Friends, hello! Happy Sunday from me to you!ย Just a few things before we get to our Sunday links from Kim Baldwin (they’re fantastic, but first business).ย Our last virtual class of the year is coming right up on Christmas Eve morning.ย We’re making overnight cinnamon rolls so basically, I’m trying to make your Christmas morning dreams come true.ย No – not a bow on a car in the driveway – but warm cinnamon rolls.ย Join us!
I’m taking most of the weekend off and camping with Will somewhere in Texas.ย A much needed cozy camp and Will mentioned something about cutting a Christmas tree down from his property? Sounds like there might be spiders involved and I’ll have to pretend not to freak out but otherwise very romantic.
I hope you can take at least a few hours away from the holiday craze today and relax. It’s important.ย Make a pot of chili and buy a bag of Fritos. Savor these links from Kim and let them take you down a rabbit hole or two. I’m so glad you’re here. My love to you. xo Joy
Now here’s Kim:
Hello, again! Before we get to the links, two quick shout-outs. I want to thank all of you for reading and commenting on these guest posts. I know you come here to read Joy and then, surprise, itโs me instead. But hereโs what I want you to know, and itโs my second shout-out, Joy is the real deal. She is not just pawning these posts off on us because sheโs busy. She is paying us to show our skill and talent to a much larger audience than we get on our own. And thatโs not nothing. May we all strive to be people who reach down and pull our friends up with us as we climb.
Now, letโs get to the fun stuff – smart links and dumb jokes!
โขย Do you know what we are absolutely going to do as we close out 2021? Hype up our friends who have books coming out in 2022. First up, Nobodyโs Magic by Destiny O. Birdsong. This novel, told in three parts, is a searing meditation on grief, female strength, and self?discovery set against a backdrop of complicated social and racial histories. It is a testament to the power of familyโthe ones you’re born in and the ones you choose.ย
โขย The second book is Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott. From the bestselling author of I Miss You When I Blink comes a poignant and powerful new memoir-in-essays that tackles the big questions of life, death, and existential fear with humor and hope. These are both Nashville authors, so the pre-order link takes you to Parnassus Books, Nashvilleโs independent bookstore.
โขย The end of an era: Call Your Girlfriend is winding down in 2022. To say this podcast was an inspiration to me is an understatement. Call Your Girlfriend was instrumental in how I built Ladyland. Iโm sad itโs ending and I look forward to what they all move on to next. Read their interview with Vulture here.
โขย Weโre all still talking about the season finale of Succession, right? Good. The question is, is Shiv dressing like that on purpose, and if so, why? Emma Specter is on the case for Vogue dot com in Can We Briefly Discuss Shivโs Wardrobe On This Season of Succession?
โขย Speaking of clothes, I have been RIVETED by Virginia Sole-Smithโs journey to find a good pair of plus-size jeans. Sheโs been conducting this experiment called jeans science in her Instagram Stories (itโs saved as a highlight) and she finally wrote about it: That Time I Bought 50 Pairs of Jeans. For Science.
โขย I never get into conspiracy theories, but scams? I love scams, which is why Iโm excited Tressie McMillan Cottom is writing about scam culture for the NY Times: Why We Need To Address Scam Culture.
โขย Do you keep up with what you read throughout the year? Iโve done it for years, mainly through the Goodreads Reading Challenge, but Iโm worried Iโm turning one of my few remaining joyful hobbies into a competitive sport. I may quit. TBD. But I sure did keep track of it this year. Here is my 2021 In Books.
โขย Nashville is home to so many country and Americana artists, and Iโm not talking about the white guys with big Twitter followings, although approximately one of them is fine. This is a great timeline NPR Music put together of the Black women who are changing the industry: How Black women reclaimed country and Americana music in 2021 by Andrea Williams, Marcus Dowlling, and Jewly Hight.
โขย My husband is a recording engineer and he said to me recently, โKim, everyone records a Christmas album.โ I donโt make it a habit to believe men, so I was dubious, but then I started listening to Samantha Irbyโs AMAZING Spotify playlist, weird christmas!, and you know what? Heโs right. Everyone records a Christmas album.
ย โขย โTo me, thatโs the crux of this conversation. Whether the pot shots are focused on the changes in appearance that come with age or question the relevance of having a show centered around the topic of sex once a woman is married or a mother, the implication is that, above all, sheโs overstayed her welcome.โ This is a great read on the topic of aging and Sex and the City: The SATC Conversation Iโm Already Sick Of by Carita Rizzo.
โขย This is a very niche link, but if you live within driving distance of Nashville and youโre a writer with a love/hate relationship to promoting your work online, I can help! Iโm teaching Social Media for Writers in Nashville on February 19.
Joy, thank you for hosting me these past few months. Hunker down, hug Tron, hug Will, learn how to change a mountain bike tire (?!), set those Christmas cards on fire you know youโre not going to mail and Iโll see you on the other side.
Happy fireplace channel season to all who celebrate!
Kim Baldwin is a writer and social media strategist living in Nashville, TN. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @theblondemule and at theblondemule.com.
31 Responses
Hi Kim!! If you like using Goodreads but also want to support small, I have fully switched over to the StoryGraph to track my reads – itโs a much better user interface than GR, you can import your GR data so you donโt lose any reading history and a Black woman created it (GR is run by Amazon, something not everyone knows)! They have a free and a paid version, and you can still do a reading challenge every year if you want.
Thanks for the links this week!
Hi Helen! Thank you the info on StoryGraph. I actually downloaded the app awhile ago, but never migrated over. This is just the push I need. And good to know they have a reading challenge, too, since, who am I kidding, I am still 100% going to do that. Appreciate you!
Kim –
You’re right I do come here to read Joy. But I enjoy reading you, too – you’re a different person with a different perspective and I learn things from you the way I learn things from Joy. So thank you!
Thanks, Tiberia! That means so much.
Hip hip hooray for the two shout outs :)
Joy and Kim – you are both the real deal ?
Oops my emoji became a question mark
Edit.
You are both the real deal (add excited smiley emoji or celebration emoji)
Jackie, that is so nice. Thank you!
Must read Nashville author Margaret Renkl – Late Migrations – mu fav read of the year!
My fav read!
Hi Gail! Gosh, I love Margaret Renkl so much. Late Migrations is one of my all-time favorite books. Have you had a chance to pick up her new book yet, Graceland at Last? It’s so good.
Yes – Graceland – how could I forget it? Her writing is like a visit with her.
I’m excited to support these Nashville writers next year. Thanks for the great read, Kim! Keep hyping up your friends. ?
Hi Tranyce! You know I will! Heck, maybe I’ll even hype up a certain friend who teaches intro gardening to dummies who don’t know how to plant zucchinis.
I completely understand how GR Reading challenge breeds a hobby into a competition. I was there and it did start to suck the joy of a “leisure” hobby. What has worked for me thus far to remedy that is I no longer join challenges or add dates of “when read” so no Spotify style yearly wrap. I merely use it to keep track of what I have read and want to read. A simple list and nothing more.
Ooh, that’s such a good idea, Adriana. I thought about switching to StoryGraph. I also thought about just keeping a journal keeping track of what I read and what I watch. We’ll see!
โHappy fireplace channel seasonโ, lol! The perfect ending to a lovely post. Thanks Kim!
Haha – thanks, Hannah!
I have been on Goodreads for years but I never do the reading challenge I just look for books I want and I say what I think about them when Iโm done never ever should reading be a challenge
Thanks for the link On The books you have read. Iโm always looking for books. I also downloaded Libor to use as I am currently on Audible.
Hey Ali, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for switching to Libro.fm!
That’s probably a better way to do it, Laura. Thanks for reading!
Okay Kim, you had me at โI donโt make it a habit to believe menโ that is so funny!Seriously. if I was to have a โReal Housewifeโ tagline, that would be mine. Anyway, great column today.Thanks for the articles and Happy Holidays.
Hahahahaha! Thanks, Stella. That is legit high praise! Thank you for reading my guest post (and commenting).
Love the book list! Thanks for sharing your picks, Kim,
Honestly, we love to see women bringing along other women to the top. Yes, I like hearing from Joy and her Sunday links are how Iโve started my week forโฆa lotta years. But Iโve also enjoyed you and Toby! Itโs nice to hear a different perspective and, as a longtime fan, itโs nice to picture Joy and Will all am happy and in love out in the wilderness somewhere on the weeks she takes a break!
Yes!! This 1000%!! (Longtime reader, very sporadic commenter here.)
Hi Suzanne! Waves from ‘sporadic commenter’ land, too.
Hi Danielle, same! I love picturing Joy and Will out in the wilderness doing outdoorsy things. Thanks again for reading these guest posts!
Hi! I just want to say that reading your posts have cheered up my life this year and, in fact, last year also. While in covid-19, lockdown dealing, with issues of safety, has made me feel sort of un-safe! But every Sunday there was a wonderful blog from you or one of your friends or sister/brother cooks, making me feel “normal” and safe and making a lot of different in my perspective as a reader and as a cook!
Thank you and Happy New Year!
Hi Judy, as one of Joy’s friends, I just wanted to pop on here and thank you for reading my guest posts. It means a lot. Stay safe!
Thank you Kim for these book ideas!!