Black Chick Lit

Hi, readers!

We've got another fun interview for you this month. We chatted with author and self-proclaimed L.A. stan Rachel Howzell Hall about her new book, What Never Happened, and what it's like to be a Black woman in the thriller space — whether that be as an author or a main character.

Learn more about the plotting process and character development of thriller characters, Rachel's philosophy on plot twists and which of he...

Hi, readers! It's June and Black Chick Lit is celebrating Pride month!

Given all the mess happening in the news, the government and even at Target, we wanted to do a special episode to talk about what's going on and how it impacts Black women.

We spoke with author and speaker Kianna Alexander on what Pride means to her, her journey to finding her identity and how all of that impacts her writing and reading.

Kianna is the author of ...

Happy new year, readers! We're kicking off 2023 as we do every year with mess and hijinks. It's Urban Fic Month, and this year, we read Everybody Ain't Your Friend, by Tanisha Stewart.

This isn't a lesson we needed to learn, but our main character, Mia, was in desperate need of some education. How did she have so many unstable people in her life and not notice it? Why didn't she block anyone on Facebook? Why did she spell Tyreke wi...

Hey readers! We're still getting hyped for FX's new series, Kindred. Last time, we gave you a refresher (or possibly an introduction) to Octavia Butler and her work. In this episode, we invited an awesome panel of sci-fi fans and creators to chat about Butler, her legacy and what we hope to see in future adaptations of her work.

Our awesome panelists are:

• Isis Asare is the founder and CEO of Sistah Scifi, the first Black owned ...

Hey, readers,

We're doing something special this episode! In preparation of FX's new series Kindred, which will stream on Hulu beginning Dec. 13, we've decided to study up and learn more about the book and its genius author, Octavia Butler.

Join us as we share some cool info about Ms. Butler, including what she had to say about her ability to write the future with eerie accurateness. Fun fact: The people at NASA are some real sci-f...

Hey, readers! We're continue our celebration of Black Chick Lit with the second part of our discussion of the Black girl classic, The Color Purple by Alice Walker. We read the book and watched Steven Spielburg's 1986 film, made famous by Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and, the Queen of the Nineties herself, Oprah!

Be cure to check out the first part of our conversation if you missed it. We finish up by discussing the tragic story of...

Hey, readers!

We're celebrating six years of Black Chick Lit with a discussion of the Black girl classic, The Color Purple by Alice Walker. We read the book and watched Steven Spielburg's 1986 film, made famous by Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and, the Queen of the Nineties herself, Oprah!

You know what this book is about. So, join us as we talk about Ms. Celie, THE Shug Avery, and that low-down dirty dog Mr. ______. We'll finish u...

This winter, we got cozy with the podcast's first cozy mystery. We read A Glimmer of Death by Valerie Wilson Wesley, the first in the Odessa Jones series. We loved the characters in this book — and there are a bunch of them.

There's Charlie, Dessa's asshole boss/murder victim; Harley, her co-worker, whose innocence Dessa is tasked with proving; and Lennox, a former cop turned BBQ pit master who thinks Dessa is in way over her head....

We wanted to learn more about the female half of Ashley and JaQuavis, so for this year's Urban Fic Month, we read Butterfly by Ashley Antoinette.

Did we know what was going on? Barely. This series is a spin-off of a spin-off that started with her title Moth to a Flame. Did that stop us from judging the hell out of it? Absolutely not. Is Morgan a Bad Bitch or a spoiled one? Why the hell does everyone in this book hate rich, popular,...

In this episode, we're joined by a special guest, Frank, to discuss another of our favorite genres: horror! Why does it share in common with romance? What defines a work of horror? And why are people trying so hard to "elevate" the genre?

We also brainstorm the perfect romance for Frank to try and list off a dozen of different horror recs.

If you wanna be part of the cool kids club, head over to Pateron and sign up. You’ll also get...

October is here, and we're ready to get creepy.

This episode, we read These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall. It was full of creepy stalkers, ruthless serial killers, explosive family secrets and ... one big dummy of a main character. (Mickie, girl, here's some advice: don't sleep with dudes you suspect may have killed their own mother.)

We also chat about getting into the holiday spirit, that L.A. life and Rachel's expanded KU ...

This episode, we're joined by Derrik of the Ratchet Book Club to discuss Loving My Wife and Her Sister, Too by Lady Lissa and Shelli Marie.

We meet Analise (the wife), Zakiya (the sister) and Gavin (the fuckboy) and dig into the messiness (or lack thereof) of their lives. Is Gavin a predator who groomed his wife (and her sister, too)? Would Analise ever cheat on Gavin? Who the fuck even is Micaela??

We also talk about the unexplore...

We’re getting spooky already at Black Chick Lit. This month, we read The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris and we had … thoughts. Listen in as we discuss what makes good Black horror, hair products you need to stay away from and iffy Instagram hashtags.

If you wanna be part of the cool kids club, head over to Pateron and sign up. You’ll also get access to bonus materials including video and podcast outtakes.

As always, a ver...

There were so many Arrested Development jokes we could have made.

We're back for take two of our discussion of Stacey Abrams' novel While Justice Sleeps. It's not Ms. Abrams' writing debut, it is the first fiction book she's written under her name since becoming a national political force.

And, to be honest, this book may be too smart for us. Along with complicated word puzzles, sophisticated chess analogies and bioengineering (was...

We felt like stirring up shit this episode, so we asked you to share your messiest, no-holds-barred book opinions.

Okay ya'll - #BCLChat is BACK! Tell us your messiest, most hatin ass, I said what I said book opinion. We'll discuss answers in our next bonus ep! pic.twitter.com/2T96Kio5UH

— Black Chick Lit (@blackchicklit) May 19, 2021

Needless to say, you all delivered. Listen in as we discus...

We're digging into all the -isms in this episode, y'all. We read Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid, which takes a sharp look at racism, classism and all the ways they can fuck up our lives.

We read as Emira struggles to manage two flavors of problematic white people: her overcompensating, liberal #girlboss boss and her wanna-be-down love interest. They're both a mess and we hate them both!

Listen in for a discussion on the insidiousnes...

Hey, readers. Life really came and kicked some of us in the teeth, but we're back, we got all our shots and we're talking books.

Bad news is good news, it turns out. Join us as we catch up, talk Simon & Schuster's complete lack of fucks and accept the fact that we are, in fact, nerds on a power trip. We also try to figure out what Middle Grade is and whether it's just for middle-schoolers. (Turns out, no!)

Happy 2021, lovely listeners! It's our favorite time of the year: Urban Fic Month. (Okay, so we were still a little hungover from 2020 and this episode is a tad late. Forgive us!)

This year, we read a classic: The Cartel, by Ashley & JaQuavis. There's money, romance, murder and a lot of anti-Haitian sentiment. It's uncomfortable. There's also some "sexy" farting (or should we say queuing?), a graphic castration and a whole lot of c...

We’re wrapping up 2020 by talking about all the things we did (and didn’t do) to keep our heads above water. Sister Sistermarathon anyone?

Topics include:

• Dr. Jill Biden
• Booktube shenanigans
• a campaign to get Dani to play Mass Effect
• Mollie saying Dallinar a lot
• and a reflection on our very social year

Thanks as always to our generous patrons — we’ve got a ton of extras from this episode coming your way! Shout out to Mar...