You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. Akwaeke Emezi. 2022. Atria Books. 288 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher courtesy of Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.] They say you can’t always judge a book by its cover, but in the case of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, I did exactly that and came out a winner. I was struck by the vivid, indulgent vibe I got from the cover’s illustration, and I wa...
It Was All a Dream. Justin Tinsley. 2022. Abrams Press. 352 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] When the impending release of It Was All a Dream was announced last year, I ran to get my hands on it. I was enticed by the opportunity to read a fresh look at one of the most lauded emcees of my youth, but was also intrigued by what perspective an author from my generation would brin...
Through the Storm. Beverly Jenkins. 1998. HarperCollins. 388 pages. [Source: Public Library.] I am far too late on the Beverly Jenkins train; luckily, I’ve corrected course and thoroughly enjoyed the first in her historical fiction series that follows the Le Veq family in Civil War-era New Orleans. With an unexpected and dramatic escape from the plantation she’s always know as home, Sable finds herself newly free during the ...
The Guy Next Door. DL White. 2019. 244 pages. [Source: Public Library.] Life is full of happy accidents, even if they start from bad ones. When Evonne and Taj cross paths in Potter Lake’s medical clinic, both assume it’s a one-off meeting after he patches up her injury from an unfortunate fall. They’re both chagrined when the cute yet hysterical patient happens to be the new tenant of the sexy male nurse with whom she ...
The Dead Are Arising. Les Payne & Tamara Payne. 2020. Liveright. 601 pages. [Source: Public Library.] But people are always speculating-why am I as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth, must be reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient. Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X I first heard of The Dead Are Arising when it was awarde...
