Riot New Media

This enemies-to-lovers romance introduces us Hana Khan, a 24-year-old living in the close knit Toronto neighborhood of Golden Crescent. She works part time as a waitress at her parents’ restaurant, the only halal restaurant in town, but her real passion is telling stories: she produces a podcast under an anonymous name and also secures an internship at a local radio station (if only it didn’t entail a daily barrage of microagressions). When plans are announced for new upscale halal place to open in the Golden Crescent, Hana just knows it will threaten her mother’s already struggling restaurant. A hate-motivated attack on the neighborhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana’s growing attraction for Aydin, the inconveniently handsome young owner of that rival restaurant. (romance, rom-com)

Read by Ulka Simone Mohanty (Serena Singh Flips the Script by Sonya Lalli, A Burning by Megha Majumdar)

This collection came out last year in the UK and it’s finally out in the US! It’s an anthology of love stories from across the globe and throughout history; some of the stories reenvision Nigerian folklore or retell a Ghanaian love story, some are remixes of Greek mythology, and some of them are just original stories of her own, including one based on her own parents’ love story. Babalola takes such care with the stories to preserve their original elements but twist them in ways that give rather than take away power to women. These stories are just so amazing—I’m almost done with this one and want to keep on savoring each story. (short stories)

Read by Ajjaz Awad, Nneka Okoye, Bolu Babalola, Olukemi Babalola

I wanted to read this so badly for this week’s episode of All the Books but I didn’t get the galley in time! Tina may seem like your average teenager, but she’s actually the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon. When that beacon activates, she’ll finally get the chance to save all the worlds, go on all the interstellar adventures, and generally do all the things. The thing is…. the danger at hand is much worse than she anticipated, and the beacon doesn’t turn her into the brilliant tactician and military captain everyone expects her to be. “Luckily, Tina is surrounded by a crew she can trust, and her best friend Rachel, and she is still determined to save all the worlds. But first she’ll have to save herself.” (YA science fiction)

Read by Hynden Walch, an actress best known for voicing Starfire in Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!

This collection is all about the ways in which “the mysterious bonds of family are tested, transformed, fractured, and fortified. A recent widower and his adult son ferry to a craggy Scottish island in search of puffins. An actress who plays a children’s game-show villainess ushers in the New Year with her deadbeat half brother. A mother, pining for her children, feasts on loaves of challah to fill the void.” Those are just a few of the stories in what sounds like a fabulous, thought-provoking collection about the ties that bind. (fiction, short stories)

Read by Kate Reading (A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas + the rest of the Lady Sherlock series, A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab) and can I just say yaaaaay! She is so good, I’ve been looking for another one of her books to read.

There is no new audiobooking in my life this week, so I thought I’d tell you about a listen from earlier this year (or was it late last year? Who even knows?) Shuri is the first in a three-book middle grade Black Panther series by the wonderfully talented Nic Stone, author of beloved YA novels like Dear Martin and Odd One Out. T’Challa’s younger sister is a skilled martial artist and science + technology wiz. But she’s also a teenager and a princess, so people try to undercut her at every turn. Surprising no one, Shuri don’t like that. When the Heart-Shaped Herb that’s essential to Wakanda’s survival and prosperity begin to die off, no one can figure out how to save it. Shuri knows something is seriously wrong, so she takes matters into her own hands. She travels from Wakanda to find out what’s killing the plant and how she can save it, but she’ll need to remember to save herself too.

I confess that my familiarity and love for Shuri and the Black Panther universe is all based on the films, but I know a lot of you go way back with these characters and their comic book origins. Whether you’re newer to the fandom like me or longtime honorary Wakandan, I think you’ll enjoy getting to spend this time with Shuri in all her brainy, badass glory. It’s so fun to finally see more books about girls in STEM, especially girls of color who go off on action-packed adventures and find their voice when the world tries to silence them.

The book is read by actress Anika Noni Rose (Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older) and wow, what a pitch-perfect pick. You may recognize her as the voice of Tiana, Disney’s first Black princess from The Princess and the Frog, but her filmography is a lengthy one that includes everything from Dreamgirls and Jingle Jangle to The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and Little Fires Everywhere. Her voice is so beautiful and buttery one moment and tense and conflicted the next, capturing both the frustrations and brilliance of young Shuri and the menacing, slippery evil of the baddies. This was a perfect pick-me-up in a time when I felt low and in need of a little magic. I hope it can be that for you too!