It is 1690 and Anyanwu is a West African woman with special abilities that she uses to protect her tribe. Her life is upended when Doro, a spirit-being with even greater power, seeks her out and insists on adding her to his ‘seed community’. Anyanwu is forced to engage all her wits and courage for a chance to free herself from Doro’s control.
A provocative story about freedom, community and the uses of power.
The Trees is a supernatural murder mystery set in a small racist town in Mississippi.
It is a buddy cop comedy about two black detectives sent to a sundown town to investigate a series of bizarre murders.
It is a satirical exploration of the practice of lynching that helped to uphold white supremacy in the US from slavery to the present day.
The Trees is many things. Above all, it is eminently readable.
After being pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is chock full of resentment. Half vampire and half fox-spirit, she doesn’t fit into any of the supernatural groups that populate Immortal Shanghai. Out of grumpy wilfulness, she sets out to learn what dastardly scheme her cruel grandmother is up to, using the gentle mortal she’s been tasked with babysitting as as excuse to investigate.
Kalothia has grown up in the shadows of her country, hidden away, cared for by a handful of guardians. When assassins attack her home on her sixteenth birthday, she flees to the royal court – a beautiful but lethal nest of poison, plots and danger. There she must learn the truth about her identity and the fate of her parents to defeat those who want her dead.
Books make great gifts. The end.
Now, choosing the right book is a whole different discussion. Thankfully I’m here to help. Here are 28 suggestions to help you choose the ideal book whether for your sister, dad, best friend or neighbour.
To make life easy I’ve grouped the books as follows: Romance, Fantasy/Sci fi, Mystery/Crime, Literary, Non-fiction.
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Books make great gifts. I think it’s particularly important to buy Black books for the children in our lives because they deserve to see children who look like them playing the lead role in stories .
I’ve compiled 22 book suggestions you can use as a starting point for gifts. I’ve separated my recommendations into: picture books, middle grade chapter books and teen/YA.
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I met Sareeta Domingo in 2019. I was on a yearlong career break and grappling with various ‘life decisions’ ie whether to stay in the UK and which career to pursue. I had free time on my hands which I was using to rework a manuscript (that would eventually become Goddess Crown) and attend Black literary events.
I became aware of Sareeta because I would see her at many of these events. When I began working on a blog post for Coffee Bookshelves about Black British Romance, friends pointed me in her direction as she was both published in the genre and the only senior Black editor at Harlequin Mills & Boon. I grew eager to interview her for a profile piece as she was such a unicorn in UK publishing. I reached out and was delighted when she wrote back agreeing to a chat.
We met at a Pret a Manger off London Bridge, near her office, and it was like talking with a friend. She candidly shared her background and career journey. I was amazed at how many projects she had on the go and yet how chilled and relaxed her energy was. She was knowledgeable about the publishing landscape and unequivocal about the shortcomings when it came to diversity. When I told her about my career dilemma she was generous with advice and invited me to stay in touch and reach out if I needed any help.
I published the profile a year later. By this time I was in a new marketing role back in Canada, but we stayed in touch. I watched her career soar and cheered her on. When she was appointed publishing director at Jacaranda Books in March 2025 I emailed her my congratulations. She sent back a warm response.
Her sudden loss on September 12 is a tragedy for publishing and for the world at large. Sareeta was radiant, fiercely intelligent, and a creative juggernaut. She lifted Black creatives up in any way she could and even as her status in publishing rose, she was always accessible and caring of everybody she interacted with. She achieved so much during her lifetime as a result of her drive and her determination to create the changes she wanted to see. The seeds she planted during her life have already begun to bloom in the form of more representative stories in bookshops, publishers that evolved and improved under her influence, anthologies she spearheaded that amplified the voices of Black writers, and new writers she mentored. We will continue to see the evidence of her work and her dedication for years to come.
Rest easy, Sareeta. As many others have said, you were truly the best of us.
The Bollywood Bride and A Bollywood Affair are the first two books in Sonali Dev’s Bollywood series. They are two of my favourite romance novels, my go-to comfort reads, and brilliantly addictive. I could give a TED talk on why they should feature at the top of every Best Romance list. I’ll settle for the review below.
Plot: A Bollywood Affair brings together an ambitious village girl and a playboy, film director in the wake of a child marriage that should never have happened and urgently needs to be annulled. In The Bollywood Bride an A list actress must confront the boy she nearly destroyed during her climb to stardom, while ensuring he never learns the true reasons for her actions. The stories boast sprawling family dramas, buried secrets, heated attractions, Bollywood glamour and emotional healing.
Watch the video and get an inkling of the magic Sonali Dev weaves in her bestselling romance novels.
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Bethany and Jacob are stuck in a loop of romantic mishaps. Bethany has been rejected by both boys she invited to homecoming, and Jacob has been dumped by two of the hottest girls in school. All this and the fall semester has barely begun! After circumstance throws them together, the two decide to practice date each other. Before long they develop a solid friendship and discover a partner they can be their authentic selves with. But it’s hard to shift from practice to the real thing, can their relationship survive the change?
Delightful romantic comedy from a masterful writer.
After years of reckless spending the aristocratic Gresham family are facing bankruptcy. Rufus, a young, handsome future earl, is forced to choose between marrying for money to refill the family coffers, or defying his controlling mother and following his heart to the sweet, girl next door.
Kevin Kwan paints sparkling pictures of the sumptuous wealth that surrounds his characters in a way that is appealing and bewitching. His writing is as witty as ever, the story takes us to far flung places across the globe, and the antics he conjures up for the ultra-wealthy would shame a daytime soap opera. Yet beneath all the drama is a story about the value of human life and how connection can save us.
Coffee Bookshelves 