“You can’t rely on a man to make you happy or complete you. That starts with you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I don’t watch Empire, and I haven’t seen Hidden Figures (yet). But one of my all-time favorite blow-em-up up movies is Smokin’ Aces, and Taraji P Henson’s role as a badass assassin is one of my favorites. Her scene with Alicia Keyes and David Proval, trying to explain their plan to break into the hotel cracks me up every time.

If you haven’t seen this movie, you really should. For one thing, it’s one of Chris Pine’s finer roles.

But I digress.

I really enjoyed Henson’s memoir, Around the Way Girl. She talks about her acting career as well as her childhood being raised by a single mother, and how she’s raised her son Marcel on her own. There’s a lot of really deep truths here about her relationship with her abusive father, her incredible love for her son and her desire to act. She doesn’t really give us a step by step of her journey through Hollywood, but she does talk about some roles that were particularly memorable or important to her. Mostly I just loved her style of writing. It flows beautifully. In fact, I had trouble putting the book down because it felt like I was interrupting something. Her essays on race and raising a black son are particularly touching. I don’t think you’d even have to know that she’s an actress to enjoy this book.