Kendra Stanton Lee is my guest for this 3rd episode of the Reading Interview Series, where I chat with bookworms, avid readers and learners, to unpack their reading habits and philosophy. She’s a freelance writer based in Boston, but really, there’s not one thing that can describe her. She’s a teacher, writer, calligrapher, and entrepreneur. You’ll love this conversation with her. We talked about her reading life, some contemporary and important books, her writing life, and her experience with the publishing world. My personal favorite part is towards the end of the episode where we talk about intercultural relationships. Stick around to the end for that.
Connect with Kendra:
Kendra’s blog: www.kendraspondence.com
Twitter: @Kendraspondence
Mentioned Books, Authors, Podcasts, and Links
[easyazon_link identifier=”148141013X” locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Blubber by Judy Blume[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”1594485593″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother by Janny Scott[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0743273567″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0141439513″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0449213447″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The Chosen by Chaim Potok[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”1400095417″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The Promise by Chaim Potok[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0061130249″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Black Boy: A Record of Childhood and Youth by Richard Wright[/easyazon_link]
American girl books
[easyazon_link identifier=”0812986679″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The Rules Do Not Apply: A Memoir by Ariel Levy[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0312427298″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The Red Tent by Anita Diamant[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0307455920″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0062498533″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0393328627″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The History of Love by Nicole Krauss[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0812993543″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”1400078431″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0062362593″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”074324754X” locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls[/easyazon_link][easyazon_link identifier=”1608464660″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”0385480016″ locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott[/easyazon_link]
[easyazon_link identifier=”081298496X” locale=”US” tag=”josephineelia-20″]Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson[/easyazon_link]
Minute Markers:
Kendra’s life story in books [1:27]
Her approach to guide her kids to love reading [11:36]
How she discovers new books, favorite genres [15:20]
What makes her break up with a book [18:18]
Why an author’s voice is important [21:24]
Contemporary books that are important for women to read [22:36]
Why Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and her novel Americanah, rocks [22:59]
Why Between the World and Me is required reading [28:23]
The book that made a man moved away from sitting next to Kendra on the subway [33:14]
Kendra’s approach to writing; why writing is important to her [36:50]
Using daily occurrences as inspiration for writing; finding humor in life [40:50]
How she found/developed her voice in writing [45:20]
Experience with the publishing world through her book project a few years ago [47:40]
Intercultural relationships [49:09]
Why conversations on intercultural relationships/families are important [53:55]
Intercultural relationships from a faith perspective [56:24]
What raises up cultural conversations in her family [58:55]
Why messy conversations are sometimes necessary [1:00:08]
Attributions
Music: Orbiting a Distant Planet by Quantum Jazz. Licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
Picture: Kendra Stanton Lee
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