Two Years of Books Are Pop Culture

& a Big Change by Reggie Bailey

Whenever the calendar flips into the new year I'm ultra philosophical and introspective, especially when it comes to my literary life. Ever since I became what some might call a Bookstagrammer I have always wanted to change, if even by only the slightest amount, each year. With hindsight being 20/20, I now realize what I always wanted to become, and that's something bigger than a Bookstagrammer: a Literary Citizen.

When I speak of Literary Citizenship I'm speaking about those of us who need literature—wanting it is a thing of the past. Those of us who keep lists, such as a list of books that received stars from Kirkus Reviews, but didn't receive stars from Publisher's Weekly, & vice versa. A list of books that received a star from both Kirkus Reviews & Publisher's Weekly, or neither. A list of books that you are interested in that are categorized as "Book Club Ideas'' or "Seriously Great Writing" inside of NPR's Book We Love, or a list of books reviewed by Parul Sehgal, Michael Schaub, Ron Charles, or Maureen Corrigan that seem interesting, a list of every book that has been finalists for the NYPL Young Lions Award or a list of every book that has been longlisted for the Center For Fiction First Novel Prize, or a list of books that you want to read that do not have an audiobook available on Audible, or… Like I said, those of us who keep lists. Those of us who will make literature shine in every physical & digital space we occupy. Those who know there is always a way to impact the literary scene regardless of the amount of rejection and/or gatekeeping faced along the way. Those who realize that stories are at the heartbeat of society since everything we buy & sell, possess & lack, every person we connect with or take a glance at, is a story that's waiting to be told or written—they may even be a revised edition of a tried & true story. Literary Citizens aren't confined to any spaces, because we are infinite: opportunity is everywhere.

The place that has allowed me to step into infinity the most is Books Are Pop Culture and those of you who have listened, watched, shared, liked, sent notes of kindness, notes of criticism, engaged in any way, shape, or form have made these last two years some of the best years of my life.

When Akili casually mentioned in the summer of 2020 that we should do an Instagram Live together, while he was doing a solo Instagram Live, I thought it would be a fun thing to do—as in, I thought it would be a fun thing to do ONE TIME. This is when COVID-19 was near its peak and ravaging an unvaccinated world, and a ton of us were in the house, working from home, chilling at home, or whatever, so I figured it couldn't hurt—it'd be a nice way to briefly step out of my comfort zone. Little did I know that by March 7th, 2023, the date when this piece gets published, I would be celebrating my second year being a part of a hit show called Books Are Pop Culture.

If you asked me in 2021 I would have said by 2023 that I would have been glad to have read at least 25 books within a year. I would have been even more glad if I was receiving finished copies of books for free on the regular from publishers and maybe even writing some really compelling reviews that I posted on my Instagram page. Different plans were in store for me though and I'm already looking forward to what things will look like in 2025, especially with the promise that already exists within 2023.

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I alluded to this a few paragraphs ago, but I will tell it to you straight now, Thank you.

Thank you If you are reading this, if you've read any Instagram post I've ever written or my recent piece on the Literary Postseason, if you've listened to 1 second of Books Are Pop Culture or even watched one second of a reel I posted, Thank you. I thank you because time is the most precious commodity that we have. We never get it back once we use it. It's funny because we all know some folks who are cheap when it comes to their finances, and we might even call them penny pinchers. I'm not sure if this is popular lingo, but I even know some Time Pinchers now. Folks who treat & value their time just like the penny pinchers treat and value their money. Any of you; Time Pinchers, those altruistic with your time, and everyone in between, are all good with me. You never have had to choose us, not even for the second you did, but if you are reading this, listening to our next episode, or currently listening to one of our past episodes then that means you did, and I'm grateful. Especially since you might be able to get a dollar back that you give us, but you will NEVER get any of the time back that you give us.

I also want to give a special thank you to The Fellowship, our AMAZING & INCREDIBLE Patreon Community. Imagine being so kind that you will give us time and money, because you see the work and believe the work. We really don't deserve you, but for some reason you think we do, and I'm humbled more than I ever thought I would be as a result. I hope you enjoy some of the changes I'm facilitating over in our neck of the woods, & I hope you know that you can always give me feedback, that I welcome feedback, & desire it. I will never not appreciate anyone that takes the time to give me work-centered feedback. If you have it in you then I would love to hear your feedback, because I want you to want to live in this community forever.

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Now I have good news & bad news to share.

The bad news isn't that bad because Akili & I aren't breaking up, but the bad news is the Monday Episodes of BAPC are over. That's not to say that there won't be any special edition episodes that we may drop on a Monday (or whatever day works best), but it is to say that our weekly Monday Episodes recapping book news are finished, and it's simply because its not whats best for Books Are Pop Culture right now. This decision did not come easy, because we recorded some really good Monday Episodes with the likes of Doris Allen, DJ Johnson (Founder and owner of Baldwin & Co. Bookstore in New Orleans), The Du Bois Literary Society & Swati Sudarsan, before we decided we had to stop, but we can always look back and say we went out with a bang.

The Good News, though, is that you get to read us more. For example, this newsletter that you are reading now, on a Tuesday, is something that you can get used to, because I am sending a newsletter out to you all every Tuesday from now on. Some may be a bit long like this one, some may be short like flash fiction, but nonetheless, every Tuesday you will read whatever it is I want to share: whether it's about articles I've read on Chat GPT being credited as an author on a lot of books, New Black Literary Canons, or thoughts on short story collections that were once lost (until now). In short, I'm about to show y'all what the thoughts of a Book Nerd really look like every Tuesday, and I look forward to sharing the full extent of my Book Nerd with you all in ways that I never have before.

The other good news is that you'll be able to read Akili's words every Monday. This means that you'll now receive written versions of our Monday podcasts during the first two days of your work week. & we couldn't be more excited to bring our talents in cultural & literary criticism to the page more frequently.

Books Are Pop Culture is at its best when it is consistent. We have a consistent video & audio output. We have a consistent Instagram presence, we have been improving our consistency on Patreon, but our Substack has been too sporadic. We are now in position to have this compete with our visual & audio output as the most consistent aspect of Books Are Pop Culture.

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If you've read every word up to this point I truly appreciate you, even if you left and you won't see these words you are appreciated. I hope you look forward to the consistent Mondays and Tuesdays that await you, and I hope that you'll tell your friends how awesome we are on the page, just like you tell them how awesome we are on the airwaves.