Remember 90s Black Chick Lit?

And a Bookclub was born

So I’m restarting the Bookclub!

I remember when I got my hands on Terry McMillian’s Disappearing Acts. It was December of 1990 and I got it for Christmas. I was 14 and had no business reading this book but by the end of that Christmas break, every female in my family had read it.

I don’t remember how I, a 14-year-old old heard about it, but I knew it was a black romance. And it was unlike anything else I had read before. It was real. I didn’t have to try to figure out the symbolism of it all. It was just a story of two ordinary people. And they were black.

And so began my love affair with Black Chit Lit.

Writers like Eric Jerome Dickey, Bebe Moore Campbell, Walter Mosley, E. Lynn Harris, Susan Taylor, Octavia Butler and Nathan McCall tapped into an often “ neglected market of women, gays, and African-American readers hungry to see their lives and interests reflected in the pages of these mass-produced romance, mystery, science fiction and self-help books.”

I devoured most of the books that came out at this time and kept all of those books.

There has been an itch in me this year to re-read some of these books to see if they are like I remember.

I wanted to go back and read those books I read in my teens and 20s and 30s and see if I love them now as much as I did then. And I wanted to do it with friends.

I wanted to introduce these books to others who may have never read these books. I want a girlfriend’s book club where we talk about love and life and the feelings that these books evoke.

And so, the Pouring Over Books Bookclub was born.

I agonized and picked 12 books from what I call my Black Girl Bookcase. I wanted a mix of the ones we all know and a few that maybe you missed. One per month for 2025.

Here is What We Are Reading In 2025

This section contains paid links. Meaning, at no addition cost to you, if you click a link and buy, I maybe able to afford my teenager. Thank you in advance.

To buy a copy of the books below, check out this Amazon List or this one from Bookshop.org( supports your small independent bookstores)

Or support your local library and check one out there. All of these books are backlists, so they should be easy to find.

1. January: Fly Girl By Omar Tyree

2. February: Sister Sister By Eric Jerome Dickey   

3. March: Video Vixen By Karren Stevans 

4. April: Nappily Ever After By Trisha R Thomas

5. May: Waiting to Exhale By Terry McMillan 

6.  June: Invisible Life By E Lynn Harris

7. July: Scenes From a Sister By Lolita Files

8. August: Brothers And Sisters By Bebe Moore Campbell 

9. September: Coffee Will Make You Black By April Sinclair **

10. October: Ain’t Nobody’s Business if I Do by Valerie Wilson Wesley

11.  November: My Soul to Keep By Tananarive Due

12. December: The Coldest Winter Ever By Sister Souljah

**not available on bookshop.org**

Also…just saying: Get an Audible membership because some of these books are on audible for free…

AND Kindle Unlimited is running a black Friday deal also where you can get 3 months for $0.99 . Some of these books are on kindle unlimited. Just saying…

Who is this Book Club for?

Everyone who wants to read a good book.

How this will work:

We will read a book a month.

Each month, there will be weekly discussions and questions using the chat feature here in Substack so that we can read and discuss together as we move through the books. My response to whatever section we are reading will be in podcast form right here in Substack.

This will be an interactive book club friends! No reader left behind!

Our discussion threads will conclude at the end of the month with a live call where we can get together and discuss the overall themes of the book, what we loved, hated or clutched our pearls about and what we rate the book now vs when you first read it.

What is the cost?

For the book club, I am offering paid subscriptions for $5/month or $55/year.

What is included in the cost of membership:

By becoming a paid subscriber to the book club, you will have access to The Pouring Over Books Bookclub, exclusive post commentary, and weekly discussions. This will be a community, and by joining, you will have the ability to comment on every newsletter and be with like-minded people who just want to read good books.

Why is this paid and not free?

A paid subscription here will allow me to be compensated for my time for putting all of this together on top of the work I do on Instagram, The Pouring Over Books Podcast, and Everyday Eyecandy and the other work I do to keep my teenager fed and in pants that aren’t too short. Your $5 a month will help make it all possible!

Ok. So that’s an outline for what I envision for this book club. I cannot WAIT to get started!

Ok, Ready? Just hit the subscribe button below to get started!