This is really an unforgettable memoir that is full of heart, well written and teaches you so much about lAn intimate, engaging and beautiful memoir.
This is really an unforgettable memoir that is full of heart, well written and teaches you so much about life. I think the author did a brilliant job of taking us into their world and I enjoyed every bit of it. I heard learnt so much reading this memoir and I think that is what I liked most. ...more
"I never saw Black queer people as objects of desire... I never thought that someone would want to love me or someone who looked like me. I thought fo"I never saw Black queer people as objects of desire... I never thought that someone would want to love me or someone who looked like me. I thought for a very long time that my only hope in finding companionship was to convince a white person to love me." - Aimee
Queer Love In Colour is photography collection filled with queer love from across the world. The photographer and writer Jamal Jordan travelled across the world to meet queer couples and their families for this project and what a beautiful project.
I love love and reading these stories were moving and truly beautiful. I think this is a celebration of Queer Coloured love and I enjoyed every piece of it! What a truly great collection....more
Booker Prize Longlist author Brandon Taylor comes to us in 2021 with a collection of short stories called FILTHY ANIMALS.
The stories in this collectiBooker Prize Longlist author Brandon Taylor comes to us in 2021 with a collection of short stories called FILTHY ANIMALS.
The stories in this collection are interconnected so you get different perspectives on what is happening. In some ways it works but overall, it made the collection felt so same. When I think of a collection of short stories it means different distinct stories in one go. I think I was not prepared to read about one character in one story and then hear about them in another. In some ways it made the collection feel bit underwhelming and boring in some instances.
I felt the first story was strong and a great opener, I did enjoy the story called MASS I thought Taylor really captured sibling dynamic. This collection did not do it for me at all- I felt the author should have just done a full story or a novella or just write 11 distinct story.
This is what I call a brilliant collection of essays! This be read and studied widely! Brilliant!
In Kei Miller’s long-awaited collection of essays This is what I call a brilliant collection of essays! This be read and studied widely! Brilliant!
In Kei Miller’s long-awaited collection of essays Things I Have Withheld , he exams in the author note, silence, his body and how it is viewed by others. This is examination is continued throughout the collection. The title of the book Miller notes, was taken from poet, Dionne Brand. In each the essays he says, is an act of faith, an attempt to put my trust in words again. My attempt to offer, at long last, a clearer vocabulary to the things I have only ever mumbled…
In the thirteen essays included in this collection, Kei Miller examines his body and how it is viewed by others. He writes about being a Black Man, Writer, Gay Man, from the Caribbean and what is expected of him. How others view him and the racism he continually faces. He examine racism and classism in Jamaica by citing examples of things that happened recently- Usain Bolt being told to “go back where he comes from” #NeverForget . We read his open letters to James Baldwin and the impact he had on him. Family secrets and things you don’t talk about, love affairs and trauma. Being a gay man in Jamaica, how the writer’s white tears continue to be something he cannot shake and carnival in Trinidad- the “different type of energy”. We go on his visit to the African continent - we get mugged, visit a Rastafarian village and go to the launch of Accra Noir. So much is packed into this collection, this is a collection that is crisp, biting and intelligent. What a ride!
I particularly loved the essays Mr. Brown, Mrs. White & Ms. Black, The Boys At the Harbour, Our Worst Behavior, The Buck, The Bacchanal, And Again, The Body . After finishing The Boys At the Harbour, I was moved to tears. I literally could not breathe reading what their life is like. Miller was able to give a realistic look into he lives of these boys, what they dreams are (yes, they have dreams) and how fluid their lives can be. I was transported to the Kingston Harbour, hearing the waves crash while I reasoned with them. WOW. What I loved was how Miller handled their stories with care, this essay was truly masterful.
Jamaica wasn’t big, but there were so many different Jamaicas, that it was possible to live in the worlds that really had never intersected.
Miller’s writing is perfection. His brain is brilliant. The topics he covered was done in such an insightful way. This is a must read collection of essays that I cannot stop thinking about....more
What a bore. I cannot get over how boring this book was. I think I shed a tear from being bored. NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!! Why was it told from Jonathan'sWhat a bore. I cannot get over how boring this book was. I think I shed a tear from being bored. NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!! Why was it told from Jonathan's perspective? What was this big secret that he was raised by two moms? UGH. Where do I get my time back?...more
Brilliant does not begin to cover this gorgeously written debut novel… WOW!
Life is an ambivalent lover. One moment, you are everything and life wan Brilliant does not begin to cover this gorgeously written debut novel… WOW!
Life is an ambivalent lover. One moment, you are everything and life wants to consume entirely. The next moment, you are an insignificant speck of nothing. Meaningless.
Butter, Honey Pig Bread is told from the perspective of the mother, Kambirinachi and her twin daughters, Kehinde and Taiye. The story opens up with Kambirinachi who believes she is an Oghanje- a spirit that plagues women by being born and dying during childhood. This spirit keeps coming back and the woman is faces with a series of dead children. Kambirinachi finally decides to end the haunting by staying alive to be with her human family… but what is the price she will pay to her spirit family who she abandoned?
Kambirinachi decision seem to be paying off, she went to school, studied and met her husband who is a man who worships her. Pretty soon they have twin daughters- Kehinde and Taiye. Fast forward ten years later she is suffers from bouts of sickness. Her daughters haven’t spoken to each other in over 12 years because of a traumatic incident that happened when they were younger.
Kehinde, cut all ties from her family, she barely calls home. She moved to Canada to study to become an artist, there she met and fell in love. After marrying her husband, she felt it was time to return home, even though she knows she will have to actually talk to her twin sister she’s been avoiding for years. After years of being away from Nigeria her home and her family, is she ready to explore that trauma?
Taiye is still reeling from being cut off by her sister. She tries to fill that void through traveling, having causal relationships with women. She misses her sister and spends time writing letters she doesn’t intend on posting. Loneliness follows her, everywhere she goes- UK, Europe and Canada. She finally discover passion for food and cooking, enrols in a programme to teach her. She is finally getting her life together when she meets a woman who plunging. She moves back to Nigeria to lick her wounds, take care of her mother and wait for her sister’s return.
What a beautifully written novel. It spans years of trauma, we are taken to different countries as these women trying to find their way back home. Themes of friendship, spirituality, religion, queer love, faith, family and food is expertly explored. I finished this book with an appetite for all the Nigerian food spoken about in the book.
I cannot believe this is a debut novel because the writing is gorgeous. Not a single word was out of place. You felt immersed in the narration and the story. I love one nuanced the relationships were, you feel for the people, their loneliness was palatable. The writer does a lot of showing in telling this story and it was truly great to witness.
I want EVERYONE to read this book! A book I won’t soon forget....more
I'm too sensitive for this world. And yet I'm here.
In A History of Scars Laura Lee details her relationship with her mother who suffered from Alzh I'm too sensitive for this world. And yet I'm here.
In A History of Scars Laura Lee details her relationship with her mother who suffered from Alzheimer's, her sisters who she had a less than stellar relationship with, her father who was not really present. On top of all of this Laura has a mental illness that impacts how she views the world. She walks us through all of this in her debut memoir.
In the introduction for KINK the editors R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell said In many of these stories, kink can also deepen and complicate urgent coIn the introduction for KINK the editors R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell said In many of these stories, kink can also deepen and complicate urgent conversations around how consent is established, negotiated and sometimes broken.
KINK is a collection of short stories written by some of today’s favorite writers. As stated in the introduction, majority of the stories explores sex, consent, agency, desires, deep dark desires and coping. Yes! These stories will have you clutching your pearls and fanning yourself, this is not a collection for the prude at heart (which I think I am).
Overall I think it is a solid collection, I do not think this is a book for everyone but I was insanely curious and I wanted to know what was in this collection. My favorite stories that really stood out for me were: Oh Youth by Brandon Taylor The Cure by Melissa Forbes Safe Word by R.O. Kwon Impact Play
If you are looking to read about deep desires, take a peak behind the BDSM curtain, this curated collection of short stories is it! ...more
A person who sells eggs should not start a fight in the market
What a piece of proverbs to start out the epic story of Oto and his twin sister Wura! A person who sells eggs should not start a fight in the market
What a piece of proverbs to start out the epic story of Oto and his twin sister Wura! An Ordinary Wonder opens up in Nigeria in 1991 where Oto, age 14 starts recounting the story of his life. Yes, I know, he is just 14 but trust me when I say, he has lived a long, tiring life so far. Oto lives with his mother and his twin sister Wura, after his birth his father, saw that he was a “monster” and left to not be associated with Oto, his sister and his mother. Oto is left as the only person his mother can take her frustration out on and she does so relentlessly.
Oto is the exact opposite of his sister Wura, she is a social butterfly, the apple of her mother’s eye, she cannot do any wrong. While Wura tries to protect her twin brother, he always seems to find himself is tight situations- some things are left out of her hands. In an effort to escape his home life Oto leaves for boarding school and for the first in a long time he finds somewhere he can truly breathe easier… that is until he starts falling for his roommate and best friend.
is told from Oto’s present life at boarding school and his past life while living at home. This gives the reader a more in-depth look into Oto’s character, his family, history and why things are the way they are now. I think the author did this to show us the impact the past continues to play on Oto’s life. I also liked that you see the mother’s descent into a religious fanatic and why she is the way she is. We also get an explanation for why Oto continue to feel like a girl even through the world views them him as a boy…
So much is explored in this book- sibling love, education, gender, sexuality identity, belonging, culture, folklore and hardship. At the heart of this, this book renews your faith in humanity in such a great way. Yes, there were some parts in the plot that read unrealistically but I did not hold it against the author. I also felt the book tied up nicely without being too eyerolling. I also did not enjoy USA being position as the land of freedom but hey….
If you read and enjoyed The Girl With the Louding Voice I strongly recommend reading this one. ...more
Navigating in a space that questions your humanity isn’t really living at all. It’s existing. We all deserve more than just the ability to exist.
Geo Navigating in a space that questions your humanity isn’t really living at all. It’s existing. We all deserve more than just the ability to exist.
George M. Johnson writes a beautiful, painful and necessary collection of essays and I am so happy it got published. I cannot begin to imagine what it must have been like for Johnson to write All Boys Aren't Blue , having to revisit the history of trauma of hate and racism. This book is rich with heart and authenticity. Johnson's story deserves to be told and I really hope a lot more persons read it.
You haven’t met dysfunctional until you’ve met Mike and Benson…. What a trip!
Memorial is Bryan Washington’s sophomore novel that follows couple MikeYou haven’t met dysfunctional until you’ve met Mike and Benson…. What a trip!
Memorial is Bryan Washington’s sophomore novel that follows couple Mike and Benson as they try to fix their relationship with themselves and their family… particularly their Fathers. Mike is Japanese, he works as a chef and Benson is Black works at a day care, he is great with children. They met, and with a little chase on Mike’s part him and Benson got together, three years later they are living together, somewhat sadly.
At the start of the novel Mike’s mother visits from Osaka, and the day after Mike leaves his mother with Benson to go visit his dying father in Japan. Benson who is meeting Mike’s mother for the very first time must now live and form a relationship with her. While Mike is off in Japan, Benson finds out his father is going to a therapist and trying to get clean, he meets and take a liking to another man, but we don’t know if it is his relationship to Mike or his positive status that is holding him back.
While in Japan, Mike gets to know his dying father a bit more. He falls into a routine of taking care of him and the bar that he owns. Before his father’s death he willed the bar to Mike for him to do with it what he wants. Mike also meets someone he fancies, but isn’t sure how to proceed.
The novel is told from the POVs of both Mike and Benson so you get an in-depth look into their perspective and how they both tell the “same” story. I think that is what I enjoyed most about the book, how people absorb a situation differently. "Daddy Issues" was a theme that was ever present in this book and for some reason it was refreshing seeing this theme from a man's perspective.
I did feel the overall feeling of the book was a bit sad and depressing. There were some laugh out loud moments especially with Mike’s mother and Benson, bit overall the book felt a bit flat for me. ...more
The Blackness between the stars is the melanin in your skin
What a beautiful, multi-layered, tender, moving debut novel by Junauda Petrus. The Star The Blackness between the stars is the melanin in your skin
What a beautiful, multi-layered, tender, moving debut novel by Junauda Petrus. The Starts and the Blackness Between Them is told from the perspective of two sixteen year old girls who are both navigating their ever changing worlds and trying to carve our a space for themselves and who they want to be.
We meet Audre who lives in Trinidad and Tobago with her very strict and religious mother and her stepfather. Audre’s grandmother Queenie is one of her favourite persons, she teaches her to be bold, to harness her power and shine her light. Audre enjoys her life in Trinidad and Tobago but that comes to an end when her mother catches her with her secret girlfriend who is the pastor’s daughter. Audre’s mother is ashamed, she immediately decides to send Audre to Minneapolis to live with her father she does not have a relationship with. Audre is plucked from her familiar world and thrust into very scary and unfamiliar space, that is until she meets Mabel.
Mabel lives in Minneapolis with her parents and her younger brother. She is trying to figure out herself and her how she feels about her ex Terrell and her feelings toward her friend Jada. She spends her summer vacation with gardening with her father and having great family time. She is having a great summer, expect for being very lethargic. Mabel meets Audre when she visits with her father for dinner- they hit if off immediately. They are inseparable as Mabel guides Audre through American culture, her school system, Audre in return shares her experience growing up in Trinidad and Tobago. Both of their world begins to crumble when Mabel is diagnosed with a disease that will change the trajectory of their lives.
I’ll be honest, I cannot tell the last time I read a YA novel. It is generally a genre that is hit or miss for me. This book came on my radar because I was RebelWomenLit posting about it being their book club selection. I did my research and found out it was set in the country I am currently living. I am so happy to experience this book and the author. This book is so well written, so layered and showcases so many facets of queer teenage life. I love that the author decided to make the character a Trini because it is not often we (me) read about the experience of a queer Caribbean teenager- I love that a place was created for this.
I really enjoyed being immersed in this novel and I highly recommend you add this to your list! Read it and then give it to the teenager in your life! ...more
Rainbow Milk opens in the summer of 1959 in England. We hear from Norman Alonso, a Jamaican living in England with his wife who is seeking to provid Rainbow Milk opens in the summer of 1959 in England. We hear from Norman Alonso, a Jamaican living in England with his wife who is seeking to provide a secure future for their children. Norman grew in Jamaica from humble beginnings, while he didn’t lack anything, his wife Glorie convinced him that life would be better in England. Life in England did not turn out how Norman expected, from illness, to a hardened marriage and racism, where was the bright future he envisioned?
Fast forward to 2002 we meet nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy, a Jehovah Witness who was disfellowed because of “improper behaviour”. Turned out by his community and family, Jesse runs away to London to start over, and shake the hold religion placed on him. Starting over proves harder than envisioned so Jesse turns to sex work to earn his living while he writes his book. While he is surrounded by millions, Jesse still battles with being disfellowed, the remnants of religion, his sexuality, not knowing his father and not having a community.
This is what I call addictive reading! I could not put this book down because I needed to know what happened with Jesse. I think the author did such a compelling job of exploring religion and sexuality- specifically how it is treated in the Jehovah Witness faith. I loved how he explored identity for those who grew up in the church and even after leaving, they cannot shake the teachings. This was a solid coming of book, we journey with Jesse who landed in Brixton when he was 19years until he was 34 years old.
My only draw back was that I wanted to hear more from Norman, he is such a commanding character, his voice was so strong. I felt how his story was inserted in the book was a bit clumsy, and with a stronger Editor it would have been re-worked into the narration a bit better. I also felt that the book went over the same things a little too much, that did not help with the pacing.
Regardless of those two draw backs, this is such a well written, truly beautiful account of a young Black gay disfellowed man trying to make his way in London. We need more stories like this.
I know that, as a trans person of color, my life expectancy is in my early thirties, just because of the sort of violence people like me face every d I know that, as a trans person of color, my life expectancy is in my early thirties, just because of the sort of violence people like me face every day. I know all of this—but somehow, everything’s always felt so far away.
What a well written, deeply moving book. I enjoyed reading about Felix's experience, it was so layered and real. I loved that the book was about a black, transgender grappling with his identity- we need more stories like these being told.
What I adored more than anything was was the father-son relationship. I felt it was well depicted and realistic, often times raw. When Felix, whose Dad is "trying" to do everything but still falls short, he wonders will his father ever get it? Why would he pay for my hormones, my surgery, my doctor’s visits, everything—but refuse to say my real name? and I loved how the author explored all of this.
Honestly, Kacen did a spectacular job with this book, the characters were fully formed, I loved the catfishing/mystery aspect and the plot pacing was just perfect!
Updated June 12, 2021 I decided to give Patsy a re-read for Read Caribbean month because I felt the first time I read it I was a bit too hard and I h Updated June 12, 2021 I decided to give Patsy a re-read for Read Caribbean month because I felt the first time I read it I was a bit too hard and I had just finished reading at least 2-3 other books that explored immigration.
In re-reading this book I got such a huge appreciate for the themes explored including mother-daughter, immigration, growing up queer in the Caribbean and being a barrel child. I think what I loved most about this book was that it is not every day I pick up a book and read about a mother who just wanted to get a chance to live HER life. A lot of the books I've read we hear about men leaving to start a new life, it is great to read about the other side. I loved reading this book the second time around.
May 2019 I thoroughly enjoyed reading Nicole Dennis-Benn's debut novel Here Comes The Sun so much so Patsy was one of my most sought after ARC for 2019.
We meet Patsy, a twenty something Jamaican living in Pennyfield- what one would call a ghetto. Patsy is a government worker, but gets paid so little, she ends up doing some on the side work that is she not too proud about. Patsy is the sole breadwinner, but she is hardly able to provide for her daughter Tru and her mother who stopped working after finding the Lord because "the Lord will provide". Of course, Patsy now have to pick up the slack that the Lord doesn't fill.
By all intents Patsy's life is HARD. It just seems like she cannot catch a break. This all changes when Patsy receives the American visa she's been applying for. Patsy, like most/some Jamaicans think going to America will change their lives for the better so she grabs the opportunity to leave the island.
Patsy's oldest and dearest friend Cicely left Pennyfield a decade ago and from her letters to Patsy, moving to New York was the best thing that ever happened to her. Cicely paints a picture of hope, wealth and overall happier life once Patsy lands in New York. What Cicely does not make mention of is any plans for her and Patsy rekindling their love once she arrives. Patsy decides to put herself first for once and makes the decision to move to America, leaving behind her mother and her five-year-old daughter Tru. Her mother must now truly depend on the Lord to provide and her daughter Tru will have to live with her father and his family.
Patsy says goodbye to Jamaica, for the land of opportunity, America. Of course, once Patsy arrives in America, she realizes it is nothing as Cicely described in her letters. Reality hits hard for Patsy, an undocumented immigrant who finds herself doing things she would dream of doing if she was still in Jamaica.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Pasty. I feel she is a character I don't always read about and it was refreshing doing so. I liked how complex Patsy is as a character, Dennis-Benn wrote a believable character and that is what I loved most about the book. It is not everyday you read about motherhood like this and I felt it was explored in a truly authentic way. The themes explored in this book are not new, but I felt the author did a solid job of exploring each in a way I never thought of.
On some level I am over the narrative of Jamaicans leaving Jamaica to find a better life in the US. I am over how a lot of people think the streets of America are lined with numerous opportunities and all they need to do is get a visa, get there and their lives will be changed for the better. I am also over reading about the barrel children who will have to grow up without their parent(s). On the other hand, this is a reality in Jamaica and the Caribbean, I've had Aunts and Uncles who left Jamaica seeking a better life elsewhere. So on some level, I feel like this is a story that deserves to be told, and Nicole Dennis-Benn did this a great way.
I did enjoy the book but I didn't love it as much as I did her previous novel. I think it was a tad bit too long and the ending was a bit too rushed. Overall, this is a truly a great addition to Caribbean literature....more
BookOfCinz
>
Books:
queer-reads
(17)
