About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
John Edgar Wideman
Positive Booklist Through a mixture of fiction and nonfiction and in the classic ruminative, stream of consciousness style that his readers have grown to expect, Wideman invites us into deep reflection about the inextricable link between the past and the present. Wideman’s insightful inquiries will appeal to fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Danzy Senna
Positive Booklist Compelling ... The Los Angeles and Hollywood settings are vividly described, and Senna’s insights about identity, parenthood, and creativity are sure to captivate readers.
Gayl Jones
Positive Booklist Jones is skilled at balancing the observational with the intimate, and in Buddy we are given a fully realized character who epitomizes the frustrations, heartbreak, and humor of a generation of Black Americans.
Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Rave Booklist Sublime ... This is an elegant portrait of a revered and beloved icon and an essential addition for library collections.
Diane Oliver
Rave Booklist \"These 14 vivid, transportive tales, some never before published, portray deeply layered characters in scenes that convey the heartrending, life-threatening reality of segregated America ... As novelist Tayari Jones writes in her captivating introduction, reading Oliver’s remarkable stories \'evokes the feeling of sorting through a time capsule sealed and buried in the yard of a southern African Methodist church in the early 1960s.\' A necessary addition to the American canon and every library collection.\
Tracy K. Smith
Rave Booklist The juxtaposition of her family’s stories with the Black experience in the U.S. feels like a journey toward a greater understanding, one readers are lucky to be invited to take.
Shannon Sanders
Rave Booklist Remarkable, aptly-titled ... Sanders’ stories are unforgettable, making this a strong and promising debut.
Roxane Gay
Rave Booklist This is a must-read for not only fans of Gay’s work, but for everyone interested in reading intellectual, accessible, and important takes on timely topics.
Safiya Sinclair
Rave Booklist Striking ... Her complex feelings of loyalty to her family and deep desire to explore the world beyond her island, known as Babylon by her father, permeates Sinclair’s beautifully written and insightful narrative. A radiant story of family and self-discovery told through the sharp eye of a talented poet.
Roger Reeves
Positive Booklist eeves’ prose is lyrical, poetic, and engrossing, and sure to appeal to fans of Hanif Abdurraqib and Michael Eric Dyson.
Ana Menéndez
Rave Booklist Haunting ... Menéndez introduces the captivating tenants of apartment 2B, who inhabit a vividly described, mutable city ... The novel explores many facets of loneliness and isolation and the feeling of being othered and far from home, and it illustrates the often life-saving importance of community.
Jeffery Renard Allen
Positive Booklist An absorbing, genre-blending collection of stories ... There is an expansiveness to this gathering of short fiction as alongside these inventively fictionalized histories are quieter but no less impactful stories that examine grief, community, and the inextricable link between the past and the present. For fans of John Edgar Wideman.
Monica Brashears
Positive Booklist Brashears has written a lush, pictorial, and often steamy novel with an indelible heroine. Coupling classic gothic elements with a realistic portrayal of the issues facing a young, poor, Black woman with few options, the novel’s many strengths culminate in a powerful and original story that will appeal to a variety of readers across fiction genres.
Gayl Jones
Rave Booklist ... remarkable ... The nuances and foibles of their multilayered friendship are detailed through Amanda’s astute, conversational observations, along with reflections on their collective experiences as Black artists in creative spaces. Amanda, a character Jones introduced in The Healing (1998), is secretive with her friends, but her compelling backstory, told in alternating flashback chapters, is rife with explorations of marriage, motherhood, and identity. Jones’ prose is captivating, at moments coolly observational and at others profoundly intimate; the delicate balance is the mark of a truly great storyteller. An intriguing, tightly crafted, and insightful meditation on creativity and complicated friendships.
Maggie O'Farrell
Rave Avenue Magazine ... remarkable ... [O\'Farrell] manages to infuse the novel with strikingly vivid detail — minute aspects of life in a Renaissance court captured with a delicate attention to every one of the senses. Lucrezia’s rich inner life, her budding creativity as a painter, and an insightfulness that belies her age are treated to O’Farrell’s elegant, transporting prose ... Granting us access to these small, significant moments, O’Farrell endows Lucrezia with a genuine humanity and gives life to a person whose brief existence could have easily been lost to obscurity
Mohsin Hamid
Positive Booklist Concise, powerful ... Though the spare prose effectively conveys an underlying sense of doom and violence on the periphery for most of the novel, the story ultimately surprises. Hamid imaginatively takes on timely, universal topics, including identity, grief, community, family, race, and what it means to live through sudden and often violent change.
Tara M. Stringfellow
Rave Booklist This vivid debut novel examines the tragedies, joys, and deep connections of one extraordinary Memphis family ... [Joan\'s] coming of age is startling, and she is the strongest character in a story populated with unforgettable characters. Stringfellow’s prose is evocative as she describes each scene in detail and steadily builds the many layers of this complex African American family’s history. A powerful family saga from a promising writer.
John Edgar Wideman
Rave Booklist ... another compelling contribution to his expansive oeuvre ... Wideman touches on a wealth of timely and timeless topics, including identity, family relationships, culture, history, and social issues throughout these provocative stories. He creates an experimental, time-transcending journey into family histories...and an epic retelling of the story of one of the first African American missionaries ... In each story, Wideman illustrates just how intricately the past is interwoven with the present, and there is plenty here to satisfy fans of captivating literary storytelling.
Michael Eric Dyson
Positive Booklist ... an excellent set of ruminations that examine the resulting pressures and scrutiny of Black entertainment, honor the endurance and beauty of Black artistry, and reach into political history and analysis ... Dyson’s essays and writings address a rich assortment of thought-provoking topics. Separated into sections covering such areas as the arts, religion, notable public speeches, academics, and many more, this volume offers an expansive and accessible overview of the inquiries of an important social and cultural thinker.
John Oliver Killens
Rave Booklist Razor-sharp dialogue, absurdist situations, caricatures of politicians, activists, and celebrities all comprise Killens’ epigrammatic send-up of twentieth-century politics and the illogical societal realities that stem from racism and global affairs of state. Though bitingly witty and full of laugh-out-loud humor, this novel remains true to what legendary satirist Ishmael Reed describes in his foreword as Killens’ mission, \'adumbrating the racist evil that dogs the American soul.\' Vividly and skillfully written, this vibrant, long-missing novel, published 34 years after the death of this Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, civil rights activist, and key figure in the Black Arts Movement, is certain to be a timeless classic of satirical fiction.
Yusef Komunyakaa
Rave Booklist ... an impressive new volume by Pulitzer Prize–winner Komunyakaa. The new work ushers the reader into the rhythmic meditations on topics that include racial violence, memory, and the duality of moments that are both ephemeral and timeless ... These new works are followed by a solid representation of the last two decades of the poet’s rich oeuvre, replete with his signature, striking, unexpected imagery and lyricism. Komunyakaa’s gift for beautifully revealing the godly alongside the earthly, the realistic alongside the surreal, is superbly showcased in this well-curated and essential collection.
Sheldon Pearce
Positive Booklist ... riveting ... Each section opens with an interlude that adds to Amaru’s story, suggesting parallels to the indelible impact of these two celebrated individuals. The insights in this absorbing narrative contribute to a deeper understanding of Shakur’s complexity as a person and an artist. With the resurgence of interest in Shakur’s music and the impending anniversary of his murder, this is a timely addition to the fascinating story of Shakur’s legendary, ubiquitous, and enduring legacy.
Hanif Abdurraqib
Rave Booklist ... delves into the many iterations of Black artistic expression through an often deeply personal lens ... Whether pondering the dynamic life and contributions of Josephine Baker or meditating on his own various performances, the author’s ruminations are an invitation to think deeply about Black performance on both cultural and individual levels. Abdurraqib consistently engages the reader, mixing conversational tones and poetic turns of phrase, with surprising, succinct insights. Startling, layered, and timely, this is an essential, illuminating collection that advances Abdurraqib’s already impressive body of work.
Nancy Johnson
Positive Booklist ... engaging ... Through well-developed characters, Johnson provides a realistic portrayal of middle America in the tumultuous era of economic collapse.
Mateo Askaripour
Rave Booklist ... extraordinary ... Askaripour has created a skillfully written, biting, witty, and absurdist novel that sheds light on racism, start-up culture, corporate morality, media bias, gentrification, and many other timely, important themes. Askaripour is an author to watch.
Nikki Giovanni
Rave Booklist Giovanni’s latest collection is her finest to date ... Imbued with the classic, accessible, and deeply empathetic style of this venerated American poet, these works touch on topics ranging from aging, memories of childhood, elegies for loved ones who have passed, and pride in Black heritage ... Giovanni’s ability to pare down complex subjects in exquisitely succinct poetic forms makes her work timeless and profoundly resonant for both poetry aficionados and casual readers.