W.I.S.E. Men (The Persistence of Memory #4)   Karen Janowsky, author & publisher    Speculative fiction   December 2020  W.I.S.E Men is the fourth installment of this genre-defying Persistence of Memory series but functions as a prequel that lays the foundation for the World Intelligence Security Endeavor. It's a romance as character study told on a sliding timeline between the 1990s and early 2000s moving between Somalia, across the United States, and other locations around the world.   Why is Kevin such a tool?   How did Rob Fischer amass his power?   These questions and more are answered through this author’s signature blend of emotional complexity, gallows humor, historical and pop culture context interspersed with a few high-stakes action scenes. W.I.S.E. Men is a true origin story that brings readers full-circle to the beginning of Déjà Vu. In some ways it works well as a stand-alone romance featuring multiple couples. Moments of superheroic campiness as inspired by the

Here's my review of BGMDE's first publication by Quality Black Books near the end of 2018.  http://blerdybingereader.blogspot.com/2018/11/snapshots-of-lives-real-and-imagined.html   Today's release is in hardcover from Harper.  https://www.amazon.com/Black-Girls-Must-Die-Exhausted/dp/0063142996/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1632797801&sr=1-1     The third annual The Write Women Book Fest is pleased to have received BGMDE swag that has been included in the 50 swag bags to be given away on a first come, first served basis at TWWBF2021 on Saturday, October 9th from 12 noon to 5 p.m. at Marietta House Museum, 5626 Bell Station Road, Glenn Dale, Maryland 20769.   Scroll to the bottom of the TWWBF2021 Shop page for more information about Jayne Allen.  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2021-shop.html    If you're in Prince George's County, Maryland with a busted book buying budget, borrow it from pgcmls.info, then write an honest review for your favor

  Eighteen Days of Spring in Winter by Saeida Rouass  Literary fiction  Impress Books, 2015  It's 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. Khaled Said's unjust murder by police months after a desperate man in Tunisia immolated himself in hopeless protest of injustice propels the Arab world closer to political implosion. One modestly privileged Egyptian family with two physician parents, an eleven-year-old son, and an eighteen-year-old Sophia, whose narrative begins, "This is the only story I know to tell... the voice is a unique battle cry of love." all draw readers into the personal reverberations of a cultural shift.  As a university student of comparative literature, Sophia spends much of her time escaping reality by immersing herself in books. Yet the clamor for change swells around and within her until she can no longer ignore her volatile environment. Poetic sensibilities, gritty circumstances, family friction, and internal angst set against the backdrop of a pivotal historic mome

  The Strong Black Woman, How a Myth Endangers the Physical and Mental Health of Black Women by Marita Golden   Non-fiction   Mango Publishing, October 12, 2021   https://maritagolden.com/ Enjoy our TWWBF2021 interview here:  https://youtu.be/dQ5lIMx66Vo   With a mix of surgical precision, lyrical phrasing, keen observations, testimonies, and profound insights from the author, experts in assorted fields of study, and a broad spectrum of other Black women, The Strong Black Woman challenges and deconstructs pervasive stereotypes superimposed upon them to reveal the inherently valuable and complicated humanity of Black women as worthy of consciously choosing to prioritize their own physical, medical, mental, and spiritual health.   Fat. Ugly. Loud. Angry. Wrong. Crazy. Lazy. Jezebel. Bitch.   In “We Wear the Mask" the first of twelve thought-provoking chapters, the author writes:   All life begins with, is defined by, even ends with a story. The stories and myths we create and repea

  My review of The Strong Black Woman by Marita Golden will post next weekend.  Mango Publishing Group, October 12, 2021  https://maritagolden.com/ It's available for pre-order here:  https://www.amazon.com/Strong-Black-Woman-Endangers-Physical/dp/1642506834/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=marita+golden+the+strong+black+woman&qid=1624986173&s=digital-text&sr=1-1-catcorr&_encoding=UTF8&tag=maritagolden-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=568907488ca8dd534d79610d5db6f9b5&camp=1789&creative=9325 The Wide Circumference of Love by Marita Golden  Literary fiction  Arcade Publishing, 2017  What happens when life throws a family off their chartered course?   The Tate family learns how to navigate unfamiliar terrain while revisiting the sign posts of their individual and collective pasts. It's a rough and enlightening journey. Lovers, spouses, parents, offspring, siblings, birth order, gendered expectations met and defied and reconfigured. Generational trauma and

  The following reviews are from my September 2019 readings of earlier editions.* The Persistence of Memory, Book 1: Déjà vu Karen Janowsky New Adult(ish) speculative fiction with romantic elements Mill City Press February 2019 The Persistence of Memory is a beguiling mash-up. It begins as a brutally immersive Holocaust testimony set in Germany in 1938. At the age of twenty-one, New Yorkers Daniel Hecht, his two best friends, and his mom discover that their U.S. citizenship can’t protect them from the racial hatred of the Nazis. Survival exacts steep costs that exchange one generation for another and smoothly transitions this story into science fiction. In the 21 st century Daniel is a decorated war hero who is disillusioned, jaded, and patriotic. His inner turmoil and traumatic experiences generate emotional whiplash. Enter amnesiac Nina Archer. Who is she? What are her origins? Why does she fluently speak an ancient language? Add mystery and romance (mostly sweet, until very abrup