This week we are pleased to present Booked Perspectives, a new monthly column of book reviews by Nikkya Hargrove, owner of Obodo Serendipity Books in Paradise Green.
BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS!
This week we are pleased to present Booked Perspectives, a new monthly column of book reviews by Nikkya Hargrove, owner of Obodo Serendipity Books in Paradise Green. We invite you to hear the story of this remarkable woman via a video interview in this edition of the Crier. A written summary accompanies the interview.
We are also excited to introduce a companion column called Kids’ Book Report. Our first reporter is Aviah DeSilva, Nikkya’s daughter. This monthly feature will draw on members of the book clubs at Obodo Serendipity Books, as well as other sources.
Nikkya and Aviah DeSilva
Support your local independent book seller:
Obodo Serendipity Books (obodoserendipitybooks@gmail.com)
The Booked Perspectives
Reviews by Nikkya Hargrove
Communion: The Female Search For Love by bell hooks
The word “communion” is synonymous with church, right? At least, when I saw the words written across the lavender front cover of bell hooks’s book, Communion: The Female Search For Love, I paused before grabbing it, unsure if I was ready to address my own beliefs about God and consider how He loves me. But I opened the book, read the first few lines, and realized very quickly this book was not about God at all, but about human love.
Each chapter considers the very simple (and very complicated) act of love that women explore in midlife — from self love to the love of family to the love and search for love from a partner. As hooks considers patriarchy, feminist philosophy, and the all-consuming quest to understand the give and take of love, romantic and otherwise, she says, “Women who learn to love represent the greatest threat to the patriarchal status quo.” In other words, from women learning to better understand their innermost wants and needs comes power — power to leave broken relationships, whether romantic or otherwise; power to wholly accept that the journey of finding love requires reflecting on the who, when, and where of how we first understood love.
Women’s Month is around the corner, and Communion: The Female Search For Love is the perfect book to grab if you’re feeling introspective and curious to understand, especially in today’s world, how self-love and love from others aren’t that different.
I hope you will meet me back here next month for another Booked Perspectives.
Bio: Nikkya is a freelance writer, and published her first book Mama: A Queer, Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found (Algonquin Books) in late 2024. Nikkya has written for the New York Times, The Guardian, Shondaland, and was a staff member at Scary Mommy. Nikkya owns the local bookstore on the green, Obodo Serendipity Books.
Kid’s Book Report
By Aviah De Silva
Chunky By Yehudi Mercado
I think the book Chunky is good for helping kids with weight problems, or anything that makes them self-conscious. In Chunky, there was a boy named Hudi who would joke around with his weight. His parents were worried about him and decided to make him do sports. In every sport, Hudi tried to impress other people. He tried to impress other people to the point he wasn’t himself. Chunky, his imaginary friend, tried to help him with his self-consciousness, but Hudi got mad that Chunky was always caring for him. It all changed when Hudi tried football. The coach encouraged this bad behavior. When Hudi was in the field he knocked everyone down, but then he saw his friend and realized how mean he was to Chunky. He helped his friend up and started to change the way he acted. My overall opinion of this book is that it is a good book for kids and adults.
-The Reporter
Bio: Aviah is a 9-year-old fourth grader at Wilcoxson Elementary School. She enjoys playing soccer, creating artwork, reading, writing stories, and coding. She has two puppies, Oliver and Evelyn, whom she loves. Aviah looks forward to publishing more articles.
