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  • 10 Questions for ‘Symona’s Still Single’ author, Lisa Bent

    by Shade Lapite

    In September 2020 Lisa Bent released her debut novel, Symona’s Still Single, the story of a 37-year old Jamaican British woman looking for Mr. Right while trying not to panic at the loud ticking of her biological clock. Symona’s Still Single was launched by indie publisher, Jacaranda as part of their ground-breaking #Twentyin2020 initiative whereby they would publish 20 Black British authors in one...

    January 28, 2021
    Comments 0
    Features, Interviews, Writers
  • 2021 Black Books

    40 Black Books out in 2021

    by Shade Lapite

    Happy New Year! To buffer ourselves against the (not inconceivable) event 2021 is not the safe harbour we’re hoping for, I suggest the following. Read through the 2021 upcoming books, highlight those you like and preorder a book for every month of the year. Every 30 days you’ll get a delivery, like a gift from the abyss, a new book to bring you light...

    January 20, 2021
    Comments 3
    Features
  • Sonali Dev

    Sonali Dev dives into the world of Austen

    by Shade Lapite

    Indian-American writer, Sonali Dev has layered her warm romcom style, accomplished heroines and Indian culture into two of Jane Austen’s most famous novels with marvelous results.

    October 30, 2020
    Comments 0
    Features, Romance
  • Reading Sherry Thomas

    Fangirling over Sherry Thomas

    by Shade Lapite

    I’m currently ploughing through Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series. It’s a revelation. Beautifully written, clever as all hell and presents a richly drawn 19th century England full of people from all over the British empire.

    July 16, 2020
    Comments 0
    Features, Mystery, Writers
  • Sareeta Domingo is Making Waves

    by Shade Lapite

    On a bright April day last year, I managed to grab a quick lunch with Sareeta Domingo. She’d whittled an hour out of her fiercely busy schedule to chat with me. To be safe, we ate at the Pret a Manger off London Bridge, a short walk from the Harlequin Mills & Boon office where she works as an editor. When we spoke on...

    June 21, 2020
    Comment 1
    Interviews, Romance

Latest Highlights

January 28, 2021

10 Questions for ‘Symona’s Still Single’ author, Lisa Bent

In September 2020 Lisa Bent released her debut novel, Symona’s Still Single, the story of a 37-year old Jamaican...

by Shade Lapite
Comments 0
2021 Black Books
January 20, 2021

40 Black Books out in 2021

Happy New Year! To buffer ourselves against the (not inconceivable) event 2021 is not the safe harbour we’re hoping...

by Shade Lapite
Comments 3
Sonali Dev
October 30, 2020

Sonali Dev dives into the world of Austen

Indian-American writer, Sonali Dev has layered her warm romcom style, accomplished heroines and Indian culture into two of Jane...

by Shade Lapite
Comments 0
Reading Sherry Thomas
July 16, 2020

Fangirling over Sherry Thomas

I’m currently ploughing through Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series. It’s a revelation. Beautifully written, clever as all hell and...

by Shade Lapite
Comments 0
June 21, 2020

Sareeta Domingo is Making Waves

On a bright April day last year, I managed to grab a quick lunch with Sareeta Domingo. She’d whittled...

by Shade Lapite
Comment 1
June 15, 2020

Why Publishing Advances Matter

On June 6, 2020, Leatrice “Elle” McKinney, (aka L.L. McKinney, author of A Blade So Black) kicked off a...

by Shade Lapite
Comment 1
ereaders
May 6, 2020

Rona Lockdown Reading

What have you been reading to get through the madness of recent weeks?

by Shade Lapite
Comments 0
Mansa Musa
February 13, 2020

Mansa Musa: Glitter and Gold, streaming now…

I spent my Christmas on a train travelling from Canada’s east coast to the west. When I wasn’t gazing...

by Shade Lapite
Comments 0
January 27, 2020

20 Black Books out in 2020

It’s 2020 people! Time to get rid of all the books that have been clogging up your ‘must read’...

by Shade Lapite
Comments 0
Black Book Christmas Gifts
December 21, 2019

Black Christmas Gift List

When Christmas is so close you can smell the turkey but you still have a stack of gifts to...

by Shade Lapite
Comments 0
Holding My Sister the Serial Killer
July 25, 2019

Video Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer

Korede’s gorgeous younger sister Ayoola has a nasty habit of killing her boyfriends once she grows tired of them....

by Shade Lapite
Comments 0
Literary agent, Nelle Andrews sits in her office
July 21, 2019

Nelle Andrew is crafting a new narrative in publishing

“I love the deal. I LOVE the deal. I mean to be an agent you have to love the...

by Shade Lapite
Comments 3

Interviews

10 Questions for ‘Symona’s Still Single’ author, Lisa Bent

Published by Shade Lapite

In September 2020 Lisa Bent released her debut novel, Symona’s Still Single, the story of a 37-year old Jamaican British woman looking for Mr. Right while trying not to...

January 28, 2021
Comments 0
Features, Interviews, Writers

Sareeta Domingo is Making Waves

Published by Shade Lapite

On a bright April day last year, I managed to grab a quick lunch with Sareeta Domingo. She’d whittled an hour out of her fiercely busy schedule to chat...

June 21, 2020
Comment 1
Interviews, Romance
Literary agent, Nelle Andrews sits in her office

Nelle Andrew is crafting a new narrative in publishing

Published by Shade Lapite

“I love the deal. I LOVE the deal. I mean to be an agent you have to love the deal. I love sending out a book and getting those...

July 21, 2019
Comments 3
Features, Interviews, Literature

10 Questions for literary agent, Emma Paterson

Published by Shade Lapite

Emma Paterson’s author list reads like a who’s who of influential people currently shaking up cultural discussions in the UK. Emma Dabiri (Don’t Touch My Hair), Otegha Uwagba (Little...

June 20, 2019
Comments 2
Features, Interviews

Top Posts & Pages

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  • 10 things you never knew about rock star author Malorie Blackman
  • 11 things you (maybe) didn’t know about Nicola Yoon
  • Mansa Musa: Glitter and Gold, streaming now...
  • Where are the joyful Black books?
  • 40 Black Books out in 2021
  • How Racism in 'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry' mirrors life in the UK
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  • Can you name 5 BAME tween boy books?

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Bookish Sites I Love

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5 Must-Read Posts

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Quote

There are a lot of beautiful people in the world, and they need to get counted. They need to be the heroes in stories, as well.

Nicola Yoon

Reviews

Holding My Sister the Serial Killer

Video Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer

by Shade Lapite

Korede’s gorgeous younger sister Ayoola has a nasty habit of killing her boyfriends once she grows tired of them. Covering up her sister’s crimes is bad enough, but life gets a lot more terrifying when Ayoola takes a liking to Korede’s love interest.

July 25, 2019
Comments 0
Features, Mystery and thrillers, Reviews

Homegoing calls out African complicity in slavery and offers healing

by Shade Lapite

Last year I visited Elmina Castle, a slave fortress on the coast of Ghana. It’s a beautiful white-washed building, very similar in style to Cape Coast Castle, the slave fortress where Yaa Gyasi sets key pieces of action in Homegoing. The castles are two of about 40 such structures that were built along the Ghanaian coastline by Europeans. They were trading posts that became...

February 28, 2019
Comments 2
Features, Literature, Reviews

Video Review: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives

by Shade Lapite

Baba Segi has three wives, seven children, and a home filled with riches. Now he has his sights set on Bolanle, a university graduate with a tragic past. When she joins his household, she unwittingly uncovers a secret which threatens to destroy the patriarchal foundation of his life. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin

February 21, 2019
Comments 0
Features, Reviews

Video Book Review: Chasing the Stars

by Shade Lapite

Olivia and Aiden rescue a group of stranded refugees from a remote planet, only for their new passengers to start dying in suspicious circumstances. Gripping murder-mystery, space opera based on Othello.  

August 24, 2018
Comments 0
Fantasy, Mystery, Mystery and thrillers, Reviews

Video Book Review: Crazy Rich Asians

by Shade Lapite

When Nick Young invites his girlfriend on a trip to Singapore she frets about meeting his parents. She has no idea that her quiet, humble boyfriend has more money than the World Bank and that she’s about to enter the treacherous, back-biting world of Chinese high society.

July 27, 2018
Comments 0
Lighthearted, Reviews

Alyssa Cole is Expanding the Boundaries of Romance

by Shade Lapite

At one point in 2017 it felt like Alyssa Cole’s name was coming at me from every direction. She’d pop up in every Twitter discussion that even vaguely mentioned a romance must-read list, whether the sub category was contemporary, historical or science fiction. During my 10 leagues deep obsession with the Hamilton musical I discovered Cole had contributed to a romance anthology called Hamilton’s...

July 3, 2018
Comments 2
Fantasy, Features, Reviews, Romance

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