#WWWWednesday – The One Where I Talk About Ngūgī wa Thiong’o, Buchi Emecheta, & L.M. Montgomery

Long time no see, bookish peeps! I hope you all have had a wonderful 2023 and are having a great week! 

I guess no one was going to tell me that Friendsgiving is next week. Hee Hee, I was shocked to learn from my family that next week is already another holiday here Stateside. Do you all celebrate the holiday or are you just taking it as another day?

On a more bookish note, I’m finally back with another WWW Wednesday!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and asks readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

What did you read last or are currently reading?

If I’m being honest with you all, I haven’t finished a full book in about three weeks, going on a month now. I’ve been working on several work presentations and a conference presentation and time got away from me when it came to reading.

The books I’ve started for my “African Literature” and “Finish A Series”/”Author” categories included: Devil on the Cross by Ngūgī wa Thiong’o, Destination Biafra by Buchi Emecheta, and Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery.

I previously read Thiong’o’s A Grain of Wheat as a graduate student when I was studying for my Literary & Cultural Studies degree and took a Post-Colonialism and Transnationalism course and then finished his folklore/fantasy-esque novel, Wizard of the Crow, earlier this year. I thoroughly enjoyed the expansiveness and intricacies of the world Thingo’o built in Wizard of the Crow to convey his moral tale. What I love about this Kenyan author’s work is that he first and foremost shuns the idea that Western Literature is the center and chose to write Devil on the Cross (1980) in his native tongue, which is Gĩkũyũ. Thiong’o then translated the Devil on the Cross himself to publish in English.

Like Wizard of the Crow, this novel is a satire about the patterns post-colonial and post-imperialistic countries fall into when trying to establish their independence from the colonizer. Where Wizard of the Crow was a tale that was more light-hearted and satirical with elements of fantasy, folklore, and Kenyan mythology, Devil on the Cross is a darker tale. Here, Thiong’o leans heavily toward satirizing the moral tales of the Bible and pairing Kenyan folklore with Christian Biblical references. In Devil on the Cross, the author also satirizes African political events generally and then, heavily evoking instances in Kenyan politics specifically. So, it was not too shocking to learn that this novel was written on toilet paper while Thiong’o had been jailed as a political prisoner in Kenya in 1977 after staging his play, Ngaahika Ndeena (I Will Marry When I Want), which was written as an expose on the ruling class of Kenya in the voice of the workers and peasants of the country. With Thiong’o, political themes run deep. This shows in Devil on the Cross’s contents.

So far, I am enjoying this third novel from the author for how he has once again given voice to the little person who gets ran over by the capitalistic and political forces when post-colonial and post-imperialistic atmospheres arrive in a building nation. As we follow his cast of characters, it is clear that each character is representative of a different group of society in this new nation (ex: the scholar, the poor and working class, the business tycoon, the politician, and the vulnerable and unprotected woman who is at risk of violence at all sides).

Thiongo’o’s cast is on their way to what they call “the Devil’s Feast” where the modern thief will be crowned. This thief is the person who has managed to stealthily steal from the poor and their fellow human to the grandest degree without remorse. The judges at this feast are the original thieves, the Western (US, UK, Dutch, French) and Euro-asian (Japan and Russia) leaders who originally stole land and resources from Africa and the Global South. The main character of Devil on the Cross is Wariinga, who leads us through this story. Wariinga represents the female body who is usually the person who suffers worse in times of war and reconstruction. I highly suggest reading this book. However, I will warn that the book is slow going in pace, so try and have a lighter read to pair with it.

Like Thiong’o’s novel, Destination Biafra by Buchi Emecheta is also a wartime post-colonial novel. But, Emecheta writes about the Biafran Civil War in the 1960s from the female perspective using her character Debbie. Debbie is the daughter of the Minister of Finance in Nigeria. As war breaks out in her country, Debbie decides to eschew the money grabbing and flashy ways of her parent and their social set and join the fight as a soldier. This decision appears to be made in haste on Debbie’s part. Yet, as with many of Emecheta’s books, the reader gets to relive parts of the author’s thoughts and experiences through her characters.

This is my ninth novel from Emecheta this year for my “Year of Emecheta.” Out of all her books, this is her most “serious” topic she writes in the introduction since it allows her to make peace with the fact that she was not able to be in Nigeria during the Biafran War. Emecheta goes as far as to say that this is her first “masculine” novel. While I am only in the beginning parts of her book, I can agree that this novel unlike the other eight I have read this year feels as if it is heftier and less focused on the dramatic tropes she uses to talk about family life as an expat in London or village life in Nigeria. Unlike my favorite Emecheta novels, The Family (also called Gwendolyn), Naira Power, and Second-Class Citizen, Destination Biafra, pans out from the Nigerian family who is usually the focus of the author’s stories, and instead focuses on Nigerian politics.

Where Emecheta would usually have her female characters telling the majority of the story, the plot is mostly seen through male characters eyes in Destination Biafra. Additionally, Emecheta’s personal history is centered less in this book than the other stories I have read from her, such as Second-Class Citizen, In the Ditch, Kehinde, or Double Yoke. In these stories, much like the Antinguan author, Jamaica Kincaid, Emecheta has a way of popping up into her stories as a thinly veiled fictional version of herself to offer her thoughts on characters’ behaviors or life as she sees it. I enjoy this aspect of Emecheta’s work, but in books like Double Yoke, the author lays it on thick to the point of sacrificing the plot in favor of inserting her likeliness into the story. That being said, it’s too early to say if I’d recommend this particular Emecheta. Nevertheless, I highly highly recommend her other adult fiction novels, The Joys of Motherhood, The Family/Gwendolyn, Kehinde, In the Ditch, and the YA novellas, The Moonlight Bride and The Wrestling Match, which are all books I read earlier this year and loved.

Last but not least, I am finishing up the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery. This series happens to be my older sister’s favorite series, so I wanted to read it to discuss it with her and because my younger brother and I loved the cartoon version of the show when we were little. I am currently on the sixth book in the series, Anne of Ingleside. I’ll hold my thoughts until I finish all the books and report back.

Have you read any of the Anne of Green Gable books?

What will you read next?

Besides finishing the books I mentioned, I’ve also been working my way through the American Girl series after repurchasing the Addy books and finding the rest through my local library and Internet Archive. I realized earlier in the year that I had never really read all the books. With the exception of reading Addy’s series all the way through, each book series felt fresh to me. In certain cases, like with Molly and Samantha’s story, I vaguely remember reading or watching a made for tv movie as a kid or tween and had my memory jogged about minor plot details. Otherwise, I was enthralled with each book.

So far I’ve read almost all of the core dolls’ book series, with the exception of Samantha and Josefina. After I finish these two collections, I will be reading the other dolls series. If you have small children who are interested in what young children would have experienced during different eras in American and Canadian history, I would highly suggest these book series.

That’s all for me in terms of reading.

Did you read American Girl, Dear America, or Dear Canada books as a kid?

One more thing before you go….

Since I haven’t done a Sunday Post episode here, I’ll also let you know what music I’m listening to. I’ve recently got into YouTube playlist videos. I found these cool playlists that add a nice touch to my morning hourly DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) sessions. Each playlist has elements that help me focus. From soothing rain sounds, classical tracks, and lo-fi, I highly commend these playlist channels to enhance your reading pleasure.

Until next time, bookish peeps,

Happy Reading!

The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander #WWWWednesday #BookReview

Happy Wednesday from my little corner of the Book-O-Sphere, bookish peeps!

Today’s WWW Wednesday is a special one thanks to the kind people at Little, Brown And Company and Hear Our Voices. Thank both parties for the gifted e-ARC of The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander I’ll be talking about today!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and asks readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

Let’s jump right in!

What did you read last?

I had the privilege of reading The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander this month, and it was a book that took me on an emotional rollercoaster.

When faced with the phrase, “the door of no return,” most people of the African Diaspora will instantly think of the African Chattel Slave Trade and the slave holdings in Ghana were many of our ancestors’ last look at their African homes before they were violently dispersed to the winds of the Caribbean and Americas. But, Alexander takes us one step back from this history and reminds his readers that before people of the African Diaspora were placed in chains, they lived full lives and had rich histories of their own that did not center on the colonizer.

Using Kofi Offin, an 11-year-old boy from Upper Kwanta, Alexander gives readers a chance to get a different perspective of what life could have been like for a young child in pre-colonial Africa. Readers will see Kofi be faced with learning about his family and village’s history, pursuing his love of swimming, and duking it out with his arrogant cousin, who is his age mate.

What made me love The Door of No Return is that Alexander starts his story with the understanding that people of the African Diaspora lived full and rich lives that did not originally cater to the white gaze. Kofi and his family are shown in their fullness and given agency over their stories without the story becoming voyeuristic. 

This was something I appreciated as an empath because the history of those who were forced through a trading post on the Gold Coast before making the violent journey through the Middle Passage is always told in a way that centers whiteness. These gruesome stories almost read as if the authors want their readers to take pleasure in the disturbing details. However, Alexander handles Kofi’s story with care and humanizes this young boy and his village for readers.

If you are a reader who enjoys middle-grade fiction and is seeking a good place for yourself or your child to learn about the Middle Passage, I would highly recommend The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander. It also would pair nicely with a viewing of Viola Davis’ new film, The Woman King. The Door of No Return is also a part of a trilogy that Alexander will continue in the coming year.

Click below for an exclusive audio snippet of The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander to hear more from Alexander!

Excerpt from Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney. Goffney’s book follows Quinn, a high school senior, who loses her prized journal of list and is blackmailed into completing her secret bucket list before her masked antagonizer exposes her secret to the school. Quinn faces everything from racism to reveling in her Blackness to coping with her grandmother’s dementia. Through it all, Goffney highlights the aspects of community and family life that make for a good and realistic Young Adult novel.

What will you read next?

As always, I’m a mood reader, so I cannot tell you what I’ll be reading next. But, if you have any suggestions, leave them below!

#WWWWednesday – 30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani & Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean #BookReview

We made it to the middle point of the week, bookish peeps! I hope your week has been going well! 

This week is the start of my final year in my graduate program, and so far, it’s been a wonderful week full of new beginnings and blessings for me. 

One of those blessings involves being able to finish a few books to share on this WWW Wednesday!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and asks readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for the Advance Listening Copy (ALC) of 30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani and LibroFM for my ALC of Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean.

My first reads were Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean and 30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani. Each of these books focused on having the characters develop self-love and self-awareness by being radically honest with themselves and others. 

For Emiko Jean’s character, Mika, a thirty-five year old, first-generation Japanese wannabe artist, her journey to self-awareness and radical self-love has many pitstops. These pitstops include finding her long-lost daughter, Penny, and masquerading as an established artist to impress said daughter. Throughout Jean’s novel, Mika quickly learns that every lie costs. To dismantle her castle of lies, Mika will have to confront her traumatic past and overcome generational curses.

If you are a reader who enjoys character exploration and aren’t afraid of sitting inside uncomfortable situations with a character, Mika in Real Life will be a novel you enjoy. The writing in this book is crisp and the characters are realistic when it comes to tackling issues, such as adoption and sexual trauma. 

There are moments when the book feels as if Jean is stretching reality to its limits with how a character may react to a situation (cough cough…Mika’s plan to build a life so swiftly once she reconnects with Penny…cough cough). But, if the reader suspends reality, things like this silly plan can be overcome. For more empathic and sensitive readers, I would suggest being aware that Jean’s book tackles issues, such as sexual trauma, adoption, the death of a parent, and depression. 

Check out my post about what it’s like to read as an empath.

If you’re looking for similar themes, but delivered in a lighter vein, I would suggest reading 30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani. I laughed out loud and snorted throughout reading this book.

While Jean and Sanghani both are writing about thirty-something women whose lives have fallen apart, Sanghani leans into the mess and plays up her character’s, Nina Mistry’s mishaps to sell readers on the absurdity of the self-help industrial complex. 

Nina Mistry is a mess and she knows it! When she’s “gifted” a self-help book called, How to Fix Your Shitty Life by Loving Yourself by the police officer who’s guarding her in jail after her arrest at a protest the night before her thirtieth birthday, she sees it as fate. Nina quickly becomes obsessed with changing her life and those around her for the better. Her schemes involve discovering a newfound love of yoga and embracing her Indian heritage by calling out all that’s wrong with the racist world she lives in. 

Simple, right? Yes and no.

Even though Sanghani’s character is earnest and open to whatever the world may throw her way, Nina is also heavy-handed in executing her radical self-love journey for maximum impact. This means readers see her trying to “eat, pray, love” her way to self-awareness with hilarious results. This book is tailor-made for lovers of books (and movies), like Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding.

I enjoyed this book for many of the same reasons that I adored Jean’s novel. But, the one thing I did find a little off-putting was how severe mental health issues, such as depression and talk of suicide, were handled. While Jean frames her story as a dramedy with a heavy emphasis on the drama, Sanghani’s choice to lean into the comedic part of her narrative makes it hard to pivot to talk about these serious topics and give them the necessary space. This causes readers to be thrown from laughing at Nina’s antics into careening into a scene where Nina is dealing with her father’s suicide and the depression of her brother. Because of these quick turns, I would suggest readers who are empathic or not ready to deal with these topics be aware before reading.

What are you currently reading?/ What will you read next?

Since it’s the start of the semester, I have nothing on my TBR just yet.

If you all have any suggestions, I would love to hear them in the comments below.

I hope you all have a wonderful week until we meet again!

#WWWWednesday – Good Morning, Love by Ashley M. Coleman & Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle

Happy Wednesday from my little corner of the Book-o-sphere!

It’s been a while since I did a WWW Wednesday. But, I wanted to check in with you all about some amazing reads I was introduced to over the summer by Simon & Schuster for their #BlackLoveSummer campaign and hear about the books you all have been reading this season!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the gifted books I’ll be talking about below!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and asks readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

Let’s Go!

What did you read last?

As a full-time student who also works and takes care of family, reading these days is a privilege and allows me to have a “woo-sahhh” moment. So, I’m always geeked to find books I can relate to and become engrossed in. Simon & Schuster delivered on both fronts!

The first book I finished from the #BlackLoveSummer campaign was Good Morning, Love by Ashley M. Coleman.

Good Morning, Love follows Carlisa “Carli” Henton, a musician and songwriter who wants to follow in her father’s footsteps to become a musician, but on her own terms. By day Carli battles it out as a junior account manager at a media company in New York City and uses her free time to write songs with her friends in hopes of creating a hit. She crosses paths with Tau Anderson, one of the music industry’s rising R&B stars, and the pair’s world collides professionally and romantically.

Coleman’s novel is perfect for readers who enjoy seeing what happens behind the glitz and glam of the music industry. The author’s characters are fully fleshed out and make you root for them even when you know lines are being blurred.

For instance, as a junior account manager and woman in the industry, Carli sets strict boundaries on how she interacts with men. Upon meeting Tau, these lines are blurred, and Carli is placed in a precarious position as they bond over their shared interest and the music Carli hopes to one day create. For readers who have had to make tough decisions about their career as a woman or minority in their field while trying to navigate the ranks, Good Morning, Love will have moments where you may be able to point out similarities in your live to Carli’s and commiserate with the choices she has to make. 

My absolute favorite part of the novel, though, is the atmospheric moments in the narrative where Coleman uses her words to transport readers into the spaces Carli inhabits, be it a club setting or transporting readers into the music Carli is making. This is where Good Morning, Love shines.

I would highly suggest this book to anyone who loves music and stories that have a gradual slow-burn romance that characters build throughout the story. This film felt like it would pair well with a viewing of the film Brown Sugar, which is a love letter to the creation of hip hop and follows two friends as they grow up to work in the music industry and gradually realize their love for one another. 

Check out my author interview with Ashley M. Coleman

Speaking of slow-burn romances, Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle is a perfect Young Adult read for summertime.

LaDelle’s novel follows two high schoolers, Dani Ford and Prince Jones, as they attempt to fall in love and conquer their senior year. Dani is slow to trust after being burned by love and losing her passion for love. Prince is sure he’s found “the one” in Dani and is more than willing to show her why he’s the perfect man for her. The only thing holding him back is that he’s trying to juggle being a caretaker for his mom, who has multiple sclerosis and acting as a father figure to his younger brother, Mook. Using his spot as a DJ and Detroit’s own “love guru,” Prince attempts to shoot his shot with Dani and show her how to believe in love and herself once again.

Love Radio is just what the doctor ordered for readers who love a solid romance novel with tropes, like love contracts, slow-burn romances, and a character who’s good at giving love advice but horrible at love. 

LaDelle does a great job of crafting characters in Love Radio who are easy to root for. With Prince’s love of love and music and Dani’s beautiful prose when she references her favorite Black authors, LaDelle’s ability to build characters that are complex and believable shines through. However, my critique is that Prince and Dani feel as if they belong on a college campus instead of in high school. This is especially obvious in the scenes where Dani’s sexual assault trauma is discussed. While this isn’t a total weakness, if Love Radio is ever adapted for tv or film, I would love for this characterization and setting change to be played to make the novel’s action more believable.

As a Detroiter, I can say that LaDelle’s love for our shared hometown shines through with all the hidden Easter eggs she places in her book that only a fellow Detroiter would recognize. From drinking Vernor’s instead of ginger ale to skating at the Northland skating rink and trips to the Motown Museum, LaDelle hits a sweet spot for why the D is a special place to grow up and experience.

Besides a shared love of our hometown, my favorite part of LaDelle and Coleman’s books has to be the musical references. Check out this playlist to hear what soundtracks were playing as each artist wrote their books. 

What are you currently reading?

I recently finished The Sandman on Netflix and instantly went looking for the graphic novel series. Originally written by Neil Gaiman and totaling more than 80 individual comics, this dark fantasy series blends mythology with horror and traditional DC comics to tell the story of Dream/Morpheus. This mythical character was imprisoned by humans for over 70 years and must go on a quest to get his Kingdom and treasures back from those who have stolen them from him. 

The Netflix show ranks in my top three shows of summer, followed by Hulu’s The Bear and Starz’s P-Valley. The Bear is a dramedy about a mom-and-pop sandwich shop in Philadelphia and the cooking staff who works there. P-Valley is a Southern drama that does a deep dive into the inner workings of the cast of a strip club called The Pynk. Placed in the down-and-out town of Chucalisa, Mississippi, the cast constantly tries to claw their way up from the bottom to survive gentrification, the Rona, and life in general. 

I binge-watched these shows and Coleman and LaDelle’s books for the two weeks I got for Summer Break.

What will you read next?

School’s back in session next week, which means my reading is back to textbooks and academic articles. The book I’m looking forward to is the last in the #BlackLoveSummer campaign, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi. 

Emezi tells the story of Feyi Adekola, an artist who is trying to recover from losing the love of her life as she finds love again. Granted a luxury trip to a tropical island where she starts a romance with a new man, Feyi is hopeful that she can “release the past and honor her grief” to gain a second chance at love. But, she must first contend with a third party who is possibly sabotaging her new love. I have the audiobook of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty ready for when I need a break from school.

What are you all reading?

Author Interview With Ashley M. Coleman

The Book

For fans of My (Not So) Perfect Life and Jasmine Guillory’s While We Were Dating, a disarmingly fun debut novel follows Carlisa Henton as her life comes undone after a chance meeting with a rising pop star.

Carlisa “Carli” Henton is a musician and songwriter hoping to follow in her father’s musical footsteps. But, biding her time until she makes it big in the music industry, she works as a junior account manager at a big-name media company to cover her New York City rent. Carli meticulously balances her work with her musical endeavors as a songwriter—until a chance meeting with rising star Tau Anderson sends her calculated world into a frenzy. Their worlds collide and quickly blur the strict lines Carli has drawn between her business and her personal life, throwing Carli’s reputation—and her burgeoning songwriting career—into question.

A smart, timely, energizing romance, Good Morning, Love shows us what the glamorous New York’s music scene is really like and takes us into the lives of a rising but somewhat troubled R&B star and a promising protégé who knows her job better than she knows herself.

With fresh and honest prose, Good Morning, Love examines the uncertainty of being a new professional looking to chase a dream while also trying to survive in a world that’s not always kind to ambitious women

The Interview

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interview you, Mrs. Coleman! Congratulations on publishing your novel, Good Morning, Love!

Introvert Interrupted: Can you tell readers about yourself and your journey to publishing Good Morning, Love?

Ashley M. Coleman: I am a writer and music industry executive. I’ve worked in music over ten years and so in many ways, it feels like Good Morning, Love is the debut novel it took a lifetime to write. Starting as a young person pursuing a career in music, I always felt like great stories lived there and like the people I was meeting were these larger-than-life characters. I started the story of Good Morning, Love to try to secure a writing fellowship and when that didn’t work out, I decided to keep going. I had a twenty-page sample that I liked so I kept writing. I was swirling around with this idea of what happens when a playboy falls in love? And that birthed the story of Tau and Carli. Thankfully, I was able to secure my agent in early 2020 and by the spring, we’d sold the manuscript to 37Ink/Simon &Schuster which has honestly been a dream come true. 

II: How did you come up with the characters of Carlisa “Carli” Henton and Tau Anderson? Did you have any specific music artists in mind?

A: I like to say that they’re a composite of many artists. I absolutely love music. I listen to a lot of it for pleasure and for work. So, I took pieces of all the great artists I know both known and unknown to carve out the characters of Tau and Carli.   

II: Carli’s story resonated with me as we see her walking a fine line in Good Morning, Love between having a “stable job” as a junior accounts manager and following her passion for becoming a singer and songwriter. To side characters, like Dylan and Red, Carli’s writing partners, Carli’s life feels charmed, causing her to receive flack for hustling to pursue her dreams. 

In a time when some readers may also feel that they are being forced to choose between their passion and making a livable wage, what would you want readers to learn from Carli’s hustle mentality?

A: I would want readers to know that it is possible to do both. So often when we are from underrepresented communities, we don’t have the privilege of solely pursuing a creative dream. It’s a lot of hard work for sure which we see with Carli. But she has this knowing deep inside that there is something more for her. We don’t have to give up the dream for our survival. There may be some long nights or early mornings, but I think Carli’s character shows that it can be worth it.  

II: Outside of being a wonderful storyteller, you also have a way of transporting your readers to a specific space and having us feel as if we’re there with the characters. Readers can see examples of this when Carli is in clubs performing her music or at the studio writing with her team and Tau. How did you learn to become such an atmospheric writer? 

A: Having a bit of a background in journalism helps. It’s all about observation and so I’ve had practice in the area of trying to set the scene with words. The world of music is something I know intimately, so going to a place in my mind of a concert or open mic is so natural for me. I also like to try to put myself in a space when writing. For me, that’s music that helps set the tone for what I’m writing. It’s lighting a nice scent. All those things ground me in my story which I think helps translate that sense of atmosphere onto the page.  

II: Carli and other women in Good Morning, Love are often hyper-aware of how their actions can be negatively perceived by their peers and the workplace. Yet, many male characters like Tau tend to act first and think about the consequences later. Was there a particular message you meant to convey with this outlook about the differences between your male and female characters’ approach to obtaining their goals and navigating the music industry?

A: I don’t think it’s something I did consciously, but as a woman who works in and around music, it’s something I’ve had a lot of conversations about with other women. Honestly, in many industries, women tend to think a lot about how they will be perceived. Whether they come across angry, too bossy, too sexy, the list goes on. I think it’s simply the nature of living in a patriarchal society. More specifically with music, it can be tricky because it is a social business where lines can easily be blurred. This aspect of the business, I think, gives women that hyper-awareness that we see in Carli’s story. 

II: There are several instances where sexual assault is mentioned within your novel. Unfortunately, with cases like the R. Kelly case and the ongoing Russell Simmons case, your depiction of how women feel unprotected in the music industry and the world at large is very relevant. Why did you feel it was important to show this reality of the music industry in your novel?

A: It was most important to me to showcase how conflicting it can be when you are trying to get ahead but may have to work around people who make you feel unsafe. I guess more so I wanted to highlight how it’s not always the easiest decision it seems like it would be to simply walk away when so much is on the line. I wanted to show that sometimes it’s not always the extremes like the cases that you mention, but sometimes even in more nuanced ways. 

II: While you combat challenging topics in your novel, my favorite part of Good Morning, Love is that #BlackLove is on full display with Carli and Tau’s relationship. How did you manage to write the chemistry between these two so effortlessly?

A: I love love stories. I mean I just eat them up. So, I think part of that ability really came from studying chemistry over the years in both books and film. It was somewhat easy to reference the moments when I find myself cheesing too hard watching or reading something and then being able to recreate those types of feelings in Good Morning, Love. The great part about fiction too is your characters become almost like real people. When you know them well and have flushed them out fully, you can visualize them interacting in a very three-dimensional way.  

II: Good Morning, Love is such a vibe! Carli is often seen speaking about her favorite music artists. Outside of the Black Love Summer Playlist from Refinery 29, are there any music artists or albums that inspired your novel and characters?

A: I would just say R&B music in general. You know, a film like Brown Sugar focused on hip-hop and I would say that Good Morning, Love is almost like the cousin to that with a bit of a focus on R&B. I’m such a big fan of artists from back in the day like Boyz II Men and Brian McKnight to contemporary artists like Alex Isley, PJ Morton, and Lucky Daye among others. The feeling that a great R&B song gives you, to me, is what inspired both the book and characters. 

II: Like Carli, you are a writer and media maven who has writing credits for major publications, such as Essence, song credits, and even a successful podcast and online platform for writers called, Permission to Write. What advice would you give people looking to find a good work-life balance and jumpstart their writing career?

A: I would say prioritize your writing. Too often I hear writers say, “I never can find the time,” and most often it’s because they are trying to fit it in where they can. So much of my initial draft for Good Morning, Love came together in 30-minute sprints before I started my workday. When writing is my very first thing, I feel so much better about taking on a busy and full day. I can always say to myself, “at least I’ve written.” So, prioritize and protect your writing time. 

II: Do you have any other projects you’re working on that readers can look forward to?

A: I’m pretty excited about a forthcoming short story called “Breakfast for Dinner” that will be featured in the Heartbeat newsletter, free, weekly short stories celebrating love curated by Hannah Orenstein and Georgia Clark. And of course, I am always just writing! So, there are many more stories where Good Morning, Love came from.   

II: Thank you so much for your time, Mrs. Coleman! I’ll be looking forward to your short story, “Breakfast for Dinner!”

Have you all picked up your copy of Good Morning, Love?

About the Author

Ashley M. Coleman

Ashley M. Coleman is a storyteller and community builder moonlighting as a writer and project manager. Whether she is working with music makers or writers from marginalized communities, creating safe gathering spaces and education for creatives is at the center of her world. Her freelance writing has been featured in ZORA Magazine, GRAMMY.com, and The Cut among others and covers culture, lifestyle, and personal narrative. Currently, she is working on her forthcoming novel with 37Ink Books, Good Morning Love. You can catch her co-hosting the EightyTwo NinetySix podcast with Gabrielle Hickmon, tweeting often, indulging in Hip Hop and R&B music, and laughing at her pit/boxer mix Coltrane.

WWW Wednesday – A January Wrap Up

Happy Wednesday, bookish peeps! It’s been a while, but I hope your new year is treating you kindly!

Fasting with my church, school, and a new job has kept me busy since the start of the year. But I’m back with a wrap up for my top reads of January and a “must read” throwback review from December. 

So, pull up a chair and grab your snacks as I share my first check-in for 2022 on this WWW Wednesday!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and ask readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

I have deemed 2022 my year of “rereads.” 

For January, I started rereading Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series and then moved on to one of my favorite “coming of age” books from high school called Big Girls Don’t Cry by Connie Briscoe. 

Meyer’s books have been a slight disappointment in my reread. However, I did find that reading the books in audiobook format helped bring Meyer’s characters alive more. Rebecca Soler is the audionarrator for the Lunar Chronicles series, and she does a phenomenal job with accents and distinguishing the characters’ voices from each other. Soler’s narration also helped drive home how close Meyer’s books are to the original Grimm fairytales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red Cap), Snow White (Little Snow White), and Sleeping Beauty (Little Briar Rose).

Link: Have you read the Grimm Brothers’ original fairytales?

Honestly, if it weren’t for Soler’s performance, I probably would’ve tabled my reread of Meyer’s series by now. With Soler’s narration, though, things that irked me in my original review were made less egregious (e.g., Scarlet and Wolf’s love story). Unfortunately, Meyer’s series is still trope heavy in this second reading and has a firm spot in my “started with a bang and ended in a whimper” book pile. If you’re not a hardcore YA lover or into fairytale retellings, you may want to pass this series up.

Link: Read my original review of the Lunar Chronicles from my early blogging days

Thankfully, Big Girls Don’t Cry by Connie Briscoe was a reread that I enjoyed. Briscoe covers Black girlhood in all its imperfect and confusing glory through the story of Naomi Jefferson, who is growing up during the ‘60s. Readers get to see Naomi struggle with growing pains along with seeing how her character is impacted by the death of Martin Luther King Jr., colorism, heartbreak, gender discrimination in the workplace, and the loss of a loved one as she grows into adulthood. 

For lovers of Black urban cult classics, such as Flyy Girl by Omar Tyree and The Coldest Winter Ever by Sista Souljah, you’ll enjoy getting to know Naomi. I was happy to see that my rereading of Briscoe’s held against time. Briscoe places a lot of focus on Naomi’s career ambitions and gives space for readers to see Naomi fail and work through her reservations with working in corporate America and being “Black in America.” The only thing I would change is the development of Naomi’s love interests. If you enjoy stories built around character development and that have a slow burn romance, this is the book for you!

For my new reads, I got a chance to receive an ARC in November for How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days by K.M. Jackson, and I’d recommend this book if you enjoy the “friends-to-lovers” romance trope.

Jackson follows Bethany Lu Carlisle, Keanu Reeves’ superfan, as she receives the news that her long-time celebrity crush is engaged. For Bethany Lu, this is horrible news and is the last straw in a series of unfortunate events that cause her to struggle with the pressures of being an independent artist. Leaning on her friend, Truman “True” Erikson, for understanding, Bethany Lu sets out to win Keanu’s affection on a wacky road trip that has the sole purpose of getting Keanu to reconsider hanging up his bachelorhood for good.

Link: Have you checked out my author interview with K.M. Jackson yet?

How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days is perfect for anyone looking for a sweet romance or comfort read. Jackson shows an honest portrayal of a 35+ Black woman who doesn’t have it all figured out and is coping with mental health issues. The author does an excellent job of holding space for her character to fall apart and gives her the grace lean into her support system when she needs it. This departure from society’s belief that you have to have it all “figured out” by your 20s is refreshing. And the steamy romance between friends isn’t too bad either.

I’d highly recommend this book for any reader who’s into romance and books that have a “quest” element.

What are you currently reading?

January also saw me delve back into the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. This time around, I have been focusing on the graphic novels and short stories in the Tales From the Folly anthology that goes along with Aaronovitch’s novels. The graphic novel collections add context to what happens to Peter and the gang in between the novels, while the short stories act as “snapshots” in the characters’ lives.

I’m partial to the graphic novels over the books, though. In these graphic novels, the author goes into fuller details about The Nightingale and the wizards he worked with before the Rivers of London series officially started. Readers also get to see what Molly gets up to while Peter and The Nightingale are off fighting the bad guys in these books, which involves pastimes are different from what I’d imagined. If you think Aaronovitch’s series is hilarious in his full-length books, you’ll love reading his graphic novels.

I am also working my way through The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. One of my classmates recommended this book, and I’m happy I picked it up even though it’s super sad. 

Hannah’s book follows Elsa Martinelli as she and her family battle through life in the American Great Plains during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Reading about how Elsa fights off her insecurities and the constant struggle to make a life for her children is painful. I’m about 70% through The Four Winds and am enjoying it, but I took a break to pick up a lighter read at the end of January.

What will you read next?

As a mood reader, I don’t know what I’ll be reading next. Do you have any recommendations? 

If you enjoyed this post, I’d love it if you like, comment, and subscribe. #AllOfTheThings

Happy reading!

WWW Wednesday – The One Where I Talk About “His Only Wife” by Peace Adzo Medie

Happy Wednesday, bookish peeps! Long time no see!

School has had me in a chokehold these last few weeks, but I’m back with one of the juiciest books reviews I’ve read all year as a part of this week’s reading check-in for WWW Wednesday. 

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and ask readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

If you’re following me on Twitter, you may remember my play-by-play reading marathon for the masterpiece that is His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie.

Dr. Medie has written an enthralling story about a young couple, Afi and Eli, as they try to dodge their meddling families and the pressures that come from following Ghanaian traditions to find footing in their marriage. 

Oh! And there’s the troublesome hurdle of another woman who Afi, our narrator, must “get rid of” to find her happily ever after. No biggie, though…or so she thinks. 

Dr. Medie’s story is gripping from the first sentence when the reader finds out that Afi is set to marry Eli with his brother standing in for him since Eli is on a business trip and can’t make it to the wedding. 

Do you see the problem yet?

What drew me to His Only Wife is how well Dr. Medie situates readers inside Afi and Eli’s relationship. Her writing places characters into situations that feel like a stretch logically. Yet, they are so well-written that even when the reader knows better, you get sucked into wanting and believing for what the characters wish too, because the author is that good at stirring up the drama of her characters’ lives. 

For instance, even from the first page in His Only Wife, when Eli doesn’t show at the wedding, I was standing in faith alongside Afi and believing what Eli’s family and her mother were selling Afi about the “other woman.” And I’m sure anyone reading this review can already tell how wild this line of reasoning would be in real life. 

But, the way Dr. Medie structures her story really takes hold while you are reading this book. To the point, you will believe this farce about the “other woman” having such a hold on Eli that can only be broken once he falls in love with Afi until you close the book and it hits you how crazy this plan was from the beginning.

His Only Wife has a little something for everyone in it. From a slow burn relationship to insights about how familial and romantic relationships work in Ghanaian culture from a rural and urban perspective and across generations as Afi gains advice about her and Eli’s relationship from various women in her life’s perspective. I especially enjoyed learning more about these parts of Dr. Medie’s book from her in my interview, which you can check out here.

Dr. Medie’s book is one I can’t recommend enough for its dynamic characters, in-depth critique of the Ghanaian cultural and women’s roles in it, and just for being an excellent book to read and react to.

As cliched as it sounds, I enjoyed having the feeling of “discussion” around His Only Wife and not being able to guess what would happen next as I read. Even with how predictable the “other woman” trope may seem in the beginning, I couldn’t have predicted exactly how Afi and Eli’s love story would play out. Getting to live-tweet my reaction and discuss my thoughts with a group was probably my favorite thing about this book.

You’ll definitely want this book as your next book club read!

What are you currently reading?

Thanks to school, I’m still holding off reading the last 10% of The Love Songs of W. E. B DuBois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. Jeffers book has taken me through it in every way possible. And oddly enough, I don’t want it to be over just yet. So, I’m still reading it.

I’ve also slowly but surely been making my way through The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. I’m now on book four, which is Broken Homes. Peter Grant is quickly becoming one of my favorite literary characters for his wit, perspective, and ability to almost always end up at the short end of the stick of magic wielders. 

My one issue with Aaronovitcth’s books is over time, it can become increasingly hard to separate the pro-police stance of the book and jokes Peter cracks about how coppers work inside with how vicious actual police tactics’ abroad can be. There are moments where Peter mentions how in the “old days,” a cop would go and “rough” a suspect up just because he could. These insights feel tone-deaf and wonky. 

I say this because even though Peter is a man of mixed heritage and a cop, it’s clear this is Aaronovitch using Peter as a mouthpiece to say these things instead of it being a case where Peter is just being Peter. Since Peter will follow these moments up acknowledging that cops don’t like Black men who look like him (which is highlighted in a racially charged scene in the first book with a superior). 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the stories atmosphere and the banter in the books. But, I do have moments when the story and backstories all feel a bit choppy.

On a lighter note, I’m currently reading The Checklist by Addie Woolridge. Woolridge’s story follows a “girl next door” type of romance about Dylan Delacroix, who temporarily moves back home to Seattle to help an eccentric tech CEO fix his flailing company. While she’s home, she finds sparks flying with Mike, the sun of her Bohemian family’s buttoned-up neighborhood rivals. I have laughed so hard at the characters in this book and their shenanigans.

If you’re looking for a palette cleanser after a heavy read, pick this one up! It’s free on Kindle Unlimited.

What will you read next?

As a mood reader, I don’t know what I’ll be reading next.

I have talked about a few of my top priorities on my TBR List in the previous post. So, check them out down below!

                  What are you reading now?

If you enjoyed this post, I’d love it if you like, comment, and subscribe. #AllOfTheThings

Happy reading!

How It Feels to Read As An Empath

The Sunday Post is hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer and Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb @Readerbuzz. Check their pages out for more information about these bookish memes!

Good Morning from my little corner of the Bookternet, peeps! I hope your weekend went well!

It’s looking like my reading slump is finally gone. I’ve finished two books and am slowly but surely finishing The Love Songs of W. E. B DuBois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers.

For those of you who’ve been reading my WWW Wednesday posts, you’ve probably heard me mention Jeffers’ books more than a handful of times since August. Coming in at a whopping 816 pages, Jeffers’ book is an emotional and soul shattering family saga. 

In The Love Songs of W. E. B DuBois, Jeffers tells the story of Ailey Pearl Garfield as she attempts to find her place in the world and combat the pain of surviving sexual abuse while she attempts to form her own identity as she honors the stories of her family’s past. It was an Oprah Book Club pick, which should instantly give you an idea of the emotional turmoil a reader could experience if they decide to pick up The Love Songs of W. E. B DuBois.

For the average reader, this type of emotional book wouldn’t be so bad. However, I am an empath, which means that while the character is going through it, so am I.

An empath is a person highly attuned to the feelings and emotions of those around them. Their ability to discern what others are feeling goes beyond empathy (defined simply as the ability to understand the feelings of others) and extends to actually taking those feelings on; feeling what another person is feeling at a deep emotional level. 

- "What Is an Empath and How Do You Know If You Are One?"
By Leah Campbell

What is an empath?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with what being an empath is, it basically means that a person is “highly attuned to the feelings and emotions of those around them.” If they aren’t careful, empaths can take on the feelings of others and become deeply emotional because of what they feel others experiencing.

Scientists are torn if this “mirroring” actually occurs. However, the brain holds what is known as “mirror neurons,” which could help humans mirror the emotions of people they come in contact with. And it’s suggested that some of us have more mirror neurons than others.

Imagine walking through the world experiencing secondhand embarrassment, the frustrations of others, and also their successes, and you’ll essentially get the gist of what being an empath is.

For me, my empathic abilities come alive in the form of a profound feeling of intuition and when I’m reading or watching any form of television. I detest watching the news and going into stores and crowds because of all of the emotions that I feel rolling off other people. But, on the other hand, there’s no feeling that comes close to the contact high that comes with holidays, like Valentine’s Day and Christmas, where people are full of positive energy and uninhibited joy.

               Are you an empath?  

What does this have to do with reading?

As a reader, though, finishing heavy books can be a struggle. The usual feelings that come with reading a book that researchers attribute to building up emotional intelligence are amped up 1000% for me. When I read, I find myself experiencing what the characters are going through, no matter how small or big it may be, as if it were my own pain and trauma. 

The “reflection” period that other readers go through as they read, where they connect to the text seeing characters’ emotions and actions at a distance, is intensified for me as an empath. I feel as if I’ve been written into the story and am on an emotional rollercoaster embarking on a chaotic journey with the characters.

Even though I know that experiencing these narrative and aesthetic feelings are a part of what an author sets out to do with their writing, being drawn in as an empath sometimes feels like being bombarded from all sides – real and imagined.

How I cope with being an empathic reader

This wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t reading books, like The Love Songs of W. E. B DuBois, where Ailey’s family’s traumas are essential to the narrative and heavily drawn out. But, while I am a reader, I’m also going through my day-to-day life and experiencing empathic encounters IRL that require me to be present and in the moment. 

Because of this, pacing myself while I’m reading is essential.

If I try to read a book that has too many heavy topics at once, I’ll end up going into a reading slump. A slump is also inevitable if I try to draw out reading these books for too long.  

To combat this, I always try to be aware of how I feel as I read.

If you’ve been following me as I read The Love Songs of W. E. B DuBois on Twitter, you know Jeffers has taken me through it as I’ve been reading this book. I’ve shed tears, grown angry with the book’s main protagonist, and just had to close the book and walk away from it altogether. 

Acknowledging and honoring my emotions throughout the reading process keeps me connected to the story but firmly rooted in reality as an empath. Posting Twitter threads for heavy books is especially helpful on this front. 

I’d also recommend pairing a heavy book with one that’s light or funny to help ground you if you’re an empath.

My last reading slump was harsh since I tried to read Mona At Sea by Elizabeth Gonzalez James with Jeffers’ book. These two dramatic books threw me for a loop. And that caused me to hit an instant slump. I’m now pairing The Love Songs of W. E. B DuBois with a YA romance book to help ease the heavy emotions that come with Jeffers’ book.

Having these simple steps helps me mitigate adverse side effects that can come from reading and being an empath.

Reading will always be a hobby I’m passionate about, even when my empathic nature causes me to relate and interact with books differently.

            If you're an empath, how do you cope?

Thanks for stopping by for today’s Sunday chat!

If you’ve got any tips on how to cope with reading heavy tips or just want to share what you’re reading, leave a comment below.

As always, please don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe! #AllOfTheThings

Happy Reading!❤️📚

• WWW Wednesday – The One Where I Had Homework To Do
• WWW Wednesday – The One Where I Didn’t Finish Reading Anything
• WWW Wednesday – The One That’s Really Short 

The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch & The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner (#BookReview #WWWWednesday)

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Happy Hump Day, bookworms! We made it to the halfway point of the week, which means it’s time for my weekly check-in for what I’ve been reading with a WWW Wednesday.

Today is special because it’s the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. So, shoutout to all my Latinx friends on the Bookternet!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and ask readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

For the last few weeks, I’ve been in a miniature reading slump. I’ve started tons of books. But, haven’t had the desire to actually finish any of them. 

Because of that, I’m going to be talking about some older books I finished for what I read “last” and will share a few in my bookish queue for the ones I plan to read “next.”

What did you read last?

The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch is the first book I was able to finish from my slump.

I raved about Aaronovitch’s series two weeks ago in my last WWW Wednesday and have since purchased almost all of the books in the series secondhand.

My top requirement for fantasy novels is that they must have a top-notch cast of characters with loads of personality and a well thought out magical system/world-building. These things make it easier to sit through the chunkers that dominate this genre.

Aaronovitch’s series delivers on all fronts! 

From the setting of London to the characters, the author holds no punches (literally in the case of the villain) in this series opener. The book follows probationary constable Peter Grant, who meets the ghost, Mr. Punch, while staking out the scene of a mysteriously gruesome murder on a late-night assignment.

Up until then, Grant has lived an ordinary life up. So, getting thrust into the company of Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving “magic and other manifestations of the uncanny,” is a bit of a shock. What’s more, having dealings with gods and goddesses and the other creatures in Nightingale’s world keeps Grant on his toes.

There’s so much to love in Aaronovitch’s series.

Aaronovitch is one of the few white authors who seems to understand what it means to write characters of color in a way that gives them depth and brings them to life as human beings instead of to being caricatures. In Peter Grant, readers find an amateur detective who all most anyone can relate to if they’ve ever felt set adrift in life while everyone around them is succeeding.

Like most 20-something year old’s, Peter is trying to find his “thing.” Once a great science student, he has a knack for seeing the finer details in situations. Yet, he fails to grasp the bigger picture all too often, leaving him two steps behind the mass murderer who is terrorizing the citizens of London. This is the least of his worries because Father and Mama Thames are at war, and all hell is about to break lose if Grant can’t figure something out.

Even though The Rivers of London series takes place in modern-day London, the addition of magical beings and the supernatural adds a solid element of world-building to the mix. In this series opener, readers see Aaronovitch setting the stage using elements of world religions, such as the Yoruba’s Orishas and European Paganism, alongside magical spells that blend modern science with the uncanny. These all work well and make it the series’ setting believable that this “version” of London could exist counter to the world that readers may know.

In addition to excellent setting and character development, Aaronovitch’s series has really good dialogue and banter between the characters. This makes it a must for those who love audiobooks. Ghanaian-British actor, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who does a phenomenal job distinguishing each of the characters’ voices in The Rivers of London series.

If you’re a lover of Neil Gaiman or multi-layered books, read this book!

The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner

My second read is from my #Backlist TBR pile.

This book is called The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner.

While Zentner’s book has an extensive cast of characters and is rich in background lore about lobster fishing on a Canadian island, it falls short in every other department.

The drama of this novel is set around the Kings’ family, who live and fish for lobster on Loosewood Island. This story is through the eyes of Cordelia, the first female “lobster king” in her family, as she fights to be seen as the legitimate heir to her family’s empire. 

Zentner takes his cues from Shakespeare’s King Lear. However, he jumbles so much of the Bard’s original intention in his interpretation that I, as a reader, was left simultaneously under and overwhelmed.

For starters, the author has too many timelines happening at once. 

Cordelia, the main character of The Lobster Kings, bounces between being her present-day reality, her tumultuous childhood, a random side plot about an artist who lived on Loosewood Island in the past and who could’ve been one of her distant relatives, and a weird magical realist subplot about selkies. Cordelia’s character is monotonous in her narration. This means that even with things that might have been interesting, like the tortured artist and magical selkies subplots, it all becomes boring. 

Even extensive world-building doesn’t save Zentner’s book. Nor does the promise of feuding drug lords and Loosewood’s fishing community. 

At times, it feels like Zentner over seasoned The Lobster Kings by trying to be too literal with referencing his source material. 

Where Shakespeare understood how to meter out his gloomy and depressing story, Zetner leans too heavily into it and makes a mess. Topics, like death by suicide, death by drowning, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse, infidelity, and animal violence, are rife in The Lobster Kings. It eventually got to a point where I found myself wondering what the point of any of this violence was. Furthermore, I wondered why Cordelia would even want to run the fishing empire when it seems to be mired in painful memories for her.

Needless to say, I didn’t love The Lobster Kings, and I can’t say I’d recommend this book at all.

What are you currently reading?

I have a ton of current reads because of my reading slump. But, I’ve mainly been focusing on reading Portrait of A Scotsman by Evie Dunmore and I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest. Both books are from the romance genre, with one from the Regency era and the other being a contemporary romance.

Portrait of A Scotsman is the third in Dunmore’s A League of Extraordinary Women series. I’m currently taking a Women’s Studies course for my Master of Social Work degree, and we’ve gotten to the suffragette period in our module, so this read paired nicely with my lesson.

Dunmore’s book hinges on the “marriage of convenience” trope with two main characters from vastly different social standings who have paired together thanks to a breach in social etiquette. Hattie, a young artistic socialite with dyslexia, finds herself married off to the rich but scrappy Lucian as a tradeoff to help bolster her family’s wealth. Lucian, though rough around the edges, needs an “in” with polite society and settles on marriage to Hattie as a way to get revenge on the rich men who once terrorized his community in his youth. 

My favorite romance trope is the marriage of convenience novels, so I’m enjoying Portrait of A Scotsman so far.

I’m also enjoying the YA contemporary romance, I Wanna Be Where You Are. Similar to Dunmore’s book, the idea of “convenience” is present in this road trip-themed book. But, Forest also has elements of the “friend to lover” trope with her romance about Chloe, a teenage ballerina, and Eli, a budding artist, who are trying to beat the clock to get to North Carolina for an audition and college tour before they’re parents notice their gone.

Unfortunately, everything that could go wrong with these warring friends does go wrong. Nevertheless, Forest will keep you turning the page to find out what trouble her young pair and Eli’s dog, Geezer, get into.

What will you read next?

As a mood reader, I can’t say what I’ll read next.

Drop down below and tell me what you’re reading! 
And like, comment, and subscribe. #AllOfTheThings

Bookish peeps, I hope life and your TBR Lists treat you well as you finish out your week.

Happy reading!

A Pho Love Story by Loan Le & Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zea Kemp (#BookReview #WWWWednesday)

Thank you to Libro.fm for my audiobook copies of A Pho Love Story by Loan Le and Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zea Kemp.

Thank you to Harper Books for my ARCs of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers and Tor Books for the ARC of She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chen.

Finally, thank you to Wesleyan Press for my finish copies of She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chen copy of The Age of Phyllis by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

We’ve almost made it over the hump of another week, bookish peeps. I hope you all’s week is going well!

I’m coming to you with my weekly check-in of what I’m reading and a few mini book reviews for WWW Wednesday.

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and ask readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

The theme for this week’s mini review wrap-up is foody books and characters who cook.

Books about characters who cook are my all-time favorite type of reads. Coming from a family that enjoys food and trying new recipes, reading about characters that share this passion is always enjoyable.

Food is not only an extension of one’s culture, but it also gives the authors the ability to express a character’s identity and to have them work through complex topics without weighing their book down too much.

A Pho Love Story

For example, Loan Le does a great job expressing his characters’ desires and showing the tension between the rival families in A Pho Love Story through the Vietnamese culture.

Bao Nguyen and Linh Mai are teenagers whose parents both run rival pho restaurants on the same street that are struggling. Both characters are set to graduate from high school soon and struggle to figure out their lives’ path. 

Bao is unsure what his “thing” is and worries that time is running out to figure his next step out. On the other hand, Linh loves art and secretly dreams of being an artist like her aunt. However, she gets her dreams crushed trying to live up to the expectations of her parents, who immigrated to the U.S. during the Vietnam War. It’s not until the pair are sent on assignment for their school’s newspaper to review local restaurants that they can realize their individual dreams, sort out their feelings for each other, and unearth why their parents hate each other so much.

Initially, I went into this book expecting a Vietnamese Romeo & Juliet. However, the story hinges less on being a romance built around teenager angst and instead hinges upon the theme of self-discovery and combating the expectations of being born a first-generation child to parents who have migrated from another country. Through Le’s description of the food, readers can see the Ngyuens and Mais’ pride in their food preparation. Each family honors the pho dish in their preparation and its role in their immigration tale.

My favorite part of the story is the “reconnaissance missions” Bao’s father takes the family to collect intel on other restaurants in the area. In these scenes, Le pays particular attention to detail for how Bao’s father studies the menu, orders their meal, and then evaluates each dish. Le also shows Linh’s parents meticulously preparing to leave for work at their restaurants in detail each night, which shows how labor-intensive the food service industry is. These scenes also show how the Ngyuens and Mais take the utmost pride in their dishes and ability to use their cultural dishes to provide for their children.

If you’re a foodie and love hearing about family secrets and food preparation, read this book! However, have a snack next to you. Le’s descriptions of food in this book were so descriptive and lush that I found myself getting hungry just listening to the audiobook.

The same advice goes for Zea Kemp’s book, Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet; snacks are a must!

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet

Where Le’s story is PG/PG-13, Zea Kemp’s book is a bit more mature since it deals with mental illness, self-harm, abandonment, and violence.

Zea Kemp’s book revolves around Penelope Prado and Xander Amaro, who are young adults of Mexican heritage working at Penelope’s father’s restaurant, Nacho’s Tacos. Penelope dreams of working with her father to improve their family restaurant’s menu. Her father, however, has other dreams for her. To him and his wife, having a a college-educated daughter is much more important. So, when they learn that Penelope has been lying about being registered for nursing school and attending classes, they flip, and Penelope is pushed out on her own to discover her dreams.

As for Xander, he dreams of having someone like Penelope’s parents to dote on him and look after him. Abandoned by his father as a child in Mexico, Xander was forced to make the trek to America on his own. He now lives with his paternal grandfather and secretly longs to know what became of his father all those years ago when he left Xander and his mom behind to immigrate to America. For Xander, as an undocumented immigrant, working at Nacho’s is one of the few times where he feels as if he is a part of a loving family and not going it alone. Unfortunately, for Penelope and Xander, things take a turn for the worse when Nacho’s is threatened by the local loan shark.

Like Le, Zea Kemp uses food in her novel to show the depths of community and tradition in her story and build Nacho’s Tacos into a community staple. 

Nacho’s provide a meal and protection for its community and acts as a source of comfort and family for Penelope, Xander, and other characters. In this way, Zea Kemp does a good job of tending to her novel’s setting and building it into its own character that compliments Penelope and Xander’s desires without having the happenings of the restaurant overshadow these two characters’ development.

For instance, Penelope’s love for cooking and baking is strong because she uses this hobby as a lifeline when she experiences mental health issues. Zea Kemp’s positioning of Penelope in the restaurant reveals her character traits little by little. Here, readers will get to see Penelope explore the question of what happens when your proximity to community changes and your only coping mechanism/safe space is torn away from you. 

On the other hand, Xander is forced into understanding how to build community ties for the first time in his life after being abandoned for so long. His growth as a character hinges on learning how to embrace a new way of life as he becomes a part of the restaurant family and finds his place in his new community.

While A Pho Love Story is a somewhat sweet and simple YA novel with some family drama thrown in, Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet is a novel that feels very “New Adult” without the possessive love story. Penelope and Xander do have a sweet romance that gradually builds, but it is not the main point of the story. Instead, finding and holding onto community is at the center of Zea Kemp’s book. Be warned, though, this novel deals with several difficult topics, such as depression, self-harm, anxiety, loss of a parent, and police brutality, amongst other things. Due to this, I’d say read it at your own peril.

What are you currently reading?

Just like last week, I’m still reading the poetry collection, The Age of Phyllis, for the #SealeyChallenge and the novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, both of which are by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. If you haven’t already picked up Jeffers’ novel, it came out yesterday. I would definitely recommend picking up a copy!

I’ve also been reading are Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin.

I previously reviewed Jalaluddin’s 2018 book, Ayesha at Last, as one of my top books of 2020, and Hana Khan Carries On is right up there with its hijinks and laugh-out-loud moments. Jaluddin’s writing is fun to read because she gives readers an eye to Muslim culture without having her books feel like “guidebooks” on Muslim living. Instead, these characters just exist and struggle to find love, job fulfilment, and keep their families together just like everyone else around them.

Hana, for example, is a woman who wants to break into broadcast journalism while also helping her mom and sister who run the restaurant, Three Sisters Biryani Poutine. As a hobby, Hana runs a podcast while also working at the local radio station and fighting off a shiesty coworker and a white feminist boss who’s fluent in microaggressions in the workplace. 

The one bright spot is that Hana has a mystery listener who she chats within the comment section and occasionally flirts with. Things change when she seeks the mystery guy’s help in finding the approaching opening of a rival Halal restaurant owned by the infuriating Aydin and his cranky father. 

I highly recommend Jalludin’s novel.

What will you read next?

Of course, you all already know that I’m a mood reader, so I don’t have a clue what I’ll read next. More than likely, I will be continuing Jeffers and Jalludin’s novels and trying to finish She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chen.

If you all have any recommendations, drop them in the comment section or just tell me what you’re currently reading!

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