Understanding Urban, Contemporary, and Erotic Black Literature with The Well Read Pharmacist

In the bookish space, readers tend to incorrectly categorize Black stories. It’s important that we understand the differences between genres and subgenres of Black literature. Join us for an great conversation with Aniya, known as the Well Read Pharmacist, as we break down the nuanced world of urban fiction, urban romance, Black contemporary romance, and urban erotica.

Aniya, also known as The Well Read Pharmacist, is a pharmacist and avid reader from New Orleans, Louisiana. She loves escaping into a good book, especially within the romance and thriller genres!

In this episode, we're discussing:

• Urban Fiction vs. Urban Romance: Learn the critical differences between these often-confused genres
• Discover why not all Black books are "urban" and why that matters
• Explore recommended authors across urban fiction, romance, and erotica subgenres
• Understand the importance of reading diverse Black literature
• Get insider recommendations from a passionate book lover and pharmacist

Expand your reading horizons by exploring these rich, diverse genres. Challenge your assumptions, support Black authors, and dive into stories that represent complex, multifaceted Black experiences. 

CONNECT WITH ANIYA:

Instagram

BOOKS/AUTHORS MENTIONED:

Instagram Post from The Well Read Pharmacist

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah (Amazon)

Carl Weber (Amazon)

Nikki Clarke (Amazon)

Vickie M. Stringer (Amazon)

The Cartel Series by Ashley and Jaquavis (Amazon)

Murder Mamas by Ashley and Jaquavis (Amazon)

T’Lyn (Amazon)

Shvonne Latrice (Amazon)

To The Only Thug I’ll Ever Love by K.L. Hall (Amazon)

My Little Love by Charae Lewis (Amazon)

When a Gangsta Calls by Lex C. (Amazon)

Alexandria House (Episode | Amazon)

Alex Warren (Amazon)

Christina C. Jones (Amazon)

Marlee Rae (Amazon)

Bailey West (Amazon)

Tiye Love (Amazon)

Dria Andersen (Amazon |  Episode)

Natavia (Amazon)

Jade Royal (Amazon)

Katrina Jackson (Amazon)

Running list of books mentioned (Doc)

Thank you for listening to the We Read Smut Podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag @WeReadSmut. Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast.

Connect with Alesia:
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This podcast was produced by Galati Media.
Proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:45 Urban Fiction Explained
• 8:20 Romance Genres
• 12:30 Erotica Breakdown
• 17:55 Paranormal Options

Transcript

Alesia Galati: 0:00

Urban fiction, urban romance, urban erotica. Oh, my. We are talking all about urban books today with Anaya, also known as the well read pharmacist, we are going to be diving into the differences, as well as some great recommendations for each of these sub genres today, listener discretion is advised. This podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Hello, Anaya, I am so excited today on this show to be here. This is gonna be so much fun. You are the well read pharmacist. And I told you when we first got on, I've been stalking you for quite some time now, and when I thought of this podcast and like how I wanted to format it, I was like, I have to have an eye on this show. So I'm so excited that you said, yes. So to get us started, if you could let me know a bit about your reading, your adult reading journey, how you got into it. I've always been a reader, even as a child, but I kind of fell off when I got to college, because I was a science major and I had to study all the time, and when I got to pharmacy school, reading was impossible. There was no way to read anything but about drugs in pharmacy school. So when I graduated and I got my first job, I was like,

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 1:31

I can read now. I can read in peace. I don't have to study, I don't do anything. I can just read for fun. And I want to say about a year into being a pharmacist, I was like, Maybe I should start something. And I that's how the well read pharmacist was born, just under my love of books with everyone and meet people who also love books.

Alesia Galati: 1:54

Yeah, when did was that around for you? So

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 1:58

I would say about 2020. 2021, I so I've been on Instagram for half a decade. Getting up there, you

Alesia Galati: 2:07

know, feels like it, yeah, it's really interesting. Because, like, I think back to when 15 shades of gray first came out. And my mom was like, girl, you need to read this. And I was like, Ill mom, like, I know what that's about. Ew, read a book. Why don't

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 2:28

you? I'm like, girl, you don't need to read stuff like that. Go get you some women's fiction and sit down.

Alesia Galati: 2:35

But I was so judgey. And then I feel like around like 2019 to 2021. Is when a lot of especially millennials, were like, Man, I need to read something. Let me get back to my love of reading that I had when I was little, because this whole reading for self development is not it at all.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 2:59

Oh, I need to read for fun and to get lost in the books. I want to be in a different world. I don't want to be present. I want to be gone somewhere fictional, probably with lots of action, hot action, little sex going on,

Alesia Galati: 3:11

all that stuff. Yes, give me all this money. Yes, I'm here for it. That's so good. So you did a post, and it was back in August of 2024 talking through this difference between urban fiction, urban romance and contemporary romance. What was the reasoning behind you wanting to create this post

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 3:38

just full transparency, like I was just very annoyed with people calling all Black Books urban. They're not all urban, and that's okay. Black people, we speak in a certain dialect, so if they're speaking in A, A, B, E in the books, and they could be a physician or a dentist, they're not kingpins, they're a physician or a dentist, and just because they're black doesn't make them urban. So I just, I try to see them on tick tock. I'm like, oh my god, I'm about to pull my hair out. This is not an urban romance. This is a contemporary romance. Like these characters, nine to five, they go home. That's it. They're not in the streets for selling drugs doing they're not doing any of that. They're just going home, and that's all. I feel

Alesia Galati: 4:23

like you wouldn't see that so much on Bookstagram, because I feel like we're a little more professional over here. Yeah, but book talk is a wild wild west,

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 4:35

definitely. That's why I saw the post that I was like, Okay, you guys like, no, let's go to the beginning, and let's talk about these differences, because y'all don't know them.

Alesia Galati: 4:46

So why don't you tell us, what are those differences between the urban versus contemporary so

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 4:55

urban romance is like, basically, he's a kingpin. He's adult boy. He sells drugs. He's a stick up kid. He does all these things, and he's on the streets day and night. That's his role. But he is the most loving and caring and protective male main character ever, like he loves his woman. That is his main goal of life, is to love on his woman, but he will unalive people if necessary. And that's what I love about urban romance contemporaries, just like what I just said, it's like they have regular jobs. They're regular people, but they just speak in AAVE. That's just it, just our regular love for between black, between two Black main character, that's all it is.

Alesia Galati: 5:43

Yeah, I think that's such an important distinction, because just because the characters of black or talk in a certain vernacular does not mean that it all of a sudden gets slumped into a collection

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 5:58

box. Yeah. No, it's not an urban book, it's not it's a contemporary book. And that's okay. We have different genres for a reason. I just want people to be aware of that, because I guess it's like generalizing all black people, very stereotypical, like use them because people talk a certain way, they're uneducated, and stuff like that. And it's just a it's a difference between these books. And I think that if we learned about the books that we read, learn what they're about, their things, their genres, book, talk and book to them, might be a better place. Just have to go back to the drawing board and let like you're never too old to learn more about stuff, and I'm constantly learning every day, so for

Alesia Galati: 6:43

sure. So what are some you mentioned like in your post, the fiction versus the romance? For the uninitiated, like, Wait, urban has a fiction, but urban has a romance. What do you

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 6:57

mean? It does have Alma fiction, so it's just like women's fiction, not just like it, but like an example. So urban fiction is gritty history. It's drug dealers, it's gang bangers, stuff like that. And there is no romance. These are not fairy tale stories, and they tend to have very heavy topics in them. So I always tell people like just be aware before you dive in, because things that are written on page can be very upsetting. But yeah, there's no love. There are no spark flying books. It's just Street. It's just greed. That's all it is.

Alesia Galati: 7:37

Yeah, and then romance has to have that happily ever after romance, the relationship between the main characters, however many there may be, is the main point of the storyline, and it would make sense that the fiction would be different than the romance. And can you give us some examples of if we're like, wait a minute, I'm interested in this urban fiction where we're maybe not in the mood for romance, but we want that gritty. What are some examples you might have of ones that you read and enjoyed? I always tell everybody to start with the coldest winter ever, like that is your foot in the door to urban fiction, and it's a heavy read, but if you want to see what urban fiction is, that's the book to start with, definitely

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 8:26

anything by Carl Weber, Nikki Clark, Vicki Stringer, any of the older urban fiction authors who were hot like in the early 2000s those even Ashley Antoinette and her husband. Doc, cue this, like the car child theories, like all of those books, urban murder, mamas, anything like that, will get you get your foot into the door where urban fiction awesome,

Alesia Galati: 8:52

and then when you're thinking urban romance. So I can't say I've read a lot of urban romance, maybe one or two novellas sprinkled in here or there. But I remember being at soccer practice with one of my kids. This was like, maybe over a year ago now, and I was talking to another mom, and she was like, Yeah, girl, I love to read. And I was like, what books are you reading? She's like, I read street romance, I was like, Oh, I don't I read the other stuff so I don't have any recommendations, just because I'm always open to here, let me give you recommendations for books. But then it got me realizing that I wasn't reading any at all, and I was like, let me go check out the top black romances in Amazon, because I know that there's going to be some, as she said, street romance in there.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 9:51

Honestly, from like an envy perspective, I will start with T win. All of her books, the majority of them are street romance to the core. So. Definitely her Shavon, Latrice, any of her books, they are hilarious, as well as street romance. KL Hall has quite a few. My favorite by kl Hall is so the only thug I've ever loved that book is amazing. 10 out of 10 my little love, by Cheri Lewis, went against the calls by Lexi. There are so many like, I can go on and on, but I won't do that today.

Alesia Galati: 10:28

No, I love that because, like, you're able to just be like, off top your head. Here you go, here you go, here you go. And then when I think contemporary black romance, that is probably one of my most read sub genres last year, and when we say black romance, let us clarify that both of the main characters are black. Yes, both of them, because it's not a black romance, if they're not both black, exactly, that is something that gets thrown around. We're like, Oh yeah, it's a black Roman. It's and it's like, one was the author ambiguous about what the person looked like? Were they using language that you're like, maybe, maybe

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 11:19

not like? Are they not black? Because I really can't tell. Just so you guys, if a white man is on the cover with a black lady, it's not a black romance. That's it. It's not a person of color with a black person. That's not a black romance. If both of the characters are black, it's a what? It's a black romance. Yes, that's another issue bet we seem to be having, but hopefully people will learn soon. I hope so.

Alesia Galati: 11:46

But it is learning right? Like I was talking to a friend recently, and she had listened to one of our episodes where I talked about tropes, and I was talking about how we don't use the word reverse trope anymore because it's sexist, and instead, just say it's an age gap and she's older like you don't have to say a reverse age gap or a reverse grumpy sunshine, because then it's what about sexualities and why? Why can't she be grumpy? Man, I'm grumpy.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 12:16

If I don't have coffee, do not talk to me the entire day. Not speak. To me.

Alesia Galati: 12:24

I had co workers. I used to work in manufacturing, and I'd get in at 630 and I'd have to drive an hour in, and I wouldn't have my coffee until I got to work. And so I'd get to work, I'd pour my coffee, I'd sit at my desk, and the guys would come around the corner, and they'd peek and see, oh, no, she's working on her coffee. Okay? And they'd walk away.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 12:49

They just have to give you some time like, oh, let's, let's let her enjoy her first cup of the day. And then we can ask her anything

Alesia Galati: 12:56

that sometimes, if I was having a really bad day, and it was clear because everybody was getting the business, I would find a Snickers on my desk.

Unknown: 13:08

Did it work? Did I help?

Alesia Galati: 13:10

It? Did it did help? I was like, Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. But yes, I could be grumpy too. It's fine, but like, she's been in the online space and the Bookstagram space and reading for a long time, but just never really realized that this is something that we would had shifted in the way that we talk about these things. And so that's why I want to have these conversation is because I feel like so often, a lot of these conversations happen between bookish people in the DMS or in the comments, and then your everyday readers like, Oops, I didn't mean it. I didn't know I did it wrong. Yeah, so trying to help them out, but that's why we're here so black contemporary romance. We're talking a lot of Kennedy Ryan, not all right, which is important, not all, but a lot of it all. And Alexandria house,

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 14:14

Alexandria house, Alex Warren, Christina C Jones, even some that y'all may not know. I have Marley Ray, I have Bailey West, I have Ty love. There are so many. Again, I could go on. No,

Alesia Galati: 14:30

there's so many good authors. And I think that one, it's important to read diversely, right? And to read if you are black and that's your culture, read your people, and then, if you're not, read those people as well, yeah, that's all. It's so stinking important. And I find that so often people tend to go toward the more interracial. But I think that there's so much. Beauty in finding those black romances. And I was talking about this with Drea about her books. Drea Anderson, we were talking about her before we press record, that one thing I love about her books is that her men always have their shit together before they get to their woman. And I was like, Why did you do that? And she told me, and I was like, I also think that it's good because it shows that black men can have their shit together, right? So we can see this reflected in such a really powerful way that the girl can't be a bit messy, and it doesn't have to be the guy trying to get his shit together, and that there are great black men in the world, because there are, yes,

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 15:46

I think Black romance tends to show that side of black people, like we are all worthy of love, we are all worthy of kindness, love, respect, princess, treatment, whatever, we all deserve it. And I'm happy that these books can showcase that, because some people think that black people don't deserve all this, but we do. We deserve our fairy tales like everybody else.

Alesia Galati: 16:10

Yeah, and that's the power of reading fiction and romance, especially because obviously we love romance here, but reading things that are not based in quote, unquote, real life, because you can get into the mind of the person's lived experience. Yes, and especially if it's written by a person who's sharing their own culture, their own story. It's an Own Voices book, then you're going to get even a deeper level of this. And that's why a lot of the times when I'm looking and I'm seeing, Oh, there's a character on that cover that is black, cool, let me go check out this author's backlog. Always, because I'm like, is it the first black person they wrote? Or do they tend to write? Yeah,

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 16:59

that is, I tend to stay away from those. I got other things before. Yeah, I'm gonna go read the people who've been writing back. Yes,

Alesia Galati: 17:10

I think that it's so, so important. But yes, you gave some great recommendations for those contemporary ones. I love that there's also erotica, right, which you mentioned in your post, and I was trying to explain erotica to my husband, Mr. We read smut. He's a celebrity here on the show, as well as on my Instagram. People love him because he's a

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 17:39

funny guy. He's a funny guy. Yes, I saw those text messages, sir. I saw those messages

Alesia Galati: 17:46

every but I tell him beforehand, hey, I'm sharing these. Or is that okay? And he's like, Yeah, everybody can know my business, but I was trying to explain to him the difference between romance and erotica. So for our listeners, could you give us the lowdown

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 18:02

or so erotica? Great and simple. It's just sex. It's sex out the gate. There is no plot. The plot is sex. On the second page, they're probably having sex. There is no build up. There's no dating. These people are going to hunch immediately that that's erotica in a nutshell.

Alesia Galati: 18:24

Yes, I like to think of it, and this is the way I explained it to him, is in romance, you can take the sex out and still have a great love story, absolutely. Whereas if you take the sex out of erotica, you have no story.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 18:42

We have nothing. It's never like, Oh, hey, hi. You know the book is over. Like, no, which sounds boring to me. Definitely sounds boring. It's like, what the hell is this? We've

Alesia Galati: 18:54

got some erotica as well. Are there any urban eroticas? So keeping that kind of words together, urban meaning, they are drug dealers. They've got that thug life going on. And then erotica. What are some good recommendations for that combo?

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 19:14

Oh, I would definitely recommend Nicole Jackson's urban eroticas Definitely and they're messy. Oh, they're gonna get hunching and mess. Okay, let me give you two of my favorite by her. It's called take it down. It's a two part series. And also, we have you ever made love to thugs? By Misha, nice. He just gets out of jail. They're into BDSM. It's a good time.

Alesia Galati: 19:43

I do love BDSM good time. So we got some recommendations there as well. If someone is hesitant to dabble in because they're like, Oh, I've maybe only read. Contemporary, and I thought I was reading urban honey. Weren't, but they're interested in starting to dabble in what is like. One author that you're like, This is a good starter author, I would say maybe

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 20:13

try with Talena Tillman first. Okay, anything by her. Try with Selena Tillman. But if you want the mess, just keep reading. Just start with her and just go forth. It'll unlock a whole new world of authors for you.

Alesia Galati: 20:30

I love it. I'm curious. Now, is there any and no, we have the genre, the sub genre, urban fantasy, which does not have to do with the streets at all, which is something another phrasing that we use, which has to do with a fantasy setting that is in our modern times. So think something like Percy Jackson, where it's mystical and it's fantastical, but it's set in a modern society of what we know. And of course, there's tons of erotic books and romance books that I could recommend based on that. But are there any that you know of that are the urban we're talking about, but dabble into other sub genres like paranormal or fantasy.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 21:24

I'm glad you asked that there are quite a few paranormal books. I have a post for that too. I would say natavia is a really good author to start with. I love natavia. You can do blood bully, vampires, roars. Shape shifters, Jade royal, anything, hair catalog. Shape shifters. Nikki Clark, alien lovers again. Shape shifters, whatever you want. Christina C Jones also has a vampire book. Nice Katrina Jackson has one, but it's like the main characters making love to her husband's ghost. So there are plenty of books written by black authors that you may or you may not know, like they dabble in everything, like we're not a monolith. You will find everything you're looking for in a black author. Honestly,

Alesia Galati: 22:26

it's so true. And I honestly having black authors being the most that I've read in the last year, because I track all that stuff, because I like to be super aware of what I'm reading and where I'm spending my money and my time that I have not missed reading a lot of the other authors that I did read back in say, 2020 2021 even 2022 I do not miss those authors as at all, and I see them come out with new books, and I'm like, no, maybe later, maybe never. It's fine, like some of them. And I think that's one thing that I have where I am not someone who can reread a book. So I see my friends do that.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 23:17

I have not friends do it too. I just, I can't I have to read. I just have to keep going. I can't go backwards. I have to go forward.

Alesia Galati: 23:25

Yes, and there's authors that I want to reread, right? I want to reread ELIZABETH STEVENS and Alexandria house and just reread all their books. But I'm like, okay, maybe I listened to the audiobook instead of reading the book, because I read it the first time around. Now I can listen to the audiobook. I don't know. We'll see what I do. But I also have, like, tons of books on my TBR that I want to get through.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 23:48

PBR is never ending. It's never done. Yes, I actually

Alesia Galati: 23:52

deleted my TBR at the beginning of this year, and it was quite a relief, honestly.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 24:00

That's honestly a good idea. I'm a mood reader, so I just go where the wing goes. One day I could be in the mood for, like, romance. The next, I'm like, oh, let's read about serial killers. You just You never know with me, you just never know. I

Alesia Galati: 24:12

love that. Yeah, I'm a mood reader, but mostly for romance. And so I am reading three books right now. Oh, one is a and I'm so what I'm reading on my phone, and that is Bedlam by Jack Whitney. That's a white author, but it's a sapphic romance, and it is a stalker who's also her bodyguard with a rock star drummer, and it's very messy with addiction, and because it's rock and roll, a lot of stalking, there's a little bit of suspense in the background, like there's another person who's doing stuff, who you're like, what's going on, but it's 700 pages, so I'm reading that on my phone, I know, and I don't like to read big books, but Jack, right? Such good books, so I have to read this book. So that one I'm reading on my phone. I'm at the end of darling Nicky by Kenya, gory bell. And that one is a Colombian and no, sorry, Brazilian and white male main character and a black female main character. And he is a villain. He is terrible, and she's just trying to exist in his world. And it is so good and messy. And then I'm reading, or sorry I'm listening to you made a fool of death with your beauty by a walk. It em messy. I'm butchering the name terribly, and I apologize if you're listening, but that one is a very popular book, and so I borrowed that from the library. Very different, like, genres, right? Like, so that's my thing, is that, like, I can't be reading two of the same types of books? Oh,

Unknown: 26:03

no, absolutely not. Yeah. Because then

Alesia Galati: 26:05

I start Wait, well, where were we and who's doing what? Okay, so,

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 26:10

like, I'm reading an urban thriller right now. It's like urban erotic and thriller almost I'm reading, I'm actually reading a book by a white author, a Marnie man, the Playboy. It's really good. And what else am I reading? I think I'm gonna start a historical fiction book tomorrow. Not really sure. We'll see. We'll see who's it by. What are you thinking? So I actually have an arc for Dolan Perkins Valdez her upcoming novel Happy Land. I love her, so I'm excited to dive into that. So I will probably start that this week sometime. But the erotic thriller I'm reading is called the hunt. The mailman character. He's a serial killer. Okay, spoiler alert, serial killer who analyzed women during sex after the orgasm. It's very dark. Yeah, very dark. Read the trigger warnings. But when I first started, I was like, What the hell is this? What have I got into?

Alesia Galati: 27:11

I'm curious now, so you mentioned reading thrillers. You mentioned reading just a lot of variety. What is your favorite genre, a curse sub genre across that. Oh,

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 27:25

my goodness, that's such a hard question. Jesus, what's your comfort?

Alesia Galati: 27:30

How about that? So as a mood reader, what's your comfort? I would definitely

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 27:34

say maybe urban romance. Because, like, anytime I'm like, I don't know what to read. I'm like, oh, take them to the streets with somebody who's gonna un alive, another person on behalf of his wife, that that that's me. Yep, yes. Let's see some of that on page.

Alesia Galati: 27:53

I love it. Yeah. Oh, that's so good. This has been awesome. Anaya. Thank you so much for being on and educating us on these differences. I appreciate it, and I know people are gonna get some one some great recommendations from this episode, but also some more information that they probably didn't know before around these differences. So if someone's like, Yes, I need more recommendations like this. Where can they find you? Get to know you and hang out with you on social media.

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 28:31

You can find me on Instagram at the well read pharmacists. And I'm also on threads. The same name I like to talk, so I'm always on threads. If you want to talk to me. Just send me a little thread, or you could DM me. I don't care, I'll be there.

Alesia Galati: 28:47

Yes, I love checking out the things that you're sharing on threads, because you always have an opinion on it. And I'm like,

Aniya @TheWellReadPharmacist: 28:52

Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately, I cannot shut up. So y'all will continue to get these opinions. I tried to be quiet, but I'm like, You know what? No,

Alesia Galati: 29:03

somebody's got to say it.

Unknown: 29:06

I'll say it. I'll be the one I don't care.

Alesia Galati: 29:09

Love it. Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

Unknown: 29:12

No problem. You.