Beauty – Reads A Lot

Stephen Buoro Brings to Life “HXVX,” a Loveable Teen Protagonist, and Modern Nigeria in All its Beauty, Contradictions, and Permutations

Book ReviewsMay 8, 2023 by Peter Riehl, Host of The Chills at Will Podcast

[ad_1] Stephen Buoro’s debut novel The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa announces the arrival of an exciting new verbal craftsman with a fresh voice, or perhaps multiple voices. There’s the Stephen Buoro who creates a memorable and sympathetic character in the book’s titular Andy Africa, there’s the Stephen Buoro whose satirical language is hilarious … Read more

An Interview with Barbara Bourland on “The Force of Such Beauty” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsJuly 28, 2022 by livalbrightwriting

[ad_1] Forget Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. Barbara Bourland ups the fairytale game with her latest novel, The Force of Such Beauty. Bourland is a Baltimore resident and the author of three novels. Her first book, I’ll Eat When I’m Dead, won critical acclaim for its satirical exposé of the fashion industry; her second novel, … Read more

Visions of Black Beauty in “Memphis” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsJune 24, 2022 by Aaron Coats

[ad_1] Tara M. Stringfellow’s newest novel, Memphis, captures the beauty of Black culture and how beauty is perceived by her characters. The brutality of life strips beauty away so quickly and so permanently that storytellers often pair beauty with trauma as if they are two sides of the same coin. Stringfellow manages to avoid those … Read more

We All Have a Hunger in “You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 25, 2022 by Jake Casella Brookins

[ad_1] Five years after the death of her husband, visual artist Feyi Adekola is starting to come out of her shell, wondering if it’s possible to love again. After some casual dating, she starts a mostly platonic—but possibly more serious—relationship with Nasir Blake, a well-connected consultant. Feyi’s personal and professional lives are suddenly thrown into … Read more

Cold Iron and Piercing Beauty in “Spear” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsApril 22, 2022 by Jake Casella Brookins

[ad_1] We are surely—hopefully—nearing some kind of peak of cultural reboot fatigue, awash as we are in retellings, re-adaptations, and perpetually rebooting expanded cinematic universes. So it’s either an odd or an apt time to recommend a new entry in King Arthur stories, much-reinterpreted and pieced together from older traditions as those legends are. Fresh, … Read more

Cover Reveal: BEAUTY AND THE BESHARAM

Book BuzzNovember 22, 2021 by Reads A Lot Editor

[ad_1] Cover reveal time! Heated competition leads to even hotter romance in this YA summer rom-com for fans of Sandhya Menon, Emma Lord, and Wibbroka. Scroll down to see the cover of Beauty and the Besharam by Lillie Vale AND read an early excerpt! Seventeen-year-old, high-achieving Kavya Joshi has always been told she’s a little too ambitious, … Read more

Resilience, Beauty, and Strength in “Leaving Breezy Street” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsJuly 1, 2021 by Dana Dunham

[ad_1] In her memoir Leaving Breezy Street, Brenda Myers-Powell propels readers through the story of her remarkable life with raw energy and gripping, charismatic storytelling. A survivor of molestation, prostitution, abuse, and addiction, Myers-Powell offers a deeply honest, deeply moving look at the years of physical and emotional violence that she suffered, and the mechanisms … Read more