This is a book that I had been wanting to pick up for a few months now, and it was also super great to purchase it from one of my new favorite local book stores. It’s a a cozy little spot complete with a resident cat, and every time I go there it lifts my spirit. I feel at home. So there were already great vibes surrounding this title before I even opened it to read. But when I did… I was wrapped into a complicated and intimate portrayal of a marriage that was full of unexpected surprises. Sorry folks — spoilers ahead.
Read MoreChildren of Blood and Bone
You should read this book (and give it to the children in your life to read!) because it opens your eyes to what Black imagination looks like. We should have the space to imagine ourselves in every way possible. Science fiction is not a genre reserved for people who do not look like us; I’ve never considered any of the faeries or wizards I’ve read about in my youth could have been Black like me. In Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi reminds us that we can be anything.
Read MoreReading and Discussion Guide: What We Lose
Wow. This is Clemmons’ debut novel, and if this is her just getting started, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her. Told through a series of short vignettes, this story is aptly titled.
Read MoreReading and Discussion Guide: Barracoon
What an incredible read. I was so excited to dive into this book, and Ms. Hurston did not let me down! In her foreward, Alice Walker calls it a “maestrapiece,” defined as “the feminine perspective or part of the structure, whether in stone or fancy, without which the entire edifice is a lie.” Walker’s writes an opening blessing over this work that primes you for the breadth and depth of the experience you are about to embark upon.
Read MoreBehold the Dreamers
A story like Behold the Dreamers calls us to actually see the millions of folks who have come into America seeking the image of plenty and success that we have sold to the world as actual humans not as aliens seeking to do us harm.
Read More