tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66797002024-03-13T14:01:58.681-04:00Carole V. Bell (CaribBelle)Media, culture and politics from a feminist perspective.caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.comBlogger231125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-60060210302597645512024-02-28T12:34:00.004-05:002024-02-28T12:42:27.500-05:00Black Achievement and Joy at the Dawn of American FilmThis February I'm basking in the joy of finally writing one of the pieces on Black movie history that I've been thinking about way on the back burner since grad school. If I'm honest, this one made my whole year. I'm proud of this feature I wrote for IndieWire about early Black participation in American film. It's based on copious reading, watching and original interviews with insiders-caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-28852742229658596612023-11-22T11:41:00.007-05:002023-11-22T12:15:47.958-05:00New Articles at Publishers Weekly and NPR's Books We Love 2023NPR's Books We Love has quickly become one of my favorite annual traditions. This year I had the honor of writing about 12 of my absolute faves for this incredible celebration of excellent books including: Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead, The Fraud by Zadie Smith, Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor, and We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian. Each one is a tribute, and the collection caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-90741161924148080152023-10-25T13:46:00.009-04:002023-10-25T14:15:36.621-04:00A wealth of amazing reads and literary conversations. Being a critic always feel like a privilege, even when deadlines loom one after the other. The past few months have been especially wild, moving from The Enchanters to How to Say Babylon. I've reviewed books by Zadie Smith, James Ellroy, and Safiya Sinclair and spent hours talking with Colson Whitehead and Kennedy Ryan. caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-20970466568818651612023-03-20T16:45:00.004-04:002023-03-20T16:54:07.641-04:00 New Year, New Writing I've been making a list....For some people the new year is all about fresh starts and resolutions. To me, a new year means obsessive list making — media to anticipate, watch and read. Start with these selections: the books we can't wait to read in 2023 across genres, new adaptations for the small screen, and a standout historical novel. New Year, New Books caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-24327102600169693442022-06-30T09:41:00.005-04:002022-11-14T16:17:32.697-05:00What's New-- Media, Book Criticism and more11/14/22 I recently interviewed author Kathryn Ma for Publishers Weekly and reviewed Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts for Oprah Daily. Next up: A guide to new bookish television adaptations and a conversation with literary icon Percival Everett. For a full list of work with links, please click over to: "Bio and Recent Writing."7/11/2022I'm excited to have two new reviews to caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-30042870522220522982021-12-29T16:00:00.001-05:002021-12-29T16:00:29.725-05:00Review: A Play for the End of the World
A Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book affected me profoundly. It's beautifully rendered historical fiction that begins in World War II and then jumps to the 1970s. It addresses some of the core themes found in fiction of that post war period—the role of art and love in survival. In Jai Chakrabarti’s debut novel, a caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-63132188014894975652021-09-30T13:11:00.004-04:002021-09-30T13:39:12.201-04:00Review: Scandalous
Scandalous by Minerva Spencer
My rating: 0 of 5 stars
I don’t really have words for how much I hated this. Hated that the author exploits slavery for titillation, playing up the idea of the sexy brute and savage at every turn. I have a pretty thick hide by now and yet this elicited a surprisingly painful reaction. There’s nothing modern about this brutal retread/ caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-38831659268844000482021-06-11T17:35:00.002-04:002021-06-11T17:38:26.603-04:00Review: The Accidental Diva
The Accidental Diva by Tia Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars"She was a skittish, trembling Question, and he was the Answer."
This is now a Tia Williams stan account. Truly. Her three adult novels share two things in common that I love: sharp humor and excellent contemporary world-building. Williams builds a social environment that is so rich and authentic it gives me a sense caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-27285486371131409472021-02-17T18:05:00.004-05:002021-02-18T19:29:36.567-05:00NPR's Code Switch Celebrates Black Kiss-Story (and I'm there for it)!So NPR Code Switch did a fun and thoughtful episode on Black historical romance and invited me to be a part of it. Listening to these amazing authors—Beverly Jenkins, Alyssa Cole, and Piper Huguley talk Black history and romance on Code Switch was a treat and a half this Valentine's week. Getting to take part in it and say my piece? Unreal! You can listen to the episode and read the essay caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-80055232417893044222021-02-17T17:48:00.003-05:002021-02-18T19:31:13.455-05:00My Review of Wild Rain in The New York Times
Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an exciting one. I had the extreme pleasure of writing about WILD RAIN for The New York Times. You can read my review online:"In Beverly Jenkins’s Romance Novels, Black History Is Front and Center"
View all my reviews
caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-52230601370178364262020-12-20T21:52:00.003-05:002020-12-21T22:18:16.321-05:00Review: Snapped
Snapped by Alexa Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
There are several different things going on here and some definitely work better than others. First and foremost, Snapped is an unusually candid portrait of a biracial woman coming to terms with the internalized anti-black attitudes she swallowed while growing up in a white family and predominantly white community. caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-54926436736949055432020-11-21T14:07:00.001-05:002020-11-21T14:07:19.355-05:00Review: The Prophets
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of my favorite parts of a heartbreaking but thoroughly beautiful book. “They thought we was something dirty, but it won’t nothing like that at all. It was easy, really. He the only one who understand me without me saying a word. Can tell what I thinking just by where I looking—or not looking. So when he caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-39976323743253488082020-10-10T13:24:00.005-04:002020-10-10T16:16:29.663-04:00Girl, Woman, Other. Chapter 2: Her Warring ThoughtsChapter 2: Carole, Bummi, and LaTisha.Fictional Carole's story caught me by surprise with its sort of duality—how it contained two things at war with each other in the same space— her privileged adult life with a pretty happy ending, loving mother and genuinely loving husband on one hand, and the violations she's endured, big and small, as an adult and as a child, and how hard she works to caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-11839780063583888482020-10-04T12:34:00.005-04:002020-10-04T13:11:47.945-04:00Review: Girl, Woman, Other
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I truly loved it. I couldn't stop reading and stayed up late, then got up early to finish. The only challenge in writing a review is that my highlights aren't as useful as they usually are because I highlighted way too much (literally hundreds of paragraphs), seemingly almost everything because caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-89005530622496234222020-09-13T16:45:00.001-04:002020-09-13T16:45:21.627-04:00Review: The Art of Theft
The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am a huge fan of the Lady Sherlock series. The way that Sherry Thomas weaves together an emotionally affecting and socially realistic mystery with solidly feminist sensibilities and social commentary is impressive and gratifying. With the first book especially, I felt the kind of well-being I get from caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-87409169714370785842020-09-06T18:55:00.001-04:002020-09-06T18:55:31.861-04:00Review: Accidentally Engaged
Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have a confession. I love food and romance but I don’t necessarily love foodie romance. Accidentally Engaged, however, was a joy to read. Some of the beats will feel really familiar— in particular the unwanted arranged or facilitated marriage that becomes a steamy love match— but it’s well executed and caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-23846937106552681012020-08-27T17:54:00.001-04:002020-08-27T17:54:39.461-04:00Review: Better Than People
Better Than People by Roan Parrish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When animal loving Jack breaks his leg and can no longer take his pets for the exercise they need, Simon, a man who craves four legged companionship, comes to the rescue. Soon they discover they have more in common than their love of pets. Simon and Jack are just the sweetest, softest and most heart caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-33166709003060838172020-08-14T11:34:00.001-04:002020-08-14T11:34:38.204-04:00Review: The Cowboy Says I Do
The Cowboy Says I Do by Dylann Crush
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had the distinct pleasure of reviewing The Cowboy Says I do, Come Home to Deep River, and Paradise Cove for BookPage: https://bookpage.com/features/25476-s...
View all my reviews
caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-29785347030028776032020-08-14T11:31:00.001-04:002020-08-14T11:31:34.290-04:00Review: A Cowboy to Remember
A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Rebekah Weatherspoon kicks off her new Black cowboy series with an inventive new take on the Sleeping beauty myth. A Cowboy to Remember blends small town romance, modern fairy tale, and second chance romance. The beauty in this case is Evie, a famous reality TV princess, her prince is a Black caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-61053452543798048882020-07-26T15:19:00.001-04:002020-07-26T15:19:41.947-04:00Review: It Had to Be You
It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Love in the Time of Slick Willy, the Juice and the Donald. This one was quite a throwback. Since this summer I've been making a conscious effort to better understand the genre I've been so engrossed by recently by reading some of the best known books in the romance canon, and It Had to Be You caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-44730814377845575722020-07-26T13:19:00.003-04:002020-07-26T14:49:44.890-04:00Review: Nobody's Baby But Mine
Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This is the second novel that I’ve read by contemporary romance legend Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and I’m finding it even harder to tolerate than the last. The first book in the series was frustrating because it felt twisted and unrealistic in how it depicted/distorted sexism in the workplace. This book mightcaribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-87124337902284153792020-07-15T13:34:00.001-04:002020-07-15T13:34:38.225-04:00Review: Heart and Hand
Heart and Hand by Rebel Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Heart and Hand by Rebel Carter is a lot of fun and a little confounding. It's a quick read, kind of crazy interracial romance set in the old West twenty years after the civil war. Rather than straight historical romance I'd say we need a more specific subcategory to appreciate this book. It's not quite caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-87717835904771650692020-07-14T18:39:00.001-04:002020-07-14T18:39:57.008-04:00Review: Conventionally Yours
Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really like this sweet and tender, slow burn new adult contemporary. In Conventionally Yours, Annabeth Albert breathes new life into the opposites attract and forced proximity tropes by placing them within the very fun and deeply weird gamer culture. When their teammates drop out due to emergencies,caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-54771179607391341542020-05-27T16:58:00.002-04:002020-06-01T16:23:05.672-04:00Review: Queen Move
Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In romance, fated mates is a label conferred on couples whose pairing is written in the stars or nature or somewhere in the supernatural. It exists outside of logic and rationality. It’s a pairing that was simply meant to be. They complete each other and no one else will do. Traditionally, fated mates are something that only caribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679700.post-53154992539159940692020-05-23T21:04:00.001-04:002020-05-23T21:04:54.203-04:00Review: American Sweethearts
American Sweethearts by Adriana Herrera
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Full review at @The_Book_Queen blog: bit.ly/2wTRxcbAmerican Sweethearts is the soul-stirring and deeply satisfying fourth and final installment in Adriana Herrera’s award-winning Dreamers series, which centers on a tight group of Afro-Caribbean friends finding love and living their own version of thecaribbellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076978130478002982noreply@blogger.com0