Cody Rigsby | Shelf Portrait | Marie Claire - video Dailymotion

Marie Claire

Peloton instructor and author Cody Rigsby gave us a look at his colorful bookshelf, filled with  Britney Spears' picture books and thoughtful self-help reads. Take a look at his favorite, sometimes not easy-to-read books and own memoir 'XOXO, Cody'

Transcript

00:00Hey friends, it's Cody Reevesby and today I'm giving Marie Claire a look into my private

00:06book collection.

00:07Because today, and today only, the library is open.

00:11This is Shelf Portrait.

00:17I'm not going to try and act like I am a bougie rigger.

00:20I like everything and anything.

00:23I like lowbrow.

00:24I probably can't even read highbrow.

00:26But let's take a look at what I've got going on.

00:29I do love, let's just like first stop at this Britney Spears moment.

00:32Someone, a fan of mine, sent me this from some school library.

00:38So Cumberland, Sunnyvale, California public school system.

00:43If you're missing this, I didn't steal it.

00:45Somebody stole it for me.

00:46I do like a wide variety of things.

00:49We love fiction.

00:50I'm not going to act like I'm above the Hunger Games series.

00:53Love them, love the movies.

00:55I remember reading these books when I first moved to New York City.

00:57It's what I read on the subway to and from work.

01:00It kept me very occupied.

01:01I do have some of my colleagues books here.

01:04We've got Emma Lovell's book.

01:05We've got Tude Oyene's book.

01:07I even have a book from my college professor, Marita Sambi.

01:11I also really love a self-help advice book.

01:16That's why we've got The Power of Now.

01:19We've got The Four Agreements, Tiny Beautiful Things.

01:22It's almost like a text of Cody where people send him questions and she answers them.

01:27Love it.

01:28And of course, you know, a book that I live by is The Ethical Slut.

01:33Because if you're going to be a slut, do it with consent and be ethical about it.

01:38How you live your life is okay, but this is almost like a sex bible, really, honestly.

01:44Not featured in the library at the moment because we took them out are five of my favorite books.

01:49They are a wide range.

01:50We're going to go through them one by one.

01:52And we're going to start off with Oprah Winfrey's What I Know For Sure.

01:57I think we go through a lot in life and there's certain lessons that we learn.

02:01And when we know things for sure in our foundation, our heart,

02:05we can live by them and really learn from our experience.

02:08And this is just such a wonderful book.

02:10I was going through a horrible breakup probably like seven years ago.

02:13And my friend Corey told me to read this book.

02:15And it's just been a classic that I absolutely love.

02:19Oprah goes through a lot of her life and stories and the lessons that she's learned from them.

02:23And I think we can always learn something valuable from the one and only Oprah Winfrey.

02:29All right, second up, we've got The Mindful Athlete by George Mumford.

02:35Okay, listen, I'm going to be honest with you.

02:37This is not an easy read.

02:39This is sometimes a dense read.

02:41But it's something that you want to bite off little by little because there's a lot to take from it.

02:46But most importantly, what I learned from this book is how to take my mindfulness practice

02:52and put it into my workouts and how we are so present when we're in our body

02:58and when we are performing our best that it's almost like euphoric.

03:02It's almost like you allow yourself to be so present and be the best version of yourself.

03:07So I really love this book.

03:08But I warn you, it is not an easy read.

03:11Also, not an easy read, but a great thing to read and reflect on and take in over time is

03:18Radical Acceptance by Tara Brock.

03:21I think what this book really taught me is accepting the world as it is and not trying to change so much.

03:29I think when we try to hold on and change something, we're really resisting what is meant for us.

03:37And I think this has a lot of great stories, just teaches you how to accept and let go.

03:43And I think it's a great, it's a great jumping off point to a journey of self-love.

03:49All right, this is my absolute favorite book of all time,

03:53Dancing from the Dance by Andrew Halloran.

03:56You can see from how beat up it is, how much I love it.

04:00I've read it multiple times.

04:01This book really feels like somewhat of a biography of my own life.

04:06It's messy.

04:08It deals with queer love and losing love and finding love and also being a free ass bitch.

04:16And what I love about this story is that it was written before the age crisis.

04:22So you really get a view of what New York City life for a gay man felt like before then.

04:28I feel like a lot of queer stories that are told about gay men really are about trauma and

04:35dealing with the HIV crisis.

04:38And this is just such a great book.

04:41Any gay man living in New York City should read this and you will see a lot of yourself in it.

04:46This one is great for your kids.

04:49This one is Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece.

04:53I think it just reminds us to be ourselves that what is meant for us will come at the right time.

05:01Yes, it's a kid's book.

05:02Yes, it's simple, but it's a delightful read.

05:07I love a self-help book or an advice book.

05:11If I can finish that book and take something and have that light bulb go off in my head and I've learned

05:16something impactful, it's my favorite book.

05:19And I've read a bunch of them, as you can see.

05:21Okay, I'm not going to lie.

05:22I do order a lot online.

05:24I love instant gratification from Amazon.

05:27But McBally Jackson in Lansbury is a great bookstore that I frequent often.

05:33If you're in the neighborhood, check it out.

05:36Better card tools, the power of now.

05:39It really got me into my mindfulness practice, really learned how to be present.

05:43I feel like it helps people unlock their superpowers.

05:47Not an easy read.

05:48Also, take your time with it.

05:49Digest it once again.

05:51But good book.

05:53Okay, embarrassing.

05:54Jacob from Twilight.

05:56I just think he could really like throw you around in the bedroom.

06:00But I kind of changed my mind on the whole Twilight series once I like read it and figured it out.

06:04It was like purity culture propaganda.

06:07Because if you know me, I'm a slut.

06:09And I'm not waiting until marriage.

06:11I love reading a book on the subway.

06:15Because nobody wants to make their commute.

06:17And you just get into your own little world.

06:19And you forget what's going on.

06:20But make sure you're paying attention enough that you don't miss your stop.

06:24Because I've been so into a book that I'm like three stops away from where I was supposed to get off.

06:29And then I messed up my whole morning.

06:31Funny you ask.

06:33My book, XOXO Cody, An Opinionated Homosexual's Guide to Self-Love, Relationships, and Tactful Pettiness.

06:40Comes out September 12th.

06:42I loved this process.

06:44It almost felt like therapy.

06:46You go into it.

06:47You dig deeper into your life stories.

06:49You recollect things that happen in your life.

06:51And it almost feels like you're letting go of all the BS.

06:54And kind of celebrating the amazing things about your life.

06:57Thank you so much for watching Shelf Portrait.

07:01Make sure you order my book, XOXO Cody.

07:04And don't forget to subscribe to Marie Claire.

07:08Bye, Boots.

Cody Rigsby | Shelf Portrait | Marie Claire

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