Hey Delights!
Reading & watching all the amazing tributes to Ms Cicely Tyson since her passing has alternately filled and broken my heart. So I had to purchase her autobiography, which went on sale right before her passing.
As sad as the news was, I take some comfort in the fact that she existed and that we all got to (and can continue to) take in and be awed and inspired by everything she represented. 🙌🏾
So I’m just grateful that I can curl up with her book & a cup or two of chai and do just that.
Pajamas: (one of my many sets from Walmart)| Cicely Tyson: Just As I Am | White Faux Leather Chair | Metal Sea Urchin | Similar Bar Cart | Gold Eye Mirror | Faux Fur Table Runner used as a chair throw – (similar style rug) | Gold Vase
For the past few years I have been the queen of audiobooks but this was definitely a book that I had to physically hold in my hands.
I started a book club back in April 2020 in the heart of the pandemic to give myself guaranteed weekly community time and we literally had just finished reading A Wanted Woman by the late Eric Jerome Dickey (which was a wild ride 😮) when the news of Ms Tyson’s transition was announced.
So we chose it as the next selection for the club and we are currently 2/3rds through it and it feels like sitting at a grandmother’s knee taking in her stories and lessons.
There was so much about her life that I did not have a clue about (like the fact that she has a daughter – a huge point of contention for my club members), so I am loving learning about those things. I am also loving taking in stories about other very well-known artists and creatives and entertainers.
Ms Tyson started her career during that amazing time in New York City that I would have loved to have been a part of. The days when you would go to a party and hang with the likes of Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis & Sidney Poitier. A time when so many Black artists were creating their own venues & their own work in spite of insane barriers put in place to keep us from doing so.
And in addition to the hardcopy that I had to have, we also purchased the audiobook because I realize that it’s the only way that I can consume books like I do.
Since last April books have definitely become an even more important part of my life and I have literally listened to a minimum of 2 books every week. In addition to the book for my club, I’m usually listening to one or two others as well and I do most of this while I’m either working around the house or in my car, neither of which allow you to sit down and physically read.
I hope to get some posts up sharing some of the books I have read because there has been so many really great must reads. you can check out some of my previous reviews here.
Anyway, I recommend getting the physical version of Ms Tyson’s book because it’s one of those books that you just have to have in your library.
Have you started reading or listening to it?
p.s I was not exaggerating when I wrote that A Wanted Woman was a wild ride. It was probably the most 😮 book I have ever read. You can read an excerpt here.