Sponsored by Let's Get Back to the Party by Zak Salih.
Estranged childhood friends Sebastian and Oscar reunite at a wedding. Both are gay, and after more than a decade, the two couldn’t be more different. Newly single, all Sebastian wants is to settle down. But for Oscar, outraged by what he sees as the death of gay culture, settling down isn’t peace, it’s surrender. While they struggle to find their place in a rapidly changing world, each is drawn into a cross-generational friendship that treads the line between envy and obsession. And as they collide again and again, both men must reckon not just with one another but with themselves.
Welcome to Read This Book, the newsletter where I recommend a book you should add to your TBR, STAT! I stan variety in all things, and my book recommendations will be no exception. These must-read books will span genres and age groups. There will be new releases, oldie but goldies from the backlist, and the classics you may have missed in high school. Oh my! If you’re ready to diversify your books, then LEGGO!!
Tomorrow is Toni Morrison Day when we will celebrate the birth of literary titan Toni Morrison. Proving that publishing a book is not just for young people, Morrison’s first book The Bluest Eye was released in 1970. Instead of suffering the sophomore slump, Toni Morrison published Sula followed by Song of Solomon, which garnered critical acclaim and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Nobel Prize in Literature for Beloved. Today’s recommendation is one of the books Morrison published later in her career.
Love by Toni Morrison
In life, Bill Cosey enjoyed the affections of many women. In death, his hold on these women: wife, mistress, daughter, granddaughter, employee, may be even stronger. Three generations of women in a fading beach town attempt to stake their claims on both the memory of Bill Cosey as well as his estate using anything and everything at their disposal including outright violence.
The best part of reading Toni Morrison is always the way she has with words. No one does words the way Toni Morrison does words. Also like many of Morrison’s works, Love focuses on the many facets of relationships between Black women while highlighting how their intersections of race and gender influence their lives and the lives of those around them. Also similar to Morrison’s other works, Love uses non-linear storytelling while also blending narration from both the living and dead. What I enjoyed most about this story is I didn’t always know who was currently telling me their side of the story. Sometimes I could glean the narrator from the context clues, but I wasn’t always certain. No matter the narrator, there was an interesting story to tell about the lives of the many women in Bill Cosey’s life. There was also an American history lesson elegantly weaved throughout by Morrison.
When I read a Toni Morrison book, I never feel like I’m fully comprehending the entire story. Most of the time, it never really clicks for me until the end. However, I always enjoy every step of the journey. If that’s one of the reasons you also gravitate to Toni Morrison, then don’t hesitate to read Love. If you don’t tend to gravitate toward Toni Morrison, Love could definitely serve as your introduction.
Until next time bookish friends,
Katisha
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