Black Love Matters. Jessica P. Pryde, ed. 2022. Berkley. 285 pages. [Source: Public Library.] As a proud lover of all things Black romance, I had to get my hands on this anthology which features essays from some of the most visible names in the field of Black romance publishing and scholarship. With this book, Pryde has brought together long-established names as well as those who are on their rise to consider the ways that Black Love Matters. The result is a book filled with contributors representing all facets of Black life and love, sharing their insights on the genre and what it means for them or critically examining the space that Black love occupies in literature. One of the greatest take aways here is that Black Love Matters gives space to ask the question — why do we need to center Black love? If romance is one of the best-selling segments of the publishing industry, why are Black stories still lacking in representation? In responding to this topic, the authors share their own experiences as creators, consumers, and scholars of Black romance. What I love about this book is that its chapters reflect the complexity of Black writing; there are…

How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don’t. Lane Moore. 2018. Atria Books. 224 pages. [Source: Public library.] Random scrolling in the Libby app led me to How to Be Alone, written by comedian, writer, and musician Lane Moore. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the title caught my attention considering I enjoy my fair share of alone time. How to Be Alone, however, is less about the beauty found in solitude, and more about how the author coped with the physical and psychological isolation she has navigated since her childhood. In this memoir, Moore shares vignettes of her life that center her connections with other people — or lack thereof. From friendships, to relationships, and her career, she bares a lot in the name of transparency, and it reads a lot like a cautionary tale. The “how-to” aspect of the book was not prominent until the final chapter. The rest, however, did read like a “what not to do,” though I’m not sure that’s what the author intended. Moore isn’t specific in the book about the nature of what she experienced with her family, but she is clear about its impact on…