Mel – Page 3 – Equal Opportunity Reader

[REVIEW] I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy

A Kindle displaying the weirdly cheerful cover of I'm Glad My Mom Died stands on front of a black, dead TV screen.

Buy this book here. (Content warning: child abuse) I feel like the best thing I can say about this book is that the title is a lie. While child star Jennette McCurdy describes the emotional, physical, sexual and financial abuse her overbearing stage mother perpetrated in painstakingly gory detail here, you never really get aContinue reading “[REVIEW] I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy”

[READING CHALLENGE] Holiday Chill Time

(There’s no booklist this time, but if you want to check out the Bookshop click here!) I don’t know about you, fellow readers, but this year has been a BEAST. I’ll probably do a retrospective of everything later but you know what I, and probably a lot of you, need right now? REST. When DecemberContinue reading “[READING CHALLENGE] Holiday Chill Time”

[REVIEW] Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O’Brien

A Black woman's (my) hand holds the paperback of Can You Sign My Tentacle up in front of a fancy hotel elevator. The cover depicts an elder God, half human half writhing tentacles, eyes fathomless, purple dreadlocks poppin', holding a sharpie marker in one outstretched, ageless hand.

(Buy this book.) The author of this speculative poetry collection is from Trinidad and Tobago. I’ve never been there, but I imagine that being islands, there are beaches there, with waves that flow across the sand and lap against the rocks in the same way that these poems flow across your eyes and lap againstContinue reading “[REVIEW] Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O’Brien”

[REVIEW] The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones

My hand holds up a Kindle displaying the cover of The Only Good Indians--a mysterious pair of antlers in the dark. In the background, there is a huge and creepy old house, a condemned sign barely visible.

(Buy this book.) Listen. This horror novel has been out for two years now, so I’m just going to go ahead and start with a spoiler. The monster is an elk. If you’re like me and your initial response to that is to lean back and say “pfffft, LAME!”, then you should also read thisContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones”

[REVIEW] Black Vans, by Alex Smith and James Dillenbeck

There are two comic books laying on a multicolored confetti rug--Black Vans issue 1&2. The covers depict Bo, a chubby Black superhero''s helper in techie combat gear, in various action poses.

(Buy this directly from the artist’s NSFW website here.) I’m having a hard time trying to figure out what I should tell you first about this cool, colorful indie comic. Maybe it’s that these are INDIE-indie books. I literally bought them out of a backpack in a nightclub. It was the writer’s backpack, but still…Continue reading “[REVIEW] Black Vans, by Alex Smith and James Dillenbeck”

[REVIEW] First Blood, by David Morrell

A tablet displaying the cover of First Blood is held up in front of a leafless fall tree at twilight. The cover depicts a lone man standing in shadow, looking towards a light.

(Buy it here.) I remember thinking, the first time I watched the Sylvester Stallone film Rambo: First Blood, that it wasn’t what I expected at all. I expected a dumb, violent, muscley action flick. It is all of that, but wrapped around a surprisingly empathetic portrayal of a scared young Vietnam vet with PTSD usingContinue reading “[REVIEW] First Blood, by David Morrell”

[READING CHALLENGE] Read Some Diverse Poetry

(Click here to skip straight to the booklist.) Y’all, I know it’s late, but the month I’ve had, with all its glorious ups and downs? Bear with me. Anyway, all whining and crowing aside(more about that crowing coming later) November is a great time to read poetry. The year is almost over, our brains areContinue reading “[READING CHALLENGE] Read Some Diverse Poetry”

[LAST WEEK IN BOOKS] Check In With Your People

Happy Halloween, fellow readers. This week’s diverse bookish news update will be brief. Even though I no longer live in South Korea, I do still have a lot of friends there and have spent much of the weekend tracking down loved ones to make sure they’re safe after the tragedy in Itaewon. My heart goesContinue reading “[LAST WEEK IN BOOKS] Check In With Your People”

[LAST WEEK IN BOOKS] All Black Everything

This week I feel like doing an all-Black, all-excellent diverse book news update. Y’all down? There we have it, fellow readers; an all-Black-everything book news update. If you are interested in finding diverse books by Black authors to read, click on the links above or check out the following booklists from the Equal Opportunity Bookshop;Continue reading “[LAST WEEK IN BOOKS] All Black Everything”

[REVIEW]The Dark Side of Seoul: Weird Tales From Korean Lore, by Shawn Morrissey, illustrated by Tim Bauer

(To buy this book, go to the publisher’s website here) I never had the chance to go on a Dark Side of Seoul tour when I lived in Korea, but they had a wide reputation as a scary fun time for English-speaking horror lovers. (In fact, I’m pretty sure one of the readers of thisContinue reading “[REVIEW]The Dark Side of Seoul: Weird Tales From Korean Lore, by Shawn Morrissey, illustrated by Tim Bauer”