Back at it once again, welcome to another week of buying, supporting, and shouting about books by Black authors. This week we’re highlighting Semicolon Bookstore in Chicago—make sure to give them all the love as you’re stressing out your TBR pile. Happy reading!
The Gilded Ones
Namina Forna
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.
But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.
Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.
Colorfull
Sharon Smith-Akinsanya
Rich in substance, candor, and reassurance, Colorfull cuts to the heart of why so many organizations struggle to make meaningful progress with DEI initiatives. Without blame or recrimination, the author articulates the unspoken fears that prevent most leaders from seeing the results they want--and need--in order to remain competitive in an evolving market.
Colorfull shows leaders how to step outside comfort zones, lead DEI from the top down, and create corporate cultures that will truly attract and retain top talent of color. Any hiring manager, CEO, or DEI manager will benefit from the insights throughout, empowering them to bring truly transformative change to their organizations.
This one-of-a-kind read is packed with real world scenarios, true stories from those who've tried, failed, tried again, and are still on the journey by using the leadership strategies presented here. Colorfull pulls back the curtain in a non-threatening, engaging way that makes success with DEI both accessible and attainable.
a more perfect Union
Teri Ellen Cross Davis
In the tender, sensual, and bracing poems of a more perfect Union, Teri Ellen Cross Davis reclaims the experience of living and mothering while Black in contemporary America, centering Black women’s pleasure by wresting it away from the relentless commodification of the White gaze. Cross Davis deploys stunning emotional range to uplift the mundane, interrogate the status quo, and ultimately create her own goddesses. Parenting, lust, household chores—all are fair game for Cross Davis’s gimlet eye. Whether honoring her grief for Prince’s passing while examining his role in midwifing her sexual awakening or contemplating travel and the gamble of being Black across this wide world, these poems tirelessly seek a path out of the labyrinth to hope.
Family First: A Black Romance Box Set
INVESTED by Iris Bolling
Myles Dunning, the thirty-five-year-old CEO of Dunning Bank and Trust, is fighting off one takeover attempt after another to save his family's historical bank. Chrystina Price is a voluptuous, lovable, powerhouse, whose sole purpose in life is too uplift and protect the man she has loved from the first day they met. When the integrity of the family always comes first is it worth Investing in love.
LOVE UNDER CONTRACT by Sharon C. Cooper, Award-winning and bestselling author
Sumeera Robinson refuses to settle for less than she desires, even if what she craves is the sexy Nicolas Jenkins-Moore. She’s ready for marriage and a family, but his five-year plan has those items at the bottom of the list. When Sumeera walks out of his life, Nicolas realizes what he's lost and will stop at nothing to win her back.
UNFORGETTABLE by Delaney Diamond, USA Today Bestselling Author
Ivy Johnson is stunned when Lucas Baylor makes an appearance at her family’s event in Seattle. When her deception is revealed, it throws his life into a tailspin and forces them to face the truth of their feelings for each other—feelings they’ve both tried in vain to forget.
#BLESSED BY MALAKAI by Sherelle Green
Overnight, Malakai Madden becomes a social media legend after the #BlessedMyMalakai hashtag starts trending. Avery Nightingale is the perfect image consultant to get his life back on track. However, avoiding their explosive chemistry proves to be a bigger distraction than either of them bargained for.
EVENINGS WITH BRYSON by Tina Martin, Three-time Emma Award Winner, including Author of the Year, Book of The Year Award Winner, multiple Amazon #1 new releases
Kalina Cooper doesn't believe in love since watching her father walk out on her mother years ago. But when she meets Bryson Blackstone in her aunt's cafe, he challenges everything she thinks she knows about life and love and reveals secrets about her family that she otherwise would've never known.
SAFE WITH ME by Stephanie Nicole Norris
Samiyah Manhattan is mourning the death of her six-year marriage when she vows never to trust men again. Celebrity ex-boxer turned business mogul, Jonas Alexander Rose never takes women too seriously. However, when he meets the beautiful Samiyah mulling over a mimosa, Jonas is overwhelmed by the heart throbbing heated attraction, and now he is on a mission to explore this thing called love.
COOKING UP LOVE by Candace Shaw
When Shelbi Arrington foregoes her medical residency, the last thing she’s searching for is love. However, that’s just what the doctor prescribes when she meets chef Justin Richardson, who is leery of doctors because of his mother’s death years ago. As their relationship heats up, Shelbi learns of a shocking revelation which may extinguish their flame.
KEEPING SECRETS by Kiru Taye
Have you ever loved someone and didn't know it? That's the dilemma facing Felix when he wakes from a coma to find he is married to the most beautiful and most sensual woman he's ever known. However, will he still feel the same way when he regains his memory and realises she's been keeping secrets and their marriage is not what he thinks it is?