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

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...

Authors Books Librarians Editors Agents Publishers... #USBookShow 2023

4 days of all hits no misses of keynotes, interviews, panels, book recs, advice... Highlights: Day 1 Monday 5/22 an insightful and terrifying and motivational discussion of book banning as an attack on liberty with advice on combating it via local focus and the fact that 30,000 school board seats in the U.S. are opening up this fall effective OverDrive/Libby strategies executed by savvy librarians Day 2 Tuesday 5/23 memorable quote from Chuck D's lunch keynote conversation with Kelefa Sannen: "People listen with their eyes." Plus his STEWdio boxed set and naphic grovel play on words with graphic novel and so much more. public relations, marketing, how not to get cancelled, redemption Day 3 Wednesday 5/24 book recs!!! Gloria Edim's (Well-Read Black Girl) conversation with Kim Coleman Foote about her fall release novel Coleman Hill from SJP Lit, including Sarah Jessica Parker Wade Hudson, Just Us Books co-found...

123123! Goodbye 2023! Hello 2024!

A Marquis to Protect the Governess by Parker J. Cole historical romance fiction Harlequin Historical, December 26, 2023 Sometimes scrolling through new releases available on Libby (even though there's a stack of physical books within arm's reach), leads to unexpected reading pleasure. That's what happened with me upon starting this gem of a tale. Like opening my first books by Ms. Bev(erly Jenkins), Gay G. Gunn, Vanessa Riley, Alyssa Cole, and Lisa Rayne, Isadora and Andre's rocky love story hooked me from the first page. Using a seamless integration of historical context, character evolution, and high stakes combined with emotional nuances, this author has crafted an engaging tale that organically includes people and places too often erased from historical romance fiction. Hot Flashes and Hockey Slashes by Marika Ray & Sylvie Stewart, authors & publisher contemporary romance fiction October 2023 Who knew that normalizing op...

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