CW/TW: Abortion, domestic violence, physical abuse, cheating. 

Luster is not a read for the fainted heart. Luster is a book about a young woman exploring herself while being in a very interesting relationship(s). The MC (Main Character) is a young black woman who is an artist. She is struggling with the notion of art and how to create it. She is caught up with not being attached to men and being attached to them as well. While reading, I kept thinking if Queenie had a twin this MC would be that twin. I found many parallels between Queenie and this MC. 

Edie (MC) is navigating a lot of themes that most of us have thought about or did. Edie engages in self-harm that is destructive to herself, her dreams, and at the whims of other people. Edie finds herself attracted to an older man who is married. She engages in conversations with this man that causes her to reflect and challenge her notion of love, intimacy, self-love, and violence. The part about this book that I found most intriguing was her relationship with this married man's black daughter. This part of the story took me for several loops and I am still thinking about how to process it. I am not sure if I will ever be able to express it in a manner that is easily understood in the English language.  Luster was a read that I think I can only read one time because it was a hard read. A read that parallels many people's lives. This book challenges family and boundary-crossing. 

CW/TW: Homophobia, possibly cheating, themes of force marriage. 

I feel like February is for Tears. I have been in tears while reading quite a few of the books I have read this month. Big Love is no exception. This graphic novel was beautifully written. This is a BIG example of you are never too late to fall in love. You are never too late to express your love and you are never too late to be your authentic self. I love how this book didn't sugar code the process of "coming out." It highlights how coming out at any age can be painful and beautiful at the same time. I love the fat rep and different body types throughout this book. This book highlighted the notion of following your dreams at any age. Something I have trouble with. I often think "maybe I am too old to do that." This book takes that notion and sticks it where the sun doesn't shine. I loved reading this book and would re-read it twenty times over. It was a wonderful short read and I hope that you read it too. 

I can not and will not stop raving on and on about this book. This book touched me in so many ways that I do not know where to start. As a person in interracial big friendships, this book meant so-so much to me. I felt that I was given a personal insight into relationships that are not always spoken or openly spoken about. The authors discussed how friendships are viewed as something that is disposable and one person could leave the relationship without closure and how research has shown that when a non-romantic relationship ends, oftentimes it's more hurtful than romantic relationships. IT'S ABOUT TIME, that these conversations are being held. We need to carve out more space to discuss big friendships. Big friendships have ups and downs and the authors were transparent about theirs and how their differences drew them apart and what they did to get back together. I felt like this was something I most definitely needed and I contacted the people I have big friendships with after reading this book and told them EXACTLY how much they mean to me. 

I am still contacting them. 

The English Wife was a shocker to me. I was expecting more character-driven pieces in this book. However, this book stayed true to the plot throughout the book. It is no secret that I am a sucker for books that go in and out of time. In addition to the timepiece, this book was written from multiple perspectives. That's a big WIN, big W for me. I was expecting the book to read from one of the people who was murdered sister's perspective but we got more perspectives in the book. Mulitple perspectives allow for more voices to be heard and vocal diversity in novels (if you ask me, which you didn't but I gave it anyway). I think the author was trying to portray a sense of urgency in understanding the husband and wife's life together. While reducing that urgency when the husband's sister was trying to figure out why he was murdered and why she (the wife) was missing. There is an element of romance in this book that caught me by surprise because usually in mystery novels budding romance is usually unheard of, at least in the mystery novels that I read. I wonder if the historical fiction aspect played a role in this new development. I enjoyed reading this book. The only thing I wish for is for the pace to be a little faster but overall, I liked this book. 

TW/CW: Rape, Incest, Colorism, Racism, Manipulation, Abuse, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence

Toni Morrison was such a great narrative of words. Listening to the book and hearing her words in the ways she wanted them to be spoken was so wonderful. This book is broken down into seasons. I think the seasons are to recognize the beauty and challenges of changes. In each season I felt there were new lessons to learns and new revelations to be revealed. While listening, I felt my ancestors talking to me about their childhood joys and turbulence. There were so many nuances and insights to parenting while black that I related to. So many whispers and conversations that I knew I was "too young" to hear was perfectly translated in this book. I say myself and my relatives throughout this book. I can't wait to formulate more of my thoughts on this book and turn it into something that emphasizes the importance of BLACK MENTAL HEALTH. To want blue eyes, and bluest of eyes causes for self-reflection of what is mine and what is NOT!

This is the second book of the PJO Olympians series. The second half of this book was wonderful to me. The pacing was great. I am finding myself really into the pacing of the middle-grade books that I've been reading lately. Percy's character growth in this book is insightful and causes more self-reflection. Percy seems to be thinking as a team and more cooperative in this book than in the previous book. Percy's chosen family and he seem to be working really well together. I am ready for book 3. 

The pacing of the book was perfect. I loved the characters and their development of powers. The ambiguity of the supernatural and non supernatural world was easily understood. This is a book I wish I had as a child. I can’t wait to share this book with my nieces and nephews. This is the kind of representation that young brown kids need to see! 

This manga was wonderful and I can’t wait to read volume 2! It was fantastic! 

This book story of the two families and the child is very similar to experiences of black people in the south (not all black people of course).