She Reads | August 10, 2023

Historical fiction continues to shine a light on untold stories and deliver fresh perspectives on past events. Here are ten titles spanning centuries and continents, intertwining mystery and romance, and centering the fierce women who have certainly left their mark.

One Blood by Denene Millner

An endearing multigenerational saga spanning three generations, One Blood explores the consequences of bad decisions,well kept secrets, and ambitious women. Grace moves up North after her grandmother passes. She is quickly propelled into high society with her Aunt Hattie but after a brief entanglement Grace becomes pregnant and her child is given up for adoption. Delores a.k.a Lolo weaves intricate stories of a well to do life but her secrets begin to unravel forcing her to do whatever it takes to regain control. Lolo’s daughter, Rae discovers she is adopted and is determined to get answers. This novel explores womanhood, motherhood and healing generational trauma.

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The Yucanan times | August 7, 2023

Altina Schinasi (1907-1999) was not merely an artist; she embodied the essence of a Renaissance woman. Born into a family of privilege and intellect, Schinasi’s upbringing fostered her curiosity and enabled her to explore a diverse range of artistic pursuits. Her father, a wealthy Turkish tobacco magnate, provided her with the resources to cultivate her passions, resulting in a life that blended art, design, film, and social activism.

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ARTnews | August 4, 2023

Google celebrated the 116th birthday on Friday of sculptor, documentary filmmaker, and inventor Altina Schinasi with a pair of orange cat’s-eye glasses framing the company logo.

After noticing the lack of options for women’s glasses, she invented the harlequin shape, or cat’s-eye, glasses for which she is probably most known. One shop owner took to her creation and grabbed the rights to the frames for six months, leading to her design’s huge success as a must-have fashion accessory among American women in the late 1930s and ’40s.

Schinasi was the subject of the biopic Altina (2013) and penned a memoir The Road I Have Traveled (1995).

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NY Jewish Week | August 4, 2023

The Google Doodle for Friday, Aug. 4 features a cartoon image of a bespectacled woman peering out from one of the lenses of orange cat-eye glasses. The Doodle celebrates the 116th birthday of Altina “Tina” Schinasi, the Sephardic Jewish artist, inventor and New Yorker who devised the distinctive eyeglasses.

In 2014, her grandson Peter Sanders and her granddaughter Victoria Sanders produced and directed “Altina,” a documentary about her life.

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NPR | July 11, 2023

"Everybody that talks about Herc's parties back then talks about two things," says Jeff Chang, author of the definitive hip-hop history Can't Stop Won't Stop. "They talk about the intensity, the pure sound of the sound system — but they also talk about the music that Herc played." . . .

"Everybody is innovating and doing things in their own kind of way," says historian Jeff Chang. "The dances have changed. The kids who are coming into it now, they're younger, they're hungry. They want to put their stamp on it. And at some point, this overtakes what Herc built."

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CrimeReads | July 7, 2023

This month’s psychological thrillers are fast-paced, intricate, and deliciously shocking.

May Cobb, A Likeable Woman
(Berkley)

Austin-based writer May Cobb is back with another sizzling thriller set in the sultry Texas heat. In her latest, a woman who has always wondered about the death of her unpredictable mother finds new answers in a memoir. She returns to her hometown to seek out the truth (and perhaps reconnect with an old flame, or at least have some flirtation in a swimming pool). You’ll tear through this one poolside! Maybe on the beach, while wearing sunglasses…who knows what thoughts of delicious vengeance may be hidden behind sunglasses.

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Tribeza | July 7, 2023

Austin novelist May Cobb is releasing a new entry in her collection of juicy thrillers. Centered around Texas women, Cobb’s latest novel, “A Likable Woman,” promises to be every bit as steamy and compelling as its stylistic predecessors, “The Hunting Wives” and “My Summer Darlings,” and—like those page turners—”A Likable Woman” is already garnering national attention, making it onto multiple most anticipated summer reads list, including Oprah Daily’s, Buzzfeed’s, and CrimeRead’s. Fans of twisty thrillers will relish reading May Cobb’s works.

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The Dallas Morning News | July 7, 2023

East Texas native May Cobb is best-known for her sizzling summer reads The Hunting Wives (2021) and My Summer Darlings (2022). Her latest thriller, A Likeable Woman, which publishes July 11, features a woman determined to unravel the mystery of her mother’s death. . . . We caught up with Cobb to talk about the book’s title, what inspires her and the clash of values her novels explore.

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Daily Mom | July 6, 2023

A LIKEABLE WOMAN – RELEASES JULY 11, 2023

Kira’s grandma is anxious to give Kira a memoir that her mother was writing before her death. Past secrets come to light in it, and potential clues to what may have ended her mother’s life become clear. Unfortunately for Kira, someone wants these truths buried with her mom. Will Kira put the pieces together before it’s too late?

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Novel Suspects | July 1, 2023

Mystery, suspense, and thriller readers: what are you going to be reading this July when you’re out by the pool, sitting at the beach, or (if this is more your vibe) chilling somewhere with the air conditioning blasting? Well, we have quite a few suggestions that are going to be absolute must-reads this month. Your summer TBR is about to be iconic with these exciting new mysteries and thrillers coming out this July.

A Likeable Woman
May Cobb

May Cobb’s summer thriller A Likeable Woman is just begging to be read by the pool this July. Years ago, Kira left behind her wealthy Texas town after the mysterious death of her mother. Now, decades have passed, and Kira returns home to attend her former friend/frenemy’s vow renewal party. Yes, there are things Kira misses about her hometown: lazy days by the pool, chilled wine, and her childhood crush Jack, for instance. But what’s really calling her home is something her grandmother has for her. Something that might be the key to what happened to her mother: a memoir Kira’s mother was writing before her death.

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Longview News-Journal | June 29, 2023

Longview native May Cobb, author of “Big Woods,” “The Hunting Wives” and “My Summer Darlings,” is looking forward to the July 11 release of her latest thriller.

“A Likeable Woman,” which is set in Longview, centers around Kira, a 30-something-year-old woman who left town years earlier in the wake of her mother Sadie’s mysterious death.

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PureWow | June 27, 2023

Summertiiiime and the reading is fabulous. This month brings binge-worthy rom-coms, gripping thrillers and a short story collection that will leave you aching for more. Here are nine new July releases to toss into your beach bag ASAP.

A Likeable Woman by May Cobb

After her mother's mysterious death, Kira fled her wealthy Texas town and never looked back. Decades later, she’s invited to an old frenemy's vow renewal celebration, and though she’s reluctant to go, there are things pulling her home…including Jack, her childhood crush.

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Essence | June 26, 2023

As summer approaches many of us are yearning for warmth of the outdoors, but on those relaxing days when you just want to stay in, there are plenty of stories from Black authors to explore.

One Blood by Denene Millner – 9/5

Homegoing meets The Mothers where three women are tied together by blood, love, and family secrets in this searing novel by New York Times bestseller Denene Millner.

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BookBub | June 22, 2023

A Likeable Woman by May Cobb

New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica calls this read “a smart, juicy thrill-ride.” It’s been decades since Kira left her affluent hometown, ready to start a new life in the wake of her mother’s mysterious death. Now she’s back — and her grandmother has given her an unpublished memoir her mother was writing before she died. It might hold the secret to what happened to her, if Kira can get to the bottom of it before she becomes the next target…

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News8 | June 11, 2023

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Who is Addison McKnight? It is the pen name of two women from West Hartford who decided to become authors.

Krista Wells and Nicole Moleti have six kids and six jobs between them, yet they found the time to write a book, and another is in the works.

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Oprah Daily | June 2, 2023

If you want beachy escapes, campfire scorchers, glorious globe-trotting, or just some backyard binge-reads, look no further than this delectable list.

A Likeable Woman, by May Cobb

Bring on the backyard chardonnay and rich, nasty housewives of East Texas for another thriller from the author of The Hunting Wives. Kira is going home for the first time since the mysterious death of her mother, Sadie—which she and her grandmother both believe was murder. But as Kira reads Sadie’s unfinished memoir, closing in on the truth about this claustrophobic town and her mother’s rebellion against it, her own life is threatened. Gossipy, glamorous, and hair-raising.

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Eater | May 23, 2023

Welcome to the home of Alexander Smalls, restaurateur, opera singer, author, and the force behind the city’s first African food hall

nAn Alexander Smalls’s dinner party at his home in Sugar Hill is about more than the food, which, if you’re lucky, is prepared by Smalls himself, or, if you’re just as lucky, it’s made by an emerging chef in Smalls’s Black chef collective, bringing mentorship and visibility to up-and-coming cooks.

A New York City icon, Smalls is in the middle of opening the city’s first African food hall, Alkebulan, which will launch in Harlem in the coming months. Alkebulan will not only highlight ten food stalls from around the continent but will also feature music and art. The NYC food hall is the second location after the first one opened in Dubai, with stalls that include Shoebox Bakery, Chicken Coop, and Sweet Ophelia’s, an Afro-Asian wok bar. The team is also working on a London location.

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BCALA | May 19, 2023

45 outstanding works of fiction and nonfiction for kids by African American authors selected by the Black Caucus of ALA.

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