#Adrian Houston

[blueiscoool]

ADRIAN HOUSTON Ancient Tree Preston Elm Brighton Sussex, 2022

Archive pigment print on sustainable paper, framed. Series: The Queen's Green Canopy.

[powerfultenderness]

An Odd Couple

This request was from @pizzapocketss : Maybe one of Adrian where he buys matching costumes but reader also buys matching costumes as well so they both just go as whatever they picked for each other?

Rated: T+

Pairing: gn!Reader/Adrian Chase

Summary: When you and Adrian both surprise each other with couples costumes, you come to a fun compromise!

Warnings: Some sexually suggestive dialogue, but it’s nothing explicit. 

Word Count: 1562

A/N: I’m referencing the [Mariners alternate uniform, here’s an example]

⚾[#Vigilante Halloween Masterlist] 🤠

[Masterlist]

[Dividers]

For the first time in his life Adrian was in a serious relationship near Halloween. He always wanted to wear matching costumes with someone, but the age gap between him and his brother was too large for Gut to want to spend his Halloween with a kid. The year Peacemaker got out of prison,  Adrian asked him to wear a matching costume but Peacemaker said no every time he asked.  

Now that he was in a relationship he was excited that he finally had someone to match with! He already knew what he wanted the two of you to go as, and after making sure you'd be up for a couples costume (after explaining that him asking if you "thought we'd still be together next month" wasn’t him trying to break up with you), he went online to look for the costumes.

Even though he ordered both costumes at the same time, one came in a week earlier and he had to hide it from you and somehow keep his excitement down. 

The second costume finally came in and now all he had to do was wait for you to get home. 

-

You texted Adrian to say that you’d be a little late coming home, that you had some extra things to handle at work. That was a little white lie. You immediately ran to your car the second you clocked out because the uniforms you ordered finally came in! 

Yea, you might have splurged quite a bit for Halloween costumes, but Adrian had been so nervous when he asked if you would be open to a couples costume that you thought he was actually breaking up with you! When you asked if he knew what costumes he wanted, he shook his head and said he wanted time to think about it more. 

In retrospect, maybe surprising him wasn’t the best idea.

-

“Adrian!” You called as soon as you got home, bags in hand.

He shouted your name too and ran towards the living room, where the front door opened into.

“I have a surprise!” You both yelled as soon as you were in sight of each other.

You blinked. He blinked.

You noticed the bags in his hands. He noticed the bags in your hands.

“Why don’t you-” “You first!” You once again spoke over each other.

He rocked forward on his feet and motioned to you. “No. I insist, you first.” 

You had a hunch of what was happening, “same time?”

He shrugged and held up his bags in one hand, you mirrored him. “Our Halloween costumes arrived!” “I got us costumes!”

“Okay.” You sat down and patted the seat next to you, “let’s see what you got.”

Adrian smiled, all his doubt about the costume mix up gone in his excitement. He dropped the bags next to you and started to pull out western clothing. Initially you thought cowboy, but as he popped a white cowboy hat on your head you grinned, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!” 

“Yea!” He nodded and placed a faux brown leather jacket on your shoulders, making you Butch Cassidy. “You just keep thinking, that’s what you’re good at!” He recited one of the Sundance Kid’s lines as he plopped a black cowboy hat on himself.

“Ooh! And look!” He dug through the bag and pulled out a fake mustache that he held over his top lip. He then leaned forward and planted a big hairy kiss on your lips. “What do you think? Should I grow one for real?” 

You laughed and pushed him off of you. “Not a porn ‘stache! Please!” 

Honestly, you didn’t mind a bit of stubble, or even a beard, but something like that caterpillar that he was holding on his face? Well, it wouldn’t be a deal breaker, but it would…take some time to get used to.

“What! I thought you loved me no matter what!” He leveled a jovial accusatory tone at you.

“I do! But if you really want a mustache like that, then we have to make some adjustments.”

“What do you mean?” He was leaning his head back and puckering his lips to keep the mustache in place so he could have both hands free and rummage through his bag again.

You held back a snorting laughter, “welllll, if you had a mustache like that, I don’t think I could let you go down on me anymore.” Adrian suddenly froze, his black faux leather jacket only halfway on. He looked at you, eyes wide, and the mustache fell off his face. He caught it and tossed it behind his back. “Got it, no mustache!” 

You cackled and jumped up to get the silly thing before it got lost. You held it in place on his face and leaned down to kiss him. “I’m just joking. You’re too good at that for me to actually want to stop you.” 

When you pulled away, he looked up at you with a soft smile that was slightly hidden by the fake mustache and your hands gripping the sides of his face. “I love you.” 

You smiled and kissed him one more time, “love you too.” 

“What’d you get?” He asked once the moment passed.

“Oh! You know what,” you pushed your bags to the floor, “we should totally just go with your costumes!” 

“No! I wanna see!” He whined before he snatched up one of the bags. By sheer luck it was the one with his costume in it!

He gasped as he first grabbed a navy baseball cap with an embossed stylised “S” with a compass rose on the front. The bill was a blue-green, almost teal, color that matched the jersey he pulled out next. If he could smile even wider he would have when he saw that the jersey had been personalized with “Chase” on the back. He quickly replaced his cowboy hat and jacket with the baseball cap and jersey. “A Mariner’s uniform!” 

You chuckled nervously, “yea. To be fair, I ordered those before we lost the ALCS.” 

He frowned. “To those stupid cheaters!” 

“I mean technically they didn’t-” he glared at you. “Yea, yea. Totally! Why don’t you try on the pants!” You quickly changed the subject before he got riled up about the years old cheating scandal.

You knew he liked to wear his jeans a little on the loose side, but you’d taken the measurements from his Vigilante uniform because if there was anyone who would look good in baseball pants, it was Adrian Chase. 

He nodded and kicked off his shoes to do just that. He buttoned up the jersey and tucked it before he zipped up the pants. 

“Ooh, try the socks too!” You said as you handed him a pair of navy knee high socks. 

When you’re right, you’re right. Adrian raised his arms and turned around so you could fully see him in the uniform. His curly hair stuck out cutely from the cap, the jersey flowed nicely, not too loose and not too tight, over his chest and the pants? They were perfect! 

“Do I look like a real baseball player?” He faced you again, dropped his knees slightly, held his fists together like he was holding a bat and lifted his elbows. 

You were smiling so hard it was starting to hurt. “You look so good!” 

“I bet I could beat the Astros!” 

You nodded and stood up so you could kiss his cheek. “You totally could!” 

His grin fell as you continued to admire his costume. “But now what are we gonna do?” 

Oh!

“I have an idea!” 

-

“Happy Halloween!” Peacemaker, dressed as Fred from Scooby Doo, opened the door to his trailer. 

“Let me guess, cowboy and a baseball player? What is that?” He asked as he led you to the back of his trailer, where the others were gathered on his back porch.

You and Adrian laughed and the others turned just in time to hear your answer. 

“Butch Cassidy,” you started. “And the Seattle Mariner!” Adrian finished. 

“I really thought you two would show up in a couples costume.” Adebayo, dressed as a vampire, laughed.

“Uh, we are!” Adrian insisted, again and again as the others corrected him. 

He insisted that you were still matching when about half way through the night, the two of you changed. This time you in the baseball uniform and he in his Sundance Kid costume. 

-

“They just don’t get it!” Adrian complained as he dropped his forehead onto your shoulder, drunk and still trying to convince everyone that you were matching. 

You giggled, also under the influence, and led him towards the front of the trailer. “Come on, our Uber just got here.” 

“Do you think our Uber driver will get it?” 

“Oh yea, probably right away!” 

Adrian scoffed. If Peacemaker didn’t understand, then how could a random stranger understand? He looked up to tell you that you had too much faith in strangers, but when he looked up and saw you smiling at him, he completely forgot what he was going to say. So instead he just smiled and knocked both your baseball cap and his cowboy hat off your heads and peppered kisses on your face, laughing with you the whole time as his fake mustache tickled you. “Happy Halloween!” He finished, his lips landing against yours in a sloppy, sweet kiss. 

Taglist: 

@lululandd

[blackmensuited]

[slasherz]

WHY DOESNT MY HAIR FUCKING LOOK LIKE THIS ANYMORE 

[liesmyth]

I have been in a terrible reading slump and am looking for books to pull me out. Do you have any recommendations?

FRANCES HARDINGE. cool heroines, middle grade level that adults will love, cool fantasy premises, perfect balance of quality & light read. my faves are deeplight + cuckoo song.

If you don't like fantasy then my beloved herotic stories for punjabi widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. everyone should read it I'm not kidding I love it to bits.

more ideas:

beach reads!! these are all fun engaging types of books:

fantasy: a deadly education by naomi novik

thriller: the it girl by ruth ware

thriller but comedy: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

horror: My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. the coldest girl in cooldown by Holly Black

litfic: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

romance (F/F): Hotshot byClare Lydon

romance (het): Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho (contemporary). Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore (historical). Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood (YA)

prose so good you want to eat it. (words are pretty but the book is a bit heavier to stomach! depends on your tastes)

matrix by lauren groff. into the woods by tana french. my dark vanessa by kate elizabeth russell. The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker.

engaging nonfiction

humble pi by matt parker. the code book by simon sigh. if you wanna go heavier, I really loved Black AF History by Michael Harriot

shorter stuff

short stories! I've loved everything I've read that was short by Tamsyn Muir, but the collection Heiresses of Rust (2016) she's featured in also has an incredible mix of short stories by various authors. the theme is lesbian fiction. another sff author I love for short stories is James Tiptree

tiny books! chaptered but on the shorter side. Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand. Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree Jr. One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir. The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

[literary-illuminati]

First Quarter of 2024 Book Reviews

January

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

Monstress Volume One: Awakening by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

War in Human Civilization by Azar Gat

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler February

Exordia by Seth Dickinson

Montress Volume 2: The Blood by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham James

The Devourers by Indra Das

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik March

The Maya (10th Edition) by Michael D. Coe and Stephen Houston

What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

Victory City by Salman Rushdie

And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Vietnam: A New History by Christopher Goscha

You can also seem them all on my Goodreads

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

reach for the stars

cw. olnf week 2024, pre!release, step 3-4 (step 1 flashback), established!relationship

pairing. sparkling leaves

notes. day 4 of @olnfweek2024. arguably the day i was looking forward to the most because i had a very creative interpretation of the stargazing prompt. i can't believe i've written consistently 4 days in a row for an event week, that's the power of olnf i guess

“Did you know I can hold stars in my hands?” 

“Really?” Tamarack perked up at Nyla’s sudden revelation, raspberry eyes wide in amazement.

“Uh huh!” Nyla grinned, scooting closer to her best friend on the leaf-dappled ground.

It was a good day in Golden Grove. First and foremost, it was Friday, the best of all weekdays. Mrs. Murray played The Nightmare Before Christmas for the last half-hour of class and even passed out cookies. The day was only made better when Mom didn’t mind if Tamarack spent the whole weekend at their place. Until the hour drew for dinner and bedtime near, though, the two girls were content to play in the forest they called a backyard.

It had only been a few months since Nyla and her mother moved to the mountainous town in Oregon but it felt like she’d known Tamarack Baumann her entire life.

“Show me,” Tamarack whispered in awed excitement. Tamarack believed in the magic of the world as easily as she breathed, both of them did. If Nyla could do something as magical as holding stars in her hand, she wanted to see it.

“Alright,” Nyla started coyly, shifting so that she sat in front of Tamarack. “But you have to close your eyes first.”

Tamarack squeezed her eyes shut fiercely, giggling all the while. 

Nyla had met a lot of people in her 10 ーalmost 11!ー years of living.

Some of them had black hair like her and her parents. Some of them had green. Some of the people she met even had hair that was red, pink, purple or peach! But none of them ever had hair that sparkled, Tamarack was the first and only. 

It was amazing.

Nyla had plenty of questions about it ーwhere the sparkles came from, how they never fell off when Tamarack’s grandma brushed themー but Tamarack never had any good answers about it. Her hair just sparkled, that’s all there was to it. It’s something simply Tamarack. Nyla thought that was the answer she liked the most.

“Tada!” Tamarack opened her eyes and excitement turned into surprise as she took in how close their faces were.

“Where are the stars?” Tamarack blinked up at the taller girl.

“I’m holding onto them already,” Nyla beamed, heart fluttering as she held gamboge waves in her hand. They sparkled like a million precious jewels. It’s hard to breathe as Tamarack’s berry-red eyes look up at her, just as shiny as the sparkling hair that frames them. Tamarack Baumann is the prettiest girl in the world, Nyla knew this was the truth in its purest form. No one came close, not even Brittany Taylor who kids like Adrian Woodward swore was the prettiest girl in school. Nyla wiggled her fingers, marveling at every individual speckle that glinted in the process. “I’m holding stars in my hands.”

“That’s my hair, Nyla,” Tamarack giggled, shaking her head gently so as to not snag her hair on Nyla’s fingers. In spite of her protest, Tamarack’s cheeks were flushed. “That’s not a star.”

“Nope,” Nyla emphasized the ‘p’ stubbornly but mirthfully, brushing her thumbs across Tamarack’s fluffy locks. She felt as pink as Tamarack’s cheeks, both of them smiling widely despite their differing views. “I’m holding stars.”

Nyla chuckles lightly at the memory as her thumb and index finger toy with a lock of her girlfriend’s hair. Sitting in the living room of Tamarack’s childhood home, watching the Cinderella movie Brandy and Whitney Houston with Tamarack is a far cry from the young girls they once were running amok through the forest. Back then, their responsibilities were few and far in between. Presently, they were simply housesitting for the Baumann elders as they went on a trip to Long Beach to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

I was obsessed with Tam’s hair back then. Watching the soft golden speckles glint in the dim glow of the television, Nyla’s lips curl into a lazy smile. They’re laying in a comfortable position on the convertible couch mattress, Tamarack resting her head on Nyla’s chest. Not much has changed, I guess.

One cool day in autumn, Nyla moved to Golden Grove and was struck with a paper airplane that changed the trajectory of her life forever.

But considering how we were neighbors, we would’ve met eventually. Plus we had school the next day too. Logic is pushed aside for the magic that was their first meeting. Fate had been at work that particular day Tamarack caught sight of a bright-eyed fellow new kid looking for something to throw herself into. Nyla wouldn’t have their first meeting go any other way.

Girls like Tamarack should be met in the forest.

Looking at the soft, sparkling crown that grows from her head, however, Nyla thinks girls like Tamarack can be met under the light of the moon too.

But with how she carries the stars with her wherever she goes, my girl can go wherever she wants. Nyla presses a firm kiss atop Tamarack’s head and her girlfriend giggles, arms squeezing just a firmer. She may have lost a portion of her enthusiastic squeeze but Tamarack still gives the best hugs Nyla’s ever received.

Tamarack shifts so that she is able to look at Nyla properly, a serene smile adorning her face. “Hey you,” she murmurs softly against the sound of Prince Christopher’s parents fussing over the party preparations for his birthday.

“Hey,” Nyla’s fingers run through Tamarack’s chin-length hair without shame.

Tamarack’s eyes squint with a gentle but playful gleam, “you’re not paying attention to the movie are you?”

Nyla doesn’t argue against the observation, “oops,” she says despite sounding not particularly bothered she’s been caught. “Looks like you caught me. Guilty as charged.” We’ve seen this movie a million times anyway. Nyla is sure she could quote it in her sleep. Could sing the songs in perfect harmony, mostly perfect. She only gets to look at Tamarack in this specific moment once and she is going to cherish each and every second.

“And what’s got your mind so preoccupied,” Tamarack inquires dreamily.

“Just stargazing,” Nyla murmurs before pressing their lips together.

not enough people wax poetic about the fact tamarack's hair sparkles, so i decided to go full throttle

[goddesspharo]

Tagged by the lovely @earnmysong, who requested that I share five songs I've been listening to on repeat recently. Warning: I'm in the middle of writing so I'm mostly listening to things with catchy beats or garbáge that popped up during a workout so it's mostly embarrassing. The better of the bunch:

Rocket Girl by Lemaitre featuring Betty Who -- truly tempted to write another space AU just so I can use "Houston, we up, Earth ain't enough" in some capacity!

Set My Heart on Fire (I'm Alive x And The Beat Goes On) (The Jammin Kid Mash Up) by Majestic -- I think this was in one of my Apple Fitness cycling workouts last week and there is no reason why it should work but it works SO well?

Surrender My Heart by Carly Rae Jepsen -- not embarrassing at all because CRJ is the queen of bops and I'd write a five hundred page novel on the basis of nothing but the banger lyric I paid to toughen up in therapy / she said to me, "Soften up."

Daddy Lessons by Beyoncé featuring The Chicks -- look, I am not a fan of country music at all, but not only does this version rule, but there is so much unfiltered joy at the end when Natalie Maines and Bey just goof around for the last thirty seconds that you'd be insane not to be charmed by them. Adrian Pasdar, you douche nozzle!

Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen -- do I even need a reason?

Tagging whoever wants to do it!

[grandmaster-anne]

Our Patron, His Majesty The King has written a foreword for a new book to honour Queen Elizabeth, entitled "The Queen’s Green Canopy"🌳

Published by Ebury in June 2023, the book celebrates the ancient woodlands & #trees dedicated to Queen Elizabeth for the Platinum Jubilee💚

Illustrated with photographs currently on display @Sothebys by Adrian Houston & Charles Sainsbury-Plaice, the book features pieces from supporters of the #queensgreencanopy alongside tree planting experts

We are thrilled to share The King's foreword and the book’s cover! 💚

— The Queen's Green Canopy

[princessanneftw]

Last night, The Princess Royal visited the Queen’s Green Canopy exhibition at Sothebys to view magnificent artworks of the Ancient Canopy dedicated to the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth❤️🌳

HRH met the exceptionally talented artists involved in capturing the ancient woodlands & #trees including photographers Adrian Houston & Charles Sainsbury-Plaice & landscape painter Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis

The public exhibition is open until 20 December🎄

📸 Claire Kramer

@QGCanopy | 15 December 2022

[blueiscoool]

ADRIAN HOUSTON ANCIENT TREE THE QUEEN ELIZABETH OAK COWDRAY II, 2022

Archive pigment print on sustainable paper, framed. Series: The Queen's Green Canopy.

[spotlightstory]

A man was arrested and charged with misdemeanor deadly conduct after Needleton police said he threatened a lineman working to restore power in Fort Bend County.  

Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said linemen at one camp were forced to relocate after being threatened with a drive-by shooting. He said others have been subject to individual threats of violence. "All that does is make it harder and longer to get your lights back on," Garcia said.

Ed Allen with IBEW Local 66 said a crew out in Sugar Land told him a man across the street holding an AK-47 was "menacing" them. "We've had guys have guns pulled on them, we've had guys had rocks picked up and slung at them, we've had people brandishing AK-47s and it needs to stop," Allen said. "Please God, stop harassing these people."

Allen said a crew from Kansas working in Kingwood was trying to eat lunch when people pulled up, yelling at them, calling them lazy and saying they didn't deserve to eat. He said several companies said that if the harassment doesn't stop, they're going to "get in their trucks and drive off."

A Baytown woman is also accused of making terroristic threats against CenterPoint's CEO. 

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Rating: PG-13

Director: Kasi Lemmons

Cast: Naomi Ackie, Ashton Sanders, Stanley Tucci, Nafessa Williams, Lance A. Williams, Tamara Tunie, Clarke Peters, Daniel Washington, JaQuan Malik Jones, Kris Sidberry, Tanner Beard, Bailee Lopes, Jennifer Ellis, Bria Danielle Singleton, Adrian M. Mompoint, Coffey

Release year: 2022

Genres: history, music, drama

Blurb: Follow the joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.

[entangledmuses]

MOBILE MUSES - MULTIVERSE OCs

Adrian Houston - Reacher, Stranger Things, 911, One Chicago, Fandomless.

Aiyla Kartal - Royalty, Harry Potter, Fandomless

Beatrix 'Bea' Browne - Merlin, Musketeers, Reign, Historical, Robin Hood

Becka Landsworth-Bond - Bond, Fandomless

Eva Timothee - Stranger things, Fandomless

Freya Rixon - Vikings, The Last Kingdom, Reign, Narnia, The Witcher

Kaleena Viceroy - Fantasy, Fandomless, Merlin, Witcher,

Kate Steiner - Cobra Kai, Fandomless

Katri Makinen - Vikings, The Last Kingdom, Reign, Merlin

Leah Teverson - Teen Wolf, Stranger Things, Shameless, Fandomless

Morgan Kendall - Stranger things, Outerbanks, Fandomless, Water Nymph

Rosalia Menendez - Vikings, Last Kingdom, Reign

Rosalind - Last Kingdom, Robin Hood, Fantasy, Historical, Musketeers

Rylie Theakston - Teen Wolf, Supernatural, Lockwood and Co.

Seraphina Varley - Vikings. Last Kingdom. Witcher. GoT. Fandomless. Narnia. Robin Hood.

Taylor Brockhart - Powers, Werewolf, Fandomless

Walker Benson - Powers, Fae, Stranger Things, Fandomless

[happygaytimes]

This past month I’ve saw 39/40 bands live. This includes two (out of three)of my all time favourite bands and two of the greatest bands of all time.

Anyway I’m gonna just list some of the top bands/ artists I saw this month in no particular order (purely for my own amusement)

Ghost, (no surprise from a Ghost blog) they put on a brilliant show like usual even with some stuff going ‘wrong’ (the coffin, lack of miasma)

Avatar, (also obvs) they only had a half hour set but played some belters and one of my all time favourite songs, The Eagle Has Landed

Metallica, honestly it’d be a crime not to say them but also after trying for over six years I finally got to see Fuel live and also nearly lost my eyebrows to their pyro during Moth Into Flame

Hozier, this one really surprised me, I love his work but never thought I’d enjoy him live but I went with a group of pals, he blew it out the park. I knew every single word to all the songs and his voice is beautiful live

Taipei Houston, I’d never heard of them before (I think they’re Lars’ sons?) but despite not knowing their music I was jumping into pits and vibing the fuck out of their set. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Crawlers, my silly little eyeliner band. They played heavy covers of some of their songs (possibly due to my bullying on twitter and tiktok) but Holly’s joy of being at download was infectious. My dad didn’t wanna walk to their set but I made him and now he’s a fan and got tix to see them again

Ice nine kills, I’ve waited Y E A R S to see them and they did not disappoint

Lord of the lost, I didn’t know much of their stuff and neither did anyone around me but they had the whole crowd moving and everyone seemed to enjoy them, their singer (Chris?) was amazing and had endless amounts of energy

And lastly, Maiden. They will always have a place in my heart and I never thought I’d get as close to them as I did, they were still amazing, possibly better than they were when I saw them for the first time in 2017, Bruce’s voice is phenomenal and Steve is one of my Idols. Adrian also tried to throw me two picks and watched me though about half of Heaven can wait. I’ll never pass a chance to see maiden 🤘🏻

If you got this far, did anyone else see any good shows this month (listed or not) I wanna know if there’s anyone else I should check out xx

[rockislandadultreads]

2024 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence: Nonfiction Longlist

Introducing a handful of nominees from the nonfiction longlist for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence! To see the entire longlist, click here.

We Were Once a Family by Roxanna Asgarian

On March 26, 2018, rescue workers discovered a crumpled SUV and the bodies of two women and several children at the bottom of a cliff beside the Pacific Coast Highway. Investigators soon concluded that the crash was a murder-suicide, but there was more to the story: Jennifer and Sarah Hart, it turned out, were a white married couple who had adopted the six Black children from two different Texas families in 2006 and 2008. Behind the family's loving facade, however, was a pattern of abuse and neglect that went ignored as the couple withdrew the children from school and moved across the country. It soon became apparent that the State of Texas knew very little about the two individuals to whom it had given custody of six children—with fateful consequences.

In the manner of Adrian Nicole LeBlanc's Random Family and other classic works of investigative journalism, Roxanna Asgarian’s We Were Once a Family is a revelation of vulnerable lives; it is also a shattering exposé of the foster care and adoption systems that produced this tragedy. As a journalist in Houston, Asgarian became the first reporter to put the children’s birth families at the center of the story. We follow the author as she runs up against the intransigence of a state agency that removes tens of thousands of kids from homes each year in the name of child welfare, while often failing to consider alternatives. Her reporting uncovers persistent racial biases and corruption as children of color are separated from birth parents without proper cause. The result is a riveting narrative and a deeply reported indictment of a system that continues to fail America’s most vulnerable children while upending the lives of their families.

The Talk by Darrin Bell

Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldn’t have a realistic water gun. She said she feared for his safety, that police tend to think of little Black boys as older and less innocent than they really are.

Through evocative illustrations and sharp humor, Bell examines how The Talk shaped intimate and public moments from childhood to adulthood. While coming of age in Los Angeles—and finding a voice through cartooning—Bell becomes painfully aware of being regarded as dangerous by white teachers, neighbors, and police officers and thus of his mortality. Drawing attention to the brutal murders of African Americans and showcasing revealing insights and cartoons along the way, he brings us up to the moment of reckoning when people took to the streets protesting the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And now Bell must decide whether he and his own six-year-old son are ready to have The Talk.

Our Migrant Souls by Héctor Tobar

“Latino” is the most open-ended and loosely defined of the major race categories in the United States, and also one of the most rapidly growing. Composed as a direct address to the young people who identify or have been classified as “Latino,” Our Migrant Souls is the first account of the historical and social forces that define Latino identity.

Taking on the impacts of colonialism, public policy, immigration, media, and pop culture, Our Migrant Souls decodes the meaning of “Latino” as a racial and ethnic identity in the modern United States, and gives voice to the anger and the hopes of young Latino people who have seen Latinidad transformed into hateful tropes and who have faced insult and division―a story as old as this country itself.

Tobar translates his experience as not only a journalist and novelist but also a mentor, a leader, and an educator. He interweaves his own story, and that of his parents’ migration to the United States from Guatemala, into his account of his journey across the country to uncover something expansive, inspiring, true, and alive about the meaning of “Latino” in the twenty-first century.

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?

In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.

Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.