70 books like Blackened Roots

I liked this book because it’s off the beaten path. It’s amazing to me that the author at some point mentioned she’s never seen the Firefly series, yet this book really does evoke that kind of story in a good way. It has to do with a fun, colorful bunch of crooks on a rickety ship that take on a new member who turns out to land them in a world of trouble.

I really loved the voice of the main lead, given that she’s a tough lady, but she also has vulnerable sides too. The crew all have well-defined roles and personalities and the plot is enjoyable. It also has elements from harem and josei manga/anime, which is right up my alley. 

Muscadine Wine is a love letter to the South and to romance. It’s a collection of stories that really show the charm and complications of living in the South. Someone once called it supernatural soul and I think that’s a great way to describe it.

I’ve lived in Georgia my whole life, so it was really nice to see landmarks and other things that I know even though this is set in decades past, as plenty of things endure through time. It also has some great folklore to it, which is one of Milton J. Davis’ specialties in his books.  

This book is a fantastic story that’s a throwback to noir and espionage. I loved the vibrant voice and the distinct characters, as well as the storyline itself. It has one of my favorite voices in the narration, often witty, vulgar, and insightful. It’s definitely a book of mystery and intrigue with plenty of humor to make it enjoyable, too. 

An excellent fantasy tale with loads of great imagery and a very distinct narrative voice. It blends some of the best kinds of epic and high fantasy together. It also has very intricate and interesting lore to its story and characters that I couldn’t put down.

I loved seeing the creativity in how his world was formed and how it operates. Coleman is really able to paint a picture that’s beautiful and unique. 

After interviewing me for my new book in May 2021, the editor of a suburban newspaper in Chicago asked me to write an Op Ed piece about the new federal holiday, Juneteenth. It is the day of recognition and celebration of the ending of slavery in the last confederate state of Texas in 1865. My Op Ed piece titled, “My Bittersweet Feelings About Juneteenth,” was written to inform and educate adult readers about June 19, 1865. That was the day Union Troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and began informing Black enslaved people that they were officially emancipated. 

The Juneteenth Story is a well-researched and beautifully written historical depiction of the same event. But the targeted audience of readers are children. It is the size of a large typical children’s coloring book filled with pretty colors and appealing graphic art. My 40-year-old daughter, Akilah, gave it to me as a Father’s… show more.

In this brief and powerful book, esteemed historian Annette Gordon-Reed focuses on “Juneteenth”, the day (June 19, 1865) when enslaved workers in Texas were declared free by the Union Army following the conclusion of the Civil War. For Gordon-Reed, a black Texas woman, Juneteenth, recently declared a federal holiday, offers a starting point for pondering the legacy of slavery and emancipation for Afro-Texans and for thinking more broadly about the tension between history and myth. In the course of all this, Gordon-Reed tells her own personal story about navigating the often fraught terrain of her state’s legacy of racial exploitation.

Get your horror on! This collection of flash fiction will activate your taste buds like zombies drawn to fresh brains. These stories oozed from the brains of some of the best horror writers from around the world, the likes of Ramsey Campbell, Nate Kenyon, Tim Lebbon, William F. Nolan, Eric Guignard, Lisa Morton, Jack Ketchum, Nancy Kilpatrick, Del Howison, (yours truly) Fred Wiehe, and many more. Also, Mike Mignola of Hell Boy fame designed the cover art! I was honored to be included in this anthology and thoroughly enjoyed reading the other stories by these masters of horror.

Jaime is a newcomer in the writing world but you wouldn’t know that by reading her books. Her Chronicles of the Undead series starts out on day one and captures all of the chaos and uncertainty and violence of a zombie outbreak. The book centers on two men caught up in the chaos at their construction jobs in downtown Cleveland. It’s a classic tale of finding safety, finding their families, and doing what needs to be done. As of summer 2020, there are two books in the series but she is writing more and I can’t wait to read the next one.

I listened to this whole series while climbing mind-numbing stacks of backlogged legal work as an Assistant Attorney General. My vision was clogged with the vivid scenes of Bourne's books, legal folders, paper clips, and coffee stains. It actually inspired the fourth book of my zombie series.   

Told in the diary format common to many books of the zombie epic subgenre, this journal depicts one man's struggle for survival. The unnamed narrator is a naval officer who was just returning home to Texas from visiting his parents in Arkansas when the zombie apocalypse hits. John, another survivor, and Annabell, John's miniature greyhound, work together with the narrator to survive, hoping to find some last working vestige of the US government. 

There are some cool elements to this zombie epic that I haven't found anywhere else. They shelter in a functional missile silo at one point. The clunk, clunk… show more.

While I was born in the United States, New Jersey to be exact, I have always had an affinity for England.  At the time of my birth, my mother was still a ‘subject of the Crown’ and a ‘British Citizen’. She did not become an American Citizen until I was nearly ten years old. So theoretically, I was born a dual citizen of both America and England.  Perhaps that is why I am such a big fan of Netflix's The Crown. As for the book Zombie Apocalypse!, it takes place in England and gives you a glimpse of how those across the pond would handle the apocalypse. Hopefully, this is not a spoiler, but one of the most memorable parts of the book features the Queen alongside a zombie Prince Charles and zombie Princess Diana, need I say more.