Skip to main content

Tempting Books & Bookish Loot

 
[Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne, Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen, Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao, Two Vows and a Viscount (Seduction 2) by Eloisa James, At First Spite by Olivia Dade, The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain] 


In theory, a three-day weekend offers the perfect opportunity to focus on making progress with multiple WIPs that are behind schedule. My reality is that using the holiday for reading the books shown above is a temptation likely beyond my ability to resist. 

Author and founder of The Write Women Book Fest Heather Brooks gave me awesome presents from her trip to the Hampton Roads writers event she attended at the end of last year. A sturdy canvas tote bag and a clever portable storage journal from Novel Grounds for organizing bookmarks, stickers, and other author swag is so practical and attractive! Plus, she gave me a signed copy of The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope (and said something silly about feeling okay if I wanted to re-gift it since I've already read a library copy - as if). So now that's on my TBRe-Read list! 


Happy reading & creating! 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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:...

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 ...

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...