#20booksbyBlackwomen – Equal Opportunity Reader

[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”

[REVIEW] Wash Day Diaries, by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith

The purple cover of Wash Day Diaries, depicting a diverse foursome of Black women smiling, posing and embracing, lays on a table surrounded by hair gel, a boar bristle brush, a big tooth comb, and other Black hair tools

(Buy this book here) Hey, fellow readers. How’ve you been? I took a little break, and for a while wasn’t sure I’d be back in a hurry. This is partly because my Day Jobbe is eating my brain, and although steps are being taken to vanquish the zombie source of income, for a while IContinue reading “[REVIEW] Wash Day Diaries, by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith”

[REVIEW] La Bastarda, By Trifonia Melibea Obono, translated by Lawrence Schimel

The simple, solid blue cover of La Bastarda is displayed on a tablet, held up against the twilight sky with the moon high and tiny above it.

(Buy this book here.) This is the first book by a woman from Equatorial Guinea ever translated into English. It follows Okomo, a orphaned teen living in her grandparents house in a traditional village. With her mother dead and her father absent, she only has her favorite uncle to turn to when she begins toContinue reading “[REVIEW] La Bastarda, By Trifonia Melibea Obono, translated by Lawrence Schimel”

[Review] Honey and Spice, by Bolu Babalola

The Kindle cover of Bolu Babalola's Honey and Spice, depicting two young Black lovers standing side by side, lays on a pink , red and white camouflage mat, surrounded by a fancy candle, a pink set of earbuds, and a tall pink cup with XOXO written on the side.

(Buy this cute book here.) This would make a really cute movie. Kiki Banjo hosts the hottest campus radio broadcast for Black students at a PWI. Malakai Korede is a transfer student and an up-and-coming filmmaker. Both of them are fit, fine, and have no time for relationships. But when professional opportunity comes knocking, theseContinue reading “[Review] Honey and Spice, by Bolu Babalola”

[REVIEW] How High The Moon, by Karyn Parsons

A young Ukrainian man in a Black sweater smiles down at the blue and gold cover of How High The Moon. Behind him are a world map, an orange map, and an open window looking out onto a public square.

(Buy this book.) I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but my current day job is in an ESL school. Perhaps this is a bit too on-brand, but I’m always telling my students that if they want a good English vocabulary, they need to read. Our school even has a little library that IContinue reading “[REVIEW] How High The Moon, by Karyn Parsons”

[REVIEW] The Weight of Blood, by Tiffany D Jackson

(Buy this book.) The blurbs call this a Black version of Stephen King’s Carrie, and they’re mostly right. The author set out to write this as an homage, only shifting the tone of the main character’s terror, not the source. Instead of sheltered, abused, religiously traumatized Carrie White, this book focuses on biracial (Black andContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Weight of Blood, by Tiffany D Jackson”

[REVIEW] Bloodmarked, by Tracy Deonn

he black and white ebook cover of Bloodmarked, depicting a young Black woman and white man back to back in a battle stance surrounded by magical energies. The cover is displayed on a Kindle that is being held by a Black woman's hand(my hand) in front of an old-fashioned historical American building on a cold rainy day.

(Buy this book) What I expected from the hotly anticipated sequel to Legendborn: Our heroine Bree, having discovered she’s the bearer of a magical legacy from her slave-owning white ancestors that supercharge the gifts inherited from her mother’s ancestral line, raises up a network of fierce Black women rootcrafters, takes on the Round Table, andContinue reading “[REVIEW] Bloodmarked, by Tracy Deonn”