Black Writers – Page 4 – Equal Opportunity Reader

[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”

[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] 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] The Ballad of Perilous Graves, by Alex Jennings

(Buy this book here.) (Disclosure: I met Alex aka @magicknegro at Under The Volcano 2022 and have been known to message him whiny existential writer complaints on occasion. This is still an honest review and I bought my own copy of this book because Paying Writers Cures Foolishness.) The publisher blurbs for this book allContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Ballad of Perilous Graves, by Alex Jennings”

[REVIEW] Fevered Star, by Rebecca Roanhorse

The black and white cover of Fevered Star is seen from above resting in the lap of a woman in a pink and white striped summer dress, a Thai iced tea with boba balanced on one knee.

(Buy this book!) Let me just rip the band-aid off; meh. I wanted to love this book because of what it is. I love fantasy that steps away from the hoary old medieval Europe tropes. This series, set in a world based on pre-Columbian South American cultures, follows a clash between age-old forces of lightContinue reading “[REVIEW] Fevered Star, by Rebecca Roanhorse”

[READING CHALLENGE] Kill Your #TBR!

Holy crap, how it is already August? I moved back to America ELEVEN MONTHS AGO and I honestly have no idea what’s going on here, still. What I do know is that I’ve amassed and imported an astonishing number of books that I intend to read. I haven’t made a big deal of it, butContinue reading “[READING CHALLENGE] Kill Your #TBR!”

[REVIEW] The Brown Sisters Trilogy, by Talia Hibbert

(Buy these books!) I love a British rom-com. I also love an #ownnormal story, and I have a special place in my heart for hot summer beach reads. The Brown Sisters’ romances(Get A Life, Chloe Brown; Take A Hint, Dani Brown; and Act Your Age, Eve Brown) deliver all of the above and more. AllContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Brown Sisters Trilogy, by Talia Hibbert”