Mel The Bookworm

Last Week In Books: Support Black Writers, Asian Bookstores and Palestinian Libraries

A photo of a hijabi in a bookstore, standing in front of a shelf reading a paperback.

Fellow readers! Welcome to this week’s round up of diverse bookish news across genres. Info about diverse writers is becoming even more thin on the ground, which has increased my resolve to keep up with these posts as often as I can. Then again, it is the Blah time before winter solstice and for someContinue reading “Last Week In Books: Support Black Writers, Asian Bookstores and Palestinian Libraries”

[REVIEW] Wild Spaces, by S. L. Coney

A Black woman's hand holds the cover of Wild Spaces up in front of trees and fallen leaves. The cover depicts a boy and his dog in silhouette, walking in twilight surrounded by tentacles.

(Buy this book here.) This debut horror novella was a very nice surprise. In the double magics of pre-internet childhood and coastal South Carolina, an eleven-year old boy, his biologist father and his pretty, secretive mother have their peaceful beachfront cottage life disturbed when the boy’s grandfather shows up one day. Nothing’s quite right aboutContinue reading “[REVIEW] Wild Spaces, by S. L. Coney”

Last Week In Books: Yes, That’s My Real Voice

The face of writer Melissa A Watkins, surrounded by the crumpled pages of writing drafts and musical scores. The image is titled "Artist Portrait No. 25: Melissa Watkins"

Fellow readers! Didya miss me? Whether or not you did, here I am again with one of my intermittent news updates covering the world of diverse books and diverse readers. Let’s jump right in! See you next time I have a spare moment to do a round-up, beautiful people. If you want to buy someContinue reading “Last Week In Books: Yes, That’s My Real Voice”

[REVIEW]The Rose That Grew From Concrete, by Tupac Shakur

(Buy this book here.) So, the poems in this book are absolutely terrible and we need to talk about that. Put away your pitchforks and torches. I said what I said. This book of posthumously published poetry by one of hip-hop’s most lauded voices is…pretty bad. The rhymes are trite, the metaphors banal (when they’reContinue reading “[REVIEW]The Rose That Grew From Concrete, by Tupac Shakur”

[REVIEW] I Am AI, by Ai Jiang

The Kindle cover of I Am Ai, depicting the face of an Asian woman with a blank stare and electricity coursing up her neck. The Kindle is held up in front of a old, weathered brick wall.

(Buy this book.) It’s taken me a while to write a proper review of this novelette because I really felt it in a deep and personal place that I’m not really sure how to talk about it. Sorry in advance if this gets treacly, or treaclier than usual, anyway. The city of Emit exists somewhereContinue reading “[REVIEW] I Am AI, by Ai Jiang”

[REVIEW] Chlorine, by Jade Song

The Kindle cover of Chlorine by Jade Song, which depicts a mermaid tail flashing out of view into the water. It's held up by a Black woman's hand in front of a grimy collegiate swimming pool.

(To buy this book, click here.) Ren Yu– daughter of Chinese immigrants, indifferent high school student, favorite pupil of her lecherous coach, unrequited love of teammate Cathy’s budding lesbian life — knows deep down that she’s really always been a mermaid. The Pennsylvania suburbs are a bit far from the beach, but Ren feeds herContinue reading “[REVIEW] Chlorine, by Jade Song”

[REVIEW]Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed, by Dashka Slater

The Kindle cover of accountable, depicting a shadowy, chaotic crowd behind the book's title, propped up next to a glass of beer and a delicious sandwich.

(If you must buy this book, buy it here.) This book reminds me that I am not the target audience for books about racism, at least not ones like this. In 2017, a bored Korean-American kid started editing pictures of Black girls in his school in alarming ways. He juxtaposed them with gorillas, photoshopped noosesContinue reading “[REVIEW]Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed, by Dashka Slater”

[REVIEW] The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty

The Kindle cover of The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, depicting a sea monster eating a ship in black and white.

(Buy this book here.) This book is absolutely delightful and this review will do it no justice. You have been warned. Amina Al-Sirafi is a middle-aged single mother with bad knees who lives in a modest country house and minds her own business. She was also one of the most fearsome pirates who ever sailedContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty”

[REVIEW]Remedies for Disappearing, by Alexa Patrick

The beautiful paperback cover of Remedies for Disappearing, featuring a collage in varying shades of blue, a dark-skinned serene Black woman in the foreground, is held up by a Black woman's(my) hand in front of a late summer garden. A family of small wooden bunnies in tuxedos is in the background.

(Buy this wonderful book here.) FINALLY AND AT LAST! It’s been (rightly) noted that I can be rather hard on Black woman writers. (Apologies to Tiffany D Jackson, Tracey Deonn, Jasmine Mans, and others…) I think it’s because I’m aching for us to truly center ourselves and our experiences as our frame of reference, ratherContinue reading “[REVIEW]Remedies for Disappearing, by Alexa Patrick”

[REVIEW] The Cutting Season, by Attica Locke

The Kindle cover of The Cutting Season, depicting a plantation big house, is held up in of the panoramic green view of Boston's Peters Hill by a Black woman's(my) hand.

(Buy this book at the Equal Opportunity Bookshop) I know I keep saying that thrillers and mysteries are really #notmygenre, but books like this and Razorblade Tears are really trying to change my mind. (Notice that both of these books are blackity-Black. Representation matters!) Caren Gray is the general manager of the historic Louisiana plantationContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Cutting Season, by Attica Locke”