There's a quote in this book from James Baldwin that says "You think your pain and your heartbreak is unprecedented in the history of the world, and then you read." It gets to the heart of why this book is so important-- it's a collection of Black women writing on the stories, the characters, the book, the authors who showed them they weren't alone in their experiences, that their pain or their heartbreak or their circumstances weren't unprecedented. Every essay is beautiful and powerful, each one illuminating to me again and again the power of words to connect us, to convict us, to heal us, to help us.

My to-be-read list grew a LOT while reading of the books these women recommended, and I look forward to continuing my exploration of books by Black authors.

I'll say this until my dying day-- PLEASE read books by authors who don't look like you, who aren't from where you're from, who don't believe what you believe, who have lived different lives than you have. It's important. It's imperative. We need to grow in empathy and compassion, in kindness and respect, in appreciation for diversity and all of our complexity.

Grateful for the stories shared in this anthology, and will be keeping it on my shelf to refer back to often.