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50 Poetry Collections by Black Poets That Belong on Every Black Reader’s Shelf

African Literature Black Canadian Authors Black Literature Black Writers

30+ Books by Ghanaian and Ghanaian Canadian Authors to Read for Ghana Independence Day

Black Writers Monthly Reads New Releases

60+ Books by Black Authors Dropping This Month (March 2026) and My Top 6

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Book Club Season 8
Rooted in Reading Journal
Black Writers Book Life

A Literary Holy Day — Honouring Toni Morrison & Audre Lorde

by LalaaLeave a Comment on A Literary Holy Day — Honouring Toni Morrison & Audre Lorde

Some dates hold a particular kind of weight. Not because the calendar says they should, but because the ancestors left fingerprints there. February 18 is one of those days. Today, we honour two women whose …

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Black Writers Book Club Pick Book Life

March BOTM Pick: The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley

by LalaaLeave a Comment on March BOTM Pick: The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley

Last month’s book was EVERYTHING!!! Thanks to the women who showed up, who read along and who came out to hold space for the other women in the group. For our second book of Season …

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Black Canadian Authors Black Writers Community & Culture

Beyond the Single Story: Why Black Canadian Storytelling Deserves More Than a Box

by LalaaLeave a Comment on Beyond the Single Story: Why Black Canadian Storytelling Deserves More Than a Box

There are some conversations that feel bigger than an event. This is one of them. On Sunday, March 1, 2026 (2:00–4:00 PM), Pickering Public Library is hosting In Conversation with Black Canadian Authors: Beyond the …

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Black Canadian Authors Black Writers Book Life Community & Culture

Black Canadian Books to Read (and Why They Matter)

by LalaaLeave a Comment on Black Canadian Books to Read (and Why They Matter)

A reading list for Black Brilliance Month — and every month after I’ll be honest: I don’t always love the phrase Black history. Not because history doesn’t matter, it does. Deeply. But because the word …

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Book Club Pick Monthly Reads

February Book of the Month: Love After Love (This Black Girl Reads — Season 8)

by LalaaLeave a Comment on February Book of the Month: Love After Love (This Black Girl Reads — Season 8)

We’re officially stepping into our first book club read of 2026, and baby… it’s giving tender, funny, messy-in-the-most-human-way, and full of second chances. For February, we’re reading: Love After Love by Ingrid PersaudA warm, wise, …

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Book Life Book Reviews New Releases

50+ New Books by Black Authors in February 2026 (Plus My Top 5 Picks)

by LalaaLeave a Comment on 50+ New Books by Black Authors in February 2026 (Plus My Top 5 Picks)

Listen… February is feeding us. If you’ve been needing a sign to refresh your TBR, reclaim your reading life, and keep your shelf Blackity Black Black, this is it. I pulled together a big drop …

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About Me

Hey I'm Lalaa
Hey I'm Lalaa

library curator + literacy advocate and certified Black book enthusiast. I share recs, reviews, and soft-goodie vibes for anyone building a better bookshelf (and a better self). Come read with me. 🖤📚

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  • Book Reviews94 Post(s)
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Looking for a simple way to track your reading life? Check out the Rooted in Reading Journal!

Looking for a simple way to track your reading life? Check out the Rooted in Reading Journal!

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    50 Poetry Collections by Black Poets That Belong on Every Black Reader’s Shelf

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    30+ Books by Ghanaian and Ghanaian Canadian Authors to Read for Ghana Independence Day

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    60+ Books by Black Authors Dropping This Month (March 2026) and My Top 6

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Words for Sunday, from my little corner of the wor Words for Sunday, from my little corner of the world where we read in peace. 🤎

I’m learning that a soft reading life is not laziness.
It’s not “doing nothing.”

It’s not something I have to earn after the world is done with me.

It’s a return.

To quiet.
To imagination.
To the parts of me that don’t exist to be useful.

And for us, reading has always been more than a hobby.
It’s how we kept ourselves.
How we passed down wisdom without permission.
How we remembered who we are when everything tried to name us otherwise.

So this week, I’m choosing pages over pressure. I’m reading slowly.

I’m protecting my joy like it’s sacred, because it is.

Tell me what you’re reading this week, sis. Let’s hold each other through the pages. 📚✨

#ThisBlackGirlReads #ReadingAsResistance #BlackWomenRead  #ReadBlackAuthors
In honour of World Poetry Day, I wanted to gather In honour of World Poetry Day, I wanted to gather a list that feels full of voice, beauty, belonging, tenderness, memory, longing, and truth.

Black poetry has always known how to hold us. These are just some of the collections that remind me how wide and layered Black life really is.

Save this for your next bookstore trip or library run. And tell me in the comments: which collection would you add to this shelf?

Want the full list say 'poetry' in the comments and I'll send it straight to you. 

#WorldPoetryDay #BlackPoetry #BlackReaders #PoetryLovers #thisblackgirlreads
People really still think librarians are supposed People really still think librarians are supposed to come in one look, one voice, and one vibe. Whole time, some of us carry books, culture, rhythm, and big joy all at once.

Am I the only that has to catch a vibe before work? 

#thisblackgirlreads #blackbookstagram
Just a little reminder for the readers heading int Just a little reminder for the readers heading into the weekend: your reading life does not have to be perfect to be meaningful.

It can be quiet.
It can be slow.
It can be one chapter between errands, one poem before bed, or an audiobook playing while you clean up the house and mind your business.

Around here, reading is not just a hobby. It is joy. It is care. It is lineage. It is a way back to ourselves.

So this is your sign to make space for the book that’s been calling your name in whatever way works for your life.

What are you reading this weekend, goodie?

#ReadingIsResistance #readingisjoy #ThisBlackGirlReads
Happy Pub Day! Shut Up and Read: A Memoir from Har Happy Pub Day! Shut Up and Read: A Memoir from Harriett’s Bookshop by Jeannine A. Cook 

This book reminded me that bookstores are never just bookstores. At their best, they are a sanctuary, a meeting place, they are a testimony; they are a way for people to find themselves, each other, and the words they need to keep going.

What I loved most about this memoir was learning about Cook’s life through the building of Harriett’s Bookshop; her advocacy, her vision, her pain, her persistence, and the deeply personal journey that shaped the space she created. You can feel that this bookshop was born out of longing, purpose, and a refusal to let the world make small what was always meant to be expansive.

One line that stayed with me is:
“I realize now that part of building the bookshop is me seeking to build a home for those who need one again and again.”

If you love bookstores, literary community, and memoirs about building something meaningful against the odds, this one is worth your time. It is tender, visionary, and deeply rooted in the power of books to make a way out of no way.

#ShutUpAndRead #BlackReaders #LiteraryCommunity #ThisBlackGirlReads
The literary world is not built by authors alone. The literary world is not built by authors alone.

It is also held by women who teach, lend, edit, recommend, preserve, gather, review, publish, and pass stories hand to hand.

Today, I’m celebrating the women doing the work in these literary streets... the writers, librarians, booksellers, teachers, editors, book club hosts, bloggers, reviewers, and literary advocates who keep stories alive and help readers find their way home through words.

So much of reading culture is built in community. And so much of that community is shaped, carried, and protected by women.

Tag a woman in the literary ecosystem you love below... your favourite author, librarian, bookseller, educator, publisher, reviewer, bookish content creator, or literary community builder. 

Let’s give them their flowers today. 🤎

#InternationalWomensDay #ThisBlackGirlReads #WomenInLiterature #LiteraryCommunity #BlackWomenWhoRead
Happy Ghana Independence Day 🇬🇭✨ Today I wanted t Happy Ghana Independence Day 🇬🇭✨

Today I wanted to celebrate Ghana through books, through story, memory, history, womanhood, language, and voice. This list features books by Ghanaian and Ghanaian Canadian authors across fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and it feels like such a beautiful reminder that a country can live in its literature too.

From classics like The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born and Our Sister Killjoy, to contemporary reads like His Only Wife, Maame, and Homegoing, there is so much richness here.

And I really wanted to make space for Ghanaian Canadian voices too,  because Ghana also lives across the diaspora, in memory, in migration, and in the stories Black writers continue to tell.

Which book have you read, or which one would you pick up first?

✅️ want the list? Comment "Ghana" 🇬🇭 and i'll send it to you. 🙌🏾

#GhanaIndependenceDay #GhanaianAuthors  #AfricanLiterature #DiasporaReads #BooksByBlackAuthors
March is BLACK AUTHOR MONTH, the way these release March is BLACK AUTHOR MONTH, the way these releases are set up 😮‍💨🖤📚

I pulled together a full list of books by Black authors dropping in March, and it’s giving memoirs that heal, romances that spin you, thrillers that keep you up, poetry that blesses you, and nonfiction that feeds your brain.

Here’s what I need from you:

Comment “MARCH LIST” and I’ll send you the full list. 

Which title are you claiming first? 👀

Because, listen… we’re not letting this month pass without adding something Black, brilliant, and brand-new to our shelves.

#ThisBlackGirlReads #BlackAuthors #NewBookReleases #MarchReads #Bookstagram #BlackGirlReadingJoy #CanadianBookstagram #BlackWomenRead #BookList #TBR #ReadingCommunity
New month, new reading intentions for March 🌿📚 Th New month, new reading intentions for March 🌿📚

This month we’re reading with softness, honesty, and a lil bit of discipline (because the TBR not gonna read itself 😮‍💨).

 Drop yours below: what are you calling in for your reading life this month.

#ReadingIsRestAndResistance #ThisBlackGirlReads #ReadingCommunity
March is here, and we’re stepping into something t March is here, and we’re stepping into something tender.

After the beautiful turnout in February (still smiling about that room 😭🖤), I’m so excited to announce our next read: The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley.

If you’ve been craving community that feels like living room energy , not performance, this is your sign.

We’re reading.
We’re reflecting.
We’re growing.

Register through the link in my profile, or drop 'I'm in' and i'll send you the details. 

And if you were at the February book club, tell the people what they missed 👀✨
If i leave my house without my kindle, it's not a If i leave my house without my kindle, it's not a trip.... it's a mistake. 🤭🤦🏽‍♀️ 

Kindle girlies, tell the truth 👀 comment 'kindle girlie' if you never leave home without yours. 

Stickers from @da.book.nook

#kindlegirlie 
#thisblackgirlreads 
#blackbookstagram
Here's last month's reading recap. 10 books down Here's last month's reading recap. 

10 books down and I've officially passed my reading goal for the year. Excuse me while I rest 🫡

Journaling through my read has become my favourite ritual. 

#thisblackgirlreads #readingjournal #readingwrapup #bipocbooks
Logging books in my reading journal each month has Logging books in my reading journal each month has become one of my favourite things.

Last month I read 12 books, and surpassed my reading goal of the year. 

My favs last month: 

✨️ All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby 
✨️ The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson 
✨️ Don Caselli by Jahquel J

What should I read next??? 

#readingjournal #ReadingWrapUp #ThisBlackGirlReads
📚🇨🇦 Hey Canadian Black book girlies 👋🏾✨ — wanna kn 📚🇨🇦 Hey Canadian Black book girlies 👋🏾✨ — wanna know how to get free books by Black authors straight to your Kindle? 👀 I got you! Watch this quick BRAE tutorial and start stacking your digital shelf today 🔥

 #BlackReaders #BRAE #BlackBooks #ThisBlackGirlReads #FreeKindleBooks
I read 8 books last month and finally added them a I read 8 books last month and finally added them all to my new #readingjournal

How did I do? Let me know. 

#rootedinreading #ReadingWrapUp #readingaddict 
#journalinginspiration
He asked what I was doing tonight.... I said, 'mee He asked what I was doing tonight.... I said, 'meet me at Indigo' #bookdate

#blackgirlreads #bookhaul
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