{"title":"Quianna's Reading List","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"devil-is-fine-a-novel-by-john-vercher-author","title":"Devil Is Fine: A Novel \nby John Vercher (Author)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStill reeling from a sudden tragedy, our biracial narrator receives a letter from an attorney: he has just inherited a plot of land from his estranged white grandfather. He travels to a beach town several hours south of his home with the intention of selling the land immediately and moving on. But upon inspection, what lies beneath the dirt is far more complicated than he ever imagined. In a shocking irony, he is now the Black owner of a former plantation passed down by the men on his white mother’s side of the family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVercher deftly blurs the lines between real and imagined, past and present, tragedy and humor, and fathers and sons in this story of discovering and reclaiming a painful past. With the wit and rawness of Paul Beatty’s\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e The Sellout\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e Devil Is Fine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a gripping, surreal, and brilliantly crafted dissection of the legacies we leave behind and those we inherit.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ThirdSpace Reading Room","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44007091732653,"sku":null,"price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/6954\/9997\/files\/1989B105-7021-4F96-B2CD-C6AB25FAFD53.jpg?v=1734910948"},{"product_id":"heavy-an-american-memoir-1","title":"Heavy: An American Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eIn this powerful and provocative memoir, genre-bending essayist and novelist Kiese Laymon explores what the weight of a lifetime of secrets, lies, and deception does to a black body, a black family, and a nation teetering on the brink of moral collapse.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKiese Laymon is a fearless writer. In his essays, personal stories combine with piercing intellect to reflect both on the state of American society and on his experiences with abuse, which conjure conflicted feelings of shame, joy, confusion and humiliation. Laymon invites us to consider the consequences of growing up in a nation wholly obsessed with progress yet wholly disinterested in the messy work of reckoning with where we’ve been.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eHeavy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Laymon writes eloquently and honestly about growing up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to his trek to New York as a young college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing, and ultimately gambling. By attempting to name secrets and lies he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, Laymon asks himself, his mother, his nation, and us to confront the terrifying possibility that few in this nation actually know how to responsibly love, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA personal narrative that illuminates national failures, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eHeavy \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis defiant yet vulnerable, an insightful, often comical exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship, and family that begins with a confusing childhood—and continues through twenty-five years of haunting implosions and long reverberations.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ThirdSpace Reading Room","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44327936164013,"sku":null,"price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/6954\/9997\/files\/IMG-0144.jpg?v=1743785970"},{"product_id":"barracoon-the-story-of-the-last-black-cargo","title":"Barracoon: The Story of the Last \"Black Cargo\"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile, to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America as slaves, Cudjo was then the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nation’s history. Hurston was there to record Cudjo’s firsthand account of the raid that led to his capture and bondage fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in the United States.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 1931, Hurston returned to Plateau, the African-centric community three miles from Mobile founded by Cudjo and other former slaves from his ship. Spending more than three months there, she talked in depth with Cudjo about the details of his life. During those weeks, the young writer and the elderly formerly enslaved man ate peaches and watermelon that grew in the backyard and talked about Cudjo’s past—memories from his childhood in Africa, the horrors of being captured and held in a barracoon for selection by American slavers, the harrowing experience of the Middle Passage packed with more than 100 other souls aboard the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eClotilda\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and the years he spent in slavery until the end of the Civil War.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBased on those interviews, featuring Cudjo’s unique vernacular, and written from Hurston’s perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eBarracoon\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e masterfully illustrates the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all, black and white, this poignant and powerful work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Zora Neale Hurston","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44354931458221,"sku":"9780062748218","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/6954\/9997\/files\/IMG-0175.jpg?v=1744404363"},{"product_id":"reel-a-novel-1","title":"Reel: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eThis beautiful edition of a heart-searing epic romance has metallic cover effects and an all-new 7000-word bonus epilogue!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNeevah Saint is ready for the spotlight. After months as an understudy, this is \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eher\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003enight to shine. She never imagined \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003ehe \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ewould be in the audience. Canon Holt. Famous film director. Fascinating. Talented. Fine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore she can catch her breath, everything is changing. Neevah goes from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood. From being unknown, to having her name on everyone’s lips when Canon casts her as the lead in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut forbidden attraction, scandal, and circumstances beyond Neevah’s control soon put her dream in jeopardy. Could this one shot—the role of a lifetime, the love of a lifetime—cost her everything?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e“Kennedy Ryan is one of the finest romance writers of our age, and she offers readers another marquee title with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eReel\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e.” ―\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e   ·\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e Best Romances of the Year\u003cbr\u003e   ·\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e Best Romances of the Year\u003cbr\u003e   ·BookBub's Highest Rated Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003e   ·\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eLA Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e50 Best Hollywood Books of All Tim\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kennedy Ryan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44927759253677,"sku":"9781538769621","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/6954\/9997\/files\/ScreenShot2025-09-20at5.10.01PM.png?v=1758402608"},{"product_id":"sula","title":"Sula","description":"\u003cp\u003eSula and Nel are born in the Bottom--a small town at the top of a hill. Sula is wild, and daring; she does what she wants, while Nel is well-mannered, a mamma's girl with a questioning heart. Growing up they forge a bond stronger than anything, stronger even than the dark secret they have to bear. Strong enough, it seems, to last a lifetime--until, decades later, as the girls become women, Sula's anarchy leads to a betrayal that may be beyond forgiveness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMasterful, richly textured, bittersweet, and vital, Sula is a modern masterpiece about love and kinship, about living in an America birthed from slavery. Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison gives life to characters who struggle with what society tells them to be, and the love they long for and crave as Black women. Most of all, they ask: When can we let go? What must we hold back? And just how much can be shared in a friendship?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Toni Morrison","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45474775007405,"sku":"9781400033430","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/6954\/9997\/files\/9781400033430.jpg?v=1765991383"},{"product_id":"dominion","title":"Dominion","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLong-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the PEN\/Faulkner Award for Fiction \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLong-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize\u003cbr\u003eA Best Book of the Year: \u003ci\u003eElle\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGarden \u0026amp; Gun\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eElectric Literature\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDebutiful\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Must-Read: \u003ci\u003e New York\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e, NPR, \u003ci\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJezebel\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Southern Living\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Clarion Ledger\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSouthern Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBookBrowse\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn Indies Introduce and Indie Next Pick\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e Writer to Watch\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA finalist for the 2025\u003ci\u003e Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize's Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A razor-sharp Southern family drama.\" --\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeople\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eReverend Sabre Winfrey, Jr., shepherd of the Seven Seals Missionary Baptist Church, believes in God, his own privilege, and enterprise. He owns the barbershop and the radio station, and generally keeps an iron hand on every aspect of society in Dominion, Mississippi. He and his wife, Priscilla, have five boys; the youngest, Emanuel, is called Wonderboy--no one sings prettier, runs as fast, or turns as many heads. But Wonderboy, his father, and all the structures in place that keep them on top are not as righteous as they seem to be. And when Wonderboy is caught off guard by an encounter with a stranger, he finds himself confronted by questions he'd never imagined. His response sends shock waves through the entire community. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePriscilla and Diamond, two women who love these men, bear witness to their charms and bear the brunt of their choices. Through their eyes and their stories, \u003ci\u003eDominion \u003c\/i\u003eoffers an intricate, intimate view of how secrets control us, how shame stifles us, how silence implicates us, and how even love plays a role in the everyday violence and casual sins of the powerful. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA brilliantly crafted Black Southern family drama told with the captivating force, humor, and tenderness carried in the hearts of these women, Addie E. Citchens's \u003ci\u003eDominion \u003c\/i\u003ewrestles with the many brutal, sinister ways in which we are shaped by fear and patriarchy, and studies how we might yet choose to break free.","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45897561211053,"sku":"9780374609337","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/6954\/9997\/files\/imageloader_3f55dad0-d85a-4e96-8ae3-4cee3d702602.jpg?v=1775680529"},{"product_id":"zeal","title":"Zeal","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed a Most Anticipated Book by \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A beautiful tale.\" --Jason Reynolds, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eTwenty-four Seconds from Now\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThis Will Be My Undoing\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCaul Baby\u003c\/i\u003e returns with an epic, multi-generational novel that illuminates the legacy of slavery and the power of romantic love.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHarlem, 2019. Ardelia and Oliver are hosting their engagement party. As the guests get ready to leave, he hands her a love letter on a yellowing, crumbling piece of paper...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNatchez, 1865. Discharged from the Union Army as a free man after the war's end, Harrison returns to Mississippi to reunite with the woman he loves, Tirzah. Upon his arrival at the Freedmen's Bureau, though, he catches the eye of a woman working there, who's determined to thwart his efforts to find his beloved. After tragedy strikes, Harrison resigns himself to a life with her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeanwhile in Louisiana, the newly free Tirzah is teaching at a freedmen's school, and discovers an advertisement in the local paper looking for her. Though she knows Harrison must have placed it, and longs to find him, the risks of fleeing are too great, and Tirzah chooses the life of seeming security right in front of her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpanning over a hundred and fifty years, Morgan Jerkins's extraordinary work of African American historical fiction intertwines the stories of these star-crossed lovers and their descendants. As Tirzah's family moves across the country during the Great Migration, they challenge authority with devastating consequences, while the legacy of heartbreak and loss continues on in the lives of Harrison's progeny.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Ardelia meets Oliver, she finds his family's history is as full of secrets and omissions as her own. In a sweeping dual timeline narrative, could their connection be a cosmic reconciliation satisfying the unfulfilled desires of their ancestors, or will the weight of the past, present and future tear them apart?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSweeping, textured, and meticulously researched, this powerful family saga is both a story of how one generation's choices reverberate through the years and an indelible portrait of an enduring love. \u003ci\u003eZeal\u003c\/i\u003e is a must-read.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45938326405293,"sku":"9780063234086","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/6954\/9997\/files\/imageloader_12dd45e5-c652-45cb-8fe9-5f74fec205cd.jpg?v=1776957373"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0609\/6954\/9997\/collections\/IMG_3282.jpg?v=1776957521","url":"https:\/\/thirdspacereadingroom.com\/collections\/quiannas-reading-list.oembed","provider":"ThirdSpace Reading Room","version":"1.0","type":"link"}