Jada Pinkett Smith & 9 Other Celebrities On The Books That Changed Their Lives
Reading daily makes you a better person. Just ask science. According to research, picking up a book once a day has a multitude of health benefits and might just be the key to living your best life. Along with alleviating symptoms of depression and helping you sleep better, one study showed that reading can even help you live longer, and we are here for all of that.
If you're ready to level up your literary game and have already burnt through your personal library, Jada Pinkett Smith recently slid through with a few must-read books that you can add to your Amazon wish list ASAP.
In addition to The Mists of Avalon, The Red Tent, and The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, Jada also recommended Wild Seed by black female sci-fi writer Octavia E. Butler, and what she calls her favorite book of all-time, The Coldest Winter Ever.
With Jada inspiring us all to put Sistah Souljah back on our regularly scheduled reading list, we took some time to explore and compile a list of a few other celebrity-recommended books that you didn't know you needed in your life. There's nothing like winding down and rolling up with a good read.
Here's a compilation of titles that will get your spring reading list all the way together. Scroll below for details:
Issa Rae - 'The Alchemist'
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"I read 'The Alchemist' during a transitional period in my life, and it just made me think differently."
Regina Hall - 'Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of The Dalai Lama'
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Michelle Obama - 'Song of Solomon'
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"One of the books that I loved — one of the first books that I loved and read cover to cover in one day — not because anybody made me read it but because the book was good ... it was a book called 'Song of Solomon' by Toni Morrison. And that book helped me love reading, because before then reading was kind of like something you did when you had to do it. But that book, it like grabbed me and pulled me, and I just kept reading and kept reading."
Michelle Williams - 'The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself'
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Taraji P. Henson - 'The 5 Love Languages'
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"I'd been single for so long and the book opened my eyes on what it would be like to commit to someone forever."
Phylicia Rashad - 'Play of Consciousness: A Spiritual Autobiography'
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Kelly Rowland - 'Waiting to Exhale'
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"I learned about friendship through this book. Some stuff I didn't quite understand because it was talking about marriage and I read it in my teens, but it taught me how important my friends are."
Misty Copeland - 'The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment'
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Featured Image via Instagram/@JadaPinkettSmith.
Taylor "Pretty" Honore is a spiritually centered and equally provocative rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a love for people and storytelling. You can probably find me planting herbs in your local community garden, blasting "Back That Thang Up" from my mini speaker. Let's get to know each other: @prettyhonore.
Tour Interior Designer Annisa LiMara's Organic Modern Meets Midcentury Modern ATL Abode
In xoNecole's series Dope Abodes, we tour the living spaces of millennial women, where they dwell, how they live, and the things they choose to adorn and share their spaces with.
Annisa LiMara has called this space her home for two years. Her Atlanta sanctuary, which she aimed to give the look and feel of something you'd see in the glossy pages of Architectural Digest, embodies her vision of "stunning, yet functional and cozy."
"My home is a reflection of my brand, The Creative Peach Studios, and I am the 'Creative Peach,'" Annisa explains. "It was so easy to reflect who I am and my personal story in my space. When you walk into my home, you know that it is Annisa’s home. I’m so proud of that. So grateful."
On the journey to becoming a homeowner, Annisa looks back on her experience as a "rough one," detailing that she officially started house hunting in March 2020. It had become so expensive to rent, and the 30-something lifestyle influencer decided she would rather invest the money she spent renting into owning a home. However, nine days into house hunting, her search was put on hold for a year. The following year, in 2021, the process of finding the right home and going under contract took a total of four months.
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"The resell route didn’t work out, so my realtor suggested a new construction home, which turned out to be the better option," she tells xoNecole of her experience. "Although it requires more patience, it turned out to be a much easier process and a lot easier to maintain since it’s brand new."
As it turns out, the open floor plan three-bedroom two-and-half-bath would prove to be a blank canvas for Annisa to flex her creativity and design skills.
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
As a new construction, she watched the townhome get built from the ground up, and due to the "cookie-cutter" nature of new builds, Annisa knew immediately that she would change everything about it. The best part about it? All of her updates were cosmetic, so transformation could occur without having to do major renovations to achieve the look and feel she desired.
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"The first things I updated were all the lighting, adding built-ins around my fireplace, and installing wallpaper in my bedroom, office, and dining room! I also had board and batten installed in the upstairs loft to make a statement and the kitchen island," Annisa details.
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
"Lastly, we painted the loft a soft blush pink, the kitchen island is a gorgeous terracotta, and added contrast with black on the doors, fireplace, and stairwell banisters."
In total, she spent $15K in renovations (plus the cost of furniture and decor). And although she says the second level of her home is a "work-in-progress," two years in, she considers the transformation nearly done.
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Annisa defines her decor style as "organic modern meets midcentury modern with a touch of boho," and with thoughtfully placed touches like plants, warm tones, and organic textures, her perspective can be felt throughout. "I found my point of view as a designer in my work and as I worked on my home, so it all came together organically based on what I was naturally drawn to."
"The organic modern meets midcentury modern with a touch of boho' is definitely my signature style. You’ll always see greenery, warm tones, brass, and rattan or wicker in just about every room. My color story is based on my brand [The Creative Peach Studios] colors: blush pink, ivory, olive and sage green, terracotta, and nudes," she adds.
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
It was her brand colors that would be the jumping-off point for her approach to decorating and styling her space. That, and a picture she had of what would become her sofa from Albany Park. She recalled her decor decisions, "It was their olive Park Sectional Sofa, and I knew instantly I wanted it, and it aligned with my brand colors naturally, so it was a no-brainer."
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
By drawing inspiration from Pinterest, favorite design brands like CB2, Arhaus, and Souk Bohemian, and through her work, Annisa allowed herself to be guided by her signature style as well as her instincts when making decor and color choices for her own home. "Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason; it just feels right."
Some of the aspects of her home that she regards as her favorites include her bedroom and its little nook where her bed is positioned, the open upstairs loft, and the open concept because "it really allows you to see all of the details I put into the design all at once." Another of her favorite finds is a purchase she copped from the thrift store years ago.
"I have this little brown and gold chair that I picked up for $6 at a thrift store in Jersey six years ago. I couldn’t afford much in my little studio, but the chair was beautiful and unlike anything I had ever seen."
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
In addition to accent walls featuring blush pink and terracotta tones throughout the space, her gallery wall is another element that immediately draws the eye of any guest who enters. Annisa recalled a fond memory of a fine art piece she purchased from a Black woman artist when she first moved to Atlanta that she now prominently features in her living room. "It was a Black villager from her travels in Africa, and I fell in love with it because it felt like an ancestor I never met. I later found out that she was the sister of one of my very first design clients two years later," she shares. "Talk about a full-circle moment!"
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Kanobi Pollard/xoNecole
Cultivating a space takes time and patience, and that is a sentiment Annisa echoes when advising people who are looking to infuse more of themselves into their own dope abodes through design. "It is not a race, and you’ll spend more money if you rush into designing without really being intentional about the vision for your space," Annisa concludes. "You just need creativity and patience to do it! And most of all, make sure you feel like it’s an oasis for you!"
For more of Annisa, follow her on Instagram @annisalimara.
Tour Interior Designer Annisa LiMara's Modern Meets Midcentury ATL Home | Dope Abodes
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Keke Palmer Hints At Retirement From Hollywood: 'The Timer Has Started.'
Over the years, actress Keke Palmer has maintained a steady ascend in Hollywood from child star to a blockbuster “Big Boss.” But for her next act, the Nope star is considering the possibility of retiring from showbiz.
Keke Palmer recently discussed her thoughts on a potential retirement from the big screen in an interview with Teen Vogue. With a career spanning 20 years, Palmer feels that the timer for her retirement has officially started, though she doesn't know exactly when it will happen.
"I don't know. I think the timer has started," Palmer shared. "I think it's because I just haven't felt it yet. But the timer, I know that it's around the corner. I don't know when exactly, but it's around the corner."
For Palmer, the notion of exiting a front-facing career in Hollywood comes from her desire to build a long-standing legacy for her son, Leo, and open the door for future entertainers. This includes her media company, KeyTV Network.
"The main thing I want those legacies to be is [a call] to use your power for good, to use what you have to create spaces and systems for other people to thrive," Palmer said. "I just don't believe in holding everything. I don't believe in gatekeeping. I'm not a coward. What would that do? I think it's based in fear. If I'm speaking on it from a compassionate place, I think people, that gatekeep are afraid. So I'm not scared."
Palmer shared that in the past, she’s experienced anxiety related to performing and questions the longevity of a career in the entertainment industry.
“When I was younger, I used to have so much anxiety," Palmer says. "I love to perform, but is that something that can last forever? I think I always would wonder, 'Is it something that times out?' Obviously, you have people that have been acting their entire careers…but I just never knew how I could scale myself."
The Emmy-award-winning actress celebrated the arrival of her first child, Leodis "Leo" Andrellton, on February 25, 2023, with her ex-boyfriend, Darius Jackson. As a new mom, Palmer, 30, reflects on raising her son without fear, establishing boundaries, and cultivating a balance between awareness and innocence.
“I think about my son. I don't want to raise him to be afraid,” Palmer says. “I don't want to raise him to have no boundaries or for him to be naïve either. But I want to raise him to know that if life is a school, get out there and learn.”
She continues, “A part of learning in this place, I think, is to love and to know how to first be unconditionally loving to yourself, so that you know how to love others and be of service to others in a way that doesn't disadvantage them but instead empowers them. That's what I would hope that the legacy is for me. And for anyone that wants to follow me, I hope that's what they see too.”
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Featured image by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic