Jacaranda Books and Pitch Black Online to launch the 'Books, Bickle and Brews' Book Club

Jacaranda Books and Pitch Black Online are launching the "Books, Bickle and Brews" book club.

The book club will run every other month, platforming both fiction and non-fiction from across the Black literary landscape. The inaugural book club session on 13th June will kick off with American businessman, and former President Obama appointee Eric Collins, featuring his book We Don’t Need Permission: How Black Business Can Change Our World (Bantam Press).

Other books featuring in conversations will include Tina Andrews’ historical fiction novel, Queen Charlotte Sophia: A Royal Affair (Jacaranda Books), Tony Warner’s first volume of Black History Walks Vol. 1 (Jacaranda Books). Books will be sold through RoundTable Books in Brixton, southwest London, who will join the partnership as lead bookseller.

Jacaranda Books founder and c.e.o. Valerie Brandes was featured on the cover of the August 2023 issue of Pitch Black Online, which led to the formation of the book club. "The importance of reaching our readers and creating a community around readership has never been more necessary, and the prospect of doing so with the brilliant team of Colin and Judy Tomlin at Pitch Black Online is simply delightful," she said. "We are avid readers, book lovers and social gatherers. This book club therefore promises to be the perfect space for the work we do, inspired by the community we love so much, to absolutely thrive."

Colin and Judy Tomlin, the husband-and-wife team behind the Pitch Black Online platform, stated: "We’ve always believed that leaders are readers and since the very beginning of Pitch Black, a leading Black Enterprise and Professional Experience magazine, ’Spotlighting 10 Books’ has been one of our most consistent features. That’s why the partnership with Jacaranda Books, an award-winning, diverse-owned independent publisher and bookseller makes so much sense to us."