I remember when I got my hands on Terry McMillian’s Disappearing Acts. It was December of 1990 and I got it for Christmas. I was 14 and had no business reading this book by by the end of that Christmas break, every female in my family had read it.
And so began my love affair with Black Chit Lit.
There is something so wonderful about seeing your mom, your aunties and your friends and yourself portrayed in the pages of a book.
I devoured most of the books that came out at this time. And then, like a light switch, i moved on to other things.
But I kept all of those books.
And there has been an itch in me this year to re-read some of these books to see if they are like i remember. To see if i can still see all of us in the pages.
And with the urging of a friend, the Pouring Over Books Bookclub was born.
Starting January of 2025, we will read 12 of those books from the 90s and 2000s. Carefully curated from my own bookshelves, I agonized over which books to include and which to leave out.
I’m talking Terry McMillan, Eric Jerome Dickey,Pearl Cleage, Sister Souljah and more. The books chosen range from romance to women’s literature to horror to autobiography, urban fiction and more.
But I am so excited to get started.
Here is the List of Books for the Year
This list contains affiliate links
To buy a copy of the books below, check out this Amazon List or this one from Bookshop.org
Or support your local library and check one out there. All of these books are backlists, so they should be easy to find.
- January: Fly Girl By Omar Tyree
- February: Sister Sister: Eric Jerome Dickey
- March: Video Vixen Karren Stevans
- April: Nappily Ever After Trisha R Thomas
- May: Waiting to Exhale Terry McMillan
- June: Invisible life E Lynn Harris
- July: Scenes From a Sister By Lolita Files
- August: Brother’s And Sisters Bebe Moore Campbell
- September: Coffee will Make You Black By April Sinclair **
- October: Aint Nobody’s Business if I do by Valerie Wilson Wesley
- November: My Soul to Keep By Tananarive Due
- December: The Coldest Winter Ever By Sister Souljah
**not available on bookshop.org**
How this will work:
We will read a book a month. So if you haven’t been reading a lot of you want to start reading more, this is for you.
Each month, there will be weekly discussions and questions using the chat feature here in Substack so that we can read and discuss together. My response to whatever section we are reading will be in podcast form right here in substack.
This will be an interactive book club friends! No reader left behind!
Our discussion threads will conclude at the end of the month with a live call where we can get together and discuss the overall themes of the book, what we loved, hated or clutched our pearls about and what we rate the book now vs when you first read it.
Ok. So that’s an outline for what I envision for this book club. I cannot WAIT to get started!
FAQ
What is the cost?
For the book club, I am offering paid subscriptionsfor $5/month or $55/year.
What is included in the cost of membership:
By becoming a paid subscriber to the book club, you will have access to The Pouring Over Books Bookclub, exclusive post commentary, and weekly discussions. This will be a community, and by joining, you will have the ability to comment on every newsletter and be with like-minded people who just want to read good books.
Why is this paid and not free?
A paid subscription here will allow me to continue all the other work I do, too, on Instagram, The Pouring Over Books Podcast, and Everyday Eyecandy and other work I do beyond. Your $5 a month will help make it all possible!
Ok. So that’s an outline for what I envision for this book club. I cannot WAIT to get started!
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