Full disclosure FYI: My reading self has been a fan of these two authors for years, making each of their works auto-reads for me with high expectations ingrained. Leslye Penelope and Maria Vale have also generously accepted invitations to the 5th annual The Write Women Book Fest as featured guest panelists at the authors expo/readers day on Saturday, October 14th at the Bowie Comfort Inn in Bowie, Maryland. thewritewomenbookfest.org   The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope  speculative 20th-c. historical fiction  Redhook, August 2022  Influenced by a real-life event in 1919 and opening with the Claude McKay poem that includes the title and a Marcus Garvey quote that likely inspired En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” anthem, The Monsters We Defy offers a blend of magical realism, emotional gravity, and layers of historical context and complexity. Plus, it’s often fun and funny in subtle, slap-stick, and morbid ways. Clara, Zelda, and their band of unlikely allies engineer a heist that could s

  Celebrate every kind of healthy love life offers: affectionate, familial, parental, soror, fraternal, platonic, romantic, and the unconditional love of fur babies (except maybe for cats, who seem to have fearsome non-negotiable demands).  Focus on the spirit of St. Valentine's Day. (NOT getting beaten or beheaded, then martyred!) Give, receive, and appreciate love. Enjoy    Token by Beverley Kendall  contemporary romance  Graydon House, January 2023  workplace drama, second chances, shenanigans  Her Lessons in Persuasion (School for Scoundrels #1) by Megan Frampton  historical romance  Avon, January 2023  family drama, fake courtship, unapologetic non-conformists  You Should Smile More by Anastasia Ryan  contemporary fiction with romance Sourcebooks Casablanca, January 2023  employment crossroads, revenge, extreme mayhem 

  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 ensla