Books by American Men – Page 2 – Equal Opportunity Reader

[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] Elite Capture, by Olúfémi O. Táíwò

The paperback version of Elite Capture is open facedown on a wooden kitchen table, next to a delicious dish of greens, egg and tomato. The cover depicts a silhouetted Black hand stealing the dot from the "i" in "elite". The title of the book is all in black typeface except for that "i".

(Buy this book here.) I think at this point we all realize that this idea many millennials have been fed of working really hard, socially climbing, and getting into powerful rooms and important tables to make changes is more or less a pipe dream. It’s not that it isn’t possible, it’s just that it’s notContinue reading “[REVIEW] Elite Capture, by Olúfémi O. Táíwò”

[REVIEW] Repairing Play: A Black Phenomenology, by Aaron Trammell

A Black woman's hand(Mel's) holds the paperback of Black Play in front of a strongly patterned carpet in complimentary colors. The cover shows Black children running a footrace.

(Buy this book here) One person’s game can be another’s torment. Aaron Trammell is a professor of informatics and the editor of Analog Game Studies. He puts this background to good use in this book, analyzing what play really means in a racialized context and a racist society. He pulls from theory, philosophy, cultural wisdom,Continue reading “[REVIEW] Repairing Play: A Black Phenomenology, by Aaron Trammell”

[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] The Windweaver’s Storm(TJ Young and the Orishas Book 2), by Antoine Bandele

A Black woman's hand(my hand) holds up the Kindle cover of The Windweaver's Storm up against the cloudy blue and white sky. The cover shows a teenaged black boy and girl pointing at a giant female figure made of lightning and fire in the distance.

(Buy this book!) One of my most anticipated new reads for 2022 is finally here and let me say the important part first– it did not disappoint! When we last saw teenaged magic student Tomori Jomiloju Young, he had survived remedial magic summer camp, traveled to the spirit realm, made a bargain with Olokun himselfContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Windweaver’s Storm(TJ Young and the Orishas Book 2), by Antoine Bandele”

[REVIEW] Cheaper By The Dozen, by Frank B Gilbreth Jr. & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

A Black woman's hand(my hand) holds a Kindle displaying the cover of Cheaper By The Dozen in front of a sleepy residential street lined with autumn trees

(Buy it on Bookshop here.) I rarely review “classic” books on here because a)I don’t read them all that often and b) I find it kind of tiresome that whenever I say I focus on diversity in my reading, people expect me to spend all my time making angry posts about old books written byContinue reading “[REVIEW] Cheaper By The Dozen, by Frank B Gilbreth Jr. & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey”

[REVIEW] Starlion: Thieves of the Red Night, by Leon Langford

A Black woman's hand holds up the colorful anime-style cover of Starlion: Thieves Of The Red Night in front of a office window overlooking the Boston Seaport district.

(Buy it here from Bookshop.) What do you get when you cross Sky High, The Avengers and Yu-Gi-Oh? Toss in a little Harry Potter and Percy Jackson too and apparently, you get this fun middle-grade superhero fantasy novel by indie author Leon Langford. It’s about Jordan Harris, a supernaturally gifted Black boy in an alternateContinue reading “[REVIEW] Starlion: Thieves of the Red Night, by Leon Langford”

[REVIEW] Forty Acres, by Dwayne Alexander Smith

A Black woman's hand(my hand) holds a Kindle displaying the black and white cover of Forty Acres in front of a freshly chopped woodpile, complete with axe.

(Buy this on Bookshop) I had to think long and hard about what to say about this book and to be honest, I’m still not sure. Let’s start with the premise. (Warning: I’m going all in with the spoilers for this one.) Martin Grey is an up-and-coming, black and bougie New York attorney. When heContinue reading “[REVIEW] Forty Acres, by Dwayne Alexander Smith”

[REVIEW] Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, original text by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings

A Black woman's hand holds a tablet displaying the orange cover of Parable of the Sower in front of a speeding train window, passing by a grassy field. The book cover depicts a Black teenaged girl with long dreadlocks, half her face hidden, standing in front of stylized flames and mountains.

(Buy it on Bookshop here.) I just moved back to America, and man, it is weird. Watching the news from America in preparation for my return sometimes felt like watching a large angry monster run towards a cliff with someone you love strapped to their back, screaming. I haven’t lived in my country for 15Continue reading “[REVIEW] Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, original text by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings”