“When My Brother Was An Aztec/he lived in our basement and sacrificed my parents/every morning. It was awful.” Natalie Diaz’s When My Brother Was An Aztec is a legit masterpiece. Go read it, now. Books of poetry are sometimes navel-gazing, self-absorbed bores but this one is simply amazing. I slurped it down in two shortContinue reading “[REVIEW] When My Brother Was An Aztec, Natalie Diaz”
Tag Archives: Books by Americans
[REVIEW] Invisible Life, E. Lynn Harris
(Buy it HERE.) Raymond Tyler Jr. is Black, middle-class, and upwardly mobile. He has a job at a hot law firm in NYC, a loving Southern family, a supportive friend group and a really nice apartment. He’s a catch on the dating market, and everyone wants to know when he’ll get married. He’s also inContinue reading “[REVIEW] Invisible Life, E. Lynn Harris”
[REVIEW] Let’s Talk About Love, by Claire Kann
(Buy it HERE.) ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5⠀💕⠀Ok so first of all, isn’t that a *gorgeous* book cover? Second – good grief. When was the last time I actually read an ink and paper book? The Kindle is getting a workout lately! ⠀💑⠀It’s rare that a book completely surprises me, but this one did. After all, who expects anContinue reading “[REVIEW] Let’s Talk About Love, by Claire Kann”
[REVIEW] Felon, by Reginald Dwayne Betts
Buy it HERE. 🚔⠀I am a father driving/his Black sons to school & the death/of a Black boy rides shotgun &this/could be a funeral procession⠀~from “When I Think of Tamir Rice While Driving”⠀✊🏿⠀When it’s difficult for me to focus, I tend to read poetry. This short collection surprisingly filled an empathetic void in me IContinue reading “[REVIEW] Felon, by Reginald Dwayne Betts”
[REVIEW]No One Can Pronounce My Name, Rakesh Satyal
(Buy it HERE.) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5⠀ This book is easily my second favorite read of the year so far after Girl, Woman, Other. It’s funny, touching, warm-hearted, and surprisingly deep. It’s also ferociously well-written. (One chapter made me close the book, say WOW, & sit for a while with the words.) I can’t believe I’ve never heardContinue reading “[REVIEW]No One Can Pronounce My Name, Rakesh Satyal”
[REVIEW] On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong
(Buy it HERE.) “Who will be lost in the story we tell ourselves? Who will be lost in ourselves?” This is a messy book. There’s a lot going on between its covers–PTSD, emerging sexuality, poverty, war, immigration, mental illness, class, race, abuse, art, gender performance. There’s a lot going on, but it all seems toContinue reading “[REVIEW] On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong”
[HEAR ME OUT] It’s Aight: A long thought about what Legacy of Orisha means for Black spec-fic readers and writers…
Back in 2019, long before COVID-19 roamed the earth and drove us all inside brandishing cans of Lysol, the bookish internet was abuzz with news of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Virtue and Vengeance. I couldn’t check social media without seeing 50-11 posts anticipating the book and after putting a poll up on the Equal OpportunityContinue reading “[HEAR ME OUT] It’s Aight: A long thought about what Legacy of Orisha means for Black spec-fic readers and writers…”
[REVIEW] When My Name Was Keoko, By Linda Sue Park
(Buy it HERE.) This middle-grade book by Newbery-medal-winning Korean-American author Linda Sue Park explores an episode of history that seems curiously underexposed, if my own world history and Asian history classes in school are any indication. When My Name Is Keoko is set during the oppressive Japanese occupation of Korea in the 1940s. Pause forContinue reading “[REVIEW] When My Name Was Keoko, By Linda Sue Park”
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
(Buy it HERE.) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 It took me a long time to re-read The Bluest Eye this go-round–not because it’s a difficult or complicated read, but because the prose is so dense and delicious that reading it is like eating an expensive dessert. I savored each sentence slowly, not wanting the book to end. From theContinue reading “The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison”
[REVIEW]Heartbeat Braves, Pamela Sanderson
⭐⭐⭐/5⠀💑⠀A while ago I re-read the classic, yet embarrassingly dated and racially insensitive Indian Romance Career Achievement award-nominated novel Brave Heart. Ever since then I’ve been keeping an eye out for something to read by an indigenous author as penance because there are alarmingly few Native American authors in my overall reading rotation. ⠀💏⠀I firstContinue reading “[REVIEW]Heartbeat Braves, Pamela Sanderson”
Equal Opportunity Reader 