A Woman Is No Man

This debut novel received quite a bit of press when it was published last year. I saw many, many reviews from readers who both loved it and found it heart-breaking. And I knew that I wanted to read it, that one day I would read it. But the thing is, knowing how intense of a…

Celestial Bodies

In my goal of working to read more diversely, I’m attempting to also diversify my diversity… That sounds confusing, but basically, I’m just trying to cast my reading net ever wider. So when I heard about this 2019 winner of the International Man Booker, the first novel translated from Arabic to win this prize, in…

The Deep

Just about two years ago I read Solomon’s debut novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts, and was so impressed with the world-building, the diversity of the characters, the writing…it was a fantastic debut. And it was before I really had any idea about Afrofuturism as a genre, so it felt truly groundbreaking to me. I am…

Cantoras

Oh. My. Goodness. I started reading this book as a library book, got about 50 pages in, realized it was gorgeous and perfect and was going to be a favorite that I want on my shelves, and promptly bought it. I finished reading my very own copy. It ended just as wonderfully as it started.…

Juliet Takes a Breath

This has been on my TBR for a few years now, but no libraries near me have had it. And this past year has been a strict one, financially, so buying it wasn’t necessarily an option for me. Anyways, in an exciting turn, it was chosen for re-publication this year! Which meant a few things.…

Patsy

I read Dennis-Benn’s first novel, Here Comes the Sun, just over two years ago now. And while I’m terrible at remembering details from all the books I’ve read (which is actually part of why I started writing reviews in the first place), I do usually manage to hang onto feelings. And I know after I…

Reading Women Challenge 2020

First of all, Happy New Year's Eve! New Year's is my favorite holiday for many reasons, but the feeling of starting fresh is definitely high on the list. I'm really excited for that this year, as 2019 was a tough one for us. Onwards and, hopefully, upwards - amirite?! Anyways, last year I created my…

Royal Holiday

I read The Wedding Date last year, Guillory’s first novel, and it was so good! I enjoyed the heat and the focus on food and the story in general, especially how strong and ambitious the female lead was. But when her second book, The Proposal, came out, I wasn’t as interested (sports based romance isn’t…

Sabrina & Corina

This one has been on my TBR since it came out. So. Really not that long, but many great reviews and lots of award nominations made me want to read it ASAP. In fact, it’s on the longlist for the Aspen Prize for Literature, which, after hearing about this award for the first time last…

SLAY

There are so many freaking reasons why I picked up this book: the cover (gorgeous), the title (so good), the description (so unique and, though I’m not personally a gamer, it sounded fascinating), and very importantly, Black women in STEM (phenomenally necessary YA rep). Anyways, not to give too big of a spoiler for the…