Amber Undercover by Em Norry

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with a middle grade release by a Biracial UK author. I've mentioned before that I've read very few books by BAME authors and that I feel most of the ones circulated in the US are memoirs and/or stories about race. Luckily buying online means gaining access to books we wouldn't be able to otherwise. 

This story follows Amber Roberts your average teen who spends time going to school and hanging with her best mate Vi. One day Vi and Amber do a trial run for a new escape room and Amber is called back after the company is impressed with her performance. The reveal the escape room as a front for The Agency and reveal they'd like to train her to become a spy. 

At the same time Amber's parents reveal that they're  having another child. After spending 14 yrs as an only child and being assured she doesn't need siblings it's a drastic change for her. Already she feels they're pushing her away to make room for the new baby. Having trouble grappling her feelings she copes by distancing herself from her mother.

Then her best friend Vi is suddenly friends with her nemesis and she feels like her friendship is breaking down. While at the same time Vi is jealous Amber never has time for her anymore. 

Immediately thrust into this new world of special gadgets and secret trainings, Amber is surprised when she's assigned her first real mission so soon. She's to post as a student at a special school for gifted students in Norway. The girl who has never been outside her hometown gets to spend three weeks out of the country working undercover. Of course she's not too happy when she gets assigned a babysitter in the form of Luca, another teen agent who has been with the agency for four years. Amber has to get out of her comfort zone while trying to fit in at this school among the children of the wealthiest people in Europe. 

This easy read is perfect for the age 10-12 crowd. It's fun escapism that's not trying to send heavy handed messages. Though the ending was a little quick for my liking it had a very episodic feel that left room to expand this into a series if a series isn't already in the works. 

Interview with Author Kereen Getten

Welcome Back Booklovers!

As always I try to put some new books on your radar and introduce you to some Black authors who deserve attention. And I love supporting my fellow West Indians across the diaspora. Today's author is Jamaican born debut author Kereen Getten whose middle grade book When Life Gives You Mangos, got quite a lot of buzz at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2019. A six figure deal for the US rights and a 4 way auction for the UK and Commonwealth rights. 

What was it like growing up in Jamaica and then moving to the United Kingdom? Was there a bit of a culture shock?

I was quite a shy child, but what I remember of Jamaica was mostly on the hill we lived that overlooked our fishing town and had a beautiful view of the sea. We didn't venture down from that hill much. I remember spending a lot of time listening to adults gossip on the veranda, playing ring games and walking to school with my sister. It was a small and close knit community. A lot of them were family and like family, sometimes we got on, sometimes we didn’t. I came to England when I was seven years old and it was a definite culture shock. The houses, the people, the weather, the food! It all took some time to get used to. But the biggest shock was realizing the colour of my skin was going to be an issue, and it was the first time I experienced racism. It was also the first time I experienced snow and tried to eat it!

What is your favorite Jamaican dish?

Curry goat and white rice. I love fried dumplings too. I would have that with any meal if I could!

What inspired you to write When Life Gives You Mangos? And why was it important to write a middle grade story specifically? 

I wanted to write a story about friendship and how important it can be to anyone but especially at that age. I also wanted to write a love letter to my home town in Jamaica. I didn’t have any stories about people that looked like me growing up and I really wanted our stories to be told alongside everyone else's.

There was no great decision to make it MG. It just happened that way.

What was the biggest challenge while writing your debut novel?

My biggest challenge was finding the story. I knew I wanted to write about friendships and I knew I wanted to write about Jamaica, but it took me some time and lots of writing and rewriting to figure out what that story would be.

As a Black writer have you ever felt a push to write a certain way?

I have been quite lucky to find people in the industry that have supported my story and the way I tell it. But there were of course times when I had to explain that certain things in my story were normal for my culture even though it wasn’t for others and that was frustrating at times.

Have you found your own community of authors online? 

I am not good at talking online. Social media and I have a love-hate relationship, but I have always had a tiny group of writer friends I could go to. More recently I have been finding authors from the Caribbean and it has enriched my online experience as they have been so supportive.

Are there any Caribbean authors you recommend?

Yes, Shakirah Bourne has a MG book coming out in 2021 called Me Against The Sea and Callie Browning has a book out now called The Girl With The Hazel Eyes.

What are your favorite genres to read and write?

I love reading thrillers and Mysteries and I guess that seems to seep into my writing too.

Other than your own is there a book you would love to see adapted to a movie?

Yes, Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. When I read it I imagined it as a movie.

How has it been promoting your book during a pandemic? Have you been invited to any virtual events?

It’s my first book so I don’t know any different. I imagine most of it would be online anyway with or without Covid, but also bookstores and publishing have really adapted with virtual events.

I do have a few virtual events coming up. Most have not been confirmed yet, but I am doing a workshop in September with WOWCon Saturday September 26th 9pm (GMT) on finding an authentic child-like voice for your character.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment?

I have just finished an historical project (also MG) and I am currently writing my second contemporary Jamaica based MG book.

Follow Kereen Getten on Twitter @kereengetten

Do You Dream of Terra-Two by Temi Oh

Hey Booklovers,

I finished reading Do You Dream of Two-Terra and I'm still trying to put my thoughts into words. This is a character heavy sci-fi story containing multiple povs. 10 astronauts are chosen to embark on a journey to inhabit a new world.  4 of the 10 are decorated veterans and 6 are teens on the brink of adulthood. The story alternates in chapters between Jesse, Poppy, Astrid, Juno, Harry, and Eliot. It's a lot of people to follow and I was glad I got the ebook and audiobook. The smooth narration kept me interested but the ebook was great for sections I wanted to go over again or when I wanted to speed things up in the middle. 

Throughout the book we discover what drew each young person to the Dalton Academy for Aerospace Science and hear about the lives they left behind.

‘What kind of society do we want to be? What will our name be? What will our flag look like? 

  What kind of leadership model will we adhere to? Will we have a monarchy, a president?

I saw comparisons to The 100 but it's nothing like that vapid book series and really not much like the tv series either beyond having featuring teens who are journey to a new Earth.

The story is not set in the future but rather a more technologically advanced/alternate version of the close past where Britain has a highly competitive space program. 

Before launch they must deal with the death of one of their teammates Ara and how it affects each of them. They must also deal with their relationships with each other. Some are drawn closer and some further apart. Since it's a 23 year mission there's a lot of personal sacrifice. Some are struggling with the regrets of giving up a future on earth and some are getting over depression. 

How will they start this new colony? What rules will be in place? Is this a suicide mission? Can they survive living in the spaceship for the next 23 years with only each other to rely on?

This is a slower, quiet read where you exam each character and some of the science is glossed over and explained as technology being much more advanced in this alternate reality. It's a contrast to many sci-fi stories which are fast paced by sometimes lack on the character development. We don't ever get an explanation for how scientists have come to discover much about this world so far from our own. It can probably be best described as a slice of life story. We follow the characters go through the motions day to day. We follow their hookups and losses and reminisce with them over their past traumas.

Temi Oh studied neuroscience and you can very much see those elements present in her work as we explore the behaviors of these young people and how their relationships are effected. 

Interview with Author Sareeta Domingo

Welcome Back, Booklovers. I'm back with an interview by another author that you may not have heard of but need to get familiar with. She is a Black author from the UK with not one but two books releasing this summer.  Get to know Sareeta Domingo also know as SA Domingo. @sareetadomingo on Twitter.

How was working on your second YA novel different from your debut? What inspired you and why did you decide to write another clean teen romance? 

Having a positive reception to my (YA) debut Love, Secret Santa, featuring what should really be a commonplace thing in publishing – a YA story featuring Black protagonists that isn’t ‘issue’-led – definitely was encouraging when it came to writing Love on the Main Stage. I’ve been a massive music fan all my life, so getting the chance to work on this story and having Hachette’s support was great. In terms of the story being ‘clean’, this is something I’d talked about with my editor, but was less of a critique of stories that aren’t ‘clean’, and more an effort to write something that didn’t have any difficult edge or trauma.

 

You also have another upcoming story titled If I Don't Have You. What is that story about and is there an expected release date at this time?

Yes, it’s a bumper summer for me in terms of publications! I have a novel for adults coming out with Jacaranda Books on 29th July 2020, a romance entitled If I Don’t Have You. It’s about a Black British Londoner, Kayla, a journalist and artist, who is planning a Green Card wedding to a friend in order to pursue her creative dreams in New York. But she’s sent to interview charismatic Brazilian/African-American film director Ren. They end up spending one magical night together followed by a long-distance romance, but secrets eventually tear them apart – until they meet again years later…

And in February next year, I’m so thrilled that an anthology I’m compiling, editing and contributing to is being published with Trapeze Books. It’s a collection of romantic stories written by British women of colour called Who’s Loving You.

What are your favorite genres to read and write?

I have a very broad range of interests that I suppose fall under ‘literary fiction’, but I also love reading romance – and writing it, too, as you can probably tell!

How has the pandemic affected your promotion and the release? 

My plans for a book launch for either of my books out this summer have of course gone out of the window, which is a real shame. It’s also meant fewer opportunities to do things like in-person appearances or promotion in stores. Everything is moving online, and I do fear that can mean too many people clamouring for the same promo opportunities. In terms of my adult book with Jacaranda, we also moved the publication date from May to July to help accommodate some of the challenges.

There's few Black British authors in publishing and it seems like some are finally getting their dues. Do you feel like as a Black author you're expected to write a certain type of story? 

I do think there is a certain expectation of what you ‘should’ write as a Black British author (and a Black author in the Western publishing world in general), and it can seem that authors garner more interest and attention if they are writing specifically about race. I think it should go without saying that Black authors should be afforded the same range of topics of interest as their non-Black counterparts.

What is it like working with an indie publisher on a book vs a larger publisher?

In many ways the process isn’t that dissimilar in terms of working on editorial processes and so forth. Of course, there is greater pressure on indies, particularly in the current climate of the pandemic, so they are perhaps stretched a little thinner than their larger counterparts. But I’ve loved working with both Hachette and Jacaranda Books. I’m certainly proud to have a book published by Jacaranda as a Black British, woman-led company. They’re doing great work!

Are there any 2020 releases from Black British authors you are looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to tucking into Dorothy Koomson’s latest All My Lies Are True, a sequel to her bestseller The Ice Cream Girls. She’s so consistent and is a queen of the British book scene! I’m also definitely keen to check out Bolu Babalola’s Love in Colour collection of stories too, I’m sure it’ll be fantastic.

Are you able to talk about your current work in progress?

I’m in the process of finishing up the anthology I mentioned I’m working on, Who’s Loving You, which I’m so excited about. And I’m just getting started on a new idea for my next novel – I’m keeping it under my hat for now, but it’s going to be a bit different to what I’ve published before…

Read Caribbean During June Pt 2

Welcome Back Booklovers!

Despite the chaos going on in the world right now I am truly enjoying getting to spread my love of books and have great discussions with other readers. Reading books, interviewing authors, chatting with readers are all the little things keeping me sane during this time.

Putting together these lists has introduced me to some new author's I'm excited to read while also having me reflect on the ones I have read. It's also a reminder of how resilient my people are. This time I'm highlighting some books by the children of Caribbean immigrants.

'Til the Well Runs Dry: A Novel

A glorious and moving multigenerational, multicultural saga that sweeps from the 1940s through the 1960s in Trinidad and the United States.

In a seaside village in the north of Trinidad, young Marcia Garcia, a gifted and smart-mouthed sixteen-year-old seamstress, lives alone, raising two small boys and guarding a family secret. When she meets Farouk Karam, an ambitious young policeman (so taken with Marcia that he elicits help from a tea-brewing obeah woman to guarantee her ardor), the rewards and risks in Marcia's life amplify forever.

'Til the Well Runs Dry sees Marcia and Farouk from their sassy and passionate courtship through personal and historical events that threaten Marcia's secret, entangle the couple and their children in a tumultuous scandal, and put the future in doubt for all of them.

With this deeply human novel, Lauren Francis-Sharma gives us an unforgettable story about a woman's love for a man, a mother's love for her children, and a people's love for an island rich with calypso and Carnival, cricket and salty air, sweet fruits and spicy stews-a story of grit, imperfection, steadfast love and of Trinidad that has never been told before.

The Haunting of Tram Car 015

Cairo, 1912: The case started as a simple one for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities ― handling a possessed tram car.

Soon, however, Agent Hamed Nasr and his new partner Agent Onsi Youssef are exposed to a new side of Cairo stirring with suffragettes, secret societies, and sentient automatons in a race against time to protect the city from an encroaching danger that crosses the line between the magical and the mundane.

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine

Alaine Beauparlant has heard about Haiti all her life…

But the stories were always passed down from her dad―and her mom, when she wasn’t too busy with her high-profile newscaster gig. But when Alaine’s life goes a bit sideways, it’s time to finally visit Haiti herself.

What she learns about Haiti’s proud history as the world’s first black republic (with its even prouder people) is one thing, but what she learns about her own family is another. Suddenly, the secrets Alaine’s mom has been keeping, including a family curse that has spanned generations, can no longer be avoided.

It’s a lot to handle, without even mentioning that Alaine is also working for her aunt’s nonprofit, which sends underprivileged kids to school and boasts one annoyingly charming intern.

 

 

Frying Plantain

Kara Davis is a girl caught in the middle — of her North American identity and her desire to be a “true” Jamaican, of her mother and grandmother’s rages and life lessons, of having to avoid being thought of as too “faas” or too “quiet” or too “bold” or too “soft.” Set in a neighbourhood known as “Little Jamaica,” Kara moves from girlhood to the threshold of adulthood, from elementary school to high school graduation, in these twelve interconnected stories. We see her on a visit to Jamaica, startled by the sight of a severed pig’s head in her great-aunt’s freezer; in junior high, the victim of a devastating prank by her closest friends; and as a teenager in and out of her grandmother’s house, trying to cope with the ongoing battles between her unyielding grandparents.

A rich and unforgettable portrait of growing up between worlds, Frying Plantain shows how, in one charged moment, friendship and love can turn to enmity and hate, well-meaning protection can become control, and teasing play can turn to something much darker.

Halsey Street

Penelope Grand has scrapped her failed career as an artist in Pittsburgh and moved back to Brooklyn to keep an eye on her ailing father. She’s accepted that her future won’t be what she’d dreamed, but now, as gentrification has completely reshaped her old neighborhood, even her past is unrecognizable. Old haunts have been razed, and wealthy white strangers have replaced every familiar face in Bed-Stuy. Even her mother, Mirella, has abandoned the family to reclaim her roots in the Dominican Republic. That took courage. It’s also unforgivable.

When Penelope moves into the attic apartment of the affluent Harpers, she thinks she’s found a semblance of family—and maybe even love. But her world is upended again when she receives a postcard from Mirella asking for reconciliation. As old wounds are reopened, and secrets revealed, a journey across an ocean of sacrifice and self-discovery begins.

An engrossing debut, Halsey Street shifts between the perspectives of these two captivating, troubled women. Mirella has one last chance to win back the heart of the daughter she’d lost long before leaving New York, and for Penelope, it’s time to break free of the hold of the past and start navigating her own life.

Unconditionally Mine

Event planner Sofia Silva is hiding a big secret. No one can know that her engagement to her lying, cheating fiancé is over. Until she meets gorgeous, wealthy newcomer Jonathan Gunther. Jon moved to Miami for a legally sinful life of waterfront property, convertibles and no emotional entanglements. When he invites Sofia to lie low at his house, their undeniable attraction explodes…but will her dilemma ruin their chance at forever?

Oh My Gods

She's just moved in with her dorky dad and self-absorbed older siblings - who happen to be the ancient Greek gods, living incognito in London!

Between keeping her family's true identities secret, trying to impress her new friends, and meeting an actually cute boy, Helen's stress levels are higher than Mount Olympus.

She needs to rein in her chaotic family before they blow their cover AND her chances at a half-normal social life.

Allegedly 

Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer’s Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home.

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary’s fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?

10 Books in 2020 by Black British Books

Welcome Back, Booklovers!

Even though I live in the US I'm all for continuing to support Black and biracial authors across the pond.  I'm seeing more British authors getting more visibility this year.  For my British readers I'm glad you're getting more books accessible to you. Everyone deserves proper representation. And for my American readers many of these books are available on Amazon and Book Depository if they have not also been published in the US.

This Lovely City by Louise Hare 

The drinks are flowing. The music’s playing. But the party can’t last.

London, 1950. With the Blitz over and London still rebuilding after the war, jazz musician Lawrie Matthews has answered England’s call for help. Arriving from Jamaica aboard the Empire Windrush, he’s taken a tiny room in south London lodgings, and has fallen in love with the girl next door.

All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson

Verity is telling lies...

And that's why she's about to be arrested for attempted murder.

Serena has been lying for years. . .

And that may have driven her daughter, Verity, to do something unthinkable...

Poppy's lies have come back to haunt her . . .

So will her quest for the truth hurt everyone she loves?

Everyone lies.

But whose lies are going to end in tragedy?

Imperfect Arrangements by Frances Mensah Williams

There are two sides to every story…

In the sun-soaked capital of Ghana, best friends Theresa, Maku and Lyla struggle with the arrangements that define their relationships.

Ambitious, single-minded Theresa has gambled everything to move with her loving husband Tyler from London to cosmopolitan Accra. But when shocking developments threaten their plans, they also expose the hidden cracks in their fairytale marriage.

Feisty Maku is desperate for professional recognition – and her dream white wedding. But how long can she wait for her laid-back partner Nortey to stop dreaming up pointless projects from the comfort of his local bar and stand up to his family?

Churchgoing Lyla married Kwesi in haste, and six years later she is desperate for a child. 

But while she battles a vicious mother-in-law, and her growing attraction to the mysterious Reuben, her husband has bitten off more than he can chew with his latest mistress.

Facing lies, betrayal, and shattered illusions, each couple must confront the truth of who they have become and the arrangements they have enabled. Against the backdrop of a shifting culture, each woman must decide what – and who – she is willing to sacrifice for the perfect marriage.

Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World by Bolu Babalola

Love stories inspired by tales of the past...

Join debut author Bolu Babalola as she retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with new incredible detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines iconic Greek myths, ancient legends from South Asia, and stories from countries that no longer exist in our world. Babalola is inspired by tales that truly show the variety and colours of love around the globe.

A high-born Nigerian goddess feels beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover and longs to be truly seen.

A young businesswoman attempts to make a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life.

A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether to uphold her family's politics, or to be true to her heart.

Whether captured in the passion of love at first sight, or realising that self-love takes precedent over the latter, the characters in these vibrant stories try to navigate this most complex human emotion and understand why it holds them hostage.

Bolu takes a step in decolonising tropes of love by forming new stories from the wildly beautiful tales that already exist in so many communities and cultures. Moving exhilaratingly across perspectives, continents and genres, from the historic to the vividly current, Love in Colour is a celebration of romance in all of its forms.

Get lost in these mystical worlds and see that love, like humanity, comes in technicolor.

The Girl with the Louding Voice: A Novel by Abi Dare 

Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education. This, her mother has told her, is the only way to get a “louding voice”—the ability to speak for herself and decide her own future. But instead, Adunni's father sells her to be the third wife of a local man who is eager for her to bear him a son and heir.

When Adunni runs away to the city, hoping to make a better life, she finds that the only other option before her is servitude to a wealthy family. As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless slave, Adunni is told, by words and deeds, that she is nothing.

But while misfortunes might muffle her voice for a time, they cannot mute it. And when she realizes that she must stand up not only for herself, but for other girls, for the ones who came before her and were lost, and for the next girls, who will inevitably follow; she finds the resolve to speak, however she can—in a whisper, in song, in broken English—until she is heard.

The Book Of Echoes by Rosanna Amaka

1981: England looks forward to a new decade. But on the streets of Brixton, it’s hard to hold onto your dreams, especially if you are a young black man. Racial tensions rumble, and now Michael Watson might land in jail for a crime he did not commit.

Thousands of miles away, village girl Ngozi abandons her orange stall for the opportunity to work as a housemaid for a middle-class family.

From dusty tracks to gritty pavements, Ngozi and Michael’s journey towards a better life is strewn with heartache. When they finally collide, their lives will be transformed for ever.

With irresistible joy and grace, Rosanna Amaka writes of people moving between worlds, and asks how we can heal and help each other. Humming with beauty and horror, tragedy and triumph, THE BOOK OF ECHOES is a powerful debut from an authentic new voice in British fiction

Eight Pieces of Silva by Patrice Lawrence

Becks is into girls but didn't come out because she was never in. She lives with her mum, stepdad and eighteen-year-old Silva, her stepdad's daughter. Becks and Silva are opposites, but bond over their mutual obsession with K-pop.

When Becks' mum and stepdad go on honeymoon to Japan, Becks and Silva are left alone. Except, Silva disappears. Becks ventures into the forbidden territory of Silva's room and finds the first of eight clues that help her discover her sister's secret life.

Meanwhile, Silva is on a journey. A journey to make someone love her. He says he doesn't, but he's just joking. All she has to do is persuade him otherwise

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU MANGOS by Kereen Getten

Twelve-year-old Clara lives on an island that visitors call exotic. But there's nothing exotic about it to Clara. She loves eating ripe mangos off the ground, running outside in the rain with her Papa during rainy season, and going to her secret hideout with Gaynah—even though lately she's not acting like a best friend. 

The only thing out of the ordinary for Clara is that something happened to her memory that made her forget everything that happened last summer after a hurricane hit. Sometimes things come back to her in drips like a tap that hasn't been turned off properly. Other times her Mama fills in the blanks...only she knows those aren't her memories and it is hard feeling like she is not like everybody else. 

But this summer is going to be different for Clara. Everyone is buzzing with excitement over a new girl in the village who is not like other visitors. She is about to make big waves on the island—and give Clara a summer she won't forget.

The Infinite by Patience Agbabi

FIGHT CRIME, ACROSS TIME!

Leaplings, children born on the 29th of February, are very rare. Rarer still are Leaplings with The Gift – the ability to leap through time. Elle Bíbi-Imbelé Ifíè has The Gift, but she’s never used it. Until now.

On her twelfth birthday, Elle and her best friend Big Ben travel to the Time Squad Centre in 2048. Elle has received a mysterious warning from the future. Other Leaplings are disappearing in time – and not everyone at the centre can be trusted.

Soon Elle’s adventure becomes more than a race through time. It’s a race against time. She must fight to save the world as she knows it – before it ceases to exist 

And the Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando

When fifteen-year-old Nathan discovers that his older brother Al, has taken his own life, his whole world is torn apart. Al was special. Al was talented. Al was full of passion and light ... so why did he do it? Convinced that his brother was in trouble, Nathan decides to retrace Al's footsteps. As he does, he meets Megan, Al's former classmate, who is as determined as Nathan to keep Al's memory alive. Together they start seeking answers, but will either of them be able to handle the truth about Al's death when they eventually discover what happened? An extraordinary novel about loss, understanding and the importance of speaking up when all you want to do is shut down, from an incredible new talent, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas, Gayle Foreman, Jennifer Niven and Nikesh Shukla

#Blackout:Black History Month Reading Suggestions Pt 2

Hello, Fellow Book Lovers!

I hope you're meeting your reading goals so far for the month.  I saw a lot of people recommending the same books over and over again and it's also caused me to evaluate my reading. Am I truly an advocate for diversity if I only read the same diverse books as everyone else? When I'm reading books that aren't as promoted am I making sure to promote them myself? There's many black authors out there that could use our support. And while it's okay to read hyped books it's also great to step outside of your comfort zone and read the book that not everyone is buzzing about. A book shouldn't have to be put directly into your face by the media for you to check it out.

SCI-FI

Do You Dream of Two-Terra by Temi Oh

When an Earth-like planet is discovered, a team of six teens, along with three veteran astronauts, embark on a twenty-year trip to set up a planet for human colonization—but find that space is more deadly than they ever could have imagined.

Have you ever hoped you could leave everything behind?
Have you ever dreamt of a better world?
Can a dream sustain a lifetime?

A century ago, an astronomer discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star. She predicted that one day humans would travel there to build a utopia. Today, ten astronauts are leaving everything behind to find it. Four are veterans of the twentieth century’s space-race.

And six are teenagers who’ve trained for this mission most of their lives.

It will take the team twenty-three years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years locked in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong.

And something always goes wrong.


Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

Earth is a distant memory. Habitable extrasolar planets are still out of reach. For generations, humanity has been clinging to survival by establishing colonies within enormous vacuum-breathing space beasts and mining their resources to the point of depletion.

Rash, dreamy, and unconventional, Seske Kaleigh should be preparing for her future role as clan leader, but her people have just culled their latest beast, and she’s eager to find the cause of the violent tremors plaguing their new home. Defying social barriers, Seske teams up with her best friend, a beast worker, and ventures into restricted areas for answers to end the mounting fear and rumors. Instead, they discover grim truths about the price of life in the void.

Then, Seske is unexpectedly thrust into the role of clan matriarch, responsible for thousands of lives in a harsh universe where a single mistake can be fatal. Her claim to the throne is challenged by a rival determined to overthrow her and take control—her intelligent, cunning, and confident sister.

Seske may not be a born leader like her sister, yet her unorthodox outlook and incorruptible idealism may be what the clan needs to save themselves and their world.

A Ruin of Shadows: A tale of assassins, betrayal, and djinn by L.D. Lewis

General Daynja Édo is a legend: head of the celebrated Boorhian Empire’s military and possessor of a mask of untold power. She has raised her Shadow Army of seven assassins from childhood. But mounting disillusionment over a life of brutality, a petulant emperor, and prodding from The Artful Djinni force her to defy orders for the first time in her thirty year career. When the empire decides they no longer need Édo if they can get the mask, she must face the monsters of her own making and the legacy they’ve turned against her.

ROMANCE

Huddle With Me Tonight by Farrah Rochon

Entertainment columnist Paige Turner is known for getting under the skin of the people whose books she reviews on her popular blog. When her criticism of NFL standout Torrian Smallwood’s cookbook/memoir goes viral, it sparks an online war between the city’s most beloved blogger and one of football’s hottest stars.

Torrian couldn’t care less what some book blogger thinks about his upcoming memoir. His main focus is on making a success of the new restaurant he’s opening for his sister. That is, until he meets the gorgeous Paige Turner face-to-face. When a local TV station invites them to bring their online battle into the kitchen in a reality TV cook-off, Torrian comes up with a new goal: making Paige his.


Will either of them be able to stand the heat, or will they succumb to the white-hot attraction that neither can deny?

This Tender Melody (The Gentlemen of Queen City) by Kianna Alexander

Rivals—in perfect harmony…

The only thing standing between Eve Franklin and her dream is over six feet of pure, arrogant alpha male. Eve has spent years preparing to take the reins of her family's software business. Now that her father is stepping down, he's putting someone else in charge—a gorgeous tech magnate who's not content with just taking Eve's place in the boardroom. He plans to woo her into his bedroom, as well!



Mixed Match by Mia Heintzelman 

Sophia Kent used to be a badass knife-wielding chef. Nowadays, she's lucky if she can remember to put on a bra. Between the move to Portland and unpacking boxes, she's glad there's only one name on the title. Unfortunately, at the door there's a gorgeous messenger with a document claiming she's not the rightful owner.Dead-set on getting his grandmother's house back, real estate investor Everett Monroe is determined to see the thief go down, even if he has to deliver the summons himself. Only, the beautiful mess at the door is charming, sexy-and nothing like the man whose family's been feuding with Everett's for generations.He doesn't know whether she's a pawn or a player, and she doesn't know he's not just a messenger, so after a few "chance" meetings, when she enlists his help to find a location for her restaurant, he agrees. After all, in thirty days there's going to be a hearing granting him ownership and she'll be long gone. Except, somewhere between sunset mountain hikes, brilliantly lit musical bridges, and picturesque Japanese Gardens, a dangerous attraction weaves its way between the secrets and lies. Forced to confront the truth, Everett must ask himself what good a home is without the one you love to share it with. 

MYSTERY

The Company You Keep by Angela Henry

This is a 6 book and counting mystery series. 

Hard as she tried, twenty-eight-year-old Kendra Clayton never quite broke out of her hometown of Willow, Ohio. Now she works part-time as a GED instructor and beefs up her income by hostessing at her uncle’s restaurant, soaking up the local gossip. It’s a quiet life, but Kendra hasn’t given up hope that one day Mr. Right will walk through the door. In the meantime, her sleepy hollow is about to get a rude awakening, and Kendra is about to get some excitement—though it’s not quite what she had in mind.

When her friend Bernie's boyfriend, a notorious womanizer, is brutally murdered, both she and Kendra are implicated in the crime. The only way Kendra can save herself—and the friend she believes is innocent—is by doing some investigating of her own. And the closer she looks, the more suspects she finds.

Jordan was a man that women loved and hated—usually at the same time. Now one of them has crossed that thin line. But between Jordan’s past and present conquests—and a chain of emptied wallets and vengeful hearts—which one could be a killer? As Kendra’s curiosity draws her deeper into the case, she also gets into an unexpected attraction to a man who may hold the missing piece of the puzzle—if she can survive long enough to put it together.


Secrets, Lies, and Crawfish Pies by Abby L Vandiver 

This is a 3 book series.

Romaine Wilder, big-city medical examiner with a small-town past, has been downsized and evicted. With few other options, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Roble in East Texas, leaving behind the man she’s dating and the life she’s worked hard to build.

Suzanne Babet Derbinay, Romaine’s Auntie Zanne and proprietor of the Ball Funeral Home, has long since traded her French Creole upbringing for Big Texas attitude. She’s a member in a number of ladies’ auxiliaries and clubs, including being in charge of the Tri-County Annual Crawfish Boil and Music Festival.

Hanging on to the magic of her Louisiana roots, she’s cooked up a love potion or two—if she could only get Romaine to drink it. But her plans are derailed when the Ball Funeral Home, bursting at the seams with dead bodies, has a squatter stiff.

Dead Guy is a problem.

Auntie Zanne can’t abide by a murderer using her funeral home as the dumping grounds for their crimes, and Romaine doesn’t want her newly elected cousin, Sheriff Pogue Folsom, to fail on his first murder case. Together, Romaine and Auntie Zanne set off to solve it.

With a dash of humor, a dollop of Southern charm, and a peek at current social issues in the mix, it’s a fun romp around East Texas to solve a murder mystery of the cozy kind.

Lost and Found in Harlem by Delia C Pitts

This is a 4 book series.

When Shelba Rook’s home burns down, he realizes he has nothing left. What’s a jobless, homeless private detective to do? He’s feeling more than a little lost.

Shelba Rook’s “home” was in fact a room in a Harlem brothel. Not only does the catastrophic fire at Auberge Rouge take the few items he could call his earthly possessions; it ends up killing an innocent woman.

As Rook struggles to find a job, his thoughts keep returning to the woman at the Auberge Rouge. Who was she? Did someone set the fire intending to kill her? As Rook ponders these mysteries, he stumbles on one of Harlem’s best-kept secrets—the Ross Agency.

The detective agency, run by the magnanimous Norment Ross and his far more practical daughter, Sabrina, takes tiny neighborhood cases the police are too busy to solve. They’re looking for a new agent, and Rook knows a job is a job. Rook may look down on the types of cases Norment and Brina take, but the two will prove to be invaluable allies as he searches for an arsonist and a murderer. From tiny cases to huge investigations, the Ross Agency is ready for anything!

MIDDLE GRADE

Definitely Daphne by Tami Charles

In front of her followers, Daphne is a hilarious, on-the-rise vlog star. But at school Daphne is the ever-skeptical Annabelle Louis, seventh-grade super geek and perennial new kid. To cope with her mom's upcoming military assignment in Afghanistan and her start at a brand new middle school, Annabelle's parents send her to a therapist. Dr. Varma insists Annabelle try stepping out of her comfort zone, hoping it will give her the confidence to make friends, which she'll definitely need once Mom is gone. Luckily there is one part of the assignment Annabelle DOES enjoy--her vlog, Daphne Doesn't, in which she appears undercover and gives hilarious takes on activities she thinks are a waste of time. She is great at entertaining her online fans, yet her classmates don't know she exists. Can Annabelle keep up the double life forever?

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee

Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)

But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what?

Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum.

Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn't face her fear, she'll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.

So Done by Paula Chase

Jamila Phillips and Tai Johnson have been inseparable since they were toddlers, having grown up across the street from each other in Pirates Cove, a low-income housing project. As summer comes to an end, Tai can’t wait for Mila to return from spending a month with her aunt in the suburbs. But both girls are grappling with secrets, and when Mila returns she’s more focused on her upcoming dance auditions than hanging out with Tai.

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