Aftershocks

This memoir is one that I have sort of had on the back burner for awhile (after seeing a glowing review around its publication from @bookofcinz), and the time was finally right. Short intro here, but really that's the whole story, so I won't belabor it. Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu “We become the stories we are…

The Sex Lives of African Women

It was the title of this one that grabbed my attention. And if anyone tries to tell me that this title doesn't catch your eye...I don't believe you. Haha. That's really all I have to say as an intro here - I was intrigued enough to find it at the library very soon after it first came across my…

Bird Uncaged

I know for sure that the one and only place I've seen this book is on @thestackspod IG feed. That put it on my radar, but it wasn't until I was shelving books a few weeks ago at the library and it caught my eye on the shelf that I spur-of-the-moment decided to go ahead and check…

Unbound

This nonfiction has been on my TBR since I first saw it on the "new books" shelf at the library a few months ago. As with all things, it took me some time to get to it. Though especially in this case, knowing how intense of a read it was likely to be, I also…

War and Me (+ Giveaway)

Until about two months ago, neither Faleeha Hassan nor this book were anywhere on my radar. But a representative of the publisher (Amazon Crossing) reached out and asked if I was interested in receiving a copy in exchange for participating in a Blog Tour. I've gotten pretty picky about which of these requests I say yes…

What My Bones Know

First off, this cover is damn gorgeous. Stunning. Second, though this hasn't *yet* taken the world by storm, it should...because it has gotten such comprehensively stellar reviews and after reading it myself, I find I can only add to that praise. Whether it actually is groundbreaking (which it does seem to be, based on the dearth of…

The Spy and the Traitor

Friends, you may notice that this book is incredibly unlike anything I've read before. I mean I did read that spy novel that was one of Obama's fav's one year, American Spy, but mostly because Obama recommended it. (And really I don't see that many spy novels by Black women from major imprints..so I was all about supporting that).…

Hidden Figures

I've been meaning to pick this book up for awhile. And my recent read of The Tenth Muse got me all inspired to read more about female mathematicians, so it seemed like the time to finally read this piece of nonfiction on that exact topic. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly “That even Katherine Johnson’s remarkable achievements can’t quite…

The Kissing Bug

I would never have picked this one up without seeing a review from @irisbooklist - and even then it was a chance library shelf encounter and spur of the moment "grab it" decision that put it in my hands this soon.  The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation's…

Greedy

There is something about the title of this book that felt aggressive in a way that made me not want to read it, despite the fact that it was compared to Samantha Irby (whose essay collections we are never meeting in real life and wow, no thank you I love) and seemed topically to be spot on…