Happy Valentine's Day!

Black Joy with Beverly Jenkins, critics' picks and more by Petra Mayer [Detail from 'Wild Rain,' by Beverly Jenkins]( Detail from Wild Rain, by Beverly Jenkins Happy almost Valentine's Day! We've got SUCH a treat for you -- our pals, fellow bookworms and romance nerds over at Code Switch dropped an episode this week that they're calling "Black Kiss-tory." "Too often, Black history is portrayed as a story of struggle and suffering, completely devoid of joy," they write. "So we called up some romance novelists whose work focuses on Black history. They told us that no matter how hard the times, there has always been room for love." You can check that episode out [here]( An extended version of Karen Grigsby Bates's interview with the legendary Beverly Jenkins is [here]( -- and our review of Jenkins' latest, Wild Rain, is [here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [Love and Other Poems, by Alex Dimitrov]( Continuing with our Valentine's Day theme, Morning Edition poetry maven Jeevika Verma has a look at a book that assures readers love will find them, eventually. "If hope were an object, it would be poet Alex Dimitrov's new book Love and Other Poems," [she writes](. "In its entirety, the book itself is one long love poem — to New York City, to the moon, to the many 'scenes from our world' — but it's mostly about what it means to have hope, even when we feel like we're all alone." [The moon and New York City]( you say ... [Stack of books, photo by Becky Harlan/NPR]( And now for a slightly different kind of love -- our pals at Pop Culture Happy Hour have been showcasing different tags from the most recent Book Concierge, and this week they're talking about the "[For Music Lovers]( tag with music lovers Stephen Thompson, Ann Powers, Lars Gotrich and more -- [check it out]( Finally, this week, critic Michael Schaub says Jeremy Atherton Lin's [Gay Bar]( "combines memoir, history and criticism; it's a difficult book to pin down, but that's what makes it so readable and so endlessly fascinating." Caitlyn Paxson says "I went into [What Big Teeth]( expecting it to be coy about its magic and monsters, and was delighted when it quickly went full, unapologetic Addams Family." And Marcela Davison Avilés says "the roads taken by the family in [The Removed]( Brandon Hobson's new novel, are essential ones in this moment of national reclaiming." [Gay Bar, by Jeremy Atherton Lin]( [What Big Teeth, by Rose Szabo]( [The Removed, by Brandon Hobson]( Hoping books bring you what you need this week! -- Petra --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [books@npr.org](mailto:books@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Pop Culture, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Books emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]