#NetGalleyarc I really enjoyed this book. The author writes very candidly and honestly. As a big pop culture fan, I found this book interestIng to read as it’s about pop culture and how it’s shaped the life of the author, a Black female.

I wasn't familiar with Aisha Harris before reading Wannabe, and this did not detract from my enjoyment of her work. It was nice to be able to approach the collection without any expectations of how she'd express her thoughts and opinions. For the most part, there was a good flow to the book that provided a solid idea of what has influenced Harris's preferences and criticisms of pop culture. We're close enough in age that the references she made were relatable, and many of her observations were astute and cleverly stated.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an advanced readers' copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review. I received my ARC before the book was published but at the time of writing this review, it has been out for almost a month.

I enjoy a book of essays looking at pop culture. I think it's interesting to see what pieces of culture an author decides to talk about. This is the first work I've consumed by Aisha Harris, looking at other reviews, she's also a host of a pop culture podcast. Overall, I liked this collection, she shares her thoughts on pop culture and how it shapes the Black experience.

She saved her best essays for the second half of the book. "This is the IP That Never Ends," "Parents Just Don't Understand," and "Santa Claus is a Black Man" are standouts for me. The essays are an analysis of pieces of pop culture and how they have affected her life. Some essays lean into one or the other more heavily. For example, "Ebony & Ivory" feels more of an analysis. I think the book's flow would have worked better had the essays been organized in a way in which essays with more analysis were grouped together. It was sometimes jarring to go from a personal essay to an analysis where I felt like Harris wasn't "talking" to the reader anymore. I loved the comedic moments in the book just as much as a loved her analysis on pop culture.

She challenges your beliefs in the best way. "Blackety-Black" is an excellent essay that really made me stop and think. I'm coming into this book with an Asian American who was raised in America perspective. I read part of this chapter a few times to understand what she is trying to say. I've come to the conclusion that I agree with the majority of what she says (Though, I still like Lizzo and think she is opening doors to marginalized communities even if a lot of white people, and Asian Americans like me, like her). It's difficult to put into words but she manages to do it. I will keep this conversation going as I continue to think about pop culture and unlearn unconscious biases.

Definitely check out this book if you love pop culture, essays, and how pop culture affects us.

I am a huge pop culture happy hour fan and a fan of pop culture in general. I really loved reading about all the different pop culture influences that Aisha Harris has in her life. It made me think about what influences I had and I just really enjoyed it.

DNF at 34%

I thought this book was going to be more of a general look at how 90s pop culture shaped a generation, but I was very wrong. I guess that's on me for not doing enough research about it. But I'm also just not sure who this book is written for. I grew up just a few years after Harris, but felt almost no connection at all to her experiences. Granted, I am white and the first couple chapters at least largely focus on her experiences as a Black woman, so I can only assume this will hit better among a Black audience raised in the 90s. Either way, these essays didn't really warrant the publishing of a whole book in my opinion.

NPR Podcaster Aisha Harris discusses pop culture thru the lens of her experience. I really like her as a podcast host, but I wanted this book to be way less dry and have many more pop culture references.

In this collection, Aisha Harris combines memoir with essays on pop culture as a Black woman growing up in the 90s. I liked it overall, particularly her thoughts on Child Free vs motherhood

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC!

Wannabe by Aisha Harris was an absolute romp of a read. It was a lot of fun and extremely insightful -- both on a personal and broadly pop-cultural level. I loved Harris' unique voice and the fresh look she brought to an ongoing conversation.

With a slightly slow start, this book was still a definitive five star read! I’ve probably never said this before, but this is a book that I could imagine writing. And not because I’m in anyway as good a storyteller as Aisha Harris, but because every single thing on her mind and every single pop culture reference she brings to the table has been a thought in my brain. I guess I’ve never felt so SEEN by an author. I’m a big fan of Aisha’s contribution to Pop Culture Happy Hour and her writing here is infused with wit and honesty that makes it just a very compelling read. Her chapter on being childfree by choice was really powerful. I read through it twice! Would recommend this book to fans of humorous essays, or fans of popular culture generally. There’s something for everyone here, and it will feed that elder millennial inside all of us! I want to thank NetGalley for a preview of this wonderful book.

I love any kind of pop culture criticism memoirs, and the author weaves in her own experiences thoughtfully and delightfully. It made me consider things from a very different perspective, and at times an uncomfortable one, but that's a good thing. It's very well written, entertaining, and reads quickly. I did think a lot of the references might make it somewhat dated, and I wasn't familiar with a lot of the media referenced, so I think I might have gotten more from it if I was.

This was a fantastic collection of essays! I went in expecting some humorous takes on pop culture (also fun for me) and was pleasantly surprised to get a collection of deeply thought-provoking essays on identity, Blackness, and the impact of movies, TV, and celebrity. Aisha Harris is such a gifted writer and I really appreciated the call backs and themes that made it a cohesive collection.

A memoir in essays through the lens of pop culture criticism is catnip for me, so this was mostly a hit. I love the podcast Aisha Harris co-hosts on NPR, Pop Culture Happy Hour. All four of the main hosts are fantastic, so I was excited to read Harris's book. I would love for someone closer to my age to write a book like this, because I feel like all I ever read is the millennial perspective, and as a Gen X person, my pop culture memories go way beyond the 90s. Harris's book is definitely more pop culture than memoir, especially in the later essays. A couple of the essays didn't really land for me. In one, she warns you that she's going to give spoilers about a movie, and then she returns to that topic throughout the essay. This is fine on a brief weekly podcast, which I can fast-forward or skip altogether, but I didn't like having to skip the rest of an essay. The other essay that annoyed me was the one about choosing not to have children. I certainly believe it's everyone's prerogative to make these choices, and since I had my first child at 36 and wasn't sure I was going to be a parent, I had to hear all the annoying comments and questions for many years (especially because I'd been married since I was 21). I want everyone to leave everyone else alone about this topic, forever and always, but that includes wanting childless-by-choice people to stop believing they're superior to people who have chosen parenthood, and Harris is most definitely in that camp. She also includes laughable assertions that she can speak with authority about being a parent because she loves her dogs and because she is a daughter and has parents. Ok.... She also made a point of not liking that people state that they're a parent in their social media profiles. It's hard for me to imagine how anyone could care so much about that choice that they had to tell everyone in a book how much they do not care about it. Even though that essay felt a bit like a trainwreck, the rest of them were quite good!

I loved this book! Aisha Harris presents us with nine polished jewels of essays about the complex ways in which pop culture affects how we see ourselves, and how other people see us. The opening essay is as close to perfect a thing as I will ever see: interweaving nuanced threads dealing with names, identity, memory, and the weight of fragmented histories. She is equally skilled at the deep analysis of individual pop culture texts through close reading, and at looking at broader media trends over decades. I learned so much about the pop culture I have already explored and loved, and have received many directional tips for the future exploration of entertainment. I loved this!

Personally I felt this book of essays was 3.5 stars, as I was expecting a much lighter look at the pop culture that similarly shaped my world, but I’m rounding up because Aisha Harris is an excellent writer who often challenges us to take a closer look at Black representation in tv and movies. I was surprisingly not familiar with Harris, who is well-known through NPR, Slate, and various podcasts and essays, but I love how her degrees are in theatre and cinema studies. Her knowledge of pop culture is deep and the references excellent. We definitely grew up around the same time period, and though I’m older with a different perspective of mid-90s pop culture, I enjoyed her analyses. And seriously, I love the title and the fact that she states the song’s opening is one of the most classic pop lyrics ever.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperOne for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love the range of topics discussed in this. I only had the chance to skim a lot of the chapters but enjoyed Aisha’s writing style a lot! excellent commentary and well put together.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I was first approved to read this book, but I can tell you that I was not disappointed after I finished reading. I did not know who Aisha Harris was, but I definitely love her writing style and her voice and I love her now! This book connects pop culture and current times so well. I would definitely recommend this book to my patrons!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperOne for an ARC of this title.

What a fantastic collection of essays. This does a thing I love where an essay will get a little freewheeling and connect 2-3 events/pieces of pop culture that don't feel connected at first glance and then show you how a line connecting them's always been there. I would have picked this up for the essay talking about Disney's self-cannibalization alone.

I have always been the type of person who likes to think deeply about my entertainment. I can spend hours thinking (and talking, if anyone lets me) about the ways strategy has evolved on Survivor or the various histories and influences that go into a single Beyonce costume. But for a long time, pop culture criticism and analogy came from only one perspective - white men at least a generation removed from me.

So, reading Aisha Harris’ essays warmed my soul in a way I didn’t know I needed. But it truly moved me to have the same level of merit I’ve seen applied to Bruce Springsteen again and again applied to The Spice Girls. Her essays track her own journey towards self-acceptance through the pop culture she has loved and hated. She dissects everything from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to Zola through a lens of race, gender and millennial angst. Harris has already made a name for herself as one of our smartest cultural critics, and this only cements her voice further.

And I may just print out her essay on why she doesn’t want to have kids to hand out whenever I’m asked about it.

Thank you to HarperOne and Netgalley for this eARC!

In Wannabe, Aisha Harris uses her exceptional knowledge of pop culture to discuss a variety of deep topics affecting the modern millennial. From the Black Best Friend, to the abundance of remakes, Harris is able to examine how our society impacts us, and how we are impacted by society. This entire book is worth the read, as there is not a bad essay in the bunch. No matter if you have seen/heard the reference Harris is referencing, Harris writes in a way that makes her point understandable. She is able to write about complicated topics in (somewhat) lighthearted ways, without avoiding the topics' darker aspects. She also sprinkles in enough embarrassing stories about her youth, that you truly feel comfortable getting into the nitty gritty alongside her.

As a lover of pop culture, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Harris has written for Slate and currently works for NPR, and she is a strong and engaging writer. I would recommend this to any and all millennials!

A long-time listener of the PopCulture Happy Hour podcast, I was familiar with Aisha Harris and looking forward to reading this deep dive into pop culture. It was even better than I expected - with thoughtful insights on the role pop culture and entertainment play in our society and the effects it has on so many aspects of our lives. This book covers topics such as representation, racism, the choice to be child free, and more - while drawing parallels from the last several decades of pop culture.