I finished and shared) and in – news from home – I’m sorry to report that that’s perhaps the last of the Granta published Commonwealth winners I’ll be reading as, after this year, the partnership is over due to the winning Caribbean story being accused of using AI and one of the shortlisted writers has even withheld her story from publication on the Commonwealth platform, Adda – where all short stories, including my own “Jumbie Pond” last year, are typically published – due to perceived mishandling and falling credibility of the prize. What’s the future of the prize which has been a rare opportunity for visibility for writers on the margins from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, as well as Australia and New Zealand, British, and Canadian writers? I don’t know and that’s a shame. Because flawed as it was, before AI or allegations thereof and the non/handling of said allegations or challenges sussing out AI use entered the chat, it was a window of opportunity.
Interestingly, the window to posts past shows that last year this time, I was mounting a workshop similar to the one set for this coming Saturday in anticipation of submissions to the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Fest short story competition, the deadline of which is July 1st, listening to Spanish stories on the internet to train my ear as I still am, and celebrating Father’s Day (which this year also happens to be my mother’s birthday). It’s been a rough year on the parental front – my dad, for one has been in and out of the hospital, so when he wanted to go to the national track meet today, I obliged (the post’s opening image is us at the track). And, hey, I may not have known any of the runners, but I had fun cheering them on with my dad.
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What I’ve been reading
This is my first reading journal since May 23rd, because yes I posted something for World Environment Day and snuck in an It’s WWWednesday what are you reading after finishing a short story but I haven’t been finishing more than one book per month this year so far. I had opted not to post to the book blog memes unless I had something finished. But thankfully something includes short stories. As, though I still haven’t finished a book for June, I have finished another short story, “Crossing the Zbruch” by Isaac Babel. Per Mostly about Stories, which translates and analyzes the story, the Zbruch is a river in Western Ukraine, and the story appears in a longer work, Konarmiia, or Red Army Cavalry, a collection of stories on the Polish-Soviet war of the early 1920s. The author was executed during a purge in 1940. My brief thoughts on the story are in BLOGGER ON BOOKS XIV (2026) – QUICK TAKES 3.
I have also recently been reading (but not finishing) –
Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson (audio book narrated by Ron Butler, paused at 9:53:53)
Crossing Over by Ann Morgan (ebook, paused at p. 212)
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (audio book narrated by Liz Femi, Anthony Oseyemi, Jason Culp & Chris Djuma, paused at 12:43:27)
A History of Antigua, the Unsuspected Isle by Brian Dyde (print, paused at p. 142)
Middlemarch by George Eliot (audio book narrated by Juliet Aubrey, paused at 10:57:25)
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (audio book narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, paused at 9:05:48)
My own Musical Youth(repping Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts-Nevis on the publisher’s end); Shakirah Bourne’s My Fishy Stepmom (which I’m actually still reading; repping Barbados where the author lives and Jamaica where the publisher is based); Elizabeth J Jones’ A Dark Iris (which I edited; repping Bermuda in the case of the author and Jamaica in the case of the publisher); Viviana Prado-Núñez’s The Art of White Roses(repping Cuba and Puerto Rico in the case of the author and Dominica in the case of the publisher); Dancing in the Rain (set in Dominican Republic, written by Trinbagonian author Lynn Joseph, and published by a Jamaican); Children of the Spider(by Guyanese writer Imam Baksh and published by a Jamaican publisher); All over Again (by Ad-Ziko Simba Gegele a Jamaican writer who lived in Montserrat working with a Jamaican publisher); and Home Home (by Trini writer Lisa Allen-Agostini working with a Dominican publisher).
Well, Wednesday lover or not (not!), it’s always fun to talk words, so this is a link up with Taking on a World of Words’ WWWednesday which invites us of the reading delegation to check-in with answers to the three Ws –
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
I read several things (books, stories, journals) at once. Since my last Reading Journal back on May 24th, those things have included Middlemarch by George Eliot (audiobook narrated by Juliet Aubrey, 10:51:31 chapter 24); Fortune by Amanda Smyth (ebook, p. 251); Creole Clay: Heritage Ceramics in the Contemporary Caribbean by Patricia J. Fay (print, p. 69); Death of the Authorby Nnedi Okorafor (audiobook narrated by Liz Femi, Anthony Oseyemi, Jason Culp & Chris Djuma, 11:03:53); Anthony N Sabga Awards – Caribbean Excellence 20 (print, p. 113); Caribbean Literature in Transition, 1970–2020 by Ronald Cummings and Alison Donnell (print, p. 132 …but skimming more than reading); Mirie’s Magic Recipe: Loving, Leading, Legacy by Miriam Samuel (ebook, p. 62); Walking after Midnight: A Journey to the Heart of Nashville by Lauren St. John (print, p. 122); and Mastering AI by Sonyque Suriel (print, p. 44…which I’m reading because I hope to write about AI not because I co-sign its use…I don’t).
But to answer the question more directly, last night I was reading BIM: Arts for the 21st Century vol. 12 May 2025 (e-copy/physical book, e-p. 130/p-p. 102). Yes, I’m reading both the ecopy and physical book; I’m also published in it.
I have two stories in the collection as well but I haven’t gotten to the fiction section as yet.
By the way, as I was typing this, I was listening to Willow Talks Books on YouTube’s dissection of the Guardian’s list of 100 best novels in the English language (which I haven’t yet read…the list, not the books…although yeah some…many …?…of the books as well). And …*spoiler re Guardian list ahead*…would you know one of the books I’ve been reading …*spoiler re Guardian list incoming*…is number 1 on the list….*spoiler alert re Guardian list*… it’s Middlemarch. Speaking of books I have or haven’t read, I’ve only completed three others in the top 10 (Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice…I do feel the need to add that I’ve read lots of Toni Morrison but not Beloved which is number 2 on the Guardian list).
What did you recently finish reading?
No books since the one (Love Songs Make You Cry by Lasana M. Sekou) mentioned in my last journal. But I did finish a story “Bad Artist” by Francesca Carra in The Rumpus this week. No review in Blogger on Books but it did draw me in in a bleak, reluctant sort of way; recommend.
What do you think you’ll read next?
This is a tricky one. I’ve been finishing a book a month so far this year, not by design, and if I’m keeping that as bare minimum I need to push to finish one of the books I’m reading that I’m close to finishing for June. Of the ones listed above, that’s probably Fortune which I quite like and expected to finish months ago…but here we are.
It’s also #readCaribbean and #Caribathon month in online book spaces, primarily bookstagram and booktube, respectively, as a tie-in with Caribbean American Heritage Month, and Fortune is one of the books that would be on theme for that.
Sidebar, I’ve participated in two of the official #readCaribbean activities, the introduce yourself post and the 8 Years 8 Caribbean Books post. For the latter, I did one Caribbean book per decade; so, for anyone looking to #readCaribbean, I’ll share this (and my books, of course) as a place to start.
I’ve already read those so end of sidebar; we were talking about what I’ll be reading next. I am going to try to finish Fortune (only 15 pages left to go) and my day’s walking around book will be A History of Antigua, the Unsuspected Isle by Brian Dyde (print, p. 100) and I already have Mirie’s Magic Recipe open and will probably be reading some more of that today as well.
So that’s that on the reading front for me, and here’s some reading material to get you caught up with my blog and patreon –
I hope, if you’re reading this, you’ll consider supporting my patreon or purchasing linked books through my libro.fm affiliate link. But mostly, I hope you get through hump day with fullness of spirit. Have a blessed day.
My appreciation for the environment shows up in a lot of my writing, especially so my writing for children – as seen in my children’s picture books. I mean in the story of Dolphin, the Arctic Seal (Fish Outta Water, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, Perdida! Una Aventura en el Mar Caribe), I tell an inspired by real life story of an Arctic seal who had wandered into the Caribbean Sea, and so much in the telling of that story is informed by the spaces I touched and things I’ve learned in my other life, as a reporter. Including the beach at the end, Pasture Bay, inspired by the beach where I’ve watched turtles lay eggs and hatchlings dash toward the sea during turtle watching excursions, one of which included camping out (read: walking the beach) all night in the rain, no tent. In 2002, I was named environmental journalist of the year by the environment division for my reporting on this hawkbill turtle conservation project. Cheetah is about dreams, sure, but the dream is to be a cheetah, and in With Graceand The Jungle Outside, backyard gardens are the active settings and thematic throughline.
As hinted at, this commitment to illuminating our environment shows up in my reporting, which has enabled me to go outside, on and off island, a lot, as well – only some of it captured in my online portfolio and CREATIVE SPACE archives. It’s personal interest, obviously, but I also do believe that dipping our toes in the sand, so to speak, can deepen our appreciation for our natural environment and our sense of responsiblity to it – or it should.
The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future”. So, as I’ve linked my environmental themed or referential picture books above, let me link some of my articles and other writing that were inspired by…
As we mark World Environment Day 2026, we must move beyond awareness to decisive action. Restoring ecosystems, accelerating climate solutions, and safeguarding our planet are not optional – they are essential to securing our collective future. By answering the Earth’s call with urgency, commitment, and unity, we can still shape a thriving world. – UNDP
Hey, it’s me; I’m back again. You know what that means – I finished a book! Observation, I seem to be on a book-a-month rhythm in 2026 in terms of finished books (or stories) and it is what it is. It’s been a trying year so far (with some bright moments, such as the offer I received for publication of my next children’s book, sprinkled in), so I’ll take whatever reading I can get. I have to say I’m excited though, electing to post only when I finish something, means my check-ins with the book blogging community are more spaced out (with the possibility of things becoming even more spaced out when I more fully center my online ‘blogging’ on my patreon as I might by next year, if I’m still here at all, knock on wood, God willing and all that).
(Caribbean t’ings: It’s mango season and, apparently, wandering livestock season)
Life: A window to My World
I’m in the Caribbean, as you know if you’re a blog regular, and Caribbean in the summer is when fruits go crazy (even with as little rain as we’ve had this year). The image on the left was on my computer so I figured it’s as good as any for a window to my current world. The mangoes are bagged for sharing. Don’t get me wrong, I can eat some mangoes…except I can’t, not right now, not anymore, not like I used to. So, more to share. Also we have a cherry tree. I also had to share the image on the right as for days I dealt with a giant bull in my yard that I couldn’t figure out how to get out. Before it was retrieved by its owner (who did fix the damage it caused), it urinated and dropped manure everywhere in addition to damaging my fence, knocking over and uprooting banana trees, and pulling down a limb of one of the mango trees, presumably to get at the mangoes despite the many mangoes already on the ground because animal logic. But I got a poem, “What to do when a bull wanders into your yard”, out of it; so there’s that.
Besides that, it’s been a writer’s week – writing, submissions, rejections, trying and flailing (sic) to keep up with communication; you know the drill (all the things you’ll find out about in the Journaling Writing series if you subscribe to my patreon). I’m feeling okay today but I’ve been feeling like I’m swimming against time and getting nowhere. That’s not true, of course; just sometimes you can’t see the ocean for the sea…or something like that.
Also in life t’ings, I used to take Spanish classes (which were offered for free) here at the Venezuelan Institute. I haven’t had much opportunity to practice since those classes, despite my country having a sizeable Spanish population due to the Santo Domingan (as we call anyone from the Dominican Republic) immigrant population, and travel over the years to the DR, Mexico, and Cuba.
(Flashback to Havana, Cuba, left; Guadalajara, Mexico, right)
Turns out when you try to engage a native speaker with your rudimentary grasp of their language, they just switch to English and, with the possible exception of Cuba, where I on occasion had to dig deep into my Spanish bag, they had a better grasp of my language than I did of theirs. But lately I’ve been doing Duolingo (which has been both fun and frustrating), and picking up books from my days in the (adult evening education) classroom like Bravo! Spanish for the Oral Exam by Ana Maria Plymen (print, p. 11).
On that page, let’s segue to what else I’ve been reading.
Books: Finished Reading
Love Songs Make You Cry by Lasana M. Sekou is why we’re here. I finished it yesterday. Find my review in Blogger on Books – Quick Takes 3, where you’ll also find the pull quote I’ll use for my first, I think, Writing Wrong’s prompt response – a favourite line that’s not the very first line.
“She wanted to go inside, for them to have one last dance together. He wanted to go home.” p. 62
It was a twist.
Books: New (to me)
Stacking the Shelves requires me to name books I’ve added and that would be The Tragedy of Pudd’nheadWilson by Mark Twain (audiobook, 2:02:49), which I randomly started listening to one day and kept going…my first Twain since The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as a kid. Perhaps he was on the brain though as I had not long finished Percival Everett’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Pulitzer Prize winning remix, James.
Books: What I’m Reading
Books from the Backlog requires me to feature some of the neglected books sitting on my shelves; which I’m adapting to books lower down in my active reading pile (i.e. the books I say I’m reading but have barely touched since my last reading journal which was on April 12th 2026).
Caribbean Literature in Transition, 1970–2020 by Ronald Cummings and Alison Donnell (ebook, p. 115); All Decent Animals by Oonya Kempadoo (physical book, p. 138); Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (audiobook, 9:15:38); Middlemarch by George Eliot (audiobook, 10:19:22 chapter 23); The Way We Are, A Cultural Exploration of Antigua and Barbuda, So arwe tap by Joy Lawrence (physical book, p. 58); Naniki by Oonya Kempadoo (ebook, p. 63); Mirie’s Magic Recipe, Loving, Leading, Legacy by Miriam Samuel (ebook, p. 56); Fortune by Amanda Smyth (ebook, p. 248); Offset 2: Children of the Gulf by Delvin Howell and Hans Steinbach (physical book, p. 50); The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (audiobook, 8:46:32); A History of Antigua, the Unsuspected Isle by Brian Dyde (physical book, p. 100); and BIM: Arts for the 21st Century vol. 12 May 2025 (e-copy and physical book, ebook-p. 126/physical book-p. 98).
I think I’m supposed to say something about why I added the book to the shelf and there are too many to do that for so I’ll pick one randomly; eenie, meenie, minee, moe…and you’re it, The Way We Are is the latest in a series of folk history books I like. I know the author and she asked me to send something on myself to include in the book. Then one day, months or possibly a full year plus later, I was flipping through it at the bookstore and realized it had bios of my aunt and grandmother as well, making it an automatic family keepsake. So, I bought it.
I’m also reading (most actively, at least this past week):
The Sailor’s Review (i.e. the journal that published my Anita McAndrews winning poem and which I’ve been scanning mostly for the other winning pieces; ejournal, p. 72) and The Anthony N. Sabga Awards – Caribbean Excellence 20 (i.e. the anniversary coffee table publication featuring all the winners of the award, physical book, p. 110).
The books mentioned below are my most active book reads of the past week, meanwhile, I’ll use one – Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson (audiobook read by Ron Butler, 4:35:00), a book I was eager to read as a fan of the Grand Master Award winner’s speculative fiction – for Book Beginnings and First Line Fridays. In it, per the book’s summary, the magical island of Chynchin is facing conquerors from abroad and something sinister from within.
Carenage Town, the island nation of Chynchin
Here at the top of Cullybree Heights, the stone statue honouring the twin goddess Mamacona loomed out over the ocean.
Also reading, First Things First, Hip Hop Ladies who changed The Game by Nadirah Simmons (ebook, p.136)
I’ve also watched, in movies, Michael, in-theatre, and Project Hail Mary, at home; both were a good time.
Besides that, it’s the NBA post-season, so it’s been mostly basketball and basketball related content.
Other Things: News from Home
The other thing/s I’ve been reading is the 2025 Commonwealth Shortlisted Stories; there’re 25 of them so, while I’ve long ago finished the regional winners, the rest (among which my own “Jumbie Pond“, the first shortlisted story from my country, Antigua and Barbuda, is included) have been taking a while. Don’t even get me started on the 2024 list.
What I’ll mention though is that the 2026 longlist (including three Antiguans and Barbudans), shortlist and regional winners have been announced, and the Caribbean winner (a Trinidad and Tobago writer) sparked controversy in regional and global literary spaces due to allegations that his story was AI-assisted in part or whole. Writers, including myself on my public facebook page and on the Wadadli Pen facebook page, have waded into the discourse. The one who brought it to my attention, fellow Trini writer and past Commonwealth short story winner Kevin Jared Hosein has been, via his facebook, one of the most emphatic critics, calling for transparency to protect the integrity of the process. The Commonwealth Foundation Creatives, which administers the prize, has issued we-take-this-seriously type statements (I believe GRANTA, which publishes the winning story, has said something similar but I can’t find that too link it). The statement I want to quote, though, is from a subsequent KJH facebook post.
Writers, this is my advice: Do not fear to create distinct ugliness in your characters. If your story requires it, do not fear writing the violence and raw sex and your worst fears. Write emotions precisely — the LLM tends to lump so much feeling into a ‘fog’ and hide lived experience behind vague pre-packaged metaphors. Do not fear your own clumsy mistakes, not even your typos. Recover contact with your own mind, your own senses, your own contradictions. Embrace the unevenness and the many hours of the process. Be honest and intentional in your words. While the literary establishment struggles to come up with policy, remember: The purpose is in climbing the mountain, not taking a helicopter ride to the summit to take a selfie, scribbling on it, “Ah finally reach!”
Good advice. My additional reminder to myself has been to back up every draft, even though the document history in Word will record/note versions as you update.
In non-book Caribbean news of note, the 6.5 quake we had here last weekend and the US’ moves against Cuba. I won’t share the articles which uncritically accept the premise for the latest action; I will share instead this statement from the Small Axe literary journal calling “upon the leaders of the Caribbean community of nations to vigorously protest this US aggression in the region” – that aggression, under current regime, having included the Cuban blackout and blockade and now threats of miliatry action, the unilateral removal of Venezuela’s leader, extrajudicial bombings and resulting deaths including of St. Lucian and Trinidadian fishermen in the waters between Venezuela and Trinidad, and enhanced restrictions re travel, travel visas, and green cards affecting residents across multiple islands including my own. Good times.
Other Things: Something Actually Good
Two of my nephews had birthdays this month, one as recently as this week. I pray for blessings on them, as as I was recently reminded, it’s all so tenuous.
Other Things: Posts You Missed on My Blogs and On My Patreon
This week’s Book Blogger Hop prompt is “what do you think about rising prices for hardcovers, paperbacks, and ebooks?” and my answer is the same thing I think about the rising price of everything (especially in a year of crazy, some might even say exploitative, medical lab bills), I can’t keep up. Global instability (I won’t say caused by who) and the greed of those who decide to capitalize on it will do that though. But books (most of which are imported or locally produced independent books) have always been expensive where I am which is one of the reasons, though I really don’t need to be buying any new books until I finish my pile, I started looking out for e and audiobook online sales – though I prefer physical books and try to parse the difference by buying from and becoming affiliated with online bookstores that support local independent booksellers like libro.fm
I’ll end with something fun this freestyle dance workout I posted to my instagram (give a follow while you’re over there). It’s just a little bit of whimsy and fun in a dour world…in memory of hip hop icon Rob Base, whose death was announced yesterday, and, who contrary to a bar in his own rap (“I’m not internationally known but I’m known to rock the microphone”), was very much known outside of the US, including among ’80s Caribbean teens.
May is Culinary Month in Antigua and Barbuda, the twin island state in the eastern Caribbean where I am local; and the first week of the month was Restaurant Week. It’s unplanned but opportune that this CREATIVE SPACE about local coffee cafés is dropping amidst this season of eating out because, at-home or a visitor, you never know when you’ll need that caffeine fix. And one or more of the spots I rank below may be listed among participating eateries.
(Me at one of the ranked coffee shops; in Antigua-Barbuda or not, feel free to drop a picture of you at your favourite coffee shop in the comments)
A useful list whether you live here or plan to visit because, we all sometimes need a coffee boost, whether at work or play or just trying to make it through the day. Full article here.
My Publications and Projects page tells me “Walking Willemstad”, a travel piece in the latest of the Caribbean Airlines inflight magazine Caribbean Beat, is my eighth (?) contribution to the publication; and it’s been a while.
Caribbean Beat is always an interesting read when it comes to Caribbean art and culture – and I say that as someone who usually reads it cover to cover on flights. The last time I remember doing so was en route to Tobago in 2025, after which I hopped over to the Dutch Caribbean, Curacao specifically.
TobagoCuracao
I was struck by Tobago’s natural beauty and Curacao’s embrace of art and history; and have pitched articles on both. These weren’t working trips but you know how we writers (especially writers like me with a background in journalism who is also a freelancer) are; I mostly checked out and decompressed but after returning home, the need to tell stories re-asserted itself. I first wrote about my visit to the slavery museum in Curacao in CREATIVE SPACE #3 OF 2025: STEPPING INTO HISTORY and subsequently successfully pitched what became “Walking Willemstad“, a piece on public art and the history I experienced there.
Think I’ve recouped the cost of the trip yet? Or do I need to travel some more?
I’ve so far uploaded 8 installments of CREATIVE SPACE – my award winning art and culture column – for early access to my patreon since the start of the year. The latest (publicly available at the moment to members and non-members by the way) is
I hope you’ll check both out, both what’s publicly available and what’s member-only; supporting my patreon any way you can and, by so doing, the continuation of the CREATIVE SPACE series, and more.
Oh, while I’m here, I’ve added a book I’m included in to my Books page. Specifically, a poem of mine that was included in an exhibition in Malta last year and is now part of a book by the artist.
“Every year, on 23 April, UNESCO celebrates World Book and Copyright Day in recognition of the power of books as a bridge between generations and across cultures.” – UNESCO
I haven’t finished a book since my April 12th post but I couldn’t let World Book and Copyright Day pass without blogging books; so here’s #whatimreading
Jane and Louisa will soon come Homeby Erna Brodber (print book, p. 38); Freedom Song by Amit Chaudhuri (print book, p. 90); Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (audio book, 8:17:04); Josephine against the Seaby Shakirah Bourne (ebook, p 196); Fortuneby Amanda Smyth (ebook, p. 238); The Illustrated Story of Pan by Kim Johnson (print book, p. 193); The Way We Are, A Cultural Exploration of Antigua and Barbuda, So arwe tap, by Joy Lawrence (print book, p. 57); The Dark of the Sea by Imam Baksh (print book, p. 43); BIM: Arts for the 21st Century vol. 12 May 2025 (e-copy and physical book, p.112 and p. 84, respectively); and The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (audio book, 6:10:30).
I’ve also been doing the Crossword Companion Volume 257 (still only completed one puzzle though).
Though it makes for slow going (slower still when I fall asleep or lose my place as I tend to do with audio books; sorry Death of the Author – it’s not you, it’s me, seriously), I read several books at once (obviously) and usually have a walking around book on any given day; today’s books are The Reformatory and BIM. So as they are most present, I’ll quote a line from each that’s stuck with me.
“It sounded to Robert like both a peal of laughter and the world’s saddest cry” – this when he is in the infirmary after his first punishment in the ironically named Funhouse, after he hit a note playing the trumphet for the first time, The Reformatory
“We do not know just when you turned. Time always will, without permission.” – because this felt so real to me (given recent life events) when I came across it on my walk last night while reading ‘TYR: Ode to My Grandfather (in essence the Norse god of heroic endeavour)’ by Jacintha Browne-Howard in BIM
Books, showing me beauty even in bleak moments and reminding me that even the loneliest feeling has a twin; because books are about connection with worlds unknown and familiar.
I am grateful to books (and stories generally in what every form) for existing.
And it being World Book and Copyright Day, I’ll unashamedly plug some of my own books (grateful that I a #gyalfromOttosAntigua can even say she has put any much less ‘some’ books out into the world).
“The illustrations are rich in color and support the child’s vivid imagination. …with a loving message (it) is perfect for young children aged three to six to enjoy with their parent(s). …a delightful way to end a busy day and reassure a child that they are loved and free to imagine whatever brings them joy.” – Children’s Literature ofTo be a Cheetah, a bedtime story, illustrated by Zavian Archibald, published in 2023 by Sunbird Books, US
“It’s a very contemporary novel, and it deals with a very contemporary issue in the Caribbean, which is that the economy is based on tourism. To what extent do you compromise your country to let tourism flourish? And so what’s at the heart of this novel is the tension between the land developers…this what Joanne does so cleverly: …For all the blue water, for all the big sunshine, she never lets us forget the brutal history of slavery that occurred on the islands.” – Elizabeth Nunez (RIP), speaking on NPR (US) about Oh Gad!, originally published by Simon & Schuster, US, in 2012, currently out of print
“A short well-told story.” – Goodreads reader, about my first book The Boy from Willow Bend, originally published 2002 by Macmillan, subsequently by Hansib, UK
“This book is for children and the adults in their life – beautifully told and illustrated.” – reader on Facebook, about my Caribbean faerie tale, With Grace, illustrated by Cherise Harris, and published in 2016 by Little Bell Caribbean, before going on to become an official pick of the 2017 USVI Governor’s Summer Read Challenge
“Hillhouse’s writing is overwhelmingly joyful and explicitly invested in the power of Black joy, Black excellence, and Black self-love” – Kirkus Reviews, which gave it a starred review and named itone of its top books of 2020, after publication of the second edition in 2019 of Musical Youth, which was initially published in 2014 by Caribbean Reads, after being named a finalist in the inaugural Burt Award for teen/YA Caribbean literature
“What makes the book a true pleasure is its political edge. Hillhouse arms the characters with larger social conflicts that far outshine the romance…Michael and Selena struggle for romantic survival and for self-definition, despite their histories as discarded children surrounded by bitterness. Every character has some kind of betrayal echoing in their lives. Though no one is innocent, Hillhouse skilfully wraps the reader intimately into the fallout of each character’s experience.” – Broken Pencil, Canada, on the re-issue with Insomniac, 2014, of my second book, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, originally published by Macmillan,UK, in 2004; and currently out of print.
Hopefully, you’ll check out one of the mentioned books…for World Book Day; and, hey, drop what you’re reading today in the comments.
This post includes bookshop.org and libro.fm affiliate links. The latter has a special membership offer: when customers sign up for a new one-credit per month membership with code BOOKSTOREDAY, they’ll receive two bonus audiobooks. If you buy using my unique links embedded in this post, I’ll earn a commission. Thanks in advance.
Finally, a reminder that you can also support my Patreon where Journaling Writing tracks my writing progress, CREATIVE SPACE – my art and culture column is available for early access, and I’m currently planning to offer writing workshops continuing my Jhohadli Writing Project series.
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