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It is publication day again and there are two new books I am anticipating and have recently added to my TBR. Full disclosure: I received both of these via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. You can find my reviews here on this blog once I finish reading each book. So with no further ado…
Happy Book Birthday to The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Jeffers and Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis!
The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Jeffers
I had the opportunity to watch an Instagram Live interview hosted by @melanatedreader that featured Honoree Jeffers as one of the authors being interviewed. It is always awesome when readers get a chance to learn more about authors. She is a poet and this is her debut novel.
I have seen a lot of good buzz about this book on Bookstagram. It is a tome at 816 pages, but everyone has said that it is definitely worth the time investment and that it reads quickly. The blurb mentions that it has Sing, Unburied Sing and Homegoing vibes — both books that I absolutely loved.
It is an intergenerational story that tells the stories of Black, Indigenous and white ancestors in the Deep South. The main character is Ailey Pearl Garfield, who grows up in a northern city but spends her summers in Chicasetta, Georgia where her mother’s family has lived since their ancestors arrived in American enslaved. She is fighting for a sense of belonging that is in conflict with a trauma that has occured.
Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis
I saw this title featured at the School Library Journal SLJTeen Live event in early August. I had also seen it on NetGalley so I decided to add it to my TBR. Part of the blurb says it is for fans of Lovecraft Country and Candyman. So this one might push me out of my comfort zone a bit, because as stated last week…I’m a bona fide scaredy cat. But alas it is hard to resist some Black Girl Magic. 🤷🏽♀️
Main character Katrell earns money by talking to the dead. She uses said money to support herself, her manipulative mother and whoever fills the role of her mother’s deadbeat of the week. Katrell is going about her business until one day she takes it to far and accidentally raises someone from the dead. 👀 She gets a warning from another ghost that basically says, Sis you need to chill with that before you upset the balance. But ol girl is like wait a minute I can earn MORE money than I could before I’m not listening to you!
I’ve scanned a few starred reviews and the book has had positive feedback so far on GoodReads. But most cautioned that it was super emotional. I think I might make this one of my spooky reads for October.
Are there any books coming out this month that you can’t wait to get too?
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