HUES Book Box

Books centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) delivered to your door every 3 months. Founded in Fall 2020.

11/21/2024

Realities of being a mom-preneur. Sometimes no one helps with the baby and you have to do it all and then some more by yourself.

08/15/2024

Hey, I'm Charmaine Merriweather (Charm. Me.). I founded HUES for 2 simple reasons:

1. My best friend died. She suddenly collapsed no warning. We were working on a subscription box together but hadn't decided what it would contain.

2. My bestie and I both believed in a world where people of all HUES had meaningful relationships with each other. Books can do that.

Books allow you to submerge yourself in other cultures in a noninvasive way. When you do that, you feel a little closer to others.

Subverting your biases, learning about other cultures... it doesn't have to be difficult. You don't have to "do the work" by reading endless antiracism books. You can just read a fun book from another culture.

You can read a love story based in India. You can read a fantasy novel with Black leads. You can read a Latino murder mystery. In doing so you'll find yourself accidentally growing your empathy alongside your appreciation for different cultures.

This cultural exchange is what HUES champions. By curating BIPOC books, we're bringing the world closer, one reader at a time.
I love reading. I love culture. I love bringing people together. I wanted to honor my friend's memory. HUES just made sense for me to start.

Now, every time someone signs up, I just know my bestie is proud of me for doing what I can to honor her memory while making the world a better place.

05/15/2024

Need a quick rundown on all the history of racism as it was pertains to Black Americans? Black Fatigue is your book. 🚨 Fair warning:

While the information is great and succinct, it often reads like an academic research essay. If that’s not your thing this probably isn’t the book for HUE.

05/03/2024

Studies show that reading increases empathy. Maybe everyone in the world just needs to find a good book they can get lost in.

05/02/2024

Did HUE prefer the book or the TV show? SYNOPSIS 👇🏽

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

04/30/2024

Double tap to pet the cat. Spotted this furry book curator and this book at the other day.

SYNOPSIS 👇🏽

Speak enters the world of Gossip Girl in this modern immigrant story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang about two girls navigating wealth, power, friendship, and trauma.

They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the United States while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California.

Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out.

Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. But Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course when her debate coach starts working with her privately.

As they steer their own distinct paths, Dani and Claire keep crashing into one another, setting a course that will change their lives forever.

🐾🐾🐾
Should we feature it in a future box?

12/16/2023

Got the last batch of the month packed! Just gotta label them for pickup so your books can get to HUE.

12/15/2023

Time to fold more boxes for shipping. It’s the puuurfect present bc it comes pre-wrapped!

10/18/2023

Books make the world smaller and our hearts larger.

10/05/2023

We'll see HUE soon.

10/19/2022

Anna May Wong, a Hollywood film star who had a trailblazing career, will be the first Asian American featured on U.S. currency. The U.S. Mint on Monday will begin producing quarters with her image. https://nyti.ms/3yQHTnt

Address

Kansas City, MO
64108

Website

http://HuesBookBox.com/

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Send a message to HUES Book Box:

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Tell me what genres HUE are looking for when you subscribe, and I’ll curate BIPOC books to your taste. Choose to get one, two, or three books in each box which are shipped quarterly — perfect for your busy adult schedule. And boxes start at just $15/quarter Get started now at huesbookbox.com. #huesbookbox #bookishkansascity #bookishkc #booksubscriptionbox #bookrecommendations #bipocbooks #charmedgeek

Never Whistle At Night. — Chapter One exert. #huesbookbox #spookyreads #indigenousbooks #firstnations

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Our Story

THE PURPOSE OF HUES IS TO…

Highlight books by and/or featuring Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Support BIPOC creatives.

Provide an easy way & fun way for people to view different perspectives and cultures.

HOW HUES GOT STARTED

Chá Merri founded HUES in September 2020 following the 1-year anniversary of her best friend suddenly passing.As she was reflecting on their many life plans they had made together, she remembered they had planned to start a subscription box service.

During this time, she also noticed #DiversifyYourShelf trending on Instagram – a hashtag dedicated to promoting books by and/or featuring Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).With a little research she found that even though there were LOTS of prominent subscription book boxes, there weren’t any that focused on highlighting BIPOCs. It was also seldom those boxes even offered BIPOC books (only about 3-9% of their books featured BIPOC).The lane was wide open and it needed to be filled.

After lots of scribbling, incoherent ramblings her husband had to decode, and several phone conversations with her mom, Chá birthed HUES Book Box.

Charmaine Merriweather (Chá Merri for short) is a Black geek with a passion for reading, writing, learning, and performing. She was born in Okinawa, Japan but grew up in central Arkansas. Her experience living in vastly different places gave her a deep respect and passion for the world's cultures. During the day she is an actress and social media manager for a Black theatre. At night she's working on publishing a streaming channel for her poetry, several novels, and a stage play. Her hope is that HUES will help people add more colors to their pallet and see how beautiful their worlds can be. Follower her: Instagram YouTube Facebook

HUES Book Box is a subsidiary of CharmedGeek. CharmedGeek is the main brand for Chá Merri.

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