Leisure Reading: BookTok

Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again. It's been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she's almost a new person now--an artist with her own studio and sharing a brownstone apartment with her best friend, Joy, who insists it's time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene.

Prince has always dreamed of becoming a DJ and falling in love. Dani isn't checking for anybody. She's focused on her plan: move to New York City to become a famous author. When the romantic DJ meets the ambitious writer, sparks fly. Prince is smitten, but Dani's not looking to get derailed. She gives Prince just three dates for the love expert to take his own advice, and just maybe change two lives forever.

They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise. Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy.

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions.

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn't solve or save everything. It couldn't save their marriage. Yasmen wasn't prepared for how her life fell apart, but she's is finally starting to find joy again.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A COSMOPOLITAN BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE YEAR A teenager on the run from his past finds the family he never knew existed and the community he never knew he needed at an HBCU for the young, Black, and magical. Enroll in the debut of a fresh fantasy series unlike anything you've seen before. "Brings magical living to an HBCU in an unforgettable young adult adventure."--People Ten years ago, Malik's life changed forever the night his mother mysteriously vanished and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Since then, he has kept his abilities hidden, looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. Now, at 17, Malik is finally ready to start a new life for both of them, far from the trauma of his past. However, a daring act to rescue Taye reveals an unexpected connection with his long-lost grandmother: a legendary conjurer with ties to a hidden magical university that Malik's mother attended. At Caiman University, Malik's eyes are opened to a future he never could have envisioned for himself--one that includes the reappearance of his first love, Alexis. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes the cracks in their magical community as it faces a reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. Together with Alexis, Malik discovers a lot beneath the surface at Caiman: feuding covens and magical politics, forbidden knowledge and buried mysteries. In a wholly unique saga of family, history and community, Malik must embrace his legacy to save what's left of his old family as well as his new one. Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series opener is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.