Get Lit With Paula

11/01/2025

https://youtu.be/j3MyQ6OiXO8?si=pbKOW3EN6S4JeOeP

A few months ago, I hosted a sexy listening party for sultry singer Siaira Shawn’s latest EP Ephemera at the Black-woman owned bar, Mr. Lee’s in the Clinton ...

06/10/2024

06/02/2024

One thing about them secrets, they gon’ spill. And they do…, thankfully not right away in Trisha R. Thomas captivating read ☛THE SECRET KEEPER OF MAIN STREET [pub: ]. Have you ever been so deeply vested in a novel that you’re actually a bit sad when it ends? 🙋🏾‍♀️
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The Secret Keeper Of Main Street moved and entertained me. It is beautiful, yet sometimes unpretty, and is on sale this Tuesday, June 4th. You can pre-order now, though. 🏷️
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Read my full review on getwithpaula.com
🔗 Link always in bio. 🤓
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🪡 I love when a novel lifts me out of my world and drops me into theirs. (You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t a citizen of Mendol, the Eastside specifically.)

🧵 I live for that moment in a mystery when I’ve figured out whodunnit and the actual revelation turns out to be deeper and messier than I imagined. (I believe my mouth not only dropped, but actually stayed open for a good five seconds.)

🪡 I love when I start off skeptical of a character that’s a little too curt for my liking and end up actually empathizing and rooting for them. (So much so that I poured libations for my own tough-as-nails aunties, who lovingly softened their voices when they spoke my name.)

🧵 I live for complex love stories. Easy ones too. But there’s something about a second chance romance that I didn’t see coming that fills me up. (I almost picked up my phone to text an ex, but decided best to see what next great love the Future holds for me instead.) 🫶🏾

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05/11/2024

Book Review: The Secret Keeper of Main Street by Trisha R. Thomas Posted on May 9, 2024 In Book Releases, Book Reviews, Paula's Picks The Secret Keeper of Main Street, Trisha R. Thomas 8 WELCOME TO MENDOL, POPULATION 18,206 a sign read at the forgettable entrance off Highway 98. That was before a sw...

02/27/2024

Who wouldn't go to a fun book launch event with a DJ spinning classic and current hip-hop celebrating women at the wonderful BLK MKT Vintage ? Me!✋🏾 I ALMOST  didn't go.🫣
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Here's the thing. I didn't know the . And I could've just stayed home, cozy & cuddled up with a or some mind-numbing tv. [Hi 👋🏾 my name is Paula and I'm a cancer. 🦀 ♋] But I live in walking distance of BLK MKT Vintage and I wasn't tired. I was doubting. What? I'm still not sure. 
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I would've missed out on an amazing time at Nadirah Simmons' launch for her fun & informative book ☛FIRST THINGS FIRST: HIP-HOP LADIES WHO CHANGED THE GAME [pub: ] earlier this month. It has puzzles, text exchanges, historical facts & more. Oh, and it's not just about rappers, honey. FIRST THINGS FIRST includes a plethora of who've contributed to the culture from an interior designer to the originator of Yo! MTV Raps. 
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Listening to Nadirah's extensive research process and her obvious passion for women in hip-hop was well worth the walk. 😉 Plus, April Walker came through like the griot she is. 👑 What a night! ✨
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Read more about my eventful night on getlitwithpaula.com. 🔗Link in bio, of course.
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Oh, and two of the three women pictured above worked for/at The Source . Two of the three women worked at XXL. One of the three women worked at both (obvi 🩷). Next time, I'll have a prize for you to win. Sponsors?
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02/24/2024

Last weekend, I attended my THIRD  at Brooklyn’s popular and Black-owned, plant-based restaurant , and baby, a time was had! 💃🏾💃🏾
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That’s me (in the pink🩷, obvi) pictured above with Blk Book Swap founder and hostess with the mostest, Trae Higgs who created the “independent book-lending initiative and inclusive pop-up event” to “get books off of shelves and into readers’ hands.”
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Blk Book Swap is always a vibe ✨ thanks to Trae’s magnetic energy drawing in the warmest eager readers. 🤓
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Storytelling As Resistance was the theme, and is always the mood. ✊🏾Tuh! coming through as a sponsor was chef’s kiss🤌🏾. 
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The lovely of Penguin Publishing Group greeted me immediately and handed me a Storytelling Is Resistance flyer explaining how I could win “TWELVE 1️⃣2️⃣ brilliant titles that celebrate rich, diverse perspectives of the Black experience and challenge the status quo.” You can too! 
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🔗Hit the link in my bio to find out how you can win and for the full recap on getlitwithpaula.com
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😘 Love to my beautiful niece Adia for putting me on to 🥰
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07/12/2023

It's been a long time.
I shouldn't've left you. 😎
Craving a delicious and delightful summer read? 😋📕
Hell, an anytime-of-the-year escape from the unfathomable recent rulings of the Supreme Court and um, all the other atrocities around the globe?

🧑🏾‍❤️‍🧑🏻My favorite writing duo, the wonderful Alli Frank and Asha Youmans  serve up yet another get-out-your-head-and-into-this-colorful-world of fly women juggling life and love with laughter and learning in their third novel  ☛THE BETTER HALF [pub: Mindy’s Book Studio/Amazon]. 

Read my full review on getlitwithpaula.com

🔗 Link in bio.

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06/17/2021

Win an autographed copy of by ✍🏾, plus a bottle of Black Girl Magic Rosé 🍷🌹or Sparkling Brut🍾 compliments of Women's World of Boxing NYC 🥊2147 2ND Ave NY, NY 10029
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Must be 21 and over to participate. No purchase necessary.

TO ENTER:
1. Like this post
2. Follow
3. Follow
4. Tag a friend
5. Comment with your preference Sparkling or Rosé


Giveaway ends on Sunday, June 20th at 11:59 p.m. EST. Winner chosen at random. 📚🍸

04/15/2021

So many gems 💎 dropped in Dr. Janice Johnson Dias' incredible "pathbreaking" book ☛PARENT LIKE IT MATTERS: HOW TO RAISE JOYFUL, CHANGE-MAKING GIRLS [pub: ] that I needed a minute to meditate on some of my faves.

Join Dr. Janice and I this Saturday, April 17th at 4 p.m. on IG Live or in person for a litty convo in Brooklyn, NY [COVID-19 protocols enforced 😷😷].

Dr. Janice is signing ✍🏾 copies of on Saturday! Swipe left for all the details. Link 🔗 in bio.

💎 Gems

💎 As parents or caregivers, our first task is to lay down the burdens of our past to make space for joy and raising our girls. Only then can we avoid feeling overwhelmed by the enormous work of creating a more just world, and only then can remove beyond paralyzing in action towards strategic hopefulness. 🙌🏾✊🏾🙌🏾

💎 is tied to reciprocity...the heart of gratitude is connection: emotional and social. 🙏🏾

💎Engage in being internally serene while also teaching your children about difficult and disruptive social issues. 🧘🏾‍♀️

💎Caring begins with listening. Listening to what your child wants and reconciling her desires with your own wishes is important for building a stable bond. 👂🏾

Sure, sure, sure Janice is a professor and holds a PhD in sociology from our alma mater Temple University. She's won congressional recognition for her work on Black girls' mental, sexual and physical health. 👑 One of her coolest credentials though, is being Marley Dias'--the creator of and an author in her own right--mom. 😎

04/05/2021

Talk about a . 🤦🏾‍♀️

I'm giving all her flowers 💐, nonetheless.

💐Ain't too many children's books featuring white folx that I allowed my daughter to own and in our home. One of 'em, however, was definitely ☛RAMONA THE BRAVE [pub: Avon Books] by the late, great Beverly Cleary.

💐I read the Ramona series in elementary school 🏫 and it's pretty amazing that some 21+ years later my daughter would enjoy those very same stories.

👀 Funny that my first born actually prohibited select classmates from reading her copy of . 😆 Swipe left ⬅️ for the names of the banned. And yes I absolutely tagged them. Those children are all grown ups now. 😆

🙏🏾 Grateful that I passed on my love of reading to my children. It's important for children to see themselves in the stories they read. It's important that children learn and also escape and dream through reading. It's important that children read. Thank you Beverly Cleary for fostering the love for multiple generations. Rest in peace 🕊️💐