My May Reading Wrap-Up is overdue!

Me, wearing one of my new favorite dresses and taking in the Spring.

I read 10 books last month & here are my thoughts:

Destiny’s Captive by Beverly Jenkins

I was fascinated by the last book in the Destiny series! Years after he was Shanghaied* off the coast of California, he is the captain of his own ship (named for his mother Alanza). As a pirate working to liberate Cuba, Pilar chooses the Alanza as her crew’s next target. I had never really learned about these experiences before, so it was awesome that one of my favorite authors introduced it to me in this book. Their chemistry is hot, of course, but the characters and their backstories are what kept me locked in. 

*Being Shanghaied meant that a person was put aboard a ship by force often with the help of liquor or a drug to work as sailors.

Love and Sportsball by Meka James

This is a sweet & spicy romance inspired by the Black American classic, Love and Basketball. I enjoyed the chemistry the leads had w/ each other & the emphasis on clear communication. It was a fun book but the pacing dragged a bit. Folks who enjoy basketball & sapphic romances would love this one, I think!

School for Extraterrestrial Girls #2: Girls In Flight by Jeremy Whitley & Illustrated by Jamie Noguchi

The School for Extraterrestrial Girls series is such a fun read for sci-fi fans who like imaging different alien races. Girls in Flight is the second graphic novel and  it transports us to the School for Extraterrestrial Boys with Tara, Misako, Summer, and Kat, since their school was compromised in book 1. I love that there are multiple POVs and that we get to know each of the main characters much more. The illustrations are also fantastic! If you love queer sci-fi and graphic novels, definitely give this series a go.

Zeal by Morgan Jerkins

At its core, this is a multi-generation story about love. Ardelia & Oliver get engaged in 2019 but struggle to hold onto one another as the stress of wedding planning AND Oliver's work at the hospital becomes overwhelming as the pandemic explodes in the US. We also follow the lives of Tirzah & Harrison, a couple separated by the Civil War & subsequent white violence, whose life-long yearning for one another casts a shadow over their descendent's lives for generations. 

Listening to the audiobook, I couldn't help but marvel at Jerkins's clear-eyed approach to telling these stories & her dedication to in-depth research! As much as Zeal is about love, it's also about healing wounds which we can’t do without inspecting it to prevent further infection. I hope more people read this novel and take care while doing so.

Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

Kennedy Ryan's Can't Get Enough, like most of her books, depicts complicated people learning, loving, & thriving together. This is a very hot love story, but it also dives into discussions of being child-free by choice, grief, Alzheimer's disease, being a care-giver, anti-fatness, & racism with care. These topics are usually difficult to navigate but Ryan seems to do so with ease!

Hendrix is a beautiful, plus-sized boss who can't help but capture the honest & warm Maverick's affection from the second he sees her. Their chemistry is immediately off-the-charts & the heat continues to crank up throughout this book. I highly recommend this book & the entire series!!

The Daughter of Danray (Flowers of Prophecy #3) by Natalia Hernandez

Oh my gahhhh! When The Follower of Flowers left me on a cliffhanger, I was shook, but reading The Daughter of Danray helped me understand why the story had to play out this way. Everything starts falling into place! The first two books were giving us the drama that stemming from Nessa/Nova’s escape and overarching mission to find the Unnamed Prince. Now, we are facing the daunting task of convincing large swaths of people to join the cause before it’s too late. Meanwhile, Rawl is out here trying to save the love of his life! swoon This was huge undertaking and now, I’m excited to see it all culminate in book 4.

Along Came Amor (Primas of Power #3) by Alexis Daria

Hot damn, this is my favorite book of the Primas of Power series!!! I swear, people really sleep on Romance but books like Along Came Amor are really diving into so much more than the MC’s undergarments. It was incredible to read because Alexis Daria captured my maternal family’s dynamics  almost perfectly!!! She gave us a chance to really look at the generational trauma stemming from internalized misogyny, judgmental family members, and the pressure of perfection. Amazingly, Daria did all of this and still gave us the intensely steamy and messy love story of Ava and Roman. If you want to know more of my thoughts on Along Came Amor, I wrote a longer review a few weeks back.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple is not for the fainthearted. This novel brings up so many themes for me, but there's one that I can’t stop thinking about: the ways in which your community can be complicit in tearing you down but the right one can lift you up. As a Black woman, I’ve seen how eager others are to find fault in us. They aren’t afraid to loudly proclaim it because so many others join in with them. That whole town watched as Celie suffered and did nothing to save her. The other Black women who had been ostracized by their town became Celie’s support and that is so real to me. This is a painful but important novel to read so I recommend y’all take breaks and be gentle with yourselves.

The Bone King and the Starling by Elizabeth Stephens

I am ashamed that it has taken me this long to read a book by Elizabeth Stephens because damn, this one was good! This pairing is sexy as hell and I might have to reread it. The audiobook was chef’s kiss by the way.

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

When that burned down in  Louisiana, I felt like it was the perfect time to read this little gem. This novel gave me some of the reprisal I was seeking, but I think McQueen could have made the ending more explosive and therefore, satisfying.