I’ve Been Gathering Myself

Hey everyone! I started writing this post in the last minutes of 2019 so we can say that this is my last post of 2019 and the first of 2020 so depending on your time zone, HAPPY NEW YEAR and for my fellow Haitians, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

I know I have been quiet for a while, which I sincerely apologize for, adulting has been kicking my ass in the most major of ways! Everything has pretty much taken a back seat to my work but it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about this blog or that I’ve stopped reading…I just didn’t want to post half assed or half hearted posts because work was draining the life out me & impacted my writing/brain! Hence the silence but I plan to do MUCH better in this new year! I figured I would share all the books I’ve read over the last year and hopefully, a title or two jumps out at you that you decide to pick up! I also completed the Free Black Women’s Library challenge to read 30 books by Black Female authors (the authors can use the pronouns She or They)! It was really amazing, I actually went on to surpass the 30, not to brag or anything, lol! Anyway, here goes the list:

1. Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America Anthology ARC Edited by Ibi Zoboi
2. Black Leopard/Red Wolf ARC by Marlon James
3. On The Come Up by Angie Thomas
4. A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
5. The Field Guide To The North American Teenager by Ben Philippe
6. Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
7. The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
8. Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
9. Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
10. Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths by Elizabeth Acevedo
11. The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
12. Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You by Marley Dias
13. Internment by Samira Ahmed
14. Into White by Randi Pink
15. As Kismet Would Have It E-Novella by Sandhya Mennon
16. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
17. Girls of Paper And Fire by Natasha Ngan
18. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
19. The Bone Witch #1 by Rin Chupeco
20. The Heart Forger #2 by Rin Chupeco
21. The Shadow Glass #3 by Rin Chupeco
22. The Girl From The Well #1 by Rin Chupeco
23. The Suffering #2 by Rin Chupeco
24. With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo
25. Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo
26. There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Mennon
27. I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
28. Front Desk ARC by Kelly Yang
29. Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
30. My So Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma
31. Ash by Malinda Lo
32. Queen Of The Conquered ARC by Kacen Callender
33. Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender
34. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
35. Jackpot ARC by Nic Stone
36. The Jumbies #1 by Tracey Baptiste
37. Rise of the Jumbies #2 by Tracey Baptiste
38. My Life As An Ice Cream Sandwich ARC by Ibi Zoboi
39. Magical Negro Poems by Morgan Parker
40. There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce by Morgan Parker
41. Symptoms of A Heartbreak ARC by Sona Charaipotra
42. SLAY ARC by Brittney Morris
43. Color Me In ARC by Natasha Diaz
44. Who Put This Song On? ARC by Morgan Parker
45. Kingdom Of Souls ARC by Rena Barron
46. I’m Not Dying With You Tonight ARC by Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal
47. Obviously ARC by Akilah Hughes
48. A River Of Royal Blood ARC by Amanda Joy
49. Girls Of Storm & Shadow ARC by Natasha Ngan
50. Riot Baby ARC by Tochi Onyebuchi
51. Ghost (Track Series #1) by Jason Reynolds
52. Patina (Track Series #2) by Jason Reynolds
53. Sunny (Track Series #3) by Jason Reynolds
54. Lu (Track Series #4) by Jason Reynolds
55. Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
56. Crown of Thunder by Tochi Onyebuchi
57. The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert
58. Permanent Record ARC by Mary H.K. Choi
59. Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite
60. The Jumbie God’s Revenge #3 by Tracy Baptiste
61. For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington
62. Some Places More Than Others by Renee Watson
63. A Match Made In Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai
64. The Vicious Deep #1 by Zoraida Cordova
65. The Savage Blue #2 by Zoraida Cordova
66. The Vast And Brutal Sea #3 by Zoraida Cordova
67. Dealing In Dreams by Lilliam Rivera
68. WarGirls ARC by Tochi Onyebuchi
69. A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney
70. The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis
71. Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
72. The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring
73. I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest
74. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
75. Pride and Prejudice And Mistletoe by Melissa De La Cruz
76. Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
77. Broken Places & Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor
78. The Dark Fantastic: Race and The Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
79. Children Of Virtue And Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
80. Daughters of Nri by Reni K Amayo
81. Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
82. The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee
83. The Iron Will of Genie Lo ARC by F.C. Yee

Typing out that list made me realize just HOW much I’ve read this past year! I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have read all these amazing books and now I get to share my reactions with all of you! Which, from now on, I’m not going to call my posts Book Reviews, they will be Book Reactions because I’m reacting to these books rather than writing out reviews or ratings! I hope that’s cool with you all, I really just want to be authentic!

Anyways, here’s to another decade of reading and excitement over books! Bookish Regards to you all! Peace!