Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop

"Danyel Smith takes a unique look at some female pop music greats by considering them in moments between the flashbulbs – and interweaving their stories with her own. As the pages recount how Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson and more battled industry double standards, interpersonal strife and even their own demons, Smith gives context and credit where it’s due with a care that Black women’s stories are rarely granted. Along the way, the heralded music and culture journalist shares tricks of the trade (like how to convince a gatekeeping publicist that all she needs is 20 minutes with Whitney Houston) and coming-of-age lessons about love, compromise, failure and success that only music could teach her."