We’re closing the year the only way we know how—curled up with a good story, a glass in hand, and our full selves in the room.

In our final episode of the season, the BGL crew dives into Second Chance Christmas by Jahquel J., a cozy-but-spicy holiday romance that wraps the year in all the warmth and messiness we needed. It’s about love that gets a do-over, forgiveness that costs something, and the soft landings we hope to find after a year that stretched us.

This isn’t just about mistletoe and snowfall. It’s about the kind of emotional unpacking that happens around the holidays—when old wounds bump up against new chances, and when family, love, and memory meet at the dinner table.

As we reflect on the year behind us, we find ourselves asking: What would it mean to give someone a second chance? What would it mean to give one to ourselves?

Whether you’re spending your holidays in community or solitude, this episode is our gift to you. Consider it a warm seat by the fire, a gentle exhale, and a reminder that your story doesn’t end with what broke—it continues with what you choose next.

Come for the book. Stay for the conversation. 💫

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The eleventh hour is when everything you’ve been holding finally breaks through.

In our 11th episode, we sit with Long After We Are Gone—a novel that doesn’t just tell a story, it demands that you feel it. And we did. Every one of us. Natasha, Lex, Stephanie, and Star came into this conversation carrying more than just thoughts—we brought our full hearts.

This is a book about the ache that lives beneath silence. About how grief burrows into a family and makes a home there. About how love and anger often speak in the same breath.

And we felt it all. We were cracked open—by the characters, by the choices, by the things left unsaid and the weight of those that were. The tension in this conversation wasn’t performative—it was personal. This wasn’t just a reading experience. It was a reckoning.

Our spirit this episode is gin, and we chose the Salty Dog—a bracing, bittersweet cocktail that stings on the way down but lingers with complexity. Just like this book.

At this eleventh hour—of the series, of the season, of ourselves—we showed up unguarded. And we left a piece of ourselves in the room.

Come for the book. Stay for the conversation. 💫

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Ten episodes in—and this one’s a celebration.

Black Girls Lit! has officially reached double digits, and we’re raising a glass to the journey. Through every laugh, debate, page-turn, and pause for refills, we’ve built something rooted, reflective, and here to stay.

For this milestone moment, we chose An American Marriage by Tayari Jones—a story that stirs up real questions about loyalty, timing, systems, and love under pressure. It’s intimate, it’s complex, and it felt like the perfect mirror for this episode’s deeper layer: our girl Lex is getting married.

As she is stepping into a new season of love, we reflect on the nature of commitment—what holds people together, what pulls them apart, and what it takes to love through transition.

Our spirit of choice is wine, and we’re sipping the bold and balanced Kalimotxo—a red wine and cola cocktail with surprising depth, just like the story we’re unpacking.

Here’s to Lex. Here’s to Black women in love. Here’s to storytelling that lingers. And here’s to ten episodes in—with so much more to come. Also, here's to our girl, Nicole turning 40!!

Come for the book. Stay for the conversation. 💫

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The Butcher is back—and not everyone wanted to follow him.

In Episode 9, Lex, Star, and Natasha continue the twisted ride with The Butcher’s Game by Alaina Urquhart. Stephanie gracefully bows out (because one killer was enough!), leaving the rest of us to chase this psychopath across state lines to Massachusetts.

What we found? A book that was faster, more brutal, and disturbingly intimate. The tension is thick, and so are the questions around justice, obsession, and whether some people want to be hunted. To ease the blood pressure, our featured drink this round is beer—but not just any beer. We crafted a BGL original cocktail called Here Comes The Sun, bringing brightness to all that darkness.

Plus, Star throws in some gut-wrenching closing challenges that might’ve pushed us past our limits.

Come for the book. Stay for the conversation. 💫

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In Episode 8, the crew goes way into the mind of madness with The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart. This psychological thriller had us digging deep into the chilling mind games of a serial killer who toys with more than just his victims.

The hosts—Natasha, Lex, Star, and Stephanie—unpack what it means to walk through a killer’s thoughts and how unsettling it feels when you start to understand his logic. We get into ethical boundaries, psychological horror, and the seductive pull of control. This isn’t just crime fiction—it’s a full-on mental maze.

To help us navigate the nerves, we sipped on our featured spirit: whiskey, in the form of a hauntingly smooth Sazerac.

Let’s just say... we’ll be double-locking our doors tonight.

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We’ve come to the end—but this one didn’t go quietly.

In the final episode of our Legacy of Orïsha series, we dive into Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi—and it’s a whirlwind from beginning to end. From explosive pacing to emotional swings, Book 3 pushed us all in different directions. Some of us closed the book... let’s just say, with more feelings than fulfillment. And yes, a little heat came through the mic as we tried to process what really landed—and what left us asking, was that how it had to end?

This conversation goes beyond plot twists and character arcs. We reflect on the series as a whole—what this trilogy offered, what it stirred in us, and what conversations it sparked about Black identity, memory, leadership, and the cost of being chosen. We also revisit what we may have missed the first time: the nuances, the quiet symbolism, and the spaces where the story mirrors real-world truths we’re still unpacking.

As always, we’re sipping something rich, bold, and complex—because how else do you toast a saga that gave us magic, grief, revolution, and resurrection?

Come for the book. Stay for the conversation.

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The revolution isn’t over—but the vibes have definitely shifted.

In this sixth episode of Black Girls Lit!, the hosts return with our special guest and now rotating co-host, Stephanie, to continue unraveling Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha series. After falling hard for Children of Blood and Bone, our follow-up read—Children of Virtue and Vengeance—stirred up more questions than we expected. This time, the magic feels heavier, the alliances shakier, and the wounds even deeper.

What happens when power changes people? How does grief shift leadership? And what does it mean when the very liberation you fought for becomes your undoing?

We also take a sharp lens to the themes of colorism, symbolism, and representation that emerged (or slipped through) in Book 2—raising questions that lingered long after the final page. Are these choices intentional? Are they cultural reflections or narrative oversights? We get into it all.

And yes—we’re still pouring up. Our spirit of choice for this episode remains rum, and we’re sipping our signature Gold Star cocktail to match the smoky aftermath this story leaves behind.

So whether you loved it, hated it, or found yourself stuck somewhere in between, this episode invites you to explore the mess, the magic, and the moments that made us all shift our reviews.

Come for the book. Stay for the conversation.

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Magic has a price. And in our fifth episode, we begin to understand just how high that cost can be.

The Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi is the first book of the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy that we ever cracked open—and it did not hold back. This West African-inspired fantasy pulled us into a world that felt both mythical and mirror-like, reflecting real struggles through richly imagined lands, lineage, and loss.

With this book, everything changed. We didn’t just enter a story—we entered a movement of the spirit. Zélie’s rage. Amari’s awakening. Inan’s contradictions. Each character demanded that we look inward while looking outward at the systems, silences, and survival tactics we know far too well.

And to make this moment even more special, we welcomed our first-ever guest host, Stephanie, whose voice and energy brought a bold new dimension to our circle. From the moment she joined us, she felt like she’d always been here—adding wit, wisdom, and the kind of honesty that reminds you why storytelling matters. Her perspective helped us uncover even deeper questions about loyalty, grief, and what it means to carry generational power when the world fears you for it.

In this episode, we dig into:
• What magic really symbolizes for Black people
• The trauma of cultural erasure and the hunger to reclaim identity
• How grief becomes both a weapon and a wound
• The layered tension between Zélie, Amari, and Inan—and who we trusted (or didn’t)
• The weight of belief: in ourselves, in each other, and in something greater

Our featured cocktail, Berberé Breeze, was bold, spicy, and full of flavor—much like the story itself. Infused with tamarind, lime, ginger, and a dash of berberé spice, it honored the heat and heart that pulsed through every chapter. And with our scroll, sunstone, and bone dagger elements built into the tasting experience, we didn’t just read the book—we drank it in.

This was the start of something big. The book that set the tone. The moment we realized Black Girls Lit! was going to be more than a podcast—it was going to be a space where magic, meaning, and memory all converge.

Come for the book. Stay for the conversation. 💫

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