August 19, 2025

Austin Channing Brown is Full of Herself

Austin Channing Brown is back with a vulnerable exploration of personal identity.

Austin Channing Brown is Full of Herself

Austin Channing Brown is back with a vulnerable exploration of personal identity.

Sponsored by Penguin Random House

Alumni Update! Austin Channing Brown is back with a vulnerable exploration of personal identity.

About The Book: As an antiracism educator and writer leading through America’s cycles of racial unrest, Austin Channing Brown reached a crossroads. “I love my work,” she writes, “and I am tired. We are tired. Tired of protesting. Tired of ‘saving democracy.’ Tired of educating and explaining.” She began to ask, “What do I deserve, not just as a citizen but as a human?”

Full of Myself answers that question. Weaving personal narrative with perceptive social commentary, Brown offers a look at the mechanisms that limit who Black women are allowed to be—at work, at home, in community—and the defining moments when she decided that self-possession is the justice work she had been made to undervalue. From skinny-dipping in the ocean to becoming a mom, she delves into the drama of life and invites readers to begin defining themselves not as empty vessels to improve the world, but as a people born free in spirit, in hope, in joy.

For Black women seeking to understand the true roots of their burnout, or for anyone wondering what it means to live joyfully in a hostile world, Full of Myself is a breath of fresh air and an invitation to full humanity.

Your March Book Club meeting is officially in session ✨

You’re invited to our live community discussion of our March Pick, Lady Tremaine next Monday, April 6. We’re heading into the Reese’s Book Club Substack Chat to dive deep into the plot, the twists, and that ending we’re still processing 👀 Join the conversation!

When: Monday, April 6 @ 5pm PT / 8pm ET
Where: The Reese’s Book Club Substack (link in bio or join the chat at reesesbookclub.substack.com!)
Bookmarked Exclusive: On tomorrow's episode, @LisaRinna just dropped a headline we did NOT see coming: she says she’d never go back to The Real Housewives 👀

Would you want to see her back on Housewives… or are we here for this next chapter? 👇
The best $5* you’ll spend on yourself this month.

Get deeper access to our Substack, and we’ll donate the price of your first month subscription to @DonorsChoose. It’s a win-win for our readers and the next generation of girls.

Join us at reesesbookclub.substack.com

*For new paid annual or monthly subscription to the Reese’s Book Club Substack purchased between March 10, 2026 at 12:01am ET and April 7, 2026 at 11:59pm ET, Reese’s Book Club will donate $5.00 USD to DonorsChoose, up to a maximum total donation of $2,000.00 USD.
We were hooked on Lady Tremaine from the very first page—especially hearing it narrated by the author, @hochhauser herself.

To dive deeper into this bold, unconventional Cinderella retelling, tune in to this week’s episode of Bookmarked, the Reese’s Book Club podcast.

New episodes drop every Tuesday.