Climb On! by Baptiste Paul

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm always looking for Caribbean set picture books for the children in my family. So I was happy to see Climb On! from North South books and I was able to receive an advance e-copy for review. This book releases in February 2022.

Climb On! It is set in St. Lucia and follows a mountain hiking trip between parent and child. There are enthusiastic and encouraging words in French creole peppered throughout the pages. The vibrant illustrations are perfect for young readers. I've done a mountain hike myself in St. Lucia and thought the illustrations perfectly captured the majestic views. My only gripe is I wish there were more story. There doesn't seem to be any particular motive behind the hike as the hike is considered to be the story but dialogue is sparse. Even just more description of what they encounter like other hikers or flora and fauna. There just isn't much to follow along with so when the story ends it feels abrupt. This book is described as for ages 4-8 but I can't see it really holding the older children's attention. 

No Ordinary Christmas by Belle Calhoune

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! There's less than 100 days until Christmas and I'm already in the holiday mood. And this one was the perfect way to kick start to what I'm dubbing my holiday romance reading series. No Ordinary Christmas is the first book in a new series called The Mistletoe, Maine series.

Dante West left Mistletoe long ago to become a successful actor in Los Angeles. Now he's back in his hometown to film a new movie he's producing. This is the perfect opportunity for him to help boost the small town's economy and make amends with friends and family.  

Lucy Marshall is the local librarian and also happen to be Dante's ex-girlfriend. She's not happy when he appears in town and asks to film at her library. But she can't refuse his offer to make a major donation. She's already imagining how she can allot the money. But as she finds herself falling back in love with Dante, she's afraid he'll end up leaving and breaking her heart again. 

Dante has regrets over not being around while his father was sick and it's driven a wedge between him and his brother. He hasn't been close to his family in awhile and he's realizing that he doesn't have that close supportive circle in Los Angeles. He's also hoping to reconnect with Lucy and his movie's plot mirror's their love story.

Belle Calhoune is no stranger to Christmas romance. I watched the movie Love, Alaska that was based on one of her books. This book reads like a holiday movie. There's enough snow, hot chocolate, and Christmas decorations to get you in the mood for the season. Just because a romance is closed door doesn't mean the characters can't have great chemistry and steamy kisses which Dante and Lucy had. I love small town romance so I was enjoying how the town celebrated the holidays. Lucy and Dante's rekindled relationship was the talk of the town. I adored Lucy's little sister Tess and their closeness despite Lucy being so much older than her. And I also liked how protective her older sister Stella was of her.

If you love Christmas stories and you need something to get you into the holiday spirit I definitely recommending checking this one out. It's a cute and quick read with Black leads set against a charming small town New England backdrop.

Interview with Sarah Raughley

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! As always I'm coming at you with another great interview. This author is not new to the game, having already published an action packed YA trilogy called the Effigies Trilogy. She's back with her latest release The Bones of Ruin which is a departure from her previous work.

What inspired you to write The Bones of Ruin? And did you do any kind of research while writing it?

I love stories set in 19th century England like Sherlock Holmes and Penny Dreadful. And I really wanted to write a story this time from the perspective of a Black woman living in England in the Victorian Era. Her experiences would be really different, I assumed, than your usual protagonist, so I really wanted to explore that. Something gothic, fantastical, but still gesturing at some of the realities of colonialism and imperialism, which really marked this era.

How has the experience with your sophomore series been different from The Effigies series?

It’s a historical fantasy so it definitely requires a lot more careful research! There are a lot of historical Easter Eggs that some might not even notice, but I thought it would be fun for history buffs to spot. Now that I have one series under my belt, I know that I can write another. I also know that just finishing a project is a victory in itself. And that writing for yourself trumps the highs and lows of reading reviews.

What’s the hardest part about writing a fantasy story?

Keeping all the powers straight! I have a ‘story bible’ but it can still be tricky! Also, if you have an elaborate fantasy world, you’ll want to make sure to communicate it well to the audience and keep the internal logic of the story consistent. This requires keeping track of a lot of moving elements.

Do you still feel as a Nigerian-Canadian author there is a pressure to write a fantasy story that takes inspiration from African folklore?

Yes, I think there are many pressures Black and African writers undergo in the publishing industry. There are still expectations from the industry and sometimes I feel from the readers as well. They may see a book about an African main character and expect certain book elements or a certain voice because they’ve been taught to expect these things, or they have a stereotypical framework of what a book about an African girl should be and sound like. It can be difficult to break through the perceptions of others but again, write for yourself first.

You have a love of manga and comic books. Could you ever see yourself writing a graphic novel?

YES! I’m doing a lot of research on this. I’m a hugely visual writer because of my love of this media, so it’s something that feels natural to me. One day, I’d love for you guys to meet more of the characters in my head!

If you could travel anywhere in the world to research and write for a year, where would you travel?

I’d love to go to Japan again. I went there a couple years back and it was so fun. I don’t know if I would research for a story necessarily. I’d just love to be there again with enough time to really explore, have fun and meet up with other writers.

If you were writing your memoir what would the title be?  

Stop Emailing Me: A Memoir 

What else do you enjoy outside of writing?

I love sleeping, eating, hmm...is that it? Ha, usually I like listening to music. I’m listening to a lot of old R&B right now. Plus, I’m a huge K-POP fan!

What is your comfort food of choice?

Cupcakes! I haven’t had any in a long time though. Trying to cut down!

Where do you see yourself as a writer in the next five years?

In five years, I would love to have a wiki page on one of my books. It’s a true dream! Like, for fans to actually gather what information they can from a story you wrote and organize it as a wikipedia....amazing! The true geek marker of success. 

Is there anything you’re working on now that you’re able to talk about?

I alluded to it before, but I’d love to explore all kinds of markets and media. All you need is a good idea and the will to finish a project. And you need to give yourself the time and grace to get it done! For me, as well as finishing The Bones of Ruin trilogy, I just want to get my stories out there. And when I do, I hope you guys will enjoy them!

Follow her on Twitter @s_raughley

The Sweetest Charade by Jadesola James

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! So earlier this month I read Jadesola James' Redeemed by his New York Cinderella. Well shortly after that her debut book The Sweetest Charade went on sale. I'd heard some good things about it so I decide why not read it right away?

The Sweetest Charade follows an influencer named Delysia Daniels who tags a professor named Dr. Alexander Abbott-Hill in a suggestive social media post. Once the picture goes viral and gossip starts circulating around campus Dr. Abbott-Hill reaches out to Ms. Daniels with threats to sue. Delysia's publicist comes up with a wild idea to have the two of them fake date after their implied relationship has brought them both 1000s of new followers and brands offering sponsorships.

Alexander has been working on a restoring an old luxury train that belonged to his family and Amtrak is calling now offering to fund his endeavors. So he agrees to the ruse and soon discovers that keeping up with Delysia's lifestyle is not easy. There's event appearances, planned content, and brands offering him freebies. And as they spend more time together it's clear there are feelings there that can't be ignored. Then a luxury trip designed to promote the restored train puts them in close quarters for a few weeks.

So Dr. Abbott-Hill was very pompous. But at the same time the author didn't want to lean into his clearly old money background. And I wish she would've gone more into it. He states he grew up fairly normal and is the poor cousin but his family's name carries a lot of weight around NYC and even the Philadelphia area. He's able to get into SoHo Lounge because they carry his family's wine as their house brand. His family has a name in the theatre scene in Philadelphia. It was said they once had a successful rail business. So there was no need for the random faux humble statements to downplay it. He may not have been into designer clothes but he and his family are very much about status. You go into the story thinking it's just a professor and influencer and that's the reason they're worlds apart. But the biggest gap between them was that he came across as much older though I'm not sure what their age difference was supposed to be. And she was new money and lived a flashier lifestyle, at least online.

I wasn't surprised to read that Jadesola James is a research librarian and to see her research cited after the story. You could tell she was really into the parts about the train and took care in describing all the details. Also the all expenses paid luxury train trip to different US cities is definitely my dream. It was a very unique element that I've never seen in a romance before.

This book was not that many pages but it felt lengthy at times because of the pacing. When the pace was fast I was speeding through it. But it would randomly slow down to try and make it a slow burn. It made it easier to put down the book. The chemistry between Alexander and Delysia is what kept me reading. Plus I found Delysia interesting and relatable There was a lot of depth to her character and I enjoyed reading about her struggling with her insecurities about her career path and her mother's health.  She's also used to switching personas to portray a completely different person online than offline. While online she's very boisterous, offline she was quiet and reserved. 

Also there was way too much blushing in this book with descriptions of the leads turning crimson from cheeks to ears. I'm not saying Black people can't blush just that unlike pale skinned white people you don't tend to see it on our faces the way you see them turning bright red. I don't care how light skinned these characters were supposed to be. It would've made more sense to describe how their facial expressions changed. Or just about the heat rising to their cheeks. Or getting that fluttering feeling. 

The timeline was also kind of off. How was he able to take weeks off towards the end of the semester for the influencer luxury train ride? Because it was taking place around Thanksgiving. And then somehow later he's able to take off for months to Dubai during the semester. When at the beginning of the book it's stressed his job isn't even in good standing due to poor student evaluations. 

Overall it was interesting and the sex scenes were well written. I just wasn't pining for Alexander and his pretentiousness.

2021 Holiday Gift Guide Part 1

 

Welcome Back Booklovers! Time is flying by and Christmas will be here sooner than you think. Also with all the talk about how bad shipping is going to be over the next few months more than ever this is the perfect time to start doing some early Christmas shopping.  So we are going to start with gifts to help set the mood when you're reading. 

And to make it easy for you everything has a click through links so you don't have to hunt any companies down. And yes, I have purchased from the majority of these businesses.

Black Owned Candle Companies

I don't know about you but I love burning candles before I sit down to read especially during the winter. I can't do those BBW candles anymore though. They tend to give me headaches. Sometimes you got to pay a little more for higher quality. 

Classic scents like Vanilla, Sage, and Lavender are the key to Good Day Scents  candles which comes in scents like Black Love.

Here at WOC Read we love a Caribbean Queen and this St. Lucian owned shop Isle of Wax comes through with Caribbean inspired scents. The coconut shell they come in with the option to add seashells is a fun touch.

Wick and Glow Candle Co has candles named after 90s R&B hits. Candles boast names like So Into You and Real Love.

Chanelle Novosey Candle Co makes the cutest Frappuccino candles they're almost too pretty to burn.

Stationary, Journals, and Things!

Ever wanted to go old school and get into letter writing? Eboniismoon makes it easy with her letter writing kit.

BookishHeaux got the bookmarks! And she's showing them off with one of my favorite books! Couldn't hesitate to put one in the cart for myself.

Mimi Oseni gave us the reflective journal we needed. This journal has great prompts, quotes, and affirmations for Black women to self-reflect. These prompts will help you dig deeper into how you live and cultivate joy. Check out Passionfruit!

I didn't even know I needed this representation until I saw it. CopperandBrassPaper has greeting cards and holiday gift wrap to help you really be prepared for the holiday season.

Black Owned Yarn Businesses

For the Black girls who love to purl and stitch while listening to audiobooks I didn't forget you. And neither did Essence of Autumn with her hand dyed yarns.

Fully Spun is all about the colors when it comes to her hand dyed marled yarn.

Black Owned Tea and Coffee Brands

Oya Tea boasts simple and quality ingredients sourced from Kenya and Malawi.

Coffee Del Mundo is an Afro-Latino specialty coffee company where you can shop for coffee by destination in addition to type. 

parTea in a box from the Just Add Tea Company is perfect for an afternoon tea party. You can select your choice of tea and cake to be included. 

Many of Adjourn Teahouse signature loose leaf tea blends are inspired by the owner's Black family. Puddin' will remind you of your grandmother's banana pudding.