I skipped posting last week because my husband came to visit me in Gainesville for a few days, and this Sunday's post is three days late because we spent the weekend in Atlanta catching up with old friends. The weather was perfect, and for two full days we walked from restaurant to restaurant. It was pure hedonistic pleasure. I ate barbecue, and brunched three times, and drank so much beer.

Before and after this mini-vacation, however, I did manage to get a tiny bit of reading and writing done. On Monday I published an essay on The Metropole about the children's books that inspired my interest in urban history. My mother spared me the embarrassment of leaving a comment, but did express her relief that the thousands of dollars she spent on books for her children seem to have been worth it.

Here's what captured my attention this week...

I'm reading: I finally finished The Sympathizer, and my (probably unpopular) opinion was that it took too many pages to make the unremarkable argument that revolutionary wars turn revolutionaries into the type of authoritarians they sought to overthrow. And I was underwhelmed by how the confession was used a framing device. I've now moved on to Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies--which so many friends, and Obama, have recommended--and to The Third Generation by Chester Himes (for research purposes). I'm just two chapters into each book, so I'll report further on them in the coming weeks.

I'm listening to: Camilla Cabello's hit song, "Havana." It wormed its way into my head after listening to the most recent episode of my fave podcast, Switched on Pop.

I'm watching: I saw Black Panther, y'all, and it was great. Check out the Wakanda Syllabus for readings about the comic, afro-futurism, pan-Africanism, black nationalism, and African history.

What are you reading, listening to, and watching this week?