This is Michael Maxwell with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.
Today, I am recommending Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith. Shine Bright is a nonfiction history of American popular music and a memoir by a prominent music journalist all rolled into one narrative that truly does radiate light. This book is a joy to read.
Smith meets readers at the very beginning by making a compelling case for marking Phillis Wheatley as the progenitor of Black women who make popular American music. This brilliant introduction gets readers ready to reconsider what they already know about the A-list women profiled throughout the rest of Shine Bright.
Danyel Smith covers a lot of ground in this book- From Black churches and gospel music through Motown girl groups, disco divas, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Janet Jackson, all the way through to Rihanna and Beyonce. Smith uses her own life experiences as a framing device through which she shares stories about the music. Her personal life ends up intersecting with her subjects quite often since she interviewed many of the women she is writing about during her prolific journalism career.
One of the scenes that stands out to me is when Danyel describes visiting Whitney Houston’s house for a Vibe magazine cover story interview that was meant to be twenty minutes but ended up hours long with Danyel and Whitney playing catch in the singer’s living room.
Shine Bright also happens to be the May 2023 Open Book Club book, so we have lots of copies available through the library.
Check out Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith and other great book club titles at the Sioux City Public Library today!
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