Black by Popular Demand
Books by Black authors releasing each week!
Keep the books coming and the reading going throughout November! We’re showcasing Marcus Books of Oakland for this week.
Happy Reading!
Futureland: The Nightmare Hour
The most spectacular theme park in the world is headed to the Big Apple.
After Atlanta, Cam Walker and his family are ready to turn over a new leaf with Futureland. This is where dreams literally come true, and the Walkers are going to show the people of New York City that their park is back and better than ever.
But trouble isn't done with the Walkers yet. Glitches keep happening with the park attractions. There's a creepy carnival in town that gives Cam goosebumps. Plus, he just can't shake the feeling that his family is being watched. And it may be his imagination, but are the people around him acting . . . stranger than usual?
Can Cam get to the bottom of what's going on before Futureland becomes a playground of terrors?
(Middle Grade)
The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are
From one of our generation's most powerful artists and incisive storytellers comes a brilliantly crafted work about the art--and war--of becoming who we are.
upcycle verb
up-cy-cle ˈəp-ˌsī-kəl
to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item
to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value)
Today Tariq Trotter--better known as Black Thought--is the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots and one of the most exhilaratingly skillful and profound rappers our culture has ever produced. But his story begins with a tragedy: as a child, Trotter burned down his family's home. The years that follow are the story of a life snatched from the flames, forged in fire.
In The Upcycled Self, Trotter doesn't only narrate a riveting and moving portrait of the artist as a young man, he gives readers a courageous model of what it means to live an examined life. In vivid vignettes, he tells the dramatic stories of the four powerful relationships that shaped him--with community, friends, art, and family--each a complex weave of love, discovery, trauma, and loss.
And beyond offering the compellingly poetic account of one artist's creative and emotional origins, Trotter explores the vital questions we all have to confront about our formative years: How can we see the story of our own young lives clearly? How do we use that story to understand who we've become? How do we forgive the people who loved and hurt us? How do we rediscover and honor our first dreams? And, finally, what do we take forward, what do we pass on, what do we leave behind? This is the beautifully bluesy story of a boy genius's coming-of-age that illuminates the redemptive power of the upcycle.
(Memoir)
Body Rites: A Holistic Healing and Embodiment Workbook for Black Survivors of Sexual Trauma
Body rites as a holistic healing journey, anchored in the practice of decolonizing healing and reclaiming body sovereignty, reaches back into indigenous roots and land-based healing. It centers remembering as a means of survival.
This workbook is the first of its kind: a resource of rituals divided into four healing journeys for Black women, femmes, and nonbinary survivors of sexual assault. The experiential workbook moves beyond prescriptive self-help models by providing a gentle guide and liaison to explore the impact of sexual trauma on the mind, body, heart, and spirit. It is an invitation to heal holistically, drawing upon psychophysiology, lived body wisdom, trauma-informed embodiment practices, kinship and ancestral connections, and African spiritual practices. Most urgently, this book is a series of intimate conversations with your "self"; and remembrance that healing lives at the core of your intuition.
(Nonfiction)
Snoop Dogg Presents Goon with the Spoon
Following the breakout success of his first cookbook, From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen (more than 1 million copies sold), Snoop Dogg returns with this new collection of recipes in collaboration with his friend and iconic Bay Area rapper E-40.
Drawing inspiration from both rappers' musical catalogs, their favorite meals to cook and eat together, and E-40's Filipino food business, Lumpia, here are 65+ crowd-pleasing dishes that range from drinks to main courses to desserts. Seriously entertaining, this soulful cookbook is the follow-up fans are hungry for.
GOOD EATS FROM SNOOP & E-40: The bestseller success of From Crook to Cook is all thanks to Snoop's irresistible persona, highly entertaining writing style, and accessible, tasty recipes. Now the door to Tha Boss Dogg's kitchen is open again, with added spice from collaboration with Earl "E-40" Stevens (the "Goon with the Spoon"), upping the ante with more crowd-pleasing recipes and more photography of Snoop at home and in the kitchen.
(Cookbook)
The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation
In 2017, Raquel Willis took to the National Women's March podium just after the presidential election of Donald Trump, primed to tell her story as a young Black transgender woman from the South. Despite having her speaking time cut short, the appearance only deepened her commitment to speaking up for communities on the margins.
Born in Augusta, Georgia, to Black Catholic parents, Raquel spent years feeling isolated, even within a loving, close-knit family. There was little access to understanding what it meant to be queer and transgender. It wasn't until she went to the University of Georgia that she found the LGBTQ+ community, fell in love, and explored her gender for the first time. But the unexpected death of her father forced her to examine her relationship with herself and those she loved. These years of grief, misunderstanding, and hard-won epiphanies seeped into the soil of her life, serving as fertilizer for growth and allowing her to bloom within.
Upon graduation, Raquel entered a career in journalism against the backdrop of the burgeoning Movement for Black Lives, intersectional feminism going mainstream, and unprecedented visibility of the trans community. After hiding her identity as a newspaper reporter, her increasing awareness of the epidemic of violence plaguing trans women of color and the heightened suicide of trans teens inspired her to come out publicly. Within just a few short years of community organizing in Atlanta, Oakland, and New York, Raquel emerged as one of the most formidable Black trans activists in history.
In The Risk It Takes to Bloom, Raquel Willis recounts with passion and candor her experiences straddling the Obama and Trump eras, the possibility of transformation after tragedy, and how complex moments can push us all to take necessary risks and bloom toward collective liberation.
(Nonfiction)
The Princess of Thornwood Drive
One year ago, a tragic car accident killed 22-year-old Laine's parents and left her 18-year-old sister, Alyssa, paralyzed and nonverbal. Now--instead of studying animal nutrition or competing as one of the few equestrians of color--Laine is struggling with predatory banks, unscrupulous health care organizations, and rude customers at the coffee shop where she works. That's why when Lake Forest Adult Day Center offers to take care of Alyssa, free of charge, Laine is relieved.
Alyssa isn't relieved, though. After all, in her mind, there was never a car accident. Instead, she and her parents--the king and queen of Mirendal--were attacked one year ago in the forest, her parents kidnapped while she was cursed, and now must spend her days in Lake Forest's Home for Changels--a temple caring for mortals such as herself. Perhaps there, she could meet other changels who show her how to embrace her new life.
However, there is a dark prince at Lake Forest, one who has taken a peculiar interest in not only Alyssa but her sister as well. And while Laine struggles to make ends meet on an everyday basis, Alyssa finds herself leading a battle that threatens to destroy not only her and her sister but their entire kingdom.
(Fiction)
Fake Famous
Red Morgan is fresh out of high school. With signature red curls and a remarkable singing voice, the bubbly teenager is a devoted daughter and big sister. The world should be her oyster. But Red already knows exactly where her future lies: the family farm in Orange City, Iowa.
Zay-Zay Waters is at the top of her game. The Brooklyn-born singer has it all--talent, fame, even a smokin' hot boyfriend. But life in the limelight isn't all it's cracked up to be. And when a video of Red singing in the mud--looking and sounding exactly like Zay-Zay herself--goes viral, the pop star begins to hatch a plan.
Red is the key to Zay-Zay's scheme. With much-needed money on the line, Red agrees to step into Zay-Zay's famous shoes for one week. But when planned appearances start to go off script, Red may be in over her head. Can she really pull it off?
(Romance)
Killing the Image: A Champion's Journey of Faith, Fighting, and Forgiveness
Andre Ward was the undefeated light heavyweight boxing champion of the world when he walked away from the ring and did not look back. Now that he has taken off his gloves for the final time, the Olympic gold medalist is ready to share the heartbreaking and uplifting stories of his formative years and unprecedented boxing career. Motivational, faith-building, and utterly compelling, this memoir offers
an inspiring story of overcoming a broken childhood
behind-the-scenes drama from Andre's epic championship bouts, complicated relationships with managers and promoters, and shocking decision to retire at the top of his game
insight into breaking destructive generational bonds, forgiving those who have hurt us, and moving toward hope
a challenge to live out our faith without compromise
Rich with colorful characters, fascinating detail, and biblical truths, this is the story of a man known for his integrity outside the ring, his warrior's instinct inside it, and his unrelenting bond with the God who called him to the greatest victory of all.
(Memoir)
I just want to tell you - I look forward to your lists. I really appreciate the books that you elevate with every post. My library queue is longer and my pockets are emptier -- in the best way -- because of you. Thank you.