I have a problem and its called BOOK OF THE MONTH

Added: 2026-06-04

[00:00:00]Hello you guys and welcome back to Lily Reads. I have a problem. I'm going to tell you guys what the problem is. It's this.

[00:00:11]It's this.

[00:00:15]It's this.

[00:00:17]Can't even hold them all.

[00:00:20]It's this.

[00:00:23]I'm regretting doing this, by the way.

[00:00:26]It's this.

[00:00:30]It's both of these.

[00:00:35]It's this. Oh, what if I told you there's one more?

[00:00:39]What if I told you there's one more? Let me get it. It's all of this.

[00:00:44]You guys, these are all the unread book of the month books that I had. I told you guys in my last video it was a problem. I have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Nine unread book of the month books. And the thing is, this don't even make no sense to me. I read my book of the month books. I think two of my favorite books this year are book of the month books.

[00:01:12]That books that I got in book of the month. So, I'm confused how every time I look up, I just have more and more book of the month books. So, let me tell you guys what I have here.

[00:01:24]I have Yesterday year by Carl Claire Burke. This is probably the most talked about book of the year thus far. I have Home of the American Circus, which I started and soft DNFED, but it's here. I still want to read it. I have Before I Forget.

[00:01:44]I have The Burning Side, which is my latest book of the month book.

[00:01:49]Ken Ken Good People short story collection neighbors. This is a book I've been wanting to read since it came out here. The names Lost Lambs.

[00:02:08]Lost Lambs. I don't even know what most of these are about, but I do know we have like a week and a half left in the month. I am going to read as many of these as I can in the next week and a half. If that means it's just two, then it'll just be two, but it'll be two less. I'll have seven books left. Um, if it's four, that's what I'm hoping for.

[00:02:31]And I'm just going to read them. I don't know what I'm going to read. Um, I know what I'm not going to read. So, because I want to get your expectations, I'm not going to read Ken. Ken is my like book that I think I'm going to give five stars. This might end up being my favorite book of the year. And so I'm going to wait for this until the fall.

[00:02:51]I'm going to wait for the fall for Ken.

[00:02:53]Don't be mad at me about that. I'm not going to read Ken. And I'm also not really in the mood for Ken. Sorry I just hit you guys. I'm also not going to read Yester Year. Yester Year is one of those books I kind of want to wait until the hype dies down and then I'll come with a final opinion on what this book if it's good or bad. I'll be the decider. So I'm not reading Yester Year. I want to tell you that already because I feel like those are the two books people probably want my opinions on the most. So, we're left with the rest. A book that I know I'm going to read.

[00:03:22]Lost Lambs. I think this is a family drama, maybe. And that's honestly what I'm in the mood for.

[00:03:29]So, I think I'm going to read this book first. So, Lost Lambs is getting read.

[00:03:35]Another book that I think I'm going to read Neighbors.

[00:03:41]Get a black author in here. Neighbors, that's two. So, if these are the two books, the only two books I read in this video, that'll just be it. Cuz I'm definitely going to do these two.

[00:03:56]I think what is before I let go about? I don't know.

[00:04:03]Option.

[00:04:05]You know what? We'll just decide. We'll just decide as the video. If we get past these two books to where I have an option to read something else, that means we've had a successful reading uh week. So, we'll decide later, but we're definitely we're going to start with Lost Lambs. Okay. I'm going to start with Lost Lambs because this is what I'm in the mood for and I literally need something to read at this very moment.

[00:04:26]And we're going to read Neighbors as well. We'll talk about IT LATER. I'M I'M making a lot of decisions at the beginning that like I can make later on in the video. Okay, y'all can just follow me to the end of the month. Okay, peace. Hello you guys. I'm back for our first reading clip. I feel like when I first talked to you guys in the intro clip, which I filmed a week ago, I had all these extravagant plans, I was like, we're going to read four books. We're going to put a dent in our book of the month books. The fact that it's been a week since I talked to you guys about that shows you that I clearly ain't been reading the way that I should be reading. And so at this point, we need to hope we get two books read. I told you guys the reading slump is here. It always comes. I am shocked how many people, especially on the internet, say they don't have reading slumps. It's just something that just like happens.

[00:05:23]you just don't be in the mood to read or like you know there's a fivest star book out there for you but you know the odds of you picking up a fivestar book is slim so you have this feeling of like I just want to read nothing but good books but in order to read good books you have to read bad books and so it just becomes this thing in your head where it's like this is too much work this is too much work but I've still been reading though I I haven't I haven't given up all hope I did start reading Lost Lamb by Meline Cash In this book, we are in a town. We are in a town that has been infested by termites and gnats, specifically gnats.

[00:06:01]And there is a group of people who kind of all go to the same church. But we are in this family. We are in this family with a husband, a wife, and three daughters. Um the husband and wife have an open relationship. The husband doesn't want an open relationship. The wife does. She wants to sleep with the neighbor. And so this has caused the daughters to all have like a weird relationship with their parents' marriage. And all of them have been going to the church pastor. They're Catholic. So what? Preacher, pastor, I don't know. They've been going to him talking to him about all of their problems. And the big thing, I guess, is like the father wants to kill himself.

[00:06:42]He's just like over it. So he's trying to find a thrill for life. The wife clearly wants a thrill because she's trying to sleep with the neighbor. But the most interesting aspect is actually the three daughter. So you have an oldest daughter who's like a beauty queen. She's beautiful. She's dating a war criminal. You have the middle daughter. The middle daughter, she is in some weird religious psychosis because some guy she is talking to online is trying to get her to do something really weird. So there's that. Then third, my favorite character is the youngest daughter. She has a conspiracy that this big billionaire company that's in their town is like doing something nefarious.

[00:07:20]Her father works for the company and she wants to uncover it. That is what she is doing. And then from them, we have these little branches of people in the community. We have this older woman who goes to the church. Like I said, we have uh the first girl, her boyfriend, he's in the story. There's different people, but you are just following as these people are all just kind of lost in life. And that's pretty much it. This book, at first, it didn't have me. At first, this book was written like every single paragraph was a punchline. Like you were reading like a setup for a joke and then the last sentence of the paragraph was the joke. And I didn't like it because I didn't find it to be that funny. But as I kept reading, it actually became kind of endearing. Um, this book is doing this thing um because the the city is infested by gnats.

[00:08:11]Every time there is a word that has a g in it, it they spell it like it's spelled like gnats. It's so interesting and I can't even describe it. Okay. Like donated. Instead of writing donated like donate, like d o n a t n a t e, it's spelled d o g n a t. You get it? They put she putnat in the word of donate it and there this happens multiple times.

[00:08:36]At first when you see it it's jarring.

[00:08:38]It's like is this a typo? But the more it happens it becomes endearing. And there's different little like callbacks to jokes at the beginning. I'm appreciating it because in the world of like AI and people really only listening to books, people who don't read physically, um it's it's good to have a book that wants you to engage with the words on the page like that. She's trying to do something stylistic. Whether it lands is up to you, but she's trying to do something stylistic and I'm enjoying it.

[00:09:05]I'm actually really, really enjoying this book. It's also easy to read. I'm going to knock out 50 pages right here, right now. And yeah, I'm enjoying myself. I don't know where we're going to end up, but I like it. So, let's see how it goes. I'll give you guys another update. Maybe I'll get about 200 and something and then we'll move on or whatever. Anyways, I don't know how many books we're going to read. So talk to you guys later. Peace.

[00:10:12]And good morning. It's actually not even morning. I went and got my nails done.

[00:10:17]So, it's actually like very much so the afternoon. I need to finish this book.

[00:10:22]We have to start being serious, people.

[00:10:24]At some point in this blog, May has just been a really like unserious month for me and I'm just embracing it at this point. There's only a few days left of the month. I am just embracing that. You know what? I'm ready to get into summer.

[00:10:39]Something I have been enjoying though this May, the thunderstorms. Where I live, we have gotten thunderstorms almost every single night and I am loving everything about it. Currently, my sleep schedule is really, really messed up. So, the thunderstorms haven't been helping my sleep, but my Okay, let me get this clear. My sleep schedule is not messed up because of the thunderstorm. My sleep schedule is messed up because I can't get to sleep at night. Um, the thunderstorms have just been really nice at night reading, just catching a vibe just for catching a vibe. But here's the thing. I need to finish this book. I need to finish this book. I don't even have that much left.

[00:11:20]I don't even have that much left. So, I am about to have me a little tea.

[00:11:26]Made me some tea.

[00:11:28]Crackers. And this is what I'm about to do. I don't know if this is just a me thing, but like I read 10 pages and I reward myself with one damn cracker every 10 pages. So, if everything goes as planned, I will eat this whole pack of crackers after I finish 80 pages.

[00:11:46]That's just how you have to do it sometimes when you're in a reading slump. You just got to keep on keeping on. You know, reading 10 pages is better than reading zero pages. That brings me to the next thing I want to come and discuss.

[00:11:59]You guys, I am so sick and tired of the reading discourse that takes place online.

[00:12:10]My biggest pet peeve, my biggest internet pet peeve is when someone has an inferiority complex and they try to come up with other narratives to just explain why they feel lesser than than someone instead of just being honest and being like, "Wow, you do something that I wish I could do or you do something that I don't have the discipline to do or the time to do or the want to do or you know the willpower or whatever, they instead try to come up with reasons why the thing that that per other people are doing that they wish they could do is a bad thing. And people do it with reading a lot. So there's this discourse going on like we shouldn't normalize reading 30 books a year. And people's number one thing number one thing when it comes to reading discourse, people always assume you're not really reading. I don't know what this is. I before I even read a 100 plus books a year, it never crossed my mind that people were lying about the books that they read. Like that is something that never ever crossed my mind. So it's shocking to me that there are so many human beings who believe that people are not actually reading the books that they say they are reading.

[00:13:29]And so now it's this thing where we need to not normalize reading 30 uh books a year. where you guys aren't really sitting with the text. And this is a conversation that is ruled by people who don't read. WHEN YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING, people who do do that thing confuse the hell out of you. It is easy to talk about something that you have nothing to do with. Reading 30 books a year should be something everybody does. I am going to say it and y'all can drag me for fields. reading 30 books a year is something every single human being should be prioritizing. I'm going I'm being strict at THIS POINT BECAUSE I don't know if people understand how easy it is to read a book if you know how to read because the thing is I THINK A LOT OF YOU ARE going to pick up A BOOK AND REALIZE you can't read and then we can at least start there that you're illiterate and we can get the ball rolling or you'll realize maybe you have focus issues maybe you too on that phone you too over stimulated like I think everyone should start every year with the reading goal of 30 books and try to reach it. And then if you were actively trying to reach that goal, you would actually realize it's not that damn hard. Reading is not that damn hard. AND THAT'S WHAT I SIMPLY TRY TO TELL people sometimes when people ask how I read as many books as I read and all. I'm like, it's really just NOT THAT HARD. THERE ARE PLENTY OF things in your life that you do every single day that are genuinely hard and you're able to do those things. Reading wouldn't be one of those things. The thing about reading is it makes you not pay attention to anything else. If you are going to read a book, you have to literally block out everything around you. And a lot of people don't know how to do that. They want to be on their phone. They want to be watching the TV. They want to be the they want to do the scrolling. They want to be talking. They want to be doing other stuff. So, they can't focus their time on reading. And so they then blame everybody else for why that is. Another thing about this discourse, so many people do not actually want to read. It is just your dream self that you believe is a reader. In your mind, there is a perfect version of you and that person reads book. But in reality, you who you are, you don't like reading. You don't reading is not something that you actually enjoy. There are plenty of things that I thought I was going to enjoy and then I actually do that thing and I'm just like, "Oh, I don't actually want to do this. I came up with this imaginary human being and I thought I was going to fit this mold and I don't.

[00:16:16]I don't. I don't. This is not something Kenya actually enjoys." Reading is something that a lot of people ACTUALLY ENJOY OR IT'S ALSO NOT necessarily enjoyment sometimes. Sometimes it's just something like you prioritize. There are plenty of times where like I'm not in the mood to read, but like I know like I should read. Like this is like I should read. Like who's to SAY I WON'T PICK up a book and love it. That's the thing.

[00:16:42]It's just something that some people prioritize. And you DON'T DO THAT. BUT I WANT TO BREAK down 30 books a year real quick. You guys, there are 12 months in the year. You do not even have to read three books a month to get to 30 books.

[00:16:56]You can just read two and a half. Right.

[00:16:58]Right. And then you still what? Would you when you still No, you read two and a half. Right. You guys, this book right here is 317 pages.

[00:17:10]317 pages at a page a minute would be what? 60, 120, 180, 240, 300? Am I looking at five hours? 5 and a half hours? It would take you five and a half hours to read this entire book. So therefore, if you dedicate an hour to reading every single day, you would finish this book in less than a week.

[00:17:42]It's that simple. Just an hour, YOU GUYS. SO IF ALL YOU HAVE TO do is read an hour a day, you literally can read in 20 minute pockets. You can read in 20 MINUTE POCKETS FOR FIVE TIMES. FIVE TIMES. All you need to find is 20 MINUTES. UNPLUG FOR 20 MINUTES. FIVE TIMES. AND YOU WOULD FINISH THIS BOOK in a week and you still would HAVE AN EXTRA WEEK. CUZ I'M TELLING YOU TO ONLY READ THREE BOOKS A MONTH. There's so much time in a day. If you literally just read for 30 minutes every single day, you would finish two books a month. It is It takes no time at all. if you just dedicate the time. You guys just dedicate your time TO OTHER STUFF BECAUSE YOU DON'T ACTUALLY WANT TO READ.

[00:18:30]AND SO THEN YOU get online and you start this discourse about how other PEOPLE ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG or what they need to be DOING BECAUSE YOU FEEL INFERIOR. You feel like you're NOT DOING WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING IN LIFE. SO YOU'RE LIKE, "EVERYONE ELSE MUST BE DOING SOMETHING. THERE must be something nefarious going on." It's just like, "No, it's there's nothing nefarious going on. You just don't want to read because all you want to do is be on that phone all day complaining and mad about [ __ ] something. And that's what it is. Kenya is about to grab her book.

[00:19:01]I have my drink. I have my snack. My phone is going to be on do not disturb.

[00:19:07]And I'm just going to go read because it's not that serious. I don't know why watching TV y'all don't have all these think pieces. Movies, y'all don't have all these think pieces. You know every single [ __ ] Tik Tok. YOU KNOW EVERY SINGLE [ __ ] Tik Tok. You even be scrolling YouTube shorts like a dumbass. And you shocked that people can read 30 books a year. Stop pissing me off. I could read 30 books a year, you guys, without trying.

[00:19:32]Without trying. I've already read 30 books this year. And I'm I'm IN A SLUMP.

[00:19:36]I'M IN A SLUMP. And you you can't tell me Kia not reading the books. I literally show myself reading the books.

[00:19:43]And then you can't say, "Well, Kenya, you're not comprehending them." I literally talk to you guys about the books and it's just like it's not that serious.

[00:19:51]Not only am I reading the books, I'm talking to you guys about the books. I'm editing videos about the BOOKS AND THEN I'M POSTING IT for you to see and I'm still reading 30 books a year quite easily. I just want you guys to start reading.

[00:20:05]I just want you guys to start reading and you would have a lot less discourse about reading. I promise. Anyways, let me stop the discourse about reading and go read. Peace.

[00:21:24]Okay, you guys, I only have 50 pages left of this book, and I feel like I need to come give you guys more thoughts on this book. I've only talked about this book once because I was ranting.

[00:21:34]Um, so you guys, this book, as I said before, follows this family in this town and there is corruption of foot and all the people in this family have something going on in their life that they are trying to solve. The husband feels like his wife doesn't want him. The wife don't want the husband. The oldest daughter has a boyfriend who is too damn old for her and he's a war criminal. The middle daughter is a terrorist and the youngest daughter keeps getting like suspended for school because she keeps doing like bad things. Um, and then you're also following the people in this town. There's a priest, there's a woman who works at the church, there's the boyfriend. You're just following a group of people as they're all in this town and they all just don't know what is going on. There's this air of suspicion around. This book is actually really enjoyable. It's not a five-st star read.

[00:22:27]It is not a five-st star read, but something about this book tickles my fancy. There's something chaotic about this book. So, this book is written pretty straightforward in a sense that like there's not these flowery pros.

[00:22:41]There's not a lot of metaphors. There's not a lot of simileies. It's not written in that annoying literary fiction way that I do not enjoy, which I talk about a lot on this channel. It's written very straightforward, but it's so chaotic and ridiculous that like it's it has its own style because none of this is actually like true. Like none of this couldn't happen in real life. But it feels episodic. As I think I said about that book, The Irish Goodbye. It has that same feeling of like every single chapter feels like an episode of television where you're like following a character. They're minding their business. They end up in some tricky situation that's hilarious and then by the end of the chapter either their life is worse and will continue on that or their life is kind of just like oh well that kind of ended up you know fine.

[00:23:33]That's how it feels and it's actually really really enjoyable. I think the most clever thing about this book is when this book almost sets up a punchline for a joke. Like you will go throughout an entire chapter and you'll learn something at the beginning of the chapter and then by the end you realize it was all just leading up to this like one joke that the author wanted to tell.

[00:23:56]I like writing like that and so I'm actually really enjoying this and this is the first time in a long time where like I started out a book and was like ooh I don't know about this one baby.

[00:24:06]And actually I've grown quite quite fond I've grown quite fond of this book. So, if everything goes well in the last 50 pages of this book, I don't see why we can't give her four star. This is not for everybody. This is not for everybody. But I see what this author is trying to do. There are people who have done this better. There are books that have done this and I have enjoyed them more, but this this is doing what I needed to do. And so, you know, getting me out of a reading slump, this is helping. Anyways, next time I talk to you, I'm going to be done with it. I'm going to be done with it. and we're gonna move on to the next book which is Neighbors. Okay, I'll talk to you guys later. Pe Hello you guys. You guys know that I have not been allowed to buy books. It is just my thing for 2026. I am not allowed to buy books. Not even. You want to know? I don't even know why I'm necessarily doing this. It's not because I need to get through my TBR. I get through my TBR pretty fine. Like I am not somebody who prioritizes new books and doesn't read their old books. Now there are old books that like I genuinely need to get to, but I I do a pretty good job at getting to older books. I just stopped wanting to buy I was buying so many books, you guys. Like so I would buy a book like every two days and I just didn't think that was a way to live. I also like there's only but so much room for books in a house.

[00:26:39]Like of course I could be one of those people who have books like everywhere.

[00:26:42]But I always kind of see it as like tattoos. You know how some people they come of age and they get a bunch of tattoos and sometimes I always wonder to myself like what about when you're like 35 and you like have something you really want to get tattooed on you but you have no more space. And I kind of saw it as like that like I have my whole life to buy a bunch of books. like I can't just spend my 20s just buying every single book that I want. And so I've been more mindful about the books that I'm buying, but and also I this also is like a social experiment to see how many books I can get without having to spend money on them myself. And so I was able to get four books. I have four books to come and show you. The first book that I have is A Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage by M. K.

[00:27:30]Oliver. Now, this is 100% the type of book I probably could pick up on audio and like be perfectly fine, but I since I read like Beer Wong and Julie Chan is Dead, I'm in the mood for like some type of book like like this just seems like such a fun read. Like such a fun read.

[00:27:49]I'm going to have a good time with it.

[00:27:51]And so, I was like, I want this. This has been on my good readads want to read and I got my hands on it and I'm happy I got my hands on it because I think that's going to be a good read. The next book I have is so old so young by Grant Gind Ginder. I This is another book on my good readads want to read. I was like see it want it going to buy it. This is another contemporary fiction book that I'm going to love that I'm simply going to love. It's just up my alley. It's my sort of type of thing.

[00:28:22]And then I got my hands on. This is not about us. Now, this is a book that I was doing some like perusing because now window shopping is my thing now. I was doing some window shopping and I saw this book and I'm like, "Huh, if somebody asks me a book I want, I'm going to tell them they should get me this book." And so, boom, somebody asked me what book I want and I was able to get my hands on this book. I am so excited to read this. The thing is I say that and like watch I might not read that book for another two years. That's so haunting when you think about it.

[00:28:55]When you like buy a book and like right now, well, not right now, but in other videos I buy I I'll read a book and I'll be like, "Oh, this book has been sitting on my bookshelf for three years." Isn't that haunting? I could have just I could just show you guys a book that I might not read for another three years. Isn't that crazy to think about? I've never really thought about it until this very moment how like that book could sit on my bookshelf for three I'm so excited to read it like right now if someone was like can you read that book I'd be like sure but that book could sit on my bookshelf for three years like you never know when the time is going to come for you to read a book eventually the time comes for all of these like all of these books come at the the time that they come but you just never know when that time is anyways last book I bought love by the book by Jessica George this is the by the author that wrote Mameay I need to reread read Mameay or Ma Mameay.

[00:29:48]I never understood how to pronounce that book. I want to reread that book before I get into this big book. It's on my reread shelf. By the way, I should give you guys a tour of my reread shelf.

[00:29:59]There are two things I want to do for this channel. I want to uh show you guys all my unread books, like all the books that I own that I have not read. Like, because there's there's a lot. If I could guess, and we'll talk about this in the video that I do this, if I could guess, I'm going to say I have 200 unread books. I have 200 unread books. That's what I'm going to I'm going to tell myself. I have 200 unread books. Yeah, if I count everything, I think I have 200 unread books. That'll just which will do nothing but go up because I keep buying books. This year will be the only year that I've made a dent. And like the amount of books that I have versus the amount of books that I've read, like I'm going to read probably a hundred books this year, but I'll only add about like 30 books to my library. So I actually probably make a like and then you have to think about the books that I'll read on Kindle with that. So I'll probably make a in that 200 probably like 50 of them I'll make a dent through this year, which is good. Which is good.

[00:31:10]Who knows? Anyways, I just wanted to come and show you guys that like I'm over here like just thinking too deeply about stuff that do not matter. I will talk to you guys a little bit later.

[00:31:18]Peace. Hello you guys and good morning.

[00:31:21]I'm about to go wash my hair. I'm about to go wash my hair. Well, first of all, let me tell you guys that I finished Lost Lambs by Meline Cash. I thought this book was so fun. I thought this book was so fun. It's definitely one of those books I'll forget that I read by the end of the year. But as it was, this was like a 3.75 four-st star book for me. Like just full on enjoyable for me.

[00:31:45]I thought it was funny. I think I fully embraced what this book was trying to do. And that's why I think I enjoyed my experience reading this book. I am happy that I read this book. I don't have any real deep thoughts about it. It's not that type of book, but I do appreciate what this book was trying to do. And this book is almost like a mockumentary a little bit, which makes it really interesting. Um, there's this idea of like corruption in this small town and like these these people having to like, you know, uncover the truth. Some It's It was cute. This book was actually really really cute. I like the way this book ended. It just worked for me. I'm going full four stars. I am going full four stars on this book. This book is not for everyone. I wouldn't even go out of my way to recommend this book to you, but it was for me. And four out of five stars on this one. So, the next book we're moving on to is Neighbors. And it will be the last book in this video.

[00:32:49]This video is going to go up a day late.

[00:32:52]I'm going to put this video up a day late. So, it should have went up on the Sunday, but I think I'm going to put it up on Monday or Tuesday. You'll know based on if you're watching this video.

[00:33:02]But anyways, you guys, I have to wash my hair. That's why this video is going to be late because I need to spend the day figuring something out with my hair. I keep telling you guys, I am in a hair growth journey. So, I don't care how my hair looks. I don't care how my hair looks. I don't I'm not trying to look late. I don't care. I just want my hair to be at its healthiest, which means I pretty much do two styles for the entire year. Twist and maybe a blowout like I did this time. And that is pretty much it. I'm not even in the mood to do wash and goes much because they just I don't really feel like dealing with them. But I'll do a wash and go. I need I probably do one in a couple weeks. Um but I'm doing twist today and that's literally how I'm wearing my hair the entire year. I'm not putting any weave, wigs, extensions in my hair. I'm not doing any like literally twist is what is my because that's my hair grows the best when it's in twist. I think I think when my hair is kind of more stretched out, it grows more. But that could be pseudo science.

[00:34:10]I could be making that up my head. But anyways, I got a Sacred package today. I was already going to wash my hair because I have products already.

[00:34:19]But Sacred had a 20% off sale and I say, "You know what? Let me buy something."

[00:34:26]Now, quiet as it's kept, I didn't need to wait till the 20% off sale because when I went to Cowboy Carter last year, I did the VIP section and she gave us a 30% off coupon. I hope it doesn't expire, but I haven't used that yet. So, I actually should use that for that.

[00:34:52]I should have just used that, but I'll use that at another time. But there is some stuff that I needed. Number one thing, well, let me get the stuff that I already have out of the way. I'm deep conditioning my hair and I'm using I'm doing two treatments today. I'm using the repair treatment, which I think is the best product from Sacred. The Sacred Repair Mask, it comes in that dark gray tub, is Sacred's best product. It is Sacred's best product if you are someone who is trying to get the health of your hair back under control. You can kind of compare it to like K18 or you can compare it to Ollex, the Ollex repair. I forgot what number. I used to use Ollex.

[00:35:35]I like Ollex, by the way. Maybe one day I'd go back to using Ollex. My hair was really healthy when I was using Ollex.

[00:35:41]Um, but they have a repair, too. It's the um and it's most comparable to those three. So, like Keen Repair, the Ollex Repair, and then the hydrating, not the hydrating, the repair mask from Sacred.

[00:35:54]Yeah, it's comparable to that, but I think the Sacred one is the best out of all of them. I've heard some people complain about the amount of protein that is in sacred. Um, I don't have any issue with this. I need my hair to be as strong as possible. And I think if you're having an issue with the amount of protein and sacred, I don't know if you're doing a good job of like rem moisturizing your hair. So, I would chalk it up to user error first and then be like, "Oh, maybe these products just aren't for me." But, I don't know. But that's not even what I bought. I'm going to do the mask. That's the first thing I do. Let me let me break down what I do when I wash my hair. So, first thing I do is I put my hair under the water. I wash my hair in the shower. I put my hair under the water for at least a minute. I try to get my hair fully saturated, like fully saturated, water penetrating my hair. Boom. Done. Then I go in with a shampoo. I would love to look at you and say I use a clarifying shampoo at least once every two weeks. I don't I do not clarify my hair as much as I do. What I do go in with is the hydrating shampoo from Sacred. That's boom, number one, done. So then, like today, I'm going to put on the Sacred hydrating mask. I put that all over my hair. I don't worry about detangling or anything. I'll finger detangle a little bit, but really I just make sure the mask is all over my hair. I get out of the shower, which is perfect because I allow the shower to, you know, my hot water to come back, right? I get out of the shower. I use my um pattern pattern Tracy Ellis Ross brand her her um her what's that called? Her steamer. Her like steamer. I use that and I put and I steam my entire head. I'll do that for about 10 minutes. I get back in the shower. I thoroughly rinse out that mask and then I immediately go in with conditioner. Now, I don't know if if I was smart if I should reshampoo my hair, but I don't think so. I don't think you're supposed to. And so, I don't and never have. So, then I immediately go in with conditioner. Today, I'm going to go in and deep condition because my hair is blown out. But, if my hair wasn't blown out, I would just go in with the Hold on. I would just go in with the hydrating conditioner. I love this stuff. This stuff makes my curls look so good. This is the best conditioner I have ever used on my head. I don't I actually like this product more than I like this product because I just don't love deep conditioning. I just don't. Um but and I find this has more slip than this for my hair texture. If you have a looser hair texture, none of that will matter. this will go through your hair perfectly fine. Um, but so usually if I'm not deep conditioning, I just go in with this. That's when I detangle, I rinse it out, and then I get out the shower and I style my hair however I plan on styling my hair. But for today, I will put this in. I'm going to get back out of the shower and I'm going to go back in with that steamer and I'm going to steam this through my hair. And once I do all of these steps, shampoo, the mask, deep condition, my hair is gonna feel so good. It's gonna feel so damn good. And then I'm going to get out the shower and I'm going to put twist in. Now, this is actually why I'm excited. This thing, you guys, what's their name? Sacred just came out with a wrap set foam and I am so excited to use this. So, I've been using the what's that brand called? The do. I've been using the dew to do my um twist and it works just fine. I like the do. The do has never worked on my wash and goes.

[00:39:50]None of their products seem to work on my wash and goes, but for my twist, it don't take much. And the dew smells good. But Sacred came out with this. And when I could get it for 20% off, I said, "Let me try her. Let me try her." What's the worst that can happen?

[00:40:08]And so I bought this.

[00:40:10]Oh yes. Oh yeah. I am so excited to see if this changes my hair care routine. So anyways, my rings are off. I'm about to get started because I really don't want this to take more than two hours. I don't want this. People who do their hair all damn day, please, please. I think you need it shouldn't take you all day to do your hair. It really shouldn't. So hopefully this doesn't take more than like two and a half hours start to finish. Start to finish.

[00:40:39]Hopefully this doesn't take all that time. But anyways, I am going to read Neighbors before this video is over.

[00:40:45]Trust me, I thought about just having only one book in this video and ending this vlog right now and just giving y'all that. But I'mma I'mma keep it cute and I am going to read Neighbors. But anyways, I'm going to wash my hair. So say bye-bye to this horrible like my hair's been looking great. Like look, but it's the thickness for me. I feel like my hair is getting so thick. Am I crazy? Am I crazy for believing my hair is getting so thick? I just I just feel I I think my hair care journey is we're 6 months into the year and I feel like if I keep up this like we could be out here by the end of the year. But I don't know. Let me not speak too soon. But I'll talk to you guys later. Peace.

[00:41:21]Hello you guys. Yes, I have twist in my hair since the last time you guys have seen me. But I have come to talk to you guys about neighbors because there is a lot I have learned about this book since starting this book. Okay, so this book first starts off with an introduction and I went back and forth on if I should read the introduction and I was of two minds. So from this introduction I realized Diane Oliver is no longer with us. Diane Oliver died in 1966.

[00:41:56]And this is a post Thomas publication of a bunch of short stories that she left behind. So Diane Oliver kind of like never got her day in the sun. She was a writer and people knew about her, but she never really became like a huge major author. this and so this is a collection of her short stories that were either not never published like it's not like this is like found I don't think found short stories but this is just a place to put a collection of a lot of her short stories that have exactly the same idea.

[00:42:29]So I'm happy that I started reading the introduction and I learned that I learned that's what is happening here because I for damn sure thought Diane Oliver was walking amongst us right now.

[00:42:40]Okay, number two thing I realized I should not read the introduction.

[00:42:45]Publishers, let's have a conversation because this happens often. This happens with Tony Morrison reprints. This happens with uh Zoril Hursten reprints, James Baldwin reprints, and it happened on here on reprint. You guys love to put an introduction at the beginning of the book. And so obviously I'm going to read it because it's at the beginning of the book and it just starts spoiling so much of the book. The introduction basically starts breaking down the book for me and I'm just like why would I want to read this? Like why would I want to hear someone else's thoughts on the thing I am about to read before I read it? So I end up going into the book with all these preconceived notions. A a book where it's done like horribly is restit right here. I'll put it up. Love Russes the teeth. It's by Tony Morrison. Zadeie Smith, who I also love. She does an introduction in this book and pretty much gives you all her thoughts on Russ teeth to where to the point where it almost makes you not want to read Russit Teeth because it's just like okay. And the same thing happens here. So, I immediately stopped reading after they basically spoil the whole first short story, which is the titular um story of the book. I was just like, what the hell is going on? So, I ended up I didn't read any more of the introduction. So, I'm happy I read the introduction so I can come and tell you guys that like this is a republication or a first time publication of short stories that was written by back in the 1950s,4s, I don't even know. But I stopped reading the introduction because they started spoiling some [ __ ] Anyways, you guys, I have read one, two, three, four. I've read four short stories in this collection and it is quite an experience. I am going to start by saying, not even to sugarcoat, I don't think I'm necessarily enjoyed a single one of these stories, but there is something about them that like number one I appreciate and number one I understand why they exist and why I should be reading them. So, I will say that this is not a short story collection for like enjoyment. This is a short story collection for insight. And those are two totally different things.

[00:45:04]Everything you read doesn't have to read like a popcorn uh thriller. Some stuff is just for like insight. And this is good insight. This is good insight into how black folks lived pre-segregation or just right after postsegregation. So we have the titular story which is Neighbors and Neighbors is about this family. We're following this young girl at the beginning. She's a part of this family and her young brother is about to integrate an all-white school and it is the day before he is about to be headed to this all-white school and there is a lot of commotion on if they should send the little boy to school. So, we're getting to know the parents and we're getting to know the people in this community as they decide if it is the best choice to send this young boy to school. And it's such an interesting story because we, me, you, we can't put ourselves in the mind of black people who were dealing with segregation and dealing with integration. And so, it's interesting to hear stories about how like we know integration was a good thing. separate was not equal. But and so these people had to integrate these schools. Like black people were taking steps in order to get black people equal rights. But there's this idea of like what do you owe to yourself and then what do you owe to black people? That's the root of this story. And it's actually really really interesting what's going on there and you go back and forth in your mind. Then the next story is called the closet on the top floor. This is the weirdest story and I would have to read it like four more times to even understand fully what the [ __ ] is going on. So, this story follows this young girl. Her parents are dropping her off at this all white college, this all white girls college. Once again, integration. We get from like clues that clearly her parents are a part of like the NAACP. Like they're big on um civil rights stuff and so like that's why they're sending her to this school. like they're also in the first story, it's these uh people who are kind of hesitant to be a part of the movement, but they know they should. In this one, they're all in. They're all in, but the daughter isn't really all in. Her parents have been pulling this nonsense her whole life, and she just want to be normal. She don't want to, you know, integrate. She's like, "Do I have to go to this all-white school?"

[00:47:28]But she ends up going and throughout the story you just slowly see her like drawing into herself to the point where she starts living in a closet and the book the story ends in such a like huh type of way. Anyways, then we have Before Twilight. Before Twilight is this woman who should be heading off to college very very soon. She lives with her mom. her dad is dead and she has a little sister and her mother wants her to put her head down and go off to college. Like, girl, you got a scholarship. You going off to college. Alabama ain't just giving scholarships to black people like that.

[00:48:09]Like, girl, make something of your life.

[00:48:11]But she wants to be a part of the movement. So she gets involved in like these civil rights group who do um who do all types of protest and they are organizing a sitin at a restaurant and she wants to be a part of it and that's what Before Twilight is about. This is a really good one. Um the last one that I read was Health Service. Health Service is about a woman who has a bunch of kids. her husband has kind of like left her like he seems like he's going up north and kind of like you know ain't been post ain't been back and ain't sent money or nothing and she needs to get a polio shot for her son so he can go off to summer camp and she's just dealing with having to like take her children to this clinic and get this shot. health service is such an interesting one because it it kind of like sums up like what the black experience in America is and how it is shocking that black people are still alive, how horrible black people have been treated and things as severe as slavery and Jim Crow, but also things as mundane as just like health services, just having a sprained ankle, needing to get a vaccine, need these small things that black people weren't given or went through so much work to be given that it's just like common stuff for like white people. It is remarkable that black people have existed this long.

[00:49:38]Africanamean people have existed this long because African-American people in this country have been treated so damn poorly to the point where we we today can't even conceptualize how poorly black people have been treated in this country in such a mundane way. And that's what health service was about.

[00:49:59]And so I have more to go. I have more to go, more stories. But overall, like I said, insightful. You see what Diane Oliver is trying to do. The person who wrote the intro was saying, I forgot her name, unfortunately. Um, the person who uh wrote the intro was talking about how Diane Oliver wrote these short stories so people don't forget how black people used to live at this time. And it's so funny. I was talking to my great grandma years ago about this as well. She was born in the 1930s and she was talking about how so often people seem like they have forgotten just how black people were just treated and it was just common n like just the small ways that black people were just treated terribly and now people talk about racism in these like broad strokes. But no, it's important to talk about the fine strokes, the small things that have happened to black people in this country and what white people have done to black people in this country and also the small victories that black people have had and the small ways that black people have fought to get footing in this country. That is what Diane Oliver was trying to do with these short stories.

[00:51:13]So, like I said, insightful and nice and insightful. Anyways, I'm going to read some more. come back if I have more thoughts and then we wrapping this up.

[00:51:23]Okay, I'll talk to you guys later. Hello you guys. I'm here to give more thoughts on neighbors. I am working my way through this book. So, let me talk to you guys about some more stories that I read. Okay, we probably have my favorite story of the book so far because I like the way this one ended. It was called Mint Jeul Not Served Here. This is about this black family who fled from like indentured servitude basically.

[00:52:00]Basically, they worked for white people, you know, they were maids for white people and then they went off into the woods and kind of lived on their own.

[00:52:09]They have a son who does not speak who is about 8 years old and there is a father who makes furniture and there is a wife who you know just sits at home and takes care of her son. They got an unexpected visitor and that unexpected visitor got an unexpected surprise. That was a really really good story. I like the message of the story is basically you not going you not going to kill these white people with kindness. That was basically what that one was about.

[00:52:39]The next one is called Key to the City.

[00:52:44]Key to the City is about this girl who is headed off to college and she is going to go up north and meet her father. And so basically her and her family, she has a sister and a mom, they are all going to pack up their entire home that they have in this community and they are going to go up to Chicago and meet her dad. This was also a really good story. Like the thing is with the these stories from Diane Oliver, you don't get the point until the point is like already like done. And what's interesting is that they all hit on a universal truth. I actually really liked Key to the City. I like the message of Key to the City just like the mint jeulip one. I enjoyed the messaging of those. So, Key to the City was good.

[00:53:39]Um, the next one we have is The Visitor.

[00:53:43]This was a long one to the point where I'm wondering like is this the like neighbors is obviously the titular story, but this one was just really really long.

[00:53:53]And so it made me wonder like why was this one like this one was like literally 30 pages long. But it was quite interesting. And this is where Diane Oliver is getting a little bit cheeky because I have read at this point about nine stories from her. I'm starting to understand Diane Oliver more as a writer. She's actually quite like funny in the way that she's kind of delivering the message and like the story she's telling about different it feels like Brewster Place. If you ever read Brewster Place, it kind of feels like that where like you're following the lives of such particular people and such a pivotal moment of their life, but if they were to live long lives, this may not be that pivotal. But like, it's kind of like how some important things happen to us probably every single day, but we won't realize until years from now that that thing was important. That's what this book is kind of hitting on. It's hitting on these mundane moments, as I said before, that actually mean a lot. And that's where you get the visitor. It's so interesting that the last time I talked to you guys, I told you guys about those original stories and those stories were kind of about like, you know, civil rights overcoming that and this and it's like I knew to stop right there because these stories have taken on a different type of um a different type of tone as well as like purpose that I find really really interesting.

[00:55:20]These stories are more of stories of like persevering or like finding finding survival. These are more stories of survival with the situation that you are currently in. Trying to survive the cards that were dealt you. I don't know how to explain it, but it almost feels like those first four stories and these next four stories have a different type of like vibe to them that I'm really really enjoying. I said at first I was kind of enjoying these for like insight, getting insight into black people of the time, but actually I want to change that a little bit now. I actually like these are genuinely enjoyable. Like I said, I now understand Diane Oliver more as a writer, so I understand more of what she's trying to do. And this is one of those short story collections that you 100% have to read like more times. like you 100% have to read to get like because once the story is over you're kind of like huh like all the stories kind of end on like a little cliff not a cliffhanger but like they just end abruptly and you kind of don't get it until it's all done and you're like ah I see what you were doing there. So overall though really really enjoyable.

[00:56:33]I'm going to finish this up. We have this much left to go. I'm going to finish this up and then I will wrap up the entire video. But this was worth the read. I'm happy this is going to be my last read of the month because I'm actually really really enjoying it.

[00:56:46]Okay, peace. Hello you guys. I am finally here to come wrap up this vlog.

[00:56:53]I have finished Neighbors by Diane Oliver and I'm going to go ahead and give this short story collection the five stars that it deserves. It is rare that I read a short story collection and I read every single short story more than one time, but that is what happened in Neighbors. Diane Oliver, she died at 22 years old. She died in a motorcycle accident and I found out she's from Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina 704. Stand up.

[00:57:26]Um, and I am so curious what her career would have been if she didn't die at 22 years old. There is a story called There is a story called Something Voices. Frozen Voices. And Frozen Voices is about this like group of like four friends and they are in like this weird like love not even love square this weird like love square and there's a woman at the root of it. It's like the longest story in the entire well it's not the longest story but it's pretty long and well it's not it feels long because it's kind of repetitive. All I want to say is what Diane Oliver does in this story. You would have to read it five times to understand what she is trying to do. It almost is Tony Morrisonesque. I will be curious to know if Tony Morrison read this short story.

[00:58:25]If Tony Morrison was um if she was inspired by Diane Oliver because something about it feels very Sula.

[00:58:36]something like the the the the mysteriousness, the way that Diane Oliver like repeats things and also the there you could pull a quote from this entire short story. Every two every two lines you can pull one of the best quotes. There was an interesting part in this story about how like men will worship women or treat women like goddesses because it allows for men to control women because if some if someone is treated like a goddess, she has to act like a goddess and the man is left acting like a human being. So therefore, you are you are a slave and therefore the man is free. And it's so good and it and this book like flips that idea on its head as it reverses the genders and what this woman is gonna it's I still don't fully understand the short story. I would have to read it like four more times to really understand what's going on, but it's so damn good. And then there's some other stories that are a little bit um shocking sometimes.

[00:59:38]on No Brown Sugar in Anybody's Milk is a short story and it's about this young woman who she is a maid as it starts and you know she's just worked looking after these white people's home and then by the end of it you realize things aren't what they appear. One of my favorite short stories in here is Our Trip to the Nature Museum. It is about this teacher and this young black girl. Really, really good. really haunting at the end as well. And I guess I could go through all of these and like tell you the last story was probably my least favorite story. It's called Spider um Cry Without Tears, but I do think Diane Oliver was giving a voice to a specific type of woman that doesn't usually get a voice when we talk about racial dynamics. And so I actually, like I said, still enjoyed it, but probably one of my least favorite ones. Um, I just I am blown away. I'm not even holding up the book.

[01:00:37]I am absolutely blown away by this short story collection and I think everyone should pick this short story collection up. Oh, there's another one that's ahead of its time. I can't believe this was written back in the 1950s or 1960. There is one that's called Bono Cult. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right. And it's about this black girl who decides to go study abroad in Switzerland, I think. Um, and so she's going she's going with two uh friends. Well, they're in school together, but she ends up having to stay with this white family.

[01:01:14]And there's this idea that in Switzerland, racism isn't like racism in America. So, she goes overseas and they're like traveling as like a a school and she starts getting like attention from white people because they kind of see her as exotic and there's this idea of like what being fetishized and exoticized um like really means as a black person so ahead of its time. And then there's another one when the apples are ripe which almost feels like it doesn't belong in this short story collection because it's rather hopeful. It's rather hopeful. It's rather like all white people aren't that bad. Um, but it's also really, really good. And the best thing about Diane Oliver is the way she sets these stories up. You feel like she is in control the entire time. I am just, it's unfortunate that Diane Oliver died so young. Number one, because no one should die so young. And number two, she was brilliant beyond her years. This short story collection is so good. So good. Blew me away. So anyways, we read two books in this video. Both of them enjoyable. Both of them fully enjoyable.

[01:02:25]Go read Neighbors and like take your time with Neighbors. I had to read it quickly because of this video, but like I'm going to return to this because I just I I was blown away. I was simply blown away. Anyways, that's the end of this one though. That is the end of this one. I will talk to you guys in the next one. Peace.