The Island of Forgetting by Jasmine Sealy
Contemporary novel set in Barbados that centers a local family who owns a hotel… GIVE IT TO ME! The Island of Forgetting is Jasmine Sealy’s debut novel and what am stunning debut this is! The novel starts out in Barbados in the 1960s and goes until the early 2000s. Similar in structure to HOMEGOING each chapter […]
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
Fresh, biting, laugh out loud funny, chilling, relatable and brazen! A debut collection that you won’t soon forget! If I Survive You is a collection of interconnected short stories told from a Jamaican family living in Miami. While it is a collection of short stories, it does read like a novel because each story connects and […]
We Are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan
An immersive read that just did not let up! Since reading and enjoying Jennifer Makumbi’s Manchester Happened I have had a huge fascination with Ugandan history and culture, which is why I picked up this book because I wanted to learn more. We Are All Birds Of Uganda goes back and forth between 1960s Uganda and present day […]
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
These stories will have you clutching your pearls and fanning yourself! WOW Deesha Philyaw’s collection of nine stories about church ladies is fresh, tender, biting, raw, deeply moving and just downright beautiful. I think there was a moment I was holding my breath while reading a story and I could only release after finishing. These […]
Lest We Find Gold by Melanie Schwapp
BookOfCinz Book Club Pick Absolutely loved this book and of course I had to make it a book club pick! Lest We Find Gold is Melanie Schwapp’s sophomore novel. The book follows the life of Milly from her early years to her present life with her husband. Milly has a lot going for her, well educated, […]
The Selfless Act of Breathing by JJ Bola
When the author uses this quote to start a book, prepared to be ruined, They said you came looking for me. I didn’t drown; I was the water”- Jo Nketiah Also…the the title was a dead giveaway. This book is being marketed as a mash up of Transcendent Kingdom and A Man Called Over and I think its doing the book […]
Wahala by Nikki May
You are going to laugh, cry, get enraged and fall madly in love with Ronke, Simi and Boo! This book is not just a pretty cover! It is engaging , truly unputdownable you wont want to leave your new friend behind! I am a little annoyed that the publishers choose to compare these amazing ladies […]
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
Not going to lie, I immediately wanted to read this book because of the title and I am so happy I finally got around to reading it! In You Exist Too Much we meet an unnamed narrator who is Palestinian-American, she currently lives in New York, DJs at nights and is looking to start in an MFA […]
Bread The Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini
I decided to choose this book to kick start BookOfCinz Book Club for 2022. The first time I read it, I was a little underwhelmed but in re-reading it I was so moved by the themes explored- particularly that of friendship. Lisa Allen-Agostini writes a friendship like no other and I wanted so much more […]