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A review by simplybibliophiles
Sometimes I Trip On How Happy We Could Be by Nichole Perkins
4.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | “The tiny rebellions in my life - refusing to go to church, talking openly about sex, freelancing full-time, et cetera - may make it seem like I’m just floating in the wind, but they’re how I try to regain control of my life from other people’s expectations of me.”
Whether it be the unbelievable realness, the laugh-out-loud humor, or the unabashed reconciliation of one’s journey through this thing called life, SITOHHWCB is a book that you should pick up…like today. Through a series of essays, Perkins effectively negotiates her relationships with mental illness, sexuality, racism, misogyny, and their resulting pressures, as well as gives hilarious (and sometimes concerning) accounts of all of the roads that Janet Jackson, Prince, Okayplayer, married men and white boys have led her.
Perkins is unabashedly raw - giving you the good, bad, ugly, and vulnerable bits of some of the most defining moments of her life. She’s honest where some of us wouldn’t be. She’s retrospective in areas that some of us would avoid. She’s forgiving of herself in ways that only the most self-aware of us could be. The book hits a lull around halfway through; however, it could have been that (low-key) the stories were starting to stress me out (no judgment). Yet, overall, this an entertaining biographical memoir that forces readers to wonder what pop culture moments have inspired us, what trauma has built us, and how truly understanding and acknowledging our past can heal us.
Top 5 Essays:
1. Fast
2. My Kameelah-A** List
3. My Brother the Superhero
4. HBCUs Taught Me
5. The Night I Took Shrooms
Whether it be the unbelievable realness, the laugh-out-loud humor, or the unabashed reconciliation of one’s journey through this thing called life, SITOHHWCB is a book that you should pick up…like today. Through a series of essays, Perkins effectively negotiates her relationships with mental illness, sexuality, racism, misogyny, and their resulting pressures, as well as gives hilarious (and sometimes concerning) accounts of all of the roads that Janet Jackson, Prince, Okayplayer, married men and white boys have led her.
Perkins is unabashedly raw - giving you the good, bad, ugly, and vulnerable bits of some of the most defining moments of her life. She’s honest where some of us wouldn’t be. She’s retrospective in areas that some of us would avoid. She’s forgiving of herself in ways that only the most self-aware of us could be. The book hits a lull around halfway through; however, it could have been that (low-key) the stories were starting to stress me out (no judgment). Yet, overall, this an entertaining biographical memoir that forces readers to wonder what pop culture moments have inspired us, what trauma has built us, and how truly understanding and acknowledging our past can heal us.
Top 5 Essays:
1. Fast
2. My Kameelah-A** List
3. My Brother the Superhero
4. HBCUs Taught Me
5. The Night I Took Shrooms