A New Year and 6 Books on New Ways of Being

Over the holidays, I was speaking to a friend of mine about different Black American dishes. When we got to desserts, one of my favorites that I remember eating growing up was coconut cake. Though he’s Black as well, he’s also from California and so hadn’t had the dessert often. This made me wonder if it was a thing particular to the South or just my family. What I found out was super interesting.

Firstly, it’s believed that coconuts came to the Americas with enslaved Africans who knew how to grow and harvest them. Secondly, the coconut cake recipe that I start to crave around the holidays came from a fun event Black folk had that satirized white Southern aristocracy in antebellum times. Enslaved people would hold little competitions called “cakewalks,” and whoever won got a fabulous coconut cake (these gatherings are where we get phrases like “that was a cakewalk,” etc.).

Since this is recent, here’s a little context on the significance of the New Year’s countdown if you’d like to read more on Black American holidays and celebrations.

As for Cheryl Day’s recipe, you’ll need the usual things for a cake, like baking powder, baking soda, flour, salt, butter, sugar, and vanilla, as well as cream of coconut, coconut milk, cardamom, and more. For a full list of ingredients and directions, visit this recipe page.

Sellerz-Jackson uses her vast experience as a trusted doula as well as her personal life to guide others through various labors in this new book. She looks at potentially rut-inducing moments that we all experience at some point in our lives and shows how we can be present by asking ourselves things like, “What do we need to flourish and thrive under current conditions?”

Shigeoka both explains how being deeply curious can better connect us to others and shows how to engage in the practice of Deep Curiosity. Using research and personal anecdotes, he outlines ways to heal, connect, and understand by being more curious.

Though I love listening to music — my Spotify Wrapped said I spent over 30,000 minutes in 2023 listening to music…which felt like a mild drag, but I digress — I am not very knowledgeable on the major players behind the scenes, except for Rick Rubin. He’s produced records for everyone from Sir Mix-A-Lot to Weezer to Macy Gray, and here, he shows how the creative process can be and is part of all our lives. His illustrious career spent coaxing the best work out of musical artists of varying genres has shown him not only where creativity comes from but also how it connects one to the world.

Wong mentions how the title of the book and its release came as a result of “deliberate manifestation” and “big cat energy.” In it, Wong, the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, shares a collection of everything from essays to graphics and art commissioned by disabled Asian American artists to show what her life has been like as a disability advocate. With humor and insight, she explores pop culture, her Asian American identity, and the various consequences of ableism.

Odell gets into the thing that runs our lives once we become adults: time. And, surprise, surprise, she finds that the clock was built for profit, not necessarily to help people (capitalism strikes again, in other words). Our very concept of time is worth exploring because, even when we are meant to be caring for ourselves, we are pressed by time. I suspect that the concept of time factors into cultural differences a lot, so this is an interesting read on many levels.

Here, Ali Abdaal, who has gained a huge following on YouTube as a productivity expert, helps to reshape how we look at productivity and how to achieve it. He argues that we can be the most productive by finding joy in work and outlines ways to do it.