The Stardust in My Happy Place

When I close my eyes and imagine my happy place, I am in a warm, cozy room. There is a fireplace on one wall and the other walls are just saturated with books. Sunken in bookshelves, inlaid jewels of literature. I'm under several blankets, on a plushy armchair, listening to Christmas music and petting the little Maltese dog who miraculously is not barking, he's just sitting in my lap. And all of my books will have been recommended to me by one of my new favorite YouTubers; the lovely Artisan Geek.

All the books on my shelves will be a diverse cross-section of our global community, and Artisan Geek's unique catalog of videos includes more than a fair share of inclusive book recommendations. She has opened my eyes to novels from all continents, novels that feature LGBTQ+ characters, novels that focus on themes of race and racism, books that deviate from the Anglo-American canon. In her eloquent, soft voice, her passion for the novels she recommends is infectious. As a quiet bookworm myself, her demeanor makes me feel comfortable, like I am listening to a friend who only wants to help me develop on my reading journey.

The blankets I will be sitting under will be second-hand; a more sustainable solution to clothing and accessory production. Artisan Geek too, is focused on finding a more tenable way to go shopping. She thrifts and buys her clothes secondhand, and at the start of every video, she gives a 360 view of her outfit. Her style is so unique, and she makes the thrifting lifestyle look like a lot of fun; giggling and dancing as she showcases her outfit of the day. It makes me feel good to be supporting a young woman who is so conscientious about her impact on the environment.

And the armchair I have in my imagined happy place? That will be purchased from a black-owned business. Artisan Geek, as a black woman herself, is very aware of the social issues that exist in her country (The Netherlands) as well as in other developed nations, like the United States. She has started to go through and write her own closed captions for her videos, so she can appeal to a larger (and often forgotten) community: the deaf and hard-of-hearing. She includes black literature compendiums and lists of diverse creators in her description boxes. When the dragon that is Amazon revealed that one of its many subsidiaries was Goodreads, Artisan Geek came to the rescue of all readers who don't wish to fall prey to the Bezos Beast. She released a video in which she hyped the beta website Storygraph, which does more to generate reading recommendations that are more closely aligned with your interests (I have been making an effort to use website more, and have been very happy with the results).

Within my happy place, Artisan Geek and her influence sparkle on almost every surface. I would be thrilled to spread a little more of her stardust to anyone who is interested in meeting a charismatic young BookTuber who I think is only going to continue to use her powerful soft voice to change the world.

Link to her channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCamkpihJtPvMuH49D6FejEw

Other Black BookTubers to check out: Fictional Fates (https://www.youtube.com/c/fictionalfates/featured), Mina Reads (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMNrAmbO7lmiGdFK0PWkBwA), Chanelletime (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZATqh3imkoFBQPlZiL1xA), Cassidy Marie (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheBookThieft), Bowties and Books (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTIbjVYcbwhoqFeWdiJGfkA), Mika Auguste (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTMtH2OFDcfVTLgDzuEzDHg), Myonna Reads (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQBtjMbFlM1oI0ImK8BH7wQ), Sincerely Tahiry (https://www.youtube.com/user/nerdbombburn); my list keeps growing too! I'll try to keep this list updated. :)

Link to Storygraph: https://thestorygraph.com/index.html