Magical People, Places, Sleuths & Wise Women

Anthologies - fantastical worlds, multifaceted characters, engaging themes, adventurous journeys

Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction

edited by Sheree Renee Thomas, Oghenechovwe Ekpeki, Zelda Knight

Tordotcom, November 2022

We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2021

edited by L.D. Lewis, Charles Payseur

Neon Hemlock Press, October 2022

All Kinds of Love

Witchful Thinking (Elemental Love #1) by Celestine Martin

contemporary speculative romance

Forever, September 2022

To avoid spoilers, my general feeling is that the author of this delightfully layered and whimsical love story about finding one's purpose, place, and people is probably a fan of some early Tom Hanks movies. Lucinda and Alex's connection exudes #relationshipgoals.

Blackmail and Bibingka (Tita Rosie #3) by Mia P. Manansala

contemporary mystery

Berkley, October 2022

Ah, family... Can't work with them without drama, can't let them get wrongly accused of committing murder--even if maybe sometimes they make you so crazed that you're tempted. Really tempted. Lila and Tita Rosie feed their family's and community's bodies and souls while figuring out who's really guilty. Cue the mayhem. Plus, scrumptious recipes!

Small Town, Big Magic (Witchlore #1) by Hazel Beck

contemporary speculative romance

Graydon House, August 2022

A bit of a more light-hearted The Witches of Eastwick collides with The Stand and ends with the suggestion of a cliffhanger, generating anticipation for the next installment of Emerson and Jacob's story in August 2023.

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New Arrivals Giving BRBF Vibes + BAC Issues

Even as my friends and I enjoyed a fantastic community event yesterday in and around the Bowie Branch of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System, there was envy in my heart for all of the attendees and participants at the Black Romance Book Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. Reports of issues of crowding just made me happy for the event organizers' success while they posted apologies and corrective strategies for crowd control during the last day. In the meantime, the new arrivals shelves at the closest library in the neighboring county offered a variety of books by BRBF authors. "Where the Melanated Are Celebrated" indeed. [9 books, from left to right: Positive Obsession, Communion, Big Girl Blitz (atop a bookstack), The Started Ex, Fire Sword & Sea, Leave Your Mess at Home, Archangel's Eternity, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, First Sign of Danger] Currently reading Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Mo...

When What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Funny

Need to laugh out loud? To feel inspired? To feel seen? To feel encouraged to pursue your heart's most ambitious desires despite overwhelming odds against succeeding? Read Zarna Garg's memoir, which offers an intimate, compelling coming of age, immigrant's journey, family saga, and keen observations about humans and life as experienced by a hilarious, intrepid individual. [front cover of "Zarna Garg, This American Woman: A One-In-A-Billion Memoir" showing the Statue of Liberty holding the author in her arms with the New York City skyline in the lower half of the background] This American Woman: A One-In-A-Billion Memoir by Zarna Garg non-fiction memoir Ballantine Books, April 2025 Universal themes of family love and family conflict, support and abandonment, grieving as a years' long process with lulls, parenting and being parented (or not), finding your people in friendship, romance, community presented and dissected with the author's sharp wit ...

Legacies of Octavia Butler & June BAC Issues

It's so exciting to read about a trailblazer who was ethical, thoughtful, generous, and funny in addition to being diligent and multifaceted. [Positive Obsession atop a bookstack of 7 books - The Last Lady B spine showing, then 6 books showing page edges; Communion propped to the left of the bookstack] Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris non-fiction biography Amistad, 2025 Opening with a quote from Parable of the Sower, this biographer uses every word in the O.E.B. chronology, author's note, introduction, six chapters, epilogue, and acknowledgements to engage readers in an intimate personal study of this extraordinary, talented, driven woman who was vulnerable and complicated in her brilliant humanity. The author's access to the O.E.B. archives adds layers of emotional depth that enrich the context of the details of the author's personal life and creative and professional development. from the Author's Note:...

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