“It’s a Black Woman’s World” Summer 2023 Reads
- enjoyiana
- Jun 26, 2023
- 7 min read
Hey y'all! 💐
I'm super excited to share my website with you all and finally get my book club up and running this summer! 📖 It's been a long time coming and I'm glad to share some of the books I've been wanting to read for a while. If you have time, please take a look around my website- I have some blog posts detailing more about me 🤍 and the projects I'll be creating. Stay tuned for more content, I'll try and post book club related things on Mondays!
After studying politics and journalism and reading primarily nonfiction and history, I realized that there are other genres of books that can dive deep into the complexities of Black feminism and womanhood in America. Some of the most powerful narratives are found in prose, fiction, and poetry and I realized that some people might not be as exposed to them in non-academic or literary spaces. I want to help bridge that gap and continue studying perspectives of Black womanhood through literature. I spent a few months this year working at a bookstore, where I learned more about curating reading lists and helping people expand their reading pallette. I want to use what I learned and share some of the titles that have been on my reading list since Black History Month in February, Women's History Month in March, and Black Women's History in April.
These books come from the extended reading list I've been working on for "It's a Black Woman's World" Book Club. I dedicated this space to exploring different narratives and perspectives on Black womanhood. We will be reading titles across fiction, poetry, screenplays, and nonfiction that are written predominantly for, by, and about Black women. If you have recommendations or suggestions for titles, please share them!! I'll be posting updates, discussion questions, and reviews on books my website and on my social media. There's also an online group where readers can engage with each other and share their thoughts and reactions as they read along. I want it to be a safe and inclusive space for book and Black women lovers alike where we can chop it up, read some good stuff, and unpack different themes that relate to the real world around us. Feel free to download the mobile version of my website if you'd prefer a user-friendly platform.
Join "It's a Black Woman's World" Book Club as we make our way through the list this summer, starting with "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler.
parable of the sower by octavia butler 🌾
Set in apocalyptic California in the 2020s, a young and empathic protagonist, Laura fights to survive and make her voice heard among the chaos following global climate change and economic crisis in her community. First published in 1993, this book and Octavia Butler have both been celebrated for the speculative abilities of representing the underlying realities of the world, and combining afro-futurism and feminism with contemporary fiction. To kick off the book club, let's start with a book where we can literally enter the mind of a Black woman dealing with the spiritual, social, and cultural issues many might be unpacking today. I'll try my best to not post spoilers, but I'll share my thoughts in the online group as I go along!
2. the other black girl by zakiya dalila harris 👩🏾💻
Have you ever been the only person who looks like you in your workplace? Zakiya Dalila Harris's first novel might be a relatable, if not triggering, read for you. This satiral and psychological thriller follows protagonist Nella Rogers, the only Black woman working at a New York City publisher, as she welcomes a new member of the team, another Black woman. After receiving some threatening notes suggesting she leave the company, Nella spirals and battles the micro aggressions and gaslighting that often comes with working in predominantly white spaces. Definitely a relevant story in this day and age detailing what it's like to take up space as a Black woman in the corporate world.
3. all about love by bell hooks ❤️
One of my all time favorite books ever, bell hooks takes us through her own journey of understanding and finding love. hooks argues that by examining the concept as a verb rather than a noun, we would naturally be better equipped to love as a society. "love is as love does," she writes. Classified under the psychology genre, the book truly reads like a therapy session with your wise great aunt, complete with examples from modern society and a chance to reflect on what love means to you. This book is definitely worth re-reading and deserves a spot on your shelf.
4. seven days in june by tia williams 🪷
Another NYC tale, this one follows a contemporary Black love story between authors Shane Hall and Eva Mercy. After meeting up again later in life, the two lit-freaks reminisce on their youthful and steamy romance from twenty years ago. Over the course of a week, or seven days (wink wink), the two rekindle their connection as grown-ups and heal their old wounds. This book might get a lil spicy but it's a slow burn worth the read.
This one is one of the more interesting plot lines I've found so far. This novel follows three Black women who all become intertwined in the life of a successful white man in Stockholm, Sweden. Kemi is a marketing executive recruited to help a racial PR disaster and seeks an appropriate work/life social balance. Former model and now flight attendant Brittany Rae becomes an unhealthy obsession after being discovered in the business class. And Muna is a refugee who lands herself a job cleaning an office while trying to establish residency and find a place to call home. Johnny the influential white man they all become linked to lies at the center, he represents various challenges Black women deal with including hypersexualization, professionalism, classism, racism, fetishization, and tokenism. I love that Lola Akinmade Akerstrom deeply dives into the humanity and the different perspectives of what it can feel like to be a Black woman and I love that she takes it to an international level.
6. I know why the caged bird sings by maya angelou 🕊️
This American classic is an autobiography describing the young life of writer Maya Angelou. The first of seven autobiographical works by the poet, she recounts the trauma of her childhood and her experience with sexual assault and racism in the South. This is one of those books that I tried to read in my youth, but I don't think I was ready to really unpack everything. Now as an adult, I think I have the mental fortitude to read it again and find healing and empowerment in her story.
7. get a life, chloe brown by talia hibbert 👩🏾🤝👨🏼
This is the first book of a series about the Brown sisters, the second one "take a hint, Dani Brown" is also on my list! This one follows computer geek Chloe, who after a traumatic event, decides to create a summer bucket list designed to help her "get a life." On that list: enjoy a drunken night out, ride a motorcycle, go camping, travel the world, and do the horizontal monster mash with no strings attached. After moving out of her family's mansion, she turns to a man she's secretly been spying on. Enter Redford "Red" Morgan, a white man?! with tattoos, a motorcycle, and a whole lot of artsy-fartsy sex appeal. While spending time with Red, Chloe ends up learning a lot more about herself than she realized, and explores her own inner world and helps him discover joy and heal from his own traumatic past. Talia Hibbert is well-known for her writing style and her acknowledgement of interracial relationships and diverse characters. It should be a really fun read.
8. take my hand by dolen perkins valdez 🤝🏾
Nominated for Best Historical Fiction 2022 on Goodreads, this one caught my attention because of the cover and the title of the book. Inspired by true events, this novel follows a Black and female nurse, Civil Townsend, fresh out of nursing school in 1973 looking to make change in reproducective rights in the Black community. On the job in Montgomery, she learns that her clinic will be a one-room cabin, and her patients, just 11 and 13 years old, are poor and Black enough for welfare to put them on birth control. One day, after making it her personal mission to ensure the wellbeing and safety of her patients, she learns the truth about what really happened and the rest is history. Decades later as Dr. Townsend prepares to retire, the past resurfaces and the truth is brought back to light.
9. women, race and class by angela davis 🖤
One of those books that you can never refer to enough, this is another one of those books whose excerpts are widely circulated around the world in conversations of feminism, yet rarely taught in public academic spaces. "Women, Race and Class" is a collection of essays about the women's liberation movement since the 1960s and slavery in the United States. Applying Marxist analyses to the relation of class and race to capitalism in America, Angela Davis uses an intersectional approach to break down the realities of racism, classism, and sexism. One cannot call themselves a feminist if they fail to understand how inequality operates in the world around them, this book is a great start to popping that bubble.
10. blood like magic by lisele sambury 🧝🏾♀️
This is one of the first young adult fiction books I've picked up in a long time, but the cover art is so beautiful I just had to get into it. This book is a "rich, dark urban fantasy" that follows a teenage witch who is given a gripping ultimatum: sacrifice her first love or her entire family's magic. After years of waiting for her calling, she finally gets it- and Voya can now begin the necessary trial every witch must pass to come into their powers. Every witch has their own calling that's specific to them, so when Voya gets hers and not only fails the first time, then finds out that her task is to kill her first love, she realizes what's really at stake. Fortunately, she finds a new genetic matchmaking program that will allow her to fall in love and complete the trial before the deadline is up, but then she falls in love with someone who wants nothing to do with her. The pressure is getting worser for sure.
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