Read, Read, Re-read
There aren't too many books I've read more than once. But the ones I do return to have a certain oompf! There are certain things that really get me excited for a book, even on re-read.
Short stories are 100% my jam. I'll go for a short story collection 9 times out of 10 over a full novel length book just as a time saver. I want to be able to get in and get out - Beginning, Middle, and End, if you know what I mean. Although, there are novels and novellas that are done so well I don't mind settling in.
The next thing that keeps my attention is Black and POC female main characters! There are so many white male leads in fiction I couldn't possibly devote another minute of attention to them. From grade school to college, most, if not all, main characters in the assigned readings were white and so overrated. Only occasionally were they women and even still they were also white and rarely held my attention.
Now, I cut my teeth on Danielle Steele and Patricia Cornwell novels so I thoroughly enjoy suspense thrillers and romance. An open door love scene will have me turning pages faster than you can say em dash.
What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky: Stories by Lesley Nneka Arimah
This collection of short stories will blow the top of your head clean off! It's so good. I revisit this book and its stories so often my copy is getting a little worn out. The stories are all different and like nothing I've ever read before. Each re-read gives me a new tidbit, element, or perspective. This book serves as a masterclass, in my opinion, on how to write stories. There are surprises, unique use of language, varying pacing and a newness to story that I don't think I've experienced in other collections.
Mangoes & Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera
I love romance between women. It's hopeful, it's cute, and it's so hot! It's no secret that I'm a proud Black lesbian. I think women are EVERYTHING and stories about them going after what they want, who they want, will always make my heart skip a couple beats. Mangoes & Mistletoe is so stinking cute. We get both of the main characters' POV and the tension between them in a fairly even-paced storyline of holiday cookery, very food network vibes. Now, if you're a chaste reader, this might not be the book for you. Because I'm telling you it gets spicy and hot between these pages. This book has some of the sexiest lovemaking scenes I've ever read...and re-read. LOL! But it also takes a lovely deep dive into different culture and how that affects how people move through the world.
Goslyn County, County Vices by A.M. McKnight
These two books have all the things I love. I'm talking Black female main characters, Lesbians, suspense, romance, twists & turns, all of it. The way the stories in each of these books unfolds is so well paced and layered that I find myself coming back to these books over and over again. In fact, I think these books are responsible for my return to writing and my current writing streak. I was ill for a time and when I couldn't sleep at night I turned to these books to keep my mind occupied. I had forgotten how good they were. Once I was done re-reading them I went in search of more from A. M. McKnight and found a third full length novel. Smoke Before Fire, which I'm due to re-read soon.
What books keep you coming back and what is it about them that makes you enjoy the re-reading?
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