RayRay Paints a Self-Portrait by Surayyah Fofana; Eliana Rodger, illustrator  Children’s book Larue PR, LLC, September 2021  In this children’s book as memoir, self-defined biracial activist, dancer, writer, high school student Surayyah “RayRay” Fofana has written a charming story that explores universal themes of identity and touchstones of belonging. The vibrancy of individuals, classmates, families, and communities rendered in full-color illustrations project depth and dimension while the figures present people of various shades, ages, and physical abilities. RayRay’s journey toward recognizing herself is timely and timeless.  How to Wrestle a Girl, Stories by Venita Blackburn  Fiction, short stories  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 2021  In two parts and acknowledgments How to Wrestle a Girl contemplates the circuitous paths toward freedom to live as one’s unapologetic, authentic self. In the titular “How to Wrestle a Girl” (fourth entry in Part I...

  The Sky Worshipers [sic] a Novel of Mongol Conquests by F.M. Deemyad*   speculative historical fiction   History Through Fiction, March 2021   This epic saga sweeps across the northern and eastern hemispheres with a propulsive mix of cultural grandeur, aggressive conflicts, and intimate specificity in its central characters. Make sure to savor every tidbit offered in the introduction, all four books of the richly layered narrative, and epilogue. Recommended resources and acknowledgments will likely add multiple titles to each reader’s TBR list.   In the introduction the author states an intention, “… not to write a book of horror but one resembling ‘One Thousand and One Nights' that would be enjoyable to read.”   Mission accomplished.   https://www.historythroughfiction.com/theskyworshipers Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson   historical fiction with romantic elements   William Morrow Paperbacks, August...

  Weathered Fragments Weathered Souls, Poems by J.L. Smith  chapbook  Opus, 2018  This collection of reflective, melancholy two dozen poems starts with "The Fragments You Carry" and ends with these lines from "Rocks (A Country in a Box)": the fragments you hold on to-- /the ones you did not want to leave behind. In these two poems and each one between, J.L. Smith travels across geographical and emotional terrain to excavate and catalogue her discoveries through countries, continents, seasons and phases of life. Readers are encouraged to do the same. The poet mixes mundane language with powerful imagery to conjure tension between life's daily grind and dreams.  The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris  fiction Simon & Schuster Audio, June 2021  The Manchurian Candidate, Stepford Wives and When No One Is Watching had a brilliant meta book baby about publishing, identity and life.  Me, My Hair And I by Elizabeth Benedict, editot + multiple co...

  The 4th annual The Write Women Book Fest is scheduled for Saturday, October 8, 2022!  Meanwhile, TWWBF2021 participants have plenty of bookish goodness to satisfy you until next year. Experience TWWBF2021 at your leisure.  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2021-event-schedule.html   Panels and interviews too!  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2021-panel-discussions.html   https://youtu.be/dQ5lIMx66Vo   https://youtu.be/Y36NtkC-aZk     Buy our participating authors' books at your favorite bookseller and/or borrow them from the nearest branch of Prince George's County Memorial Library System pgcmls.info if you're a resident of Prince George's County (or an "interlibrary loan" through Marina for Maryland residents outside of P.G. County).  Jayne Allen  Eden Appiah-Kubi  Camille Baker  Pamela D. Beverly  Cardyn Brooks  C. X Brooks  H.L. Brooks  Patricia A. Crews  F.M. Deemyad Tia Fanning...

  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 mult...

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 wri...

  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 histori...

  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, e...

  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 r...

  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 a...