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Tenelle Ottley-Matthew

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Book Review: A Kick in the Belly by Stella Dadzie
Book Review: You Are Dope by Ovie Soko

#BlackLivesMatter

Please check out my Linktree, which contains Black Lives Matter resources and a selection funds you can donate to that are by and for black people.

Read my Medium essay on representation in children’s & YA literature

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🐧 New Penguin Classics ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

🐧 New Penguin Classics
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Penguin recently published 20 new books in their bestselling Great Ideas series after a 10-year hiatus. I wanted to buy most of them at first but refrained and settled on four.
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I bought Ain't I A Woman? by Sojourner Truth and When I Dare to be Powerful by Audre Lorde because the titles stood out to me. A book I absolutely love, Ain’t I A Woman? Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks, is titled after Sojourner Truth's 'Ain't I A Woman?' speech so I'm looking forward to reading Truth’s other speeches in this collection.
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When I Dare to be Powerful is described as a celebration of female strength and solidarity, and a cry to speak out against those who seek to silence anyone they see as 'other'.
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The other two books I picked up were The Power of Words by Simone Weil and The Freedom to be Free by Hannah Arendt. I love the range of titles in this new series as well as the cover designs. Some of the others I have my eye on are:
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- Steps Towards a Small Theory of the Visible by John Berger
- The Decay of Lying by Oscar Wilde
- Being Happy by Epicurus
- What Is Existentialism? by Simone de Beauvoir
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Have you read any books in the new Great Ideas series, or plan to?

F*ck Being Humble: Why self-promotion isn't a dirt

F*ck Being Humble: Why self-promotion isn't a dirty word by Stefanie Sword-Williams
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In February, I attended a F*ck Being Humble event in London and was in awe of Stefanie and the platform she’s created to help people unapologetically shout about their accomplishments.
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F*ck Being Humble is a practical and straight-talking guide to self-promoting with integrity and authenticity. It shows you how to figure out what you truly want in your career, articulate your values, craft an impressive online presence, network effectively and ask for more money, among other things.
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Stefanie’s voice is friendly, conversational and authoritative in a way that commands your full attention. She explores the negative connotations of self-promotion and the reluctance around it. I appreciated her acknowledgement of how inequalities and societal/cultural barriers create challenges around self-promotion for some people. Besides sharing her own story, the author interviews several rising stars from different fields. I enjoyed these insights as they emphasised the points made in the book.
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F*ck Being Humble is a brilliant book to keep on your desk or bedside table. Regardless of your gender, age or occupation, this indispensable guide equips you with the tools to get noticed and get ahead in your career. I highly recommend this to anyone needing advice on how to put themselves out there and big themselves up. It’s also perfect for graduates, job seekers and career changers.
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With the book's message in mind, feel free to share an achievement you’re proud of or something you love about yourself below. It doesn’t have to be career-related 🧡

A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery & Resistance b

A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery & Resistance by Stella Dadzie
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A Kick in the Belly explores the “forgotten history of women slaves and their struggle for liberation.” It highlights the numerous ways enslaved women in the West Indies rebelled and resisted subordination during the transatlantic slave trade.
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The book dispels common misconceptions about enslaved women’s experiences, including the idea that women had an easier time on the plantations. Dadzie makes it clear that this was not the case. African women were punished just as cruelly as the men and expected to perform back-breaking tasks in poor conditions while carrying the extra burden of reproductive labour too.
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I'm fascinated by the idea of maternity as resistance and Dadzie’s chapter on reproduction is brilliant. She thoughtfully discusses how the daily realities of enslavement would have impacted women’s gynaecological health. She also reveals how, despite being expected and forced to constantly breed, women exercised bodily autonomy by carefully controlling their fertility and went to great lengths to avoid the enslavement of their own children.
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I love how accessible Dadzie’s writing is and found myself flying through this often harrowing book. My mind kept returning to the “strong black woman” stereotype and how it impacted the treatment of enslaved women–a stereotype often used to justify the exploitation and dehumanisation of black women today.
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A Kick in the Belly shows that for enslaved women, resistance took many forms. Their race and gender shaped their unique experiences of oppression and they fought for freedom and preserved their cultures in remarkable ways. This excellent book is a much-needed addition to discussions around black history. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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Read my full review via the link in bio.
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Copy kindly gifted by @versobooks 💚

October wrap-up ✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Oc

October wrap-up ✨
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October was a great reading month despite being very stressful and chaotic.
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For UK #blackhistorymonth, I wanted to read predominantly black British authors. I genuinely loved everything I read last month and it was a varied selection in terms of fiction and non-fiction.
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It isn't pictured but I listened to the audiobook of Under Solomon Skies, a brilliant adventure novel that had me on the edge of my seat. It’s set in the Solomon Islands and follows two childhood friends who are stranded in the middle of the ocean (another one of Jacaranda's #twentyin2020 titles).
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A few weeks ago it dawned on me that I read so many books by black women and not as many black men. I'd really like to read more black male and non-binary authors though, especially novelists, so I'm going to make more of an effort with this.
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Have you read any of these? Are any of them on your TBR list?

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