The month of July is serving up a diverse cast of books. The new releases we’re featuring this month include a science fiction historical novel set in the Yucatán Peninsula, a memoir from a Colombian-born writer about her family’s magical secret, and a story about an eight-year-old Black girl growing up in Harlem during the late 80s and 90s. We’ll also chat about a YA coming-of-age romance and an anthology of new and emerging African writers. So which ones will you be adding to your TBR?

 

The Newlywed’s Window: the 2022 Mukana Press Anthology of African Writing

Want to meet Africa’s most promising and talented writers? Mukana Press sought out the continent’s undiscovered and emerging writers, giving way to this collection. This anthology aims to share stories beyond the poverty and war that make up so much of the published narratives related to the continent.

In these stories, you’ll find a young woman who creates an alternative identity on social media in Nigeria and a little girl that discovers hidden photographs of the father she never met. Dig into the mind of a serial killer stalking his victims and a woman witnessing the evolution of a newlywed couple’s relationship through their window in Zanzibar. The stories are eclectic, breathtaking, and illuminate readers to an Africa that has largely been left untold.

 

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras – July 12, 2022

Magic runs in Ingrid Rojas Contreras’s family. Not much could shock her as a child in Colombia in the late 80s and 90s. Her mother and her maternal grandfather were both gifted with what her family called “the secrets:” the power to talk to the dead, tell the future, heal the sick, and move the clouds.

While living in the United States in her twenties, Rojas Contreras suffered a head injury that left her with amnesia. As she recovered, her family was excited to reveal that this same thing had happened before: her mother had taken a fall that left her with amnesia, and once she’d recovered, she was gifted with access to “the secrets.”

In 2012, on a journey to disinter her grandfather’s remains, with her unpredictable and hilarious mother as her guide, Rojas Contreras traced her lineage back to her Indigenous and Spanish roots. This exploration uncovers a break in her mestizo family between those who believe “the secrets” are a gift and those who think they’re a curse.

Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan – July 12, 2022

Eight-year-old Malaya hates when her mom drags her to Weight Watchers meetings. She’d much rather paint alone in her room or enjoy forbidden street foods with her dad. Malaya’s growing up in rapidly changing Harlem and the pressures of her predominantly white Upper East Side prep school are relentless, as are the expectations passed down from her painfully proper mother and sharp-tongued grandmother. Coming of age in the ‘90s, Malaya finds solace in the music of Biggie Smalls and Aaliyah. But her weight continues to climb until a family tragedy forces her to face the source of her hunger, shattering her inherited stigmas surrounding women’s bodies and allowing her to embrace her desires.

 

 

 

 

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – July 19, 2022

Carlota Moreau is the only daughter of a man who is either a genius or a madman. They live on a secluded estate on the Yucatán Peninsula. Montgomery Laughton is a melancholic overseer who assists Dr. Moreau with his experiments, financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and coffers. Dr. Moreau’s hybrids are the fruits of his labor. Part human and part animal, they are destined to follow their creator blindly but remain hidden. All is balanced and well until the arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming, careless son of Dr. Moreau’s patron, as he sets off a dangerous chain reaction.

 

 

Love Times Infinity by Lane Clarke – July 26, 2022

High school junior Michie is working on her scholarship essays with hopes to make it into Brown as a first-generation college student. Estranged from her mother since age seven, Michie’s concept of family is quite murky.

And then comes new student and basketball star Derek de la Rosa. He’s cute, talented, and has his eye on Michie, who believes herself to be invisible. Then, unexpectedly, Michie’s mom reaches out to make amends. With her scholarship deadlines looming, Michie must choose between reopening old wounds or closing the door on her past. And as she spends more time with Derek, she’ll have to decide how much of her heart to share.