Ep. 436 Intoxicated by the Microphone with Sequoia Holmes

Written By Traci Thomas

Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Sequoia Holmes, the award-winning host of the Black People Love Paramore and Freshly Pop’d podcasts. We’re chatting about bouncing back from professional setbacks, how Sequoia got into reading, and why she hasn’t been able to get into romance novels.

Our book club pick for August is Fish Tales by Nettie Jones. We will be discussing the book with Sequoia Holmes on Wednesday, August 26th.

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TRANSCRIPT
*Due to the nature of podcast advertising, these timestamps are not 100% accurate and will vary.

Sequoia Holmes 0:00

And you know what, listeners? Please comment on my Instagram if there's anything that's like Sequoia. If you don't like Tia Williams, Kennedy Ryan, if that's not for you, this might be more your vibe. I because I really do want to find romance that I like. I like love. I love love just like everybody else.

Traci Thomas 0:14

I love love

Sequoia Holmes 0:16

I love love just like everybody else. But I don't love those damn books. Yeah, there's something about the way characters are written in romance novels, where I'm like, these aren't real people. Yeah, you're telling me that your entire life is revolving around around this romance.

Traci Thomas 0:31

This is the problem I have too. Welcome to the Stacks, a podcast about books and the people who read them. I'm your host Traci Thomas, and today we are joined by Sequoia Holmes. She's the award-winning host of The Black People Love Paramore and Freshly Popped Podcasts. Today we talk about her career and how she got into podcasting 10 years ago, why she wanted to make a podcast about the things Black people love, and her incredible book club where they read only books by Black women authors. Our book club pick for August is Fish Tales by Nettie Jones, and we will be discussing that book on Wednesday, august 26, with Sequoia returning as our guest. Do you like the snacks? Are you enjoying listening to it? Do you want even more bookish content? Well, babe, you're in luck. You can join our community, the Stacks Pack, on Patreon and subscribe to my newsletter, Unstacked, on Substack. Each of these places offers different perks. On Patreon, you're going to find community conversations, virtual book clubs, and on Substack, you're going to get my hot takes on everything from books to pop culture, sports, news, whatever. And in both places you can get a monthly bonus episode from me. Also, both places offer a free option where you can stay plugged into the stacks, even if you're not able to swing $5 a month for full membership. Head to Patreon.com/thestax to join the stacks pack and check out my newsletter Unstacked at Traci Thomas. Substack. com. All right, now it's time for my conversation with Sequoia Holmes. All right, party people, I'm so excited. Today's guest is a person that I met in the podcast sphere when I was honored to be selected as a guest to talk about cults on the very amazing Black People Love Paramore podcast. I am talking today to the one and only extremely talented Perfect Voice human Sequoia Holmes. Welcome to the Stacks.

Sequoia Holmes 2:36

What an intro, Traci! Thank you so much. Perfect voice, you're gassing me. Thank you so much.

Traci Thomas 2:43

You have such a good voice. You know that.

Sequoia Holmes 2:45

Thank you, and you too. I'm sure you get that all the time.

Traci Thomas 2:47

Well, also my I lost my voice this weekend because it's my 40th birthday on Wednesday, and I went out on Saturday and Sunday. Actually, I'm like, I'm sounding like, I'm sounding like I'm 40.

Sequoia Holmes 2:58

You're kind of sounding like Kayda from Love Island. I don't know if you've been Love Islanding. You're sounding. You're giving a little bit of Kayda tea. That's her voice is great. Everybody likes her voice. That's what you sound like.

Traci Thomas 3:07

Okay I'm honored. I'm honored. Okay, let's start where we sort of always start with these episodes. Will you just tell people like I don't want your professional resume. I want like a little bit of your backstory. Where are you from? Like, tell us a little bit about that. How you sort of got to where you are, and then I want to know a little bit about like when books popped into your life.

Sequoia Holmes 3:27

Okay, cool. Well, I am Sequoia, a podcast host. I have two podcasts: Black People Love Paramore and a daily pop culture show called Freshly Popped. Gosh, I've just been released from the trenches of Love Island. I don't know when this episode is coming out, but thank God that's done. I started podcasting in like 2016, 10 years ago. I had a job at a media company. It was called Attention, and they started a podcast. And for the first time ever, I was on a podcast. I had a mic in front of me. When I tell you, I felt intoxicated. I felt more alive than I ever felt in my life, and I was like, "Oh, this is what I'm going to be doing. Thank you very much. And I have literally podcasted from that moment forward.

Traci Thomas 4:09

So, does that episode still exist?

Sequoia Holmes 4:11

It sure doesn't. They got rid of that entire podcast. I also started hosting my own podcast at Attention. We recorded the whole first season. They never released it, so there was just lots of stuff going on that never never went there, but it did spark my interest, and so I started multiple podcasts since then.

Traci Thomas 4:28

And where did you grow up?

Sequoia Holmes 4:30

I grew up in Long Beach, California, LA County, right next to Orange County. So I always say it's like more of a mix between the two. It's not Los Angeles, but it is LA County.

Traci Thomas 4:40

I didn't realize you were an Angeleno, an Angeleno countian

Sequoia Holmes 4:44

Right a countian, are you?

Traci Thomas 4:46

I'm from Oakland, so I'm a Californian, but not an Angelino.

Sequoia Holmes 4:49

I think I did know that. Yes.

Traci Thomas 4:51

Yeah. You know, it's like I feel like when you're from the Bay, I've lived here almost as long as I lived in the Bay, and I just could never ever say that I'm an Angelino.

Sequoia Holmes 5:00

Totally get that. I can never say I was from somewhere I'm not from. You know, like I'm like yeah,

Traci Thomas 5:03

like people who are like trying to be New Yorkers after 10 years. I'm like, it's great, but guess what? You were born in Little Rock, right? So you are a Little Rockian, and that's amazing. You're from Little Rock.

Sequoia Holmes 5:15

There's so much history in Little Rock. Be happy to be where you're from. Everybody's happy to be. You know, everybody should be happy to be where they're from.

Traci Thomas 5:21

My only like contingent on that like is if you grew up and your parent was in the army, or your parent was a professor, and you spent five years in Arkansas and five years in Seattle, and then I'm like, okay, if you then put roots down in New York, you could say I grew up all over the place, but I've lived in New York for 20 years, so I consider New York home fine. But you're still not from New York, babe. You're still from wherever the fuck you were born.

Sequoia Holmes 5:48

Exactly, exactly.

Traci Thomas 5:49

That's great for you, and I love that for you. And I will. I what I want more than anything is for you to love that for you.

Sequoia Holmes 5:55

I want you to love where you're from. Like, what is the problem? To be fair, I also love New York down, and so New York is the one city where I'm like, I can see how you would deeply want to be. For New York, you aren't, but like, I can see how you deeply want to be there. When people are doing it for other cities, I'm like, okay, you know, like the cache, the social cache isn't even that worth it in a way that it is for New York.

Traci Thomas 6:18

You know, I agree. I agree. I lived in New York for eight years. I went to college there, and so, like you were saying, when you sat down in front of a microphone and you were like, "I am alive" that's how I felt. Every time I go back to New York, I am like Carrie Bradshaw, fucking waving at taxis, like click clacking down the street.

Sequoia Holmes 6:37

Yeah,

Traci Thomas 6:37

and I still would never call myself a New Yorker, because I'm not, and I'm also from an amazing place too. Like, lots of people want to be from the Bay, right? So I'm just like, I don't have to. I've lived three great places. I'm proud of I'm proud of where I've come from.

Sequoia Holmes 6:53

You know what? Maybe it's because we're from cool places that we can't quite. You know, it's like, oh, I'm from Long Beach, or you know, at at at most, I'll say Los Angeles if I'm depending on who I'm talking to. But I'm like, yes, like if I'm international and someone's like where you're from, I'm like California. I went to college in UC Santa Cruz. Do you consider that the Bay or no? I know it's contentious.

Traci Thomas 7:14

I consider Santa Cruz Santa Cruz banana slugs though show up and show out.

Sequoia Holmes 7:19

Hey, shout out.

Traci Thomas 7:20

Yes, I love a banana slug. What about books? When do you remember falling into love with books? Because one of the things that I reason you're here is because when I did your show, we did an episode on cult, and at the end you were like, "Just by the way, I love books, and I was like, "Oh, flagged it. And then of course I took me forever to actually get you here, but it's now. So I I didn't, but I didn't ask you any follow ups. I didn't, so I don't know anything about your book history relationship.

Sequoia Holmes 7:44

When did I start liking books? I would say probably around middle school, I would guess, and I think I started with all the usual suspects, as many middle school girls did. I was reading the Clique series. I was reading Pretty Little Liars. I was reading Twilight. I was deep into that. I did series of unfortunate events. I did that. I think I did that one in elementary school. Okay, so it was just like the general pop books that I was into at that time.

Traci Thomas 8:09

You're younger than me, and I know this because Twilight came out when I was like in college. I'm like, she's definitely like five to eight years younger than me. Not quite a lot, but yeah, did you have parents, or did you grow up in a household with other readers?

Sequoia Holmes 8:23

I certainly did not grow up in a household with other readers. No, I never saw either my parents read a book at all. Actually, you know what? My mom was in college, so she read textbooks. Okay, but she was never picking up a novel or anything of the sort. Ooh, I also really liked. I just forgot. I just remembered. I always really liked self help books as well. My first self help book was Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers.

Traci Thomas 8:46

Oh, the YA edit.

Sequoia Holmes 8:48

Uh huh. It was the YA edit. I loved that book so bad. It was by like something Covey. Yeah, James Covey or Steve Covey. Covey. Okay, but yeah, it was fantastic. I tried to start a book club about it, around it in in high school, and nobody gave a damn.

Traci Thomas 9:03

Oh my God, I'm obsessed. So wait, if you didn't have anybody in your house modeling reading for you, where did it come from? Did a friend say like you have to read this book? Was there a teacher? Like someone must have been like reading is fun,

Sequoia Holmes 9:16

I don't know

Traci Thomas 9:17

because you weren't reading just like it wasn't like you fell in love with the book that you read in a class?

Sequoia Holmes 9:21

No, I certainly didn't fall in love with the book I read. I did like The Giver. I remember liking The Giver middle school as well. Yeah, in seventh grade, being like, "Oh, this is actually a fun, like mandatory assigned reading situation. And in my middle school, reading was kind of a big thing. Like it was like the girls would all share the Clique series. We would talk about it all the time. I remember trying to write a book. I was always a writer. I always enjoyed writing, and I think writing and reading kind of go hand in hand. So I was like, yeah, I'm also consuming and creating and consuming and creating.

Traci Thomas 9:49

Oh my god! But you've always been super creative. You're like you're an inspiration because I feel like you're always doing something new or like trying something. So that's always been who you are.

Sequoia Holmes 9:59

Yes. Always been who I am for sure.

Traci Thomas 10:02

You recently-I hope this is okay to talk about-but you recently like had a professional sort of a bad patch. You got fired. Like things just like sort of fell apart for you. I mean, your whole thing got canceled. You didn't get fired, right? Um, but you like bounced back in an incredible way, and while I am interested both in your quote unquote failures and also your successes, I am actually more interested in your thinking about it in real time. Like this thing happens, you get fired. You're in a moment of like everything's falling apart. Maybe, perhaps it feels like that. How are you sort of like thinking about what comes next?

Sequoia Holmes 10:49

You guys, I'm just gonna take you to the moment.

Traci Thomas 10:51

Okay, take us.

Sequoia Holmes 10:52

I am getting ready for work on a maybe a Friday. Getting out the shower. I have a phone addiction, a real bad phone addiction.

Traci Thomas 11:00

Okay, we got to get you a Brick before.

Sequoia Holmes 11:03

While I'm, I have a Brick. Thank you. While I am wet, I turn over my phone and I see an email that's like regarding insert name of the show here. I'll just I don't mind saying it if you don't care. You can say insert regarding the daily dirty. And I said, oh, that doesn't look like a good head. That doesn't good look like a good subject line. I click into it, and it's like, yeah, don't come into work today, or you don't need to come in anymore at all. All of you, we're canceling. We're canceling it. It's like, oh, great. Literally, maybe like two weeks before that, I had found out that my long-term job was also coming to a close. They were getting rid of all contractors. I had been on a contract for five years, getting rid of that too. I was like, "Oh, I chose to think of it when it was happening. I was like, "This feels like a sign. The fact that both of these things are happening at the same time. I've had two jobs consistently for years. Suddenly, I have zero jobs. Both jobs end at the same time. That's really strange. I'm like, okay, this is clearly a sign that you are supposed to take it from here. You cannot keep leaning on that job. You're not working hard enough. You know, like I decided to take it as a sign of that. I felt a little bit bad for myself, but not not anything too deep. I felt a little bad for myself for a second because I thought I was gonna have to find another job. I talked to my partner. He was like, "You're you're good for a year, and I was like, "Oh, okay. I'm gonna take this year and really try to build something. And so then I started my own daily pop culture show because the Daily Dirty was a daily pop culture radio show. Yeah.

Traci Thomas 12:35

And are you glad? Did it? Does it feel like it's been a blessing in disguise. Are you not there yet? You don't know.

Sequoia Holmes 12:42

Not there yet. Not there yet. I wouldn't say. I feel. I feel twofold about it. I was working under Unwell, which is Alex Cooper's company.

Traci Thomas 12:50

Sure.

Sequoia Holmes 12:51

Hmm. It working with Unwell was not particularly conducive to who I am as a person.

Traci Thomas 12:57

Got it.

Sequoia Holmes 12:58

So there was some tension there, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting paid a full-time salary to work two hours a day and literally just go in and talk my shit and then leave.

Traci Thomas 13:09

Yeah,

Sequoia Holmes 13:10

I really enjoyed that aspect of it. So I am trying to do that again in a much less unwell capacity.

Traci Thomas 13:19

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, but you're the boss.

Sequoia Holmes 13:22

Well, I'm the boss, and I don't have to mince words, and I don't have to worry about them not understanding my perspective because I'm the only black person that works there. You know, just things that I don't have to be so mindful of. I feel better about that, and also I'm not making a full time salary yet, and so once I make, I think once I figure out the money, I will feel fantastic about it.

Traci Thomas 13:42

Right, but the other day you posted this great post about like all the things you've done since that, and it was just like such a flex.

Sequoia Holmes 13:49

Thank you.

Traci Thomas 13:50

like I'll link to it in the show notes. I just feel like I'm not, I am not LA in the sense that I generally am not like things happen for a reason or like I don't believe any of that stuff. I'm not very positive in the way that like LA people are, you know. Like, I'm just like sort of, I'm sort of realistic about things. I think sometimes to my detriment. Like sometimes I'm like, I could never, and so I just don't try. But I feel like seeing you and sort of like watching you from a distance and like seeing that post. I was like, come on now! Like she really just like manifested some shit for herself and like took it on the chin and just continued on. And I feel like that's really fucking cool.

Sequoia Holmes 14:31

That's what I'm trying to do. I really do feel like I took it on the chin pretty well. Like I did not feel too much despair. I wasn't too down on myself.

Traci Thomas 14:37

And you didn't like post like my life is horrible or like like content of like an unemployed person. Like you didn't do the thing where it became like this is who you are.

Sequoia Holmes 14:46

No, I didn't feel like that. I just felt very much like I needed to be able to control something. Yeah, and what I can control is my output and what I create.

Traci Thomas 14:55

Right,

Sequoia Holmes 14:55

and so and that's what I've always liked to do. Anyways, I'm good at creating. I like to create, so I just do it.

Traci Thomas 14:58

Yeah. Do you have like. Creative hobbies that aren't podcasting.

Sequoia Holmes 15:02

Ooh, good question. Do I have creative hobby? Um, no, no. It's giving the podcasting is my creative hobby. I really like makeup, so I'll do makeup.

Traci Thomas 15:13

Yeah,

Sequoia Holmes 15:14

that's really probably creative. Yeah, that's a low creative. I've stopped being creative with that. I used to be so creative about makeup, crazy eye looks, and like really colorful situation. And now this is the exact face that I do every single day.

Traci Thomas 15:28

Well, it looks good, but I don't wear a lot of makeup because I don't like taking makeup off. Taking off makeup is far is it always is worse for me than being pretty for a day.

Sequoia Holmes 15:37

So I get that it is daunting. I have what is called bedtime procrastination, revenge, procrast, revenge, bedtime syndrome. That's what it is.

Traci Thomas 15:47

I've never heard this

Sequoia Holmes 15:47

where you feel like it's like you feel like you don't, you haven't had enough time to yourself for the day, and so you procrastinate going to bed or getting ready for bed, and then you screw yourself, and same thing happens the next day because you slept too late and blah blah blah. It's like a cycle. I have that really bad, so I always procrastinate taking my makeup off. I do hate to do it. It's not.

Traci Thomas 16:04

I hate to do it. Hate. The only time I do this revenge procrastination is when I'm wearing makeup. If I have on a full face of makeup, I never want to go to bed. But if I just have, I mean, I rarely wear any makeup. But if I have like eyeliner and mascara on, that's easy, right? But if I wash my foundation, or like a powder on my face. Never, I'm never going to sleep because I'm gonna have to take this shit off

Sequoia Holmes 16:28

and triple cleanse. Like you have to make sure that it all comes off. You have to get that micellar water in the eye. You know, like it's just like a lot.

Traci Thomas 16:33

It's just it's a nightmare. I get that. Okay, I we have to talk about Black People Love Paramore podcast. It's the greatest. Tell people what it is. Tell them where it came from, and we'll start there.

Sequoia Holmes 16:46

Great. Black people love Paramore is a pop culture show, not about the band Paramore. Contrary to the title, it's a show about the common as well as the uncommon interests of Black people in order to help us feel a little bit more seen. Double entendre on scene. If you get it, you get it. It started because I went through a really serious emo phase in middle school. It was I wore fingerless gloves. I wore ties every day. It was just very serious, and I thought I was the only one. I thought I was like, "Oh, black people don't listen to this. You know, I felt a little bit of shame about it. I would always, you know, be kind of quiet about it, and I was ridiculed for it. And so I, I thought it was something to be shamed about, right? Only to become an adult and find out that literally so many of us were doing that. So many of us were doing that in quiet, and we all felt that shame. And so we couldn't even connect with each other when it would have been most useful to connect about it.

Traci Thomas 17:40

Right, right, right. Do you know who Hanif Abdurraqib is?

Sequoia Holmes 17:44

Yes, Hanif was on my podcast.

Traci Thomas 17:46

He was. Did he? What did he talk about?

Sequoia Holmes 17:48

I was gonna say. Paramore.

Traci Thomas 17:48

I was gonna say. I was like he because he like has that book rewrites about like being a black in the punk scene.

Sequoia Holmes 17:54

Yeah.

Traci Thomas 17:55

And I remember being like, it's like he's got essays on it. I remember reading the essays and being like, cannot relate. Have no clue what this guy's talking about? That's before I knew him because I I never I have always been a very pop, and I mean that both in the music, but also just like in my interest, pop princess. I'm just like I'm just a bright shiny person. I never had that phase, though. I do love Paramore, yeah. And during COVID, I'll never forget my brother like discovered. I can't remember the name of the song, but like the Misery Business.

Sequoia Holmes 18:29

Yes,

Traci Thomas 18:30

and he was like, "Have you ever heard this? And I was like, "Brady. And he was like, "Why? I I've never heard this. And I was like, I was like, I think because your your show was on then, wasn't it?

Sequoia Holmes 18:41

Yeah, 2021. No, it came out in 2021.

Traci Thomas 18:45

Okay, but whenever Brady said this to me, your show was out because I literally go. There's a podcast called Black People Love Paramore. Like you think you're inventing something, and there's a show titled What You're Feeling. It was when that guy. It was when that guy like posted a video that went viral of him listening to Paramore. Maybe do you remember that? It was like a black guy in a car or something, and he was just like rocking out. Anyway

Sequoia Holmes 19:11

There's many of those now. They all go viral, so it could. I have a lot of the

Traci Thomas 19:14

You've probably seen it. I feel like it was the first time I'd ever seen it. Anyways, I just remember being like, "You're so dumb, because like not only is this a thing that every black person knows we all love Paramore and we love what's her name Hayley Williams or whatever

Sequoia Holmes 19:26

Hayley Williams yeah

Traci Thomas 19:27

but like there's a show with his title

Sequoia Holmes 19:31

there absolutely is wait how old is Brady

Traci Thomas 19:33

he's older than me he's born in 1981

Sequoia Holmes 19:36

okay this makes sense I was gonna say I don't know how he would have missed it but it makes sense if he's a little bit older that's what I was wondering.

Traci Thomas 19:42

But I feel like that song was everywhere.

Sequoia Holmes 19:44

It literally was everywhere. It was for me. It was like I would turn on MTV in the morning when I was getting ready for school, and you know how they would have those music videos playing constantly. Yes, misery business was the one that always caught me, and then Crush Crush Crush caught me too. And I was like, whoa, what's this?

Traci Thomas 19:59

Yeah. Yeah,

Sequoia Holmes 20:00

and then they did decode for the Twilight soundtrack, and as I mentioned, I really Twilight. I Twilighted hard.

Traci Thomas 20:06

Do you have a Black People Loves Paramore episode of Twilight?

Sequoia Holmes 20:09

I sure do.

Traci Thomas 20:09

I've never read or seen a Twilight.

Sequoia Holmes 20:12

Traci, what?

Traci Thomas 20:13

Well, okay, so I'm slightly older, and I was in college or like right out of college, so it was not particularly like cool or of interest at that age, like it was like, and I went to NYU and I was a theater kid, so it was like, oh, like it was like, yeah, yucky, like

Sequoia Holmes 20:29

yeah.

Traci Thomas 20:30

I actually there was someone we were considering doing Twilight for this podcast, and maybe we will one day, but I've never read them, and I don't like I I am a Hunger Games girly, which was sort of around the same time, slightly later. I've also never Harry Pottered.

Sequoia Holmes 20:49

I never Harry Pottered either.

Traci Thomas 20:50

And now I won't.

Sequoia Holmes 20:52

And now I won't. Now it feels like a part of my identity in a way where I'm like, yeah, no, I'm just not.

Traci Thomas 20:56

To me, it's like I know people have Harry Potter feelings, big and small, I know that it was meaningful to many people. Is meaningful, but for me, I'm too old to not know better about that woman, and so I'm just like, why would I? Now I do have children. I'm sure they're going to find out about it soon, and they might want to read it. So I might end up having to read it, but like, it just and it's easy for me to be like I don't Harry Potter because I don't I never it never mattered to me

Sequoia Holmes 21:26

you never did yeah

Traci Thomas 21:26

right so like I understand people who feel conflicted about it but I just I'm like why would I support a turf now at my age when I could just read anything else and I have a TBR of 7 million books you know but I'm surprised you haven't because I feel like people like slightly younger than me. It was huge.

Sequoia Holmes 21:48

The movies were coming out. I watched the first movie when I was in second grade when it came out, and I did not like it. And I think that was just my my first being like, no, I don't. I'm not a Harry Potter person to do this. I would imagine if I read it as an adult, I would probably like it or enjoy it more than you know the movies when I was a kid. But yeah, like you said, now that I know who J.K. Rowling is and what she stands for, why would I dive into that now? Stephanie Meyer has her own issues. The Twilight Lady has her own issues. That's that's that's the problematic world that I live in already. I don't need to take on another one, you know.

Traci Thomas 22:23

Yeah, I do know. I do know. Okay, we're gonna take a break. We're gonna come back and talk about books. Okay, we are back. So everybody, we're about to do Ask the Stacks, which is where you write in. You ask us for a book recommendation. Tell us what you like, what you don't like. You email it to askthestacks@thistackspodcast.com. Myself and my guests will respond with book recommendations. I am normally an extremely prepared person, but for some reason today when I was preparing for this interview, I just forgot to do this part. So you have not been prepped. I also have not been prepped. We're both going to read this email together on the fly and hope that we can pull it off. So this comes from Anne. Here we go. Hi Traci, I'm seeking recommendations for my 72 year old dad. I picked up an SA Cosby book for him a couple years ago when he was stuck inside with COVID. He loved it. He has read all of SA Cosby's books and even went to see him at the L.A. Festival of Books last year. Now, my dad specifically wants to read more thrillers written by Black authors because he loves these books so much. Mysteries and even sci-fi and fantasy are also welcome. They just need to be fast-paced, propulsive, and bonus bonus points if they're on the grisly side. Lit fiction, literary fiction, need not apply. Can you help us out? Mystery and thrillers are not my genre, so I'm not much help. Okay, so Anne and your dad, we're gonna come up with some thriller sci-fi. It sounds like heavily plotted books by black authors. Maybe on the grizzly slide. This is not really my bread and butter, but I'm gonna I'm gonna come up with a few right now, and then I'll give you time to think, and then you could just need to come up with one if you can. SA Cosby, I absolutely love the first book series that popped into my mind. It's called Highway 59, and Bluebird Bluebird is the first one, and it is about a black police officer in Texas. He's like a ranger. He's a Texas ranger, and he's like solving murders and stuff. But it's also about him because he's like a flawed person, obviously. And I think that Attica Locke is one of the smartest writers on race in America that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. She's just like so sharp. She gets the dynamics. The first one is about like a white woman who turns up missing and who has like a secret black boyfriend or something, and he's trying to solve the case. And he's all the the cop is also like facing racism within. The ranks for like some of his bad behavior. It's really good, and it's a series. So if Dad likes one, she'll he'll have three in that series. But then Attica Locke has a bunch of other books, and and she writes really good thriller mysteries. My second recommendation is a little bit maybe more on the horror side. It's Tanana Reeve Dew's Book the reformatory. She is one of our great black horror writers. She's based out of LA. Actually, both of them are based out of LA. Attica and Tanana Reve. But the reformatory is like about. It's based on her family's story. She found out about her family's history of black children being sent to reform schools, like like how they also did that with indigenous children, where they tried to like basically make you not black anymore by teaching. Like they take the kids away from their families; they'd live there. It was also like a form of imprisonment. If you've read Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys, they were at a reform school, and it's a horror novel about this reform school that she's made up, so that one I have not read that book because I can't do horror. But you said grizzly, so I feel like maybe dad would be okay with that. Plus, he's in his 70 s, so the historic element I feel like would be great for him. The last thing I'm going to do is one of my favorite books that covers a lot of genres, very fast paced, very violent. It is Nana Kwame Ajay Brenya's Chain Gang All Stars. Did you read that?

Sequoia Holmes 26:26

No.

Traci Thomas 26:27

Oh, I think you'd like it. It came out a few years ago. The premise is that it's a dystopian future for America where death row inmates compete on like fighting teams for a reality television show where if you fight and you win, you carry on. You can earn your freedom from death row. If you don't win, you die because you battle to the death. So it's basically like American Gladiators meets Capital Punishment reality show. Yeah, and it's fantastic. It is not a mystery or a thriller, but it is super fast paced and it's really smart, really well done, and I think your dad would like it. So those are mine for you, Anne. Did you come up with anything, Sequoia? What do you have?

Sequoia Holmes 27:15

I have one book called "The Mysterious Death of Juanetta Plum.

Traci Thomas 27:19

Okay,

Sequoia Holmes 27:20

that one is written by a black author. I cannot remember her name off the top of my head. That's fine. We'll let you know. It is it is a mystery, like a murder mystery. You're trying to figure out who done it. It was a vibe. It was a vibe. It was a period piece. I can't remember the exact period. I'm not doing a good job explaining this. It's great. I can't remember the exact period, but it was a period piece. Very black. Took place in New York City. Yeah, I liked it a lot. That might be for you. And then when you say grizzly, what comes to my mind is a classic parable of the sower.

Traci Thomas 27:53

I almost did kindred. You know.

Sequoia Holmes 27:56

Okay. I'm like, so if you have not Octavia Butlered yet, now is an interesting time to pick up Parable of the Sower specifically.

Traci Thomas 28:05

Yes, and you could tell Dad that there is a Stacks episode. We did a book club episode on Parable of the Sower, so that is waiting for him to listen to if he wants to hear my dulcet tones.

Sequoia Holmes 28:16

Perfect, beautiful.

Traci Thomas 28:18

And let us know how we did. If your dad reads any of them, if he likes them, and everybody else, email askthestacks@thestaxpodcast.com to get your book recommendations read on air. All right, Sequoia, you are in the hot seat. Tell me two books you love, one book you hate.

Sequoia Holmes 28:34

Ooh, two books that I love. I really like. I'll do a self help book and then I'll do a novel.

Traci Thomas 28:38

Okay,

Sequoia Holmes 28:39

I really like the War of Art. It's not the Art of War. The War of Art. It's a self-help book for creatives. If you are creative in any capacity, if you like the creative habit, if you like the the artist way, Rick Rubin or Rick exactly that that Rick Rubin one, any of those books, this is gonna be even better, low key. Okay, it is just about creativity at large. You can apply it to a lot of different things. Super small, quick, brief read. I read it a couple times. Like I've read it a couple times, and maybe once every five ish years, I'll pick it up again and just get a refresher on it. Fantastic. If you are creative, even if you're not, I feel like everybody has some level of creativity in them, great pusher, love that one. And then there's this one book. I'm gonna give you two more. Okay, there is this one book I read called "Come and Get It" by Kylie Reid.

Traci Thomas 29:39

I am a come and get it truther. I love that book so much. People who don't like it, I think there's something wrong with you.

Sequoia Holmes 29:45

People hate it, Traci.

Traci Thomas 29:46

They're wrong.

Sequoia Holmes 29:47

So many people hate it. I hate that. And I'm like, why? Why? You know what? I'm not gonna lie. I can see how someone can hate it. I can't. It depends on what you value in a book.

Traci Thomas 29:57

Yes,

Sequoia Holmes 29:57

I happen to value dialogue above everything else. I don't. I don't value story that much. I value dialogue above everything else, and then characters. How realistic or deep the characters are. Those are my two biggest things when reading a book. Everything else, I'm like, I don't. I couldn't give a damn one way or another.

Traci Thomas 30:16

Okay. And you do love a messy character. You love mess.

Sequoia Holmes 30:19

I like a messy. I do like mess. I like mess, but I don't like. What is a good way to put it? I don't like scary. Like we're we're we're like people are a little too soft, a little too timid. That irritates me. Okay. So I like that in Kylie Reid's "Come and Get It. You're reading from different perspectives. One of the girls is a little timid, and I'm like, "This not my girl. Yeah. One of the girls is less like that, and you're like, "Ooh, I really like her. Yes. And the way that they all interact is so realistic and so visceral. I'm like, I can. These she did incredible research, yeah, for that novel. I think she did a really good job.

Traci Thomas 30:52

I think she's. I I am a big Kylie Reid fan. I read such a fun age and didn't love it. I loved come and get it, but I have. I was lucky enough to be in conversation with her for her book tour for Come and Get It, and like hearing her talk about the work and like how she thinks about it. I'm just like she's just getting started. Like she's gonna she's gonna give us some like like the growth between such a fun age and Come and Get It. I'm just like I cannot wait. I hope she writes nonfiction. Like she just sees the world in such an interesting way, and I think part of what people don't like about Come and Get It, or like part of the reason people don't like Come and Get It, is because I think she has really honed her audience to like a certain kind of person. And if you don't, I feel like it's one of those books that's like, if you don't get it, you don't get it, and like she wrote it that way, like so. It's sort of like, oh,

Sequoia Holmes 31:43

I'm telling you, Traci. I'm like, whoa, I know these people. Like, I genuinely know these people. I also like stuff that centers younger women. Like, it's it. It's not YA, but it definitely like you know centers younger women and I really appreciate that in the book. I like girlhood, and it gave girlhood in like a really realistic way of yeah.

Traci Thomas 32:04

Have you ever read Mary H K Choi?

Sequoia Holmes 32:06

No.

Traci Thomas 32:06

Okay, so she's written four books. Her first three are they're Y A, but they're actually like new adult. One of them, like they're in call. They're all like in or post college.

Sequoia Holmes 32:19

Perfect. That is my preferred age range,

Traci Thomas 32:21

but she writes great dialog. I I actually jokingly call her and Kylie are two great maximalist writers because like they write so much detail and like it's like it's not like they ate a chip. It's like the specific kind of chip and what the theater felt like. I think you would love Mary. Her newest book is an adult novel that I don't think you would like as much as some of the first three because it's a little bit, it's a little more interior. It's like a lot more about like what people aren't saying, and so what I'm hearing from you is you want more about what people are saying. Yes. So I think you would like these other books, but I feel like not only will you like Mary as an author, but I think you would love Mary. And I like she's just I feel like it's a vibe

Sequoia Holmes 33:05

Oh great oh great because I've been chasing the high of come and get it since I read it like what maybe two years whenever it first came out is when I read it yeah and I've been chasing that feeling. I was so impressed with her as an author like truly I was like who is this lady I had tried to write, or I tried to read such a fun age, a number of times at this point. I've sat down with it, and it just can't catch me. I'm sure if I got past, you know, the first little portion of it, I might be in. But for whatever reason, that one just can't catch me. But people love it. I know that people love that one as well. So I assume I like it. But come and get it. My God, the way that she writes, the detail that she includes, the detail in the dialog that she includes-I'm like these people are materializing before my eyes as we speak.

Traci Thomas 33:51

Yes, totally agree. It's insane. Did you think of your third love?

Sequoia Holmes 33:56

I am looking for it in the-I'm looking for it in my book club thing. We read. It was a Halloween book, or was a book that we read around Halloween time. Damn it! I'm gonna know as soon as I get off of here. I'm gonna know. I'm gonna be annoyed. Anyways,

Traci Thomas 34:10

it's okay. Um, what's the book you hate?

Sequoia Holmes 34:16

Oh, book that I hate. Hate feels strong, but I don't like. Who are the two romantic black women? There's like Kennedy Ryan. It's it's Kennedy Ryan and the and Tia Williams. Yes, it is Kennedy Ryan's one of her three book trilogies about.

Traci Thomas 34:37

Oh yes, yes, yes, the Skyland series.

Sequoia Holmes 34:40

The Skyland series.

Traci Thomas 34:42

Before I let go, this could be us. Can't get enough.

Sequoia Holmes 34:45

Read all three. Don't like it. Read all three. Don't like it. These books make me realize I am just not a romance girly because if this is the best of the best, and I hear that she really is the best of the best.

Traci Thomas 34:58

Okay, here's what I'm going to say about. To you, my romance listeners are going to get mad. They want you to find a romance book you like.

Sequoia Holmes 35:04

I want to find one that I like too

Traci Thomas 35:05

and and there are romance books for you out there. Okay, they exist. I sometimes think what romance readers like in romance is different than what people who do not identify as romance readers, so it's harder to find your right book. But I don't particularly care for. Have you wait? Did you read "You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty"

Sequoia Holmes 35:31

I didn't

Traci Thomas 35:32

see. I think you would like that because that's a messy romance.

Sequoia Holmes 35:35

Okay, I like. Okay, I do like messy romance, or I like messy. I don't know if I like messy romance, but I like.

Traci Thomas 35:40

Well, I don't know. It's messy. It's one of my favorite romances. But a lot of romance people say it's not even a romance because it's unclear who the main love interest is, which oh, perfect lets you know about mess. That's what I'm saying. So sometimes I think like true romance that's like embraced by romance community is sometimes not what people like us like because we're a little bit outside, we haven't quite bought into like the regulations of romance. I've never read Kennedy Ryan, so I can't say I I like Tia Williams. I liked Seven Days in June quite a bit.

Sequoia Holmes 36:13

I didn't like Seven Days in June.

Traci Thomas 36:14

Okay, I liked that one, but that was one of the first romance novels I read, and I was like, oh, I don't hate this. That was like the first time I read a romance novel, I was like, sure, sure, sure. But you know, I just there is there is a romance novel for you. That's what they tell me, and I have found some that I like. Did you have you ever read historical romance?

Sequoia Holmes 36:31

No, no historical romance.

Traci Thomas 36:33

So we did Indigo for Book Club earlier this year by Beverly Jenkins, who's like the the mother of black romance novels. She's like she's like the OG, and I sort of loved the historical romance because it's kind of campy, and it's like it's not. I feel like part of what I don't like about contemporary, especially black romance, is I'm just like, well, that's not how it is. And this, I was like, oh, we're on the Underground Railroad. Like it's like oh that's fun you know like it's kind of fun and like the the man is like high yellow like his family like like it's like the whole thing you know what I mean like it's like the whole thing and she's like she's she she she's a conductor on the Underground Railroad and so is he and like he can pass and like I don't know it's like a whole thing and it's very much like it's like what you imagine, like romance novel, and so it's sort of fun in a way that, like, if it was contemporary, I might be like, okay, like, sure, right, like I'm just like I suspect my disbelief is suspended enough to get me here, and so that worked for me a lot more. Even though there were parts where I was like, "Yo, never."

Sequoia Holmes 37:47

Oh, okay, no, that sounds great. I would give that a try. And you know what, listeners, please comment on my Instagram if there's anything that's like Sequoia. If you don't like Tia Williams, Kennedy Ryan, that's not for you. This might be more your vibe, because I really do want to find romance that I like. I like love. I love love just like everybody else.

Traci Thomas 38:04

I love love

Sequoia Holmes 38:05

I love love just like everybody else. But I don't love those damn books. Yeah, it's always like I don't. There's something about the way characters are written in romance novels where I'm like, these aren't real people.

Traci Thomas 38:18

Yeah,

Sequoia Holmes 38:18

you're telling me that your entire life is revolving around around this romance.

Traci Thomas 38:23

This is the problem I have too. I'm like, I just you want me to believe, and then like lots of problems could just be solved with like a text message.

Sequoia Holmes 38:33

do we like clarity or we don't like clarity? Like I'm confused.

Traci Thomas 38:37

Or like sometimes it's like their phone run out of battery, and I'm like, you're really gonna break up a three year marriage over your phone running out of battery? Like, I'm just like, this is just not realistic. Like, you own property together,

Sequoia Holmes 38:48

right? Like, what? And then don't get me started in the sex scenes. And this is why I'm not a smut girl either, because I'm like, I actually don't, I don't ever need a sex scene, and I'm not, and not in a prudish way. I just don't. It does not. It never furthers the anything happening, and it doesn't give me better insight than the characters. Does it never does anything?

Traci Thomas 39:05

Okay, okay. So you're a closed door romance reader. That's what they call that. Like it's like you get to the romance and the door sex. Okay. I think you'd like Indigo because it is. I mean, there are some like. Now I really want you to read it. Actually.

Sequoia Holmes 39:21

Okay. I'll definitely read it.

Traci Thomas 39:22

I feel like you might like it. What are you reading right now?

Sequoia Holmes 39:25

Ooh, right now I am reading Mara Brock-Akil's book, The Something Something of Dion Daphne, the new one. I'm really the new one, and I'm having a good time with that. I like the way that she writes characters. I like the way that she writes dialog. So having a good time.

Traci Thomas 39:39

And you're in an in-person LA book club, all black women,

Sequoia Holmes 39:44

all black women,

Traci Thomas 39:45

and you read all books by black women.

Sequoia Holmes 39:47

Only books by black women. Yep.

Traci Thomas 39:48

What a beautiful thing. It's good. Best book you've read for book club.

Sequoia Holmes 39:52

It's come and get it. That's something that I read for book club. Uh huh. And then we also read something by Akwaeke

Traci Thomas 39:58

Emezi. That's who wrote "You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty."

Sequoia Holmes 40:02

Maybe I did. Maybe I read it. I know that I read something else by Aquae, and I was, I really liked it. I remember really liking the way that Akwaeke writes.

Traci Thomas 40:10

Okay. Well, if you haven't read it, you should read it. I think this could be a romance novel for you. Do you set reading goals for yourself?

Sequoia Holmes 40:18

I don't set reading goals. Well, you know what? That's a lie. I do. Do I ever meet them? No.

Traci Thomas 40:22

What kind of goals do you set?

Sequoia Holmes 40:24

I just try to read one book a month.

Traci Thomas 40:27

Okay, that's great.

Sequoia Holmes 40:28

I try to do one book a month, and I usually do about half that. So I usually get through about six books a year.

Traci Thomas 40:34

Okay, I love this for you. Well, you have to read at least one book in August because we're reading Fish Tales by Nettie Jones. Do you know anything about this book?

Sequoia Holmes 40:42

I know nothing about the book. We read it for book club, and I missed that month, and so I didn't read it.

Traci Thomas 40:47

This is perfect. You're catching up. Well, for people at home, one of the important things to know about that book is that it was acquired by Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison is the editor of Fish Tales. Yeah, yeah, and it was re-released, I believe, last year, but it had been like out of print for decades, and it's about a woman who is, from my understanding, I've not read the book yet, a woman who behaves badly. There are there's lots of sex, there are drugs. It's in New York City and Detroit. I am told she is a real fucking mess. I'm very excited to read this book, but that's pretty much all I know. It's set in the '70s, so it was a contemporary novel at the time. And there's going to be some questionable decisions and plot points, from my understanding.

Sequoia Holmes 41:38

Okay, I'm really excited to read it. I love mess. I love a messy woman, especially that is my favorite. A messy young book. A messy young woman because haven't we all been?

Traci Thomas 41:49

Yes, you loved Luster, right?

Sequoia Holmes 41:51

Oh, I didn't read that.

Traci Thomas 41:52

Oh my God, you have to read it.

Sequoia Holmes 41:54

I will if it's something I would like. I love all of your suggestions. Thank you so much for giving the suggestions too, because I'm like, yeah, tell me. Because I really want to find stuff that I like.

Traci Thomas 42:02

We also did that here on book club because I love, I love this genre. I don't love fiction as much as I love nonfiction, but my favorite fiction is young black woman behaving badly, like obsessed. I love Danzie Senna who writes those books. I don't know if you read New People or Colored Television, but she writes those also. You'd like new people. I don't know if you'd like color television because it's like a middle-aged woman in color television.

Sequoia Holmes 42:26

I can do middle-aged too,

Traci Thomas 42:27

but it's Hollywood, so you might like it because you know LA.

Sequoia Holmes 42:30

I am here.

Traci Thomas 42:31

Okay, do you have a favorite bookstore?

Sequoia Holmes 42:34

It is Reparations Club in LA. That is my favorite bookstore.

Traci Thomas 42:37

Same. Do you organize your books?

Sequoia Holmes 42:42

I don't organize my books currently on our bookshelf. Me and my fiance share our bookshelf, of course. We have it organized by one row is mine, one row is his. One row is mine, and it's really clear who's is who.

Traci Thomas 42:53

Got it. Do you guys have any overlapped shared books?

Sequoia Holmes 42:57

Oh, one of my favorite books that I forgot to mention is Between the World and Me.

Traci Thomas 43:00

Oh, sure.

Sequoia Holmes 43:01

And we have three copies of that because one of us had two, one of us had one. I don't know, but we both love that book.

Traci Thomas 43:07

That's another book we've done on book club here when we first started. That was like within the like 2019 maybe. Do you have any genres that you don't read besides romance?

Sequoia Holmes 43:17

I generally don't read fantasy, with the exception of Twilight when I was a kid, but yeah, like the the fairy fantasy situation right now isn't calling to me, and I also don't read smut, but that's because I haven't tried it,

Traci Thomas 43:31

right? I've never read any of the like fairy smut books, but my best friend read like the first one of one of them, and she was like, they weren't even fucking. I was like, wait. I thought the whole point was that the fairies be fucking, and she was like, they weren't fucking.

Sequoia Holmes 43:45

Traci, what?

Traci Thomas 43:47

I don't know. Maybe it happens later. She read whatever the Court of Rose and thorns. I think.

Sequoia Holmes 43:53

Yes. Yeah. A Court of Rose and Thorns

Traci Thomas 43:55

But maybe she read the fourth, the fourth season. I don't know. She read whatever fourth wing. Rebecca Yaros. She read either the first Rebecca Yaros or the first Sarah J. Maas. Okay, I can't remember which one, but she was like, "No, it's like 600 pages, and there was no fairy sex. I think you should do a Black people love Paramore episode about the fairy sex.

Sequoia Holmes 44:17

No, you're so right.

Traci Thomas 44:18

Is there are there black people who like it? Maybe there aren't.

Sequoia Holmes 44:21

There are. Okay, no, there are. I know. I know some.

Traci Thomas 44:23

You should do it. I'd love to know why the black people like it.

Sequoia Holmes 44:28

Me too. I'm sure it's suspended disbelief.

Traci Thomas 44:31

I would listen to that. What's the last book that made you laugh?

Sequoia Holmes 44:39

Last book that made me laugh. Do I laugh at books? I don't. I don't know that I've laughed. Laughed at a book out loud. Yeah, I. I don't know that I have.

Traci Thomas 44:48

What about a book that's made you angry?

Sequoia Holmes 44:50

Parable of the Sower definitely made me angry.

Traci Thomas 44:52

Yeah. What about a book where you felt like you learned a lot?

Sequoia Holmes 44:56

Between the world and me, for sure.

Traci Thomas 44:57

Yeah.

Sequoia Holmes 44:58

I'm like, oh, this told me a lot. About the black male experience, I've never read something from a black man's perspective in first person ever, and I was like, "Wow, this is really enlightening and humanizing.

Traci Thomas 45:10

Is there a book that you've never read that you feel sort of like embarrassed about never having read?

Sequoia Holmes 45:16

I feel embarrassed about never having read Harry Potter at this point.

Traci Thomas 45:19

I don't. I'm like fine, fuck it.

Sequoia Holmes 45:22

Right now, now it's part of my identity. But yes, I feel like everybody's like Sequoia. It's so on brand for you. Like, why haven't you? Like, why haven't you read it?

Traci Thomas 45:29

I'm just like, well, sorry.

Sequoia Holmes 45:30

It's in protest, and now she's trash. I'm not doing like.

Traci Thomas 45:32

Sorry, I believe trans people have rights. Like, insane. Hey, hate. Is that crazy? Crazy concept. So embarrassing to believe people have races. Right. Well, what about a book you love from childhood? Any that you haven't mentioned?

Sequoia Holmes 45:46

What book did I love from childhood? I liked The Babysitter's Club. I remember really liking The Babysitters Club.

Traci Thomas 45:52

Do you know they've like redone the covers for those books, and they look like comics, and it's so annoying to me.

Sequoia Holmes 45:58

You're joking.

Traci Thomas 45:59

it's not those like beautiful like watercolor illustrations of like nice. No, they're like, it's like they look like stick figures more. It's like I, I think it's trying to be in conversation with like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and like all and like what is that the guy's name? Like the Captain Underpants?Yeah, It's not. It's like a more like that style, not fully, but like more. Just Google it.

Sequoia Holmes 46:26

I'm I'm certainly about to Google it. Oh my god!

Traci Thomas 46:31

I know, isn't it sad?

Sequoia Holmes 46:32

This is insane. I'm looking at the original, the original version too, with the blocks as the letters.

Traci Thomas 46:38

Yes, because the original, it's like they they're like paintings, but they also look like photos.

Sequoia Holmes 46:42

Yeah,

Traci Thomas 46:43

they're just like really high art. The other ones and the new ones, I'm just like not.

Sequoia Holmes 46:49

No, right, you guys don't get it.

Traci Thomas 46:50

Sorry, we had taste in the 80s and 90s.

Sequoia Holmes 46:53

I mean it. Those books were so beat up when I got them too.

Traci Thomas 46:58

Oh my god, yeah

Speaker 1 46:59

They had been passed down and passed down. Like my my older cousins all had them and I got them and I was obsessed.

Traci Thomas 47:03

Were you an American girl book girl?

Sequoia Holmes 47:06

I was not American girl at all.

Traci Thomas 47:07

No, oh my god, those were so meaningful to me in my childhood. I read all. I was I was a kid with the original five, and then as I got slightly out of it, they introduced I think, Josefina, who was like maybe like I don't think she was indigenous. I think she was like Latin. I think she was like in what became like California, New Mexico, but it was like at that time. I never read them, so that's why I don't know her full life story. Like as opposed to like Felicity, I know everything that ever happened to her. Like obviously, Samantha had a tragic upbringing, but a rich like family member.

Sequoia Holmes 47:45

Oh my god!

Traci Thomas 47:46

But I had like the Addy cookbooks. I used to make the skillet apples from that cookbook. And the hominy grits.

Sequoia Holmes 47:53

Oh, I had Addy. I did Addy. I read the Addy book. That was the only one that I read naturally. and I was like oh, I don't like this. This isn't fun.

Traci Thomas 48:01

I remember when I read the Addie books, being like, "Why is this such a wah wah wah? And everybody else is like, Felicity was like jumping on horses, and like obviously Molly had struggles. She had a victory garden or whatever. Like she couldn't go to the store. But I'm like, we are underground railroading here, people. We are in the depths of despair and like it just it was different. I also hated Kirsten. She was my least favorite by far. She was like the blonde who went snowshoeing and just like I don't know. She was like she wore like a she wore that like crown with candles for Christmas. Think she was like Swedish or something? Like I don't know. I hated her. I'm sorry, Kirsten. They didn't do you right. Tough break. Anyways, I think I think maybe American Girl was even more important to me than Babysitters Club.

Sequoia Holmes 48:49

Wow, you were really deep in American Girl lore. Did you go to the stores and stuff?

Traci Thomas 48:55

The stores were slightly after. I had I had not Felicity. I had Addie, but I had a best. I had two girl best friends. One of them was rich, so she had Molly and Samantha because she had brown hair.

Sequoia Holmes 49:06

They were expensive.

Traci Thomas 49:07

and then my other friend, who had sort of reddish hair, had Felicity, and I remember always being so jealous because I think Felicity had the best dresses personally. Samantha had great dresses too, but Felicity had a little more style. Like her main outfit-it's just like a great print, you know. She was she was our 1776 girl. She was a new America is born, and I just really loved that about her. Addie, I loved the pink dress, her little boots. I just I was into it. We were into it. We would like play dolls in in elementary school and be like, I'm coming over with my like I'm bringing slavery era, right? Like I would be like, okay, what would happen if these two dolls interacted? Though I didn't know what would have really happened. Wow! But we we made up stories. It was like, come on, let's go!

Sequoia Holmes 49:53

Kids should rule the world, man. I know. I know the world will be a better place. I found the name of this damn book. What is it? It's called Bad Witches.

Traci Thomas 50:02

No,

Sequoia Holmes 50:03

it is called Bad Witches. It was really that simple. Yeah, it was great by someone named H. B. Akumia.

Traci Thomas 50:12

Okay.

Sequoia Holmes 50:13

and I think that was her first novel. I followed her on Instagram and have been harassing her, unfortunately, being like, "Hey, girl, because it ends on a like a cliffhanger. Oh, you're like, oh my hey girl, where's the second one? Waiting for that. It really is fantastic. I wish more people knew about it. I love Black Girl Witch Things Halloween spooky season, and it's not scary at all. It is just fall witchy.

Traci Thomas 50:37

I love it. Okay, I have like three more questions for you. Then we're done. One is, how do you like to read? What's your ideal reading setup? Where are you? How like what time of day? Snacks and beverages. Set the scene.

Sequoia Holmes 50:49

I think I'm gonna answer this in two ways. I read best on a plane.

Traci Thomas 50:55

Ah, same.

Sequoia Holmes 50:55

When I am totally undistracted and I have hours to kill, I am locked, yeah, the heck in on that book. If I am not on a plane, I have a Kindle an hour before bed. I go on my Kindle an hour. I try to give myself an hour before I need to go to sleep. I will lay there, get through as many pages as I can, do the same thing the next night.

Traci Thomas 51:18

You don't fall asleep reading at night?

Sequoia Holmes 51:20

I try not to fall asleep reading. It is really difficult. Reading does feel like taking melatonin. Like I'm like, oh my god! But I try to stay awake so I can get through. You know, that's how I do my book club reading and do all the reading that I need to do.

Traci Thomas 51:32

And do you have snacks and beverages ever when you read?

Sequoia Holmes 51:36

No snacks, no beverages. Usually because I'm in bed, I'm not snacking or bevving. And if I need to do that, because some days I'll just spend a Sunday reading. If I really want to get through this book, I'll just spend a Sunday reading. I'll take snack and bevy breaks, and that'll be my those will be my breaks.

Traci Thomas 51:51

But not you're not like popping popcorn

Sequoia Holmes 51:54

No I'm never popping popcorn. No, I also live with a Virgo who won't let me eat in the bedroom.

Traci Thomas 51:59

I don't eat in the bedroom either

Sequoia Holmes 52:01

I will eat in the bedroom when he's out of town.

Traci Thomas 52:04

What's your sign?

Sequoia Holmes 52:05

A Gemini.

Traci Thomas 52:06

Okay, okay, okay. I love this for you guys.

Sequoia Holmes 52:09

What's yours, Traci?

Traci Thomas 52:10

I'm a Leo.

Sequoia Holmes 52:11

Oh, oh yeah! Happy birthday! You do have. You did say that your birthday is coming up. Yes.

Traci Thomas 52:17

Um. Okay. If you had to require, if you were a high school teacher, you can pick the subject. You can pick whatever you want. What's the book you would assign to your students?

Sequoia Holmes 52:28

I'm assigning A Brave New World. That feels really pertinent for today. It feels like it's been pertinent since I read it in high school.

Traci Thomas 52:36

I've never read it. Did you like it in high school?

Sequoia Holmes 52:39

I liked it in high school. I remember liking it a lot. Yes, we got to choose what we wanted to write our final essay for in AP English, and I chose that.

Traci Thomas 52:45

Okay, okay. Last one. If you could require the current president of these United States of America to read one book, what would it be?

Sequoia Holmes 52:55

Whatever book sends him to hell the quickest.

Traci Thomas 52:58

Okay,

Sequoia Holmes 52:58

but hmm,

Traci Thomas 53:02

maybe you give him some like aggressive smut, and it's just like take like give him heart attack

Sequoia Holmes 53:06

Yeah. Right. Like a heart attack. Yeah. Maybe I'll give him the fairy smut, or maybe I'll give him the Constitution in book form. You know, something that I know he's never read.

Traci Thomas 53:17

Yeah. Something he's never read for sure. Yeah.

Sequoia Holmes 53:18

For sure.

Traci Thomas 53:19

Well, Sequoia, you are amazing. Thank you for doing this, everyone. Sequoia will be back to discuss Nettie Jones's fish tales on August 26. That's when the episode will drop. There will be spoilers, so you better read it with us if you want to get a copy of the book. If you go to Reparations Club website rep club and search for the book and type in the code stacks 10. You can get the book 10% off and support a black woman run bookstore right here in LA. They'll send it to you. You don't have to be here. So yeah, love that. Do that, Sequoia. We're gonna link to everything you do. Give her show a listen. Her shows a listen, and everybody else, we will see you in the stacks. All right, y'all, that does it for us today. Thank you so much for listening, and thank you again to Sequoia Holmes for joining the show. Our book club pick for August is Fish Tales by Nettie Jones, which we will be reading with Sequoia on Wednesday, august 26. If you like this podcast, if you want inside access to it, head to Patreon.com/slash The Stacks and check out my newsletter at Traci Thomas Substack. com. Make sure you're subscribed to The Stacks wherever you listen to your podcasts, and if you're listening through Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave us a rating and a review. For more from the Stacks, follow us on social media at the Stacks Pod on Instagram, Threads, and YouTube, and you can check out our website@thestackspodcast.com. This episode of the Stacks was edited by Christian Duenyas with production assistance from Sahara Clement. Additional support was provided by Shereen Marquez, and our theme music comes from Tagirajis. The Stacks is created and produced by me, Traci.

Traci Thomas
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Ep. 435 Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo — The Stacks Book Club (Julianna Haubner)