What books are on your night stand?
“Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism,” by Justice Stephen Breyer, and “All That She Carried,” by Tiya Miles. I also have a stack of memoirs — by Cicely Tyson, Viola Davis, Michelle Obama, Sonia Sotomayor — that I have been poring over for the past two years, using them as inspiration for my own.
Describe your ideal reading experience.
Sitting in a beach chair under a big umbrella. As secluded a spot as I can find, listening to the sound of waves and sea gulls, watching the tide come in. It should be so relaxing — and the book should be so thought-provoking — that I occasionally close my eyes to ponder a point and drift off to sleep. I wake up with the book open in my lap, thinking, “Where was I?”
What kind of reader were you as a child? Which books and authors stick with you most?
Pretty voracious. My favorite childhood books were Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” series. I really identified with Meg. I also liked Judy Blume’s “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” And I went through a Nancy Drew phase.
Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book?
My parents were educators, so I can’t imagine they would have ever punished me for reading something. Reading was praised in my household.
What book has had the greatest impact on you?
This is too hard a question. There have been so many influences, from the Bible to encyclopedias, teen self-help books, travel guides, legal treatises, to the pregnancy and parenting manuals that literally taught me how to survive those stages of my life. You have to remember: I came up before you could just ask the internet whatever you wanted to know.
Why was it important that your memoir “moves seamlessly between law and life”?
I thought that a memoir about my ascension to the Supreme Court should introduce and focus in on cases that have some intersection with my personal narrative. And, as it turns out, there is a lot of intersection, because the law has had such a direct impact on my family and on the lived experience of Black people in this country generally.
You’ve clearly cared about writing well from the earliest age. Was it difficult to hand the pen to a co-writer?
I didn’t hand this project over; I worked very closely with a brilliant collaborator who operated like my partner in pulling this memoir together. She did a lot of the fact gathering at the outset and put together an initial draft. But I’m a very heavily invested editor — just ask my law clerks. I wrote several sections from scratch myself, because I really wanted it to reflect my authentic tone and views. It felt like a joint venture.
What books inspired you in the challenge of balancing career and motherhood?
“How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk,” by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. It’s not about the balance itself, but was crucial for me to maintain a relatively good relationship with my daughters. Doing that well is the essential challenge of working motherhood.
Which genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid?
Right now I don’t have much time for pleasure reading, unfortunately. When I do read now, it is most likely to be nonfiction — something with real-world implications. I did much more fiction reading before I had kids. When the girls came, I basically switched to parenting and self-help books, especially books that helped me understand the challenges and triumphs of parenting a neurodiverse child. I don’t think I’ve indulged in reading fiction in many years. I hope to get back to doing so, now that our daughters are grown, but I would avoid anything that would qualify as a horror story. I don’t like to be frightened.
What’s the last great book you read?
Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s biography, “Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality,” is probably the last full book I’ve read outside of work. I was just so grateful that this extraordinary woman’s experiences and contributions finally got the attention they deserved.
Are there any classic novels that you only recently read for the first time?
I am gearing up to read “Parable of the Sower,” by Octavia Butler, soon. I have it both in paper and as an audiobook, which helps.
What’s the last book you read that made you laugh?
“Born a Crime,” by Trevor Noah. It was both fascinating and funny.
Who, like Constance Baker Motley, deserves a biography so more people are aware of her or his contributions?
I recently discovered an 18th-century figure named Prince Hall from a deeply researched article by the Harvard professor Danielle Allen, titled “A Forgotten Black Founding Father.” Hall was an African American man and former slave from Massachusetts who became an activist for American liberty and Black emancipation in the late 1700s. According to Professor Allen, he was the first American “to publicly use the language of the Declaration of Independence” to promote the abolition of slavery. This is a story that should be told.
What’s the best book you’ve ever received as a gift?
“Devil in the Grove,” by Gilbert King. One of my law clerks gave it to me. She said it was her favorite book of all time and that it had inspired her to pursue a career as a public defender. Once I read it, I could see why. The kind of criminal defense advocacy that Thurgood Marshall engaged in before becoming a justice was a courageous species of civil rights work.
You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?
Heather McGhee. Atul Gawande. Brad Meltzer.
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