3RP Reads for Black History Month 2023
February is Black History Month and at Three Rooms Press, we acknowledge, celebrate, and honor Black authors. From personal essays and memoirs to cement family history and legacy (and correct some perpetuated untruths), to young adult stories, to mystery and noir, Three Rooms has worked to develop a diverse list of titles. Here are a few of our titles we recommend you read during this important month. Click on any book to order your copy directly from Three Rooms Press on our Black History Month 2023 Shop SPECIAL OFFER: 25% off any book in this category. Use code BLACKHISTORY2023
AQUARIAN DAWN: A Novel
by Ebele Chizea
In Nigerian-American Ebele Chizea’s stunning debut novel, teenager Ada and her mother flee the civil war of their West African home and come to America in 1966, where Ada soon discovers—and blossoms within—the US counterculture movement. Chizea’s debut young adult novel is perfect for fans of Ibi Zoboi, Chibundu Onuzo, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books raves, “Chizea offers YA fiction a provocative maturity and thoughtful nuance that reads like Zadie Smith or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie but nonetheless provides an undoubted and necessary perspective specifically for young audiences.”
SCAVENGER
& STANDALONE
by Christopher Chambers
Author Christopher Chambers has developed a new detective and gritty style in theses first two entries into the Dickie Cornish mystery series. Cornish moves from addiction and living on the hard-bite streets of Washington, DC in SCAVENGER to a slightly better situation by STANDALONE. Both titles have received rave reviews. Publishers Weekly dubbed SCAVENGER “a 21st-century twist on traditional hardboiled noir,” and STANDALONE was named one of the Top 25 Mystery Novels of 2022 by Strand Magazine, which raved, “After reading this novel, it’s apparent that the modern heir to Chandler, Woolrich, and Cain is Christopher Chambers, enough said.”
FAR AWAY FROM CLOSE TO HOME
A Black Millennial Woman in Progress: Essays
by Vanessa Baden Kelly
How does a millennial Black woman find a place to call home? These intimate and often funny essays grapple with the idea of finding home and being a part of a family lineage while facing challenges like gentrification, invasion by the police, and much more. The Root Magazine says, “The essays balance a myriad of Baden Kelly’s own experiences as she looks for a space for a Black millennial woman to call home while seeking ways to embrace her own fears, challenges and perceptions of love.” And author Vanessa Baden Kelly, activist, Emmy-winning actor, and screenwriter (Sex Lives of College Girls, Animal Kingdom), says of her book, “Is the US home? Is home a safe place? Because if home is supposed to feel like sancturary, I don’t feel safe nowhere around here. So what exactly does that mean? All of the essays in this book are birthed from that place.”
THE OBAMA INHERITANCE
Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir
edited by Gary Phillips
Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Anthology, THE OBAMA INHERITANCE collects work from 15 leading noir/mystery authors writing on the idea, of the crazy conspiracy theories that blew up during President Barack Obama’s tenure, with stories by Walter Mosley, Christopher Chambers, Nisi Shawl, Desiree Zamorano, and Gary Phillips. On NPR’s Fresh Air, literary critic Maureen Corrigan called the title, “a collection of 15 stories so sly, fresh and Bizarro World witty, they reaffirm the resiliency of the artistic imagination.” And writing for the Chicago Tribune, Clarence Page mused, “Truth may be stranger than fiction, but why should the conspiracists have all the fun of creating fake narratives?”
BAD: The Autobiography of James Carr
with an introduction by Gia Carr
and afterword by Betsy Hammer Carr
BAD: The Autobiography of James Carr, is the harrowingly brutal and unapologetic story of the notorious African-American career criminal who went straight out of Compton to a reformatory after burning down his school at the age of 10. Originally released in 1972, BAD remains a harsh indictment of the American penal system and a primer for the seeds of institutionalized racism in this country. Bustle notes, “Not for the faint of heart, Bad: The Autobiography of James Carr depicts just how impossible escaping the cycle of systemic violence really can become.” And lawyer and social justice activist Sean, writing on his Milo and the Calf blog, raves, “I’ve read scores of memoirs from radical political activists. This one, by James Carr, is among the best.”
CLOSE TO THE TREE: Poems
by Robert Gibbons
The first full-length poetry collection by Robert Gibbons, an African-American poet with a lyrical style whose work focuses on issues of social inequality, love, loss and family. According to author Leokadia Durmaj, “Robert paints so many different shades of colors in his writing, it becomes an art exhibit.” Art curator and historian Marc Primus notes, “The poetry of Robert Gibbons flows from him like a mighty river. It is powerful lyrical, strong and hip.” And teacher/author Miriam Hipsh remarks, “Mr. Gibbons’ poetry is breathtaking in its imagery. His words paint a heart-wrenching canvas and haunt the reader with deeply emotional truth-telling.” Gibbons grew up in Belle Glade, Florida, the eldest of five children, and earned a B.S. in History from Florida A&M. In 2007, he moved to New York City in search of his muse, Langston Hughes. CLOSE TO THE TREE reflects much of what he’s found along the way.
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