October is Black Speculative Fiction Month, so what better time to do an update post on my how Tarot Sequence – Black Lives Matter Book Bingo Reading Challenge is going.
The Tarot Black Lives Matter book bingo is presented by The Tarot Sequence fandom and run primarily by Kathy @pages below vaulted sky.
If you’re looking for books to use, we’ve got some great lists on reddit in our /r/Fantasy Black Lives Matter Megathread
I’ve read 16 out of 24 books so far, so 8 books in two months should be totally reasonable by my normal reading pace.
My list intentionally skews recent, I wanted to get as many 2020 releases as I could
The Martyr: a book with the theme of change, surrender, or letting go
Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin
This won the Hugo award for best novelette this year and I fully agree. It’s hard to describe without giving too much away, and I wouldn’t want to to that as it was brilliant being in the character’s mind as he figured stuff out. I loved how is story managed to be very hopeful in the future it imagines, and a stark and depressing critique at how improbable it is due to our fucked society.
The Magician: a book set in a secondary world (i.e. a world that is not our own)
Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
Queen of the Conquered is set in a secondary world, inspired by the US Virgin Islands under colonial rule. We’re in the head of Sigourney, who through a mix of circumstances and scheming is the only one of the islanders allowed to participate in high-level politics. The story has a lot of manipulating, some mind-reading magic, and a classic murder mystery story. Sigourney is interesting, but she’s not a likeable protagonist.
Justice: a book based on or inspired by real-life injustice
Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
Another book that I wouldn’t have normally read as it’s deeply rooted in real-world, everyday horrors, and I know being removed from them, both racially and geographically is a privilege I have. A dark dystopian novella with the story told through short vignettes. I’m glad I read it but it’s a comfortable few miles outside of what I normally read.
Hierophant: a coming-of-age story or a YA contemporary:
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
I LOVE THIS BOOK. Seriously, loved it, it had so much going and so many mysteries and the characters were great I just couldn’t put it down. It’s a modern retelling of a King Arthur legend, it was very captivating, just so full of mysteries and secrets to piece together.
Temperance: a book set during the 1920s or 1930s:
Mem by Bethany C. Morrow
A very interesting short novel exploring the idea of personhood through a Mem, a removed memory stored in a mirror image of the source. The main character is a mem like no other and the book is very much focussed on her own struggle to figure herself out.
The High Priestess: a mystery book
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
This is the second mystery novella set in alternate history clockwork+djinn Cairo, in this case investigating the haunting of a tram car. It’s a fun mystery, with cool characters, on the background of the women’s suffragette movement. I really enjoy this series and am very much looking forward to the full-length novel.
The Tower: a book with a building or a structure on the cover
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
What if cities came alive? What if something from another dimension were trying to kill them? I really recommend the audiobook for this one if you can, the narration is great and it has nice sound effects. I liked all the borough characters and was really interested in getting to know them, but I got confused somewhere along the plot.
The Moon: a book that explores mental health:
The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes
The Deep is about a race of mermaids born of pregnant women thrown overboard to their deaths from slaver ships. Initially, I didn’t want to read it, because it sounded too dark for me, but I’m very glad I did. I loved how the story talked about how history and memory are such an important part of identity.
The Lovers: a book featuring strong friendships or romance
A Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope
This one is a lot more chill than most of the books in my bingo, a lovely fantasy romance about a woman who is considered a dangerous outsider in her own land and the mysterious army officer who ends up lost in her neck of the woods.
Strength: an action-adventure book
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
I did not know historical zombie-slaying YA novel would be my thing but here were are. I loved this one, the main character has some great snark and it manages to be a super fun book even in a (post?) zombie apocalyptic setting
The Hermit: a biography
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde
This is one of the few squares I couldn’t find a SFF suggestion for. I really liked it, though I read very little non-fiction so I kept thinking how odd it is that I’m enjoying a book about someone’s personal troubles and pain.
Wheel of Fortune: a book with the theme of “actions lead to consequences”
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Well this was much darker than I was expecting. It’s set in a bleak version of Toronto that was abandoned after some riots, and now people are living however they can without electricity, plumbing or contact with the outside world. I really liked the fantasy aspects of the ancestors and how they interact with the world. I struggled to get used to the Caribbean English (I think that’s what it was)
The Devil: a book you’ve been putting off or have been hesitant about reading
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
I know, I know, everyone knows this book, but it took me this long to read it, and then I loved it, and in case you’ve also been putting it off, stop, read it, it’s great. I was a bit worried about the second person but ended up having no problem with it whatsoever. I thought the world was great and really enjoyed figuring stuff out as we went along.
The Empress: a book with a mother as the main character/narrator, or one that focuses on a mother-child relationship
LaGuardia by Nnedi Okorafor
A story about immigration, acceptance and aliens, all while worrying about a future baby. The ending was very sweet.
New Atlantis: an urban fantasy
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
Another timely novel, mixing the Black Lives Matter movement with sirens and other supernatural creatures. The main characters are two found-sisters, their relationship is great to read about.
The World: a book set in a country that’s not your own
Rosewater by Tade Thomson
Rosewater in set in Nigeria, in the 2050s and 2060s. It follows a senstive, a man who can connect to the xenophere and read others’ thoughts as a consequence of aliens showing up. There’s a lot going on in this novel, and I kinda wish I had not gone for an audiobook, because chapters and interludes frequently jump from past to present, and it wasn’t always easy to follow along.
Thanks so much for Kathy for organizing this challenge, I’m finding a lot of books to love and I like the push outside what I’d normally read.