Books by Black Writers – Equal Opportunity Reader

[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 Madison Washington. MaddyContinue 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”

[LAST WEEK IN BOOKS] All Black Everything

This week I feel like doing an all-Black, all-excellent diverse book news update. Y’all down? There we have it, fellow readers; an all-Black-everything book news update. If you are interested in finding diverse books by Black authors to read, click on the links above or check out the following booklists from the Equal Opportunity Bookshop;Continue reading “[LAST WEEK IN BOOKS] All Black Everything”

[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”

[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] Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans

(Click here to buy this book.) I am once again asking publishers, editors, and readers to let Black women write beyond sadness in America. Please? sigh This collection of poetry from a queer Black woman starts strong. It’s put together very well in a technical sense but it all feels kind of by the numbersContinue reading “[REVIEW] Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans”

[Reading Challenge] Read #BlackJoy for #PrideMonth

(To skip straight to a booklist of Black Pride and joy, click here.) Y’all knew this was coming, right? I’m not an ally, I’m an accomplice. In the roughest, toughest parts of my non-ambiguously Black nerd femme life, my gay, lesbian, trans, and non-binary fam have always jumped in the trenches with me, helped meContinue reading “[Reading Challenge] Read #BlackJoy for #PrideMonth”

[REVIEW] Fledgling, by Octavia Butler

(Buy this book here.) *Content warning* Not every written word ages well. Every author has something in their catalog that gives readers of the future the ick. Sometimes it’s the whole catalog. If they’re lucky, it’s just one book or part of a book. Octavia Butler got lucky. Fledgling has been called Butler’s vampire novel,Continue reading “[REVIEW] Fledgling, by Octavia Butler”