Welcome to In Reading Color, a space where we focus on literature by and about people of color.
It’s about to be summer for real! It also somehow feels like it’s been summer forever. What is time, really?
In any case, I’ve got some fire books for you, starting with some new releases. Today’s other recommendations were inspired by the two new releases I discuss, actually. Both of the new books in today’s newsletter just so happen to be translated works of fiction, and I thought to keep that same energy and discuss some queer fiction set in different countries. I feel like I don’t read enough fiction — queer and otherwise — by people from countries other than the U.S. and Great Britain, and thought to share my journey in rectifying that with you.
Real quick though, before we get to the books, if you’re looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, booksellers, and bookish professionals, subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter to inform and inspire readers. Your first read (The Power Reader’s Guide to Reading Logs & Trackers) is on the house. Check out all the details and choose your membership level at bookriot.substack.com.
Bookish Goods
Original Audre Lorde Art Print by DiasporanSavantPress
For fans of the literary icon, this is a beautiful piece of original artwork that the seller says will last forever if cared for properly. It also has lots of great reviews. $100
New Releases
Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses
*All the content warnings for this one.
If you’ve read the popular and award-winning critique on capitalism that is Bazterrica’s Tender Is the Flesh, then you know how dark she can get. You also know how compelling. Here, the Argentinian writer tells 19 stories of the darkest parts of human existence with new perspectives and even a bit of humor. A girl has a rabbit growing between her legs, a woman undergoes a physical transformation through mutilation, cemeteries are visited, and some people have alien girlfriends.
Watch Us Dance by Leïla Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor
This is the second book in a trilogy that was inspired by the author’s own family, but you don’t need to have read the first to enjoy this one. It’s 1968 in Morocco, and two biracial siblings — half French and have Moroccan — try to carve out a place for themselves in the world. Aicha, the hardworking older sister, is so intent on studying medicine in her mother’s home country of France that she doesn’t quite notice the discontent rising in her own country. And her brother Selim, never one for school, starts down a path of counter culture and the “free love” that descends on Essaouira. Both siblings seem to mirror their country’s then-current state of contradictions.
More New Releases
Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration by Alejandra Oliva (Nonfiction, Immigration)
Holding Pattern by Jenny Xie (Contemporary Fiction)
Can’t Let Her Go by Kianna Alexander (Sapphic Romance)
The Brightest Star by Gail Tsukiyama (Historical Fiction)
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron (YA, Queer, Horror)
This Town Is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris (YA, Contemporary Fiction)
A Vaccine Is Like a Memory by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Kathleen Marcotte (Middle Grade, Science Nonfiction)
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
God’s Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu
Ifeakandu’s collection of nine stories takes its title from a story that made it on to the Caine Prize shortlist. Each tale adds a nuanced and compassionate perspective to queer, African narratives. In the first story, Auwal tries to get help with money troubles from his lover, Chief Emeka, even though he’s not sure he can fully trust him. In the title story, two boys in college hang on to their romance, even as the pressures of societal expectations threatens it. Throughout, characters experience joy and passion, even as they very carefully navigate danger, and Ifeakandu is good at putting readers in the minds of his queer characters in a modern-day Nigeria.
Falling Into Place by Sheryn Munir
In this slow burn romance, Tara and Sameen find each other in the busy city of Delhi, India. After a fling, Tar swears off relationships, especially since her coming out as lesbian wouldn’t be received too well in her community. One day during a monsoon, she meets Sameen, a bubbly ray of sunshine, and starts feeling differently about everything. But she also figures that Sameen is probably straight. Regardless of her cynicism, the universe keeps throwing the two together, which results in a well-written modern romance set in India.
Thanks for reading; it’s been cute! If you want to reach out and connect, email me at erica@riotnewmedia.com or tweet at me @erica_eze_. You can find me on the Hey YA podcast with the fab Tirzah Price, as well as in the In The Club newsletter.
Until next time,
Erica