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Video Review: Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku
by Shade Lapite12 short stories about relationships make up this lively fiction collection. Cheating husbands, a mummy’s boy, an impotent husband, closeted men, life-long players – the stories analyse the various archetypes women are likely to encounter in the Lagos dating scene. I found the author’s wit and acerbic tone elevated this to pure gold!
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Video Review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
by Shade LapiteFor me, this dazzling novel was about the children of colonialism and the search for belonging.
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Video Review: Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
by Shade LapiteTwo young women desperate to escape their mothers find their lives intertwined with a strange mansion in Timmins, Ontario that harbours dark secrets. This gripping horror / psychological thriller is told through two compelling narrators and has multiple layers of mystery that keep you guessing until the very end.
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Video Review: I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan
by Shade LapiteWhen Dr. Georgia Young realizes she’s stuck in ‘cruise’ mode with no target destination, she slams on the breaks and calls a time out to re-evaluate her life and the choices that have led her to it. Her daughters, ex-husbands, mother, colleague and best friends worry that she’s lost her mind, but Georgia is over prioritizing the opinions of others above her own. She...
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The 2023 Reading List
by Shade LapiteI started a ton of books in 2022 but finished only a handful. Here’s the (very short) list of completed books: The Sweetest Remedy – Jane Igharo XOXO – Axie Oh Shine – Jessica Jung Dread Nation – Justina Ireland The Emma Project – Sonali Dev The Comeback – Lily Chu The Stand-In – Lily Chu Pachinko – Min Jin Lee My absolute favourites...
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Video Review: The Comeback by Lily Chu
by Shade LapiteOne of my favourite books this year has been ‘The Comeback’ by Lily Chu. It’s a sweet, romantic comedy about a workaholic, corporate lawyer – Ariadne Hui – whose life is upended when her roommate invites her gorgeous cousin to stay in their small apartment. Unknown to Ari, the quiet, artistic South Korean guy loafing on her couch is one of the biggest k-pop...
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Getting to Know West Africa – 3 Books I’m Reading
by Shade LapiteI’m on a mission to learn more about life in pre-colonial Africa. I’ve started with West Africa, specifically the Yoruba peoples and it is a fascinating journey so far. Here are three books I’ve been reading and how they come at the subject matter from different angles.
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10 Black Books I plan to read in 2022
by Shade LapiteI’ve selected 10 books that I’d like to read or listen to (hello audio books) in 2022. Since I’m obsessed with Black Joy, I’ve tried to choose titles that have more light than dark.
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Video Review: 7 Days in June by Tia Williams
by Shade LapiteA second chance romance about two successful writers – Eva Mercy and Shane Hall – who survived brutal childhoods and an epic romance that ultimately crashed and burned in their teens.
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15 Black Boy Tween and Teen Novels
by Shade LapiteIt’s been three years since a I wrote a blog post lamenting the paucity of books with Black lead characters for tween boys. In that post I recounted how I’d tried and failed to find five books with a Black boy protagonist that wasn’t about police brutality, drugs, gangs, social injustice or any other trauma. This summer a friend messaged me asking for book...