This summer, I fell in love with nearly every book I read. Each kept me up at night reading at the edge of my bed with anticipation of what was going to become of these characters that I could not leave til morning.
The Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson
This read has been on my TBR list for a while, even before Johnson’s House of Eve. However, after reading House of Eve, it was a no-brainer what I wanted to read next.
Following the life of a mulatto slavegirl, Phebe Delores Brown. Her life questions freedom and what it actually means. It is a story of a mother and what lengths she would go to protect her children from the claws of slavery. It is also a story of true love and the sacrifices one makes to protect it.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
I grappled with this book from the first to the last chapter because I do not like books where the antagonist is the storyteller or main character.
The book follows writer June Hayward and her aspiring desire/addiction to fame. Witnessing the death of her frenemy, a writing superstar, Athena Liu, June takes the manuscript Athena was working on and passes it off as her own. The story shows just how far June is willing to go to keep her dirty little secret.
Maame by Jessica George
Our August club pick! I am so in love with this story. If you are an only or eldest child to immigrant parents, this book will hit very close to home for you.
Maddie, the daughter of Ghanaian parents, supports her parents financially with her meager income, cooks and cleans the house, has zero social life, and suffers in silence because what happens in the house stays in the house. However, things in Maddie’s life take a dramatic turn when her mother returns to London and encourages Maddie to move out and live her own life. Leaving behind her ill father, self-guilt creeps in as Maddie tries to navigate a more social life that does not surround her dad and his immediate needs.
Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes
I truly enjoyed this read. I am a fan of Quinn’s Bridgeton book series, but not the show on Netflix. It was sheer curiosity that made me read this book. I enjoyed the book so much that I watched the series, and it did not disappoint.
This is the love story of Queen Charlotte and King George III. Picture an episode of Married at First Sight, but set in 1761. Imagine leaving all that you know and love behind, moving across the sea to a completely new world, to be married to a man you’ve never met hours after your arrival. Charlotte marries the king and spends her honeymoon in isolation without explanation from her new husband or anyone. She is forced to dig deep to stay afloat in her new life as Queen of England, whether her king is by her side or not.
The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle
This is a story about loss, secrets, and forgiveness.
Jess Baxter endures a lot of pain along with the mysterious Alex, who both discover the Museum of Ordinary People (MoOP) at the same time. After recently losing her mother, Jess finds new hope and purpose in the MoOP. Alex inherits the museum without knowing or haven met the man who left it to him. Together, Jess and Alex search for the missing pieces of the story behind MoOP, while discovering hurtful truths in their own lives.
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
This is my first book by Guillory, and it will not be my last. I really loved this modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Yes, right down to the candle stick and teacup.
Isabelle is an aspiring editor and author who landed what she thought was her dream job. However, two years in, she feels stagnant and loses all hope in her writing ability and desires to be an editor. When she offers to get a hostile client to complete his memoir, she does not expect a fairy tale romance to bud.
