Black History, Heart Health, Love, Grief, Legacies

It's a super hectic time for me so this month's posts will feature lists of outstanding recent and past reads that examine and celebrate the complexity of humanity as experienced embodied in Blackness.

Fiction

Someday Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli

Graydon House, November 2022

[note: themes of grief and loss of a loved one as a result of death by suicide]

"Women Who Dare" series by (Ms.) Beverly Jenkins

historical fiction, romance

Rebel

Avon, May 2019

Wild Rain

Avon, February 2021

To Catch a Raven

Avon, August 2022

"Higher Education" series by Jayce Ellis

contemporary romance

Learned Behavior

Carina Press, November 2020

Learned Reactions

Carina Press, March, 2021

Non-Fiction - recent & older releases

Buy Black: How Black Women Transformed U.S. Pop Culture by Aria S. Halliday

University of Illinois Press, April 2022

From Chapter One:

In the United States, the ideological power of images has been used by colonial settlers turned enslavers turned U.S. politicians and businessmen to construct Black people as continually outside the American politic as well as unworthy of the rights, liberties, and cultural representation secured for others in closer proximity to whiteness or wealth.

Africans in the Americas: A History of the Black Diaspora by Michael L. Conniff & Thomas J. Davis

The Blackburn Press, 2002

I've Known Rivers, Lives of Loss and Liberation by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot

Perseus Books, 1994

Comments

The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen Delivers All the Feels

Black love. Black joy. Black drama. Humanity in its vast melanin array. [front cover of a paperback ARC for The Best Man: Unfinished Business; silhouette of three adults] The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen adult contemporary fiction with romantic elements Storehouse Voices, July 2025 First, dedicated fans of The Best Man franchise and its beloved characters need not fear how they’re treated in this first of three novels. In fact. One thread of Harper’s storyline seems to reflect the real-life author/screenwriter/director’s battle to protect and maintain the integrity of The Best Man universe. Mission accomplished. Second, once readers - fans or not - start this novel they won’t want to stop. The compulsion to re/watch The Best Man movies and limited series and maybe even to reread this book while anticipating the release of book two in 2026 will prove difficult to resist. Who are you? Who are your people?...

A Million Lives Book Festival - An Unfortunate Exception, Not the Event Rule

[2 decorative stickers on lined writing paper from left to right: a round smiley face arranged upside down to look like a frown and a round smiley face arranged right sight up] By now most bookish folk and others have heard about the inaugural A Million Lives Book Festival held at the Baltimore Convention Center last Friday and Saturday. To recap: according to participating authors and attendees many promises were made and almost all of them were broken. As outreach director and co-organizer for The Write Women Book Fest scheduled to host its 6th event Saturday, July 19 & Sunday, July 20 of this year at the Bowie Comfort Inn & Conference Center in Bowie, Maryland, U.S.A., my reaction to the feedback being shared about A Million Lives is nightmarish. Even though we aren't connected to it in any way or familiar with the event organizer or her company, our completely unrelated event has felt some minor residual effects because people are worried. And that's an understanda...

Hot Love in the Kitchen & Travelling Through Time

Redemption of the Heart by Moni Boyce contemporary romance Love Snacks Publishing 8 January 2019 Despite addressing heavy themes of domestic violence, incarceration, and grief, Redemption of the Heart is a charming and sweet spicy read in the tradition of a 21st-century interracial homage to Janet Dailey’s monthly romance era. Gemma’s open-hearted ingénue contrasts starkly with Alex’s jaded workaholic. They struggle with a variety of challenges, but ethnicity isn’t one of them—a spin that feels particularly modern. Once readers commit to their suspension of disbelief regarding the cascading impact of lacks in due diligence by several characters, it’s easy to settle in to enjoy this love story. The recent public debate about the pros and cons of Gillette’s “We believe the best man can be” campaign ties in with the contradictory messages in the story threads about toxic masculinity. There’s a scene in which Alex apologizes to someone who was openly bragging among cowork...

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