February 2012 BOM Selection

——

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In addition, 2011 will be the first year where all all of chapters will be reading the same book for at least 4 months out of the year.  So, if you have a book that falls in one of our themes, be sure to let us know.

Books will be selected quarterly via member nomination and then voted on for the main & alternate book of the month.

RAWSISTAZ 2011 Reading Themes

JAN - Taking Care of Me (Self-Help & Empowerment)

FEB – Black History/Getting the real hiSTORY (historical fiction or non-fiction)

MAR – New Classics (classics of last 2-3 years)

APR – I Can’t Believe it (drama-filled books/unbelievable plots)

MAY - Representing for my RAWSISTAZ (focus on RAW members)

JUN - A Man After My Own Heart (focus on good men)

JUL – Out the Box (not your everyday read)

AUG – Mystery Chicks/Whodunit

SEP - Rollin’ With the Punches of Life (fiction/supporting each other)

OCT - Thrillers

NOV – Hilarious Christian Fiction

DEC – In the Kitchen (cookbooks and recipes)

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release
Contact: Tara Brown
704-841-0709; publicitytara@aol.com

GIRL, GET YOUR MIND RIGHT: The Tell-It-Like-It-Is Advice Your Love Life Has Been Missing by Tionna Tee Smalls
Harper Paperback Original
On-sale: January 4, 2011
978-0-06-203284-3; $12.99

Tionna Smalls calls herself a relationship expert today, but it did not come easily. After ending a six-year relationship, she began re-evaluating her past mistakes and triumphs. She used the closure that came with the romance as inspiration in writing GIRL, GET YOUR MIND RIGHT: The Tell-It-Like-It-Is Advice Your Love Life Has Been Missing (Harper Paperbacks; On-sale: January 4, 2011; 978-0-06-203284-3; $12.99).  It was from here that her career unexpectedly took an upward turn.

Smalls began simply with a letter written in the third person to the editors of Gawker.com, a popular New York City-based blog, in hopes of them promoting her book. After a few postings, a letter from one of the editors asking for advice changed her relationship with the site from fan to columnist.  Her column, “Ask Tionna” received over 20,000 unique views daily.  With her tell-it-like-it-is style and signature catch-phrases, “Ask Tionna” became one of the sites most visited sections, receiving over 100 comments a day. Her internet celebrity status on the rise, Smalls went on to host her own internet radio show, write for other websites including Global Grind and Radar Magazine Online, and be featured in various publications.

In April of 2009, VH-1 approached Smalls with an opportunity to turn years of hard work and past heartache into a position as relationship expert to popular singer Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas in her quest to find true love.  In the show What Chilli Wants, Smalls’ experience and forthrightness help to manage the singer’s expectations and are vital in helping to prepare her for a successful and enduring relationship.  The show was an instant fan favorite and became such a ratings success that VH-1 picked it up for a second season which will air in January 2011.

In GIRL, GET YOUR MIND RIGHT, Tionna expands the advice she doles out on the reality show and shares her insights on what women need to do to find and maintain healthy and loving relationships.  While the advice is always caring, she pulls no punches and is brutally honest in asking women to take a hard look at themselves in an effort to not repeat bad behaviors.  Some of that advice includes:

• Don’t Lose It All for “I Love You” – Everyone longs to hear those three little words, but it can be a gift and a curse.  If a man knows he can get what he wants from you by simply saying I love you, he will use it against you.  Keep quiet about your feelings of abandonment or “daddy issues” as he’s listening and learning how to play on that.

• Know What A Good Man Looks Like – Love the one who loves you!  He may not be the one you are instantly attracted to, but he is the one who wants to be a part of your world and shows genuine concern for your happiness and well-being.  Start looking at the ones who think you are the best thing since sliced bread!

• Stop Comparing Yourself to Her – Comparing your happiness in your relationship to other people’s relationships will only leave you feeling sad and jealous.  While it’s okay to learn from others, time is better spent discussing your likes and dislikes in an effort to strengthen your union.

• You Can’t Have Sex Like A Man – It is important to understand the dynamic between sex and our feelings and not confuse sex with love.  Realizing and respecting the uncanny ability men have to emotionally detach themselves from their manhood will save you a lot of heartache in the long run.

• Know When He Doesn’t Want You – While you may be a good flavor, you’re just not going to be every man’s cup of tea.  Stop going after men who continually reject you because nothing turns a man off more than a desperate woman.

Fans who couldn’t get enough of Smalls’ sass and wit on television; and those who embrace Steve Harvey’s “Act Like A Woman, Think Like A Man” and “Straight Talk, No Chaser” will delight in GIRL, GET YOUR MIND RIGHT.  Tionna Smalls is an emerging voice for the 20 and 30 something generations, and for women everywhere who just want to get this love thing right.

The holiday season is right around the corner and we are kicking off our 2nd Annual Holiday Reading Challenge a bit early this year with our 8-week reading challenge, November 16th-January 11th, featuring black book chats & discussions via our website, twitter & possibly facebook. We hope you’ll join us.

The rules are simple. Read. Discuss. Read. Discuss. Yep, that’s it.  We are including our BOM reads too, so some of the earlier ones most of our members have already read!

Choose as many of the books as possible and read and then join us as we chat with the authors one-on-one via our Black Book Chats section on the site on the dates indicated, starting around noon EST and lasting throughout the day. Some chats will be held via Twitter & Facebook at 8:30 PM EST, so stay tuned for more info.

The final schedule will be announced within the week.

BOOKS
Perfect Peace by Daniel Black – Twitter Chat – November 16th at 8:30PM EST
Butterfly Rising by Tanya Wright – Twitter Chat – November 18th chat at 8:30PM EST
For Colored Girls (the movie) – via website – November 19th or 23rd at Noon EST [being rescheduled]
When the Cake is Made by Lisa Wu Hartwell & Miasha – Twitter Chat – November 30th at 8:30PM
It’s In My Blood by Shawneda Marks – Twitter Chat – December 2nd @8:30PM
Snapped by Tina McKinney
Inside Rain by Monique Mensah
Glorious by Bernice McFadden
Josephine By Beverly Jenkins
The Secrets of Newberry by Victor McGlothin
Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young
Not Quite What It Seems by Mari Walker
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
Never Been to Me by Gigi Gunn – December 14th
Sing About That Black Rose by Janet “Jaize” Brown
32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
The Promise by D. K. Gaston

The RAWSISTAZ Anniversary Twitter Party last month (hashtag #rawsistaz) was so much fun and such a huge success that we were contacted to do a few more for various authors.  So, in addition to our Black Book Talks & Black Book Chats here on the site–quick link is www.blackbookchats.com–we will also be doing them on Twitter using hashtag #blackbookchats, #rawsistaz, or one for the author/book.

We have been testing out the chats since June 2009 and are very glad to see how well they’ve done. We are just as pleased to add this service to our 10 years online supporting Black books and authors.  Contact us directly if you’re interested in scheduling one and if you’d like to see some of the previous ones we’ve had with authors like J. D. Mason, Brenda Jackson, Carleen Brice, Beverly Jenkins, Zane, Victoria Christopher Murray, Bernice McFadden, Ja’Nese Dixon and more.  Just go to www.blackbookchats.com and catch up!

Also, our Holiday Reading Challenge is starting up soon and we hope to announce the books we will be reading and discussing (with the authors) before the month is over, so stay tuned.

For now, save the dates:

Upcoming Black Book Chats

October 12th – Holy Rollers by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (book discussion) at noon

October 19th – Tanya Wright (author & book spotlight) on Twitter at 8:30PM EST

October 21st – Gigi Gunn (author/book spotlight) – rescheduled for November – Date & Time TBA

October 28th – In My Blood by Shawneda Marks (book discussion)

November 2nd or 4th – BOM Discussions

November 9th – When the Cake is Made by Lisa Wu Hartwell & Miasha (book discussion)

November 18th – Butterfly Rising by Tanya Wright (book discussion)

So, with all the great books coming out and already released this year, what are YOU reading? What are you anticipating? Let’s hear from ya!

Lastly, for those participating in Written’s 30 Books in 90 Days contest, share what you’ve read thus far and if you think you’re going to get the 30 books read in the remaining 32 days??  To the show-offs…I haven’t given up yet.  LOL! I can hang, I can hang! I CAN HANG!

January – Best of the Best (5 Star Reads from TRR & RAW Members)

February – Lotta Love (Romance)
Heated by Niobia Bryant
Wrapped in Pleasure by Brenda Jackson

March – Foot in the door (1st time authors)
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Holler at the Moon by Tiniesha Davis

April – Payback is a Mutha (Drama, Betrayal)
Where There’s Smoke 2 by Terra Little
Reverend Feelgood by Lutishia Lovely

May – Practice What You Preach (Christian Fiction)
In the Midst of It All by Tiffany Warren
Beautiful Ugly by Sheila Lipsey

June- His Story (Male Authors)
Crushed Ice by Eric Pete
Cougars by Earl Sewell (alternate)

July – Bring on the Drama
Diary of a Stalker by Electa Rome Parks
In My Father’s House by E. Lynn Harris (alternate)

August – A Good Start
Casanegra by Blair Underwood
View Park by Angela Winters (alternate)

September – You Choose Your Friends, Not Your Family
Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan
Red Hats by Damon Wayans (alternate)

October – Guess Who? (mystery)
From Cape Town with Love by Blair Underwood
Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man by Claudia Burney (alternate)

November – Blast From the Past (historical fiction)
Glorious by Bernice McFadden
Josephine By Beverly Jenkins (alternate)

December – Legalese (Legal Thrillers)
Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (alternate)

*These books are no longer available for free.*

1. Black Diamond by JaNese Dixon – fiction (character sketch)
2. How to Make Money as a Writer in a Down Economy by Maxine Thompson – writing guide
3. Keeping It Tight by Shani Greene-Dowdell  – fiction
4. Love Like This By Sylvia Hubbard – romance
5. Love Stories of Some People I Have Known by acVernon Menchan – short stories
6. Moving The Furniture by Barbara Joe Williams – non-fiction, marriage
7. Seeds Of Bible Study By Carole McDonnell – non-fiction, religion
8. The Education of Black Dickey by Kenneth Bowens – literary
9. When We Were One by Zaji – speculative fiction
10. Blackface by QB Wells – fiction
11. Black Jack by Jean Holloway – romantic thriller
12. Beautiful Rage by Janaya Black – fiction

**The titles below are also included in our E-Book Reading Challenge, but are not free downloads.  They are available in both e-book and print.

Take Your Pleasure Where You Find it by J. D. Mason

What Mother Never Told Me by Donna Hill

As a special note: we nominate books and then all members vote. We are in the process of voting on our March-June 2010 main and alternate selections.

RAWSISTAZ 2010  Diversity in Reading

JANUARY -  Best of the Best (4.5 or 5 Star Reviews from RAW members or TRR)
FEBRUARY -  Lotta Love/Love in the afternoon (Romance)
MARCH – Foot in the door (1st time authors)
APRIL – Payback is a Mutha (Drama, Betrayal)
MAY -  Practice What You Preach (Christian Fiction)
JUNE -  His Story (Male Authors)
JULY – Bring on the Drama…(contemporary fiction)
AUGUST – A Good Start (the first book in a good series)
SEPTEMBER – You Choose Your Friends, Not Your Family (Friendship Bonds stronger than family)
OCTOBER -  Guess Who? (Mystery)
NOVEMBER – Blast From the Past (historical fiction)
DECEMBER -  Legalese (Legal Thrillers)

Some of the titles we plan to read are below:

A SECOND HELPING by Beverly Jenkins

With the millions she received after divorcing her faithless tycoon husband, Bernadine Brown saved the historic town of Henry Adams, Kansas, from financial ruin and found loving homes for five needy children. Now there are other “projects” crying out for rescue.

If ever a town institution needed rescuing, it’s the beloved Dog and Cow diner. Once it was Henry Adams’s social center—or gossip central!—now it’s in danger of becoming duct-tape central. But there are other distractions pulling Bernadine from the task at hand: a plethora of romantic entanglements, including her own with a disturbingly attractive Malachi July; a bitter young boy newly arrived in town with his widowed father; and a fugitive on the run with a six-hundred-pound pet pig that’s wanted for murder (the pig, that is). And when Bernadine’s philandering, troublemaking ex-husband rolls into town looking for a second chance, life in Henry Adams gets very interesting indeed.

Author’s Website: http://www.beverlyjenkins.net

A DEEP DARK SECRET by Kimberla Lawson Roby
William Morrow, September 2009
192 Pages, Hardcover, $19.99
ISBN-10: 0061443093
ISBN-13: 978-0061443091

Book Description
On the outside, twelve-year-old Jillian Maxwell is the perfect child. She’s helpful with chores around the house, gets straight As in school, has plans for college, and stays out of trouble. She seems to have everything a girl could want: a big, beautiful new home, an adoring little sister, a mother who cares about her, and an attentive stepfather.
But inside, Jillian harbors a terrible secret.

Too frightened to tell, convinced that her friends and loved ones, especially her mother, won’t understand—and worse, will blame her—Jillian endures her pain in silence, believing that things will get better. However, as time passes and her dilemma intensifies, the bright, hardworking girl becomes sullen and disinterested in her studies. Then, just when it seems she’s on the verge of losing everything, Jillian discovers she has more strength than she ever imagined…and the power to change her fate.

With sensitivity and grace, Kimberla Lawson Roby addresses a very real and serious issue, while delivering the inspiring tale of one family’s mission to shed light into the darkest corner of their lives.

Author’s Website: http://www.kimroby.com

MORE SELECTIONS
Full Circle by Ayana Ellis
Snapped: A Novel by Tracy Brown
What Doesn’t Kill You by Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant
The Man Handler by Cairo
The Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey
Cheesecake and Teardrops by Faye Thompson
Songs of Deliverance by Marilynn Griffith

As mentioned in last month’s 5 on the Fifth Column, we have compiled a listing of The RAW Reviewers’ Favorites for 2009, as featured on Blogging in Black.  Our team read hundreds of books last year, but we only spotlight 5 a month via this column, so be sure to check out http://www.blackbookreviews.net to see other titles which made it to our favorites list.

We look forward to sharing more great books with you in 2010!

——————–

January 2009
Once You’ve Touched The Heart by Iris Bolling
The Hood Life: A Bentley Manor Tale by Meesha Mink and Denesha Diamond
What Doesn’t Kill You by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant
Zora Hurston And The Strange Case of Ruby McCollum by C. Arthur Ellis, Jr., Ph.D
Moving The Furniture by Barbara Joe Williams

February 2009
Fire and Desire by Brenda Jackson
He’s Gone… You’re Back by Kericka Fields
Playbook For Christian Manhood: 12 Keys Plays For Black Teen Boys by Dr. James C. Perkins
It’s All Love: Black Writers on Soul Mates, Family and Friends by Marita Golden
The Journey Less Traveled: Choose to Turn Your Tragedy into Triumph by Loretta “Faith” Harris

March 2009
Where The Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward
Too Much of A Good Thing by J.J. Murray
In Love With A Younger Man by Cheryl Robinson
Cop Out by Robert Davis
Until There Was You by Francis Ray

April 2009
Til Debt Do Us Part by Michelle Larks
That Devil’s No Friend of Mine by JD Mason
Freedom By Any Means: Con Games, Voodoo Scheme, True Love and Lawsuits on the Underground Railroad by Betty DeRamus
Caged Innocence by A.P. Ri’Chard
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia: A Life in Poems by Patricia Neely-Dorsey

May 2009
Going Down South by Bonnie Glover
Serving Justice by Jacqueline D. Moore
The Black Man’s Little Book of Encouragement by Cassandra Mack
Just Loving You by Frederick Williams
Cop Out by Robert Davis

June 2009
The Way We Roll: A Bama Gamma Pi Novel by Stephanie Perry Moore
Finding Grace On A Less Traveled Road: A Cancer Doctor Reflects on Living and Dying by R. Elliot Willis, MD
Assata and The Secret of The Cowrie by Vickie M. Oliver-Lawson
This is What I Signed Up For by Jerald Howard
Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts

July 2009
Have Mercy by Earl Sewell
Body By Night by Zuri Day
Miracles In Action by Angela Alexander
The Kat Trap by Cairo
Oracle of The Sun Gods by M. Chelley Laurenz

August 2009
Love Trumps Game by D.Y. Phillips
Mom’s The Word by Marilynn Griffith
Billy by Albert French
Children of The Waters by Carleen Brice
Hood Rats by E.R. McNair

September 2009
Gut Bucket Blues by Anita August
A Step Into Deliverance by Toni Pugh
My Sister’s Ex by Cydney Rax
God Ain’t Blind by Mary Monroe
Homosexuality, AIDS and Voodoo by Wintrell Phillips

October 2009
Love Yourself First by Delvon Johnson
Wife of The Gods by Kwei Quartey
Flirt by Tracy Brown, K’wan and Angel Mitchell
Cliches: A Life In Verse by La’Shawnda D. Jones
The Barack In Me by Moses Miller

November 2009
A Gifted Child In Foster Care: A Story of Resilience by Dr. Grace LaJoy Henderson
A Peek Into My Soul Redux by Monda Webb
Sizzling Seduction by Gwyneth Bolton
Lessons Learned: It It What It Is by Portia A. Cosby
It’s In My Blood by Shawneda Marks

December 2009
Undead On Arrival by L. A. Banks
A Deep Dark Secret by Kimberla Lawson Roby
Spoon by Robert Greer
Sins of The Father by Angela Benson
In Love With Losers by LaToya S. Watkins

*As featured on our column on Blogging in Black*

We’re a bit past the middle of our Holiday Reading Challenge and it is going wonderfully.  I, for one, am very glad to be doing the challenge since I haven’t read as much as I’d like this year.  Granted, I’m constantly rushing to get the books read, but so far, I’ve only missed one read, so for that I’m happy.

How is everyone doing? Can YOU hang? Update us on what you’ve read thus far, ratings, and which book/chat you enjoyed the most.

We’ve had some great discussions on the various books and I didn’t mention it, but at the end of the challenge, we will do a favorite book poll.  Don’t forget about the prizes for those who read & participate the most, too (3 winners).  It’ll be a wonderful gift pack to help start off the year.

Haven’t participated yet? It’s not too late to get your read on!

We have 7 books left (8 if you count our BOM) for the challenge, so use some of your time off for the holidays and get your read on.   The remaining books and schedule follows:

Dec 29th – Millionaire Wives Club by Tu-Shonda Whitaker
Dec 30th - Mrs. Black by Angelia Vernon Menchan
Jan 3rd – Reality Check by Eric Pete
Jan 5th – Who is He To You by Monique Mensah
Jan 5th – Finding Me by Darnella Ford
Jan 7th - On My Knees by Dyanne Davis (ebook)
Jan 12th – The Ideal Wife by Jacquelin Thomas

DOWN HOME WITH THE NEELYS: A Southern Family Cookbook by Patrick and Gina Neely
Knopf, May 2009
288 Pages, Hardcover, $27.95
ISBN-10: 0307269949
ISBN-13: 9780307269942

Buy it via Amazon.com

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Meet the Neelys: Pat and Gina, husband-and-wife team, hosts of their own television show, and proprietors of the celebrated Memphis and Nashville eateries, Neely’s Bar-B-Que.

The Neelys’ down-home approach to cooking has earned them the highest accolades from coast to coast. It has also won them millions of viewers on the Food Network. Simply put, the Neelys are all about good food and good times. In this, their eagerly awaited debut cookbook, the Neelys share the delicious food they have been cooking up for years both at home and in their restaurants.

Pat and Gina hail from families with a boundless love of cooking and bedrock traditions of sharing meals. At the Neelys’, mealtime is family time, and that means no stinting on “the sauce.” Indeed, that’s one of the Neely secrets: the liberal application of barbeque sauce to almost anything—spaghetti, nachos, salad, you name it. Of course, there are other secrets as well, and you will find them all in the pages of Down Home with the Neelys, along with more than 120 mouthwatering recipes.

Authors’ Website: http://www.neelysbbq.com

Watch the Neelys online: Down Home with the Neelys – Hulu (clips from their Food Network TV show)

On Facebook:  Become a fan via their Facebook Fan Page.

DELILAH’S EVERYDAY SOUL: Southern Cooking With Style by Delilah Winder
Running Press, November 2006
288 Pages, Hardcover, $29.95
ISBN-10: 0762426012
ISBN-13: 9780762426010

Buy It: Via Amazon.com

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Tradition meets the 21st century in this hip and colorful cookbook that shows that Soul Food doesn’t have to be “country food.”

In Delilah’s Everyday Soul, chef Delilah Winder shares the Southern-inspired recipes that helped earn her the devotion of many, including television’s Oprah Winfrey, the NFL’s Donovan McNabb, and music’s Patti LaBelle. Sharing more than 100 of her favorite recipes and the stories behind them, Delilah reaches back to her roots and forward to future generations of soul food lovers with her fun, eclectic recipes.

For Delilah, Southern food comes from the heart and touches the soul. The recipes in Delilah’s Everyday Soul are arranged by occasion and accented with special memories, tips, and suggestions for preparing and serving. They feature traditional soul food like Delilah’s delectable fried chicken and strawberry lemonade, and also include more modern renditions of the fare, plus alternative ingredients for those who want to try healthier versions of the spectacular recipes.

Publisher’s Website: http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com

Author’s Website: http://www.delilahwinder.com

As a reminder, you CAN count books on the list you’ve already read IF (and only if), you actively participate in the discussions.

BOOK 1

PUSH by Sapphire
Vintage, April 1997
192 Pages, Paperback, $13.00
ISBN-10: 0679766759
ISBN-13: 9780679766759

BUY IT

BOOK DESCRIPTION

TRAPPED IN PARADISE by Deatri King-Bey
Red Rose Publishing, November 2009
Ebook, $2.99 (all proceeds go to charity)
ISBN-13: 978-1-60435-464-5

BUY IT

Book Description

After escaping an abusive marriage, Saundra Write swore never to allow anyone to trap her again. Then comes along Jeremy King, the kind of man any woman would beg to be trapped in paradise with.

Publisher’s Website: http://www.redrosepublishing.com

Author’s Website: http://www.deewrites.com

BOOK 3

ONE NIGHT WITH YOU by Francis Ray
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, November 2009
336 Pages, Paperback, $6.99
ISBN-10: 0312365063
ISBN-13: 978-0312365066

BUY IT

Book Description

Cougars, brush fires, snow storms—rancher Duncan McBride tackles it all without a flinch. But the archeologist who’s come to authenticate cave drawings found on his property is the kind of trouble he’d sworn to avoid. Far from the aging academic he was expecting, Raven La Blanc is a stunning woman…and definitely not sticking around this small Montana town once her job is done.

The primitive drawings at Duncan’s ranch are Raven’s ticket to the tenured position she’s worked so hard for back in Santa Fe. But there’s no denying the attraction between her and Duncan. Maybe, just this once, she can put her work aside and explore the depths of her own heart and soul? One night may be all it takes for Raven to really find what she’s looking for…

Publisher’s Website: http://www.macmillan.com

Author’s Website: http://www.francisray.com

———————————————————

READING LIST & CHAT DATES
Dec 1st – Push by Sapphire
Dec 4th - Trapped in Paradise by Deatri King-Bey (ebook)
Dec 8th – One Night With You by Francis Ray
Dec 10th - Have Mercy by Earl Sewell
Dec 15th – Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins
Dec 16th – Lady Jasmine by Victoria Christopher Murray
Dec 17th – His Invisible Wife by Shelia Goss
Dec 22nd – Total Eclipse of the Heart by Zane
Dec 29th – Millionaire Wives Club by Tu-Shonda Whitaker
Dec 30th - Mrs. Black by Angelia Vernon Menchan
Jan 3rd – Reality Check by Eric Pete (time: TBD)
Jan 5th – Who is He To You by Monique Mensah
Jan 5th – Finding Me by Darnella Ford (tentative)
Jan 7th - On My Knees by Dyanne Davis (ebook)
Jan 12th – The Ideal Wife by Jacquelin Thomas

CLICK HERE for more information on the challenge and how you can be one of our 4 winners!

Push by Sapphire

PUSH by Sapphire
Vintage, April 1997
192 Pages, Paperback, $13.00
ISBN-10: 0679766759
ISBN-13: 9780679766759

BOOK DESCRIPTION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sapphire was born in 1950 and spent her first twelve years on army bases in California and Texas. As a teenager she lived in South Philadelphia and Los Angeles. She graduated from City College in New York and received an MFA from Brooklyn College. From 1983 to 1993 she lived in Harlem, where she taught reading and writing to teenagers and adults. Sapphire is a performance poet and the author of a collection of poetry and prose, American Dreams. She lives in New York City.

Also check out the movie, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, in select theaters November 6th – http://www.weareallprecious.com

Also, check out  Cast Interviews by Jeff Bayer at The Score Card Review

THE WEDDING by Dorothy West
Anchor, January 1996
265 Pages, Paperback, $13.95
ISBN-10: 0385471440
ISBN-13: 9780385471442

Book Description

On the island of Martha’s Vineyard in the 1950s there exists a proud, insular, nearly unassailable community known as the Oval, made up of the best and brightest of New York’s and Boston’s black bourgeoisie. Dr. Clark Coles and his wife Corinne, pillars of this community, are mortified that their youngest daughter Shelby is set on marrying Meade Wyler, a white jazz musician from New York. Equally alarmed is Lute McNeil, a successful black furniture maker from Boston who is new to Oak Bluffs and desperate for social acceptance. Lute has fallen in love with Shelby Coles, or at least the way of life she represents, and he will stop at nothing to pull her away from Meade. As the day of the wedding approaches, the tension surrounding Shelby, Lute, and Meade builds, climaxing in a single tragic act that will forever change the lives of three American families.

The Wedding is a wise and heartfelt novel about the shackles of race and class we all wear and the price we pay to break them. It is also an unforgettable history of the rise of the black middle class, written by a woman who lived it. Wise, heartfelt, and shattering, The Wedding is Dorothy West’s crowning achievement.

Publisher’s Website: http://www.harpswellanchor.com

CHILDREN OF THE WATERS by Carleen Brice
One World/Ballantine, June 2009
336 Pages, Paperback, $14.00
ISBN-10: 0345499077
ISBN-13: 978-0345499073

BUY IT NOW!

Book Description

Still reeling from divorce and feeling estranged from her teenage son, Trish Taylor is in the midst of salvaging the remnants of her life when she uncovers a shocking secret: her sister is alive. For years Trish believed that her mother and infant sister had died in a car accident. But the truth is that her mother fatally overdosed and that Trish’s grandparents put the baby girl up for adoption because her father was black.

After years of drawing on the strength of her black ancestors, Billie Cousins is shocked to discover that she was adopted. Just as surprising, after finally overcoming a series of health struggles, she is pregnant–a dream come true for Billie but a nightmare for her sweetie, Nick, and for her mother, both determined to protect Billie from anything that may disrupt her well-being.

Publisher’s Website: www.randomhouse.com

Author’s Website: www.carleenbrice.com

MAMA DEAREST by E. Lynn Harris
Karen Hunter, September 2009
400 Pages, Hardcover, $25.99
ISBN-10: 1439158908
ISBN-13: 978-1439158906

Buy it Now

Book Description

New York City, you’ve been warned: Yancey Harrington Braxton is back. The ambitious singer and actress is fired up to move past her recent professional and personal setbacks — including an explosive romance with NFL tight end John Basil Henderson — and prove her talents are stronger than ever. After being out on tour, Yancey realizes what she really wants is to star in her own reality TV series, and she’s even found a rich and well-connected lover to make it happen. There are, however, two women fierce enough to derail Yancey’s plans with ambitions of their own: Madison B., a hot new bombshell taking the music industry by storm, and Ava Middlebrooks, who happens to be Yancey’s own mama dearest.

Ava is out, about, and ready to reclaim her throne. Not even a stint in prison for attempted murder has curbed Ava’s competitive nature, and it doesn’t faze her in the least that her #1 rival is her own daughter. Ava is willing to do whatever it takes to make Yancey pay, including using Madison B. to turn Yancey’s world upside-down by forcing her to confront the past…and making her comeback dreams more exciting and dangerous than she ever imagined.

Taking readers on a wild, passion-filled tour of the entertainment world, E. Lynn Harris’s Mama Dearest delivers sensual thrills and electric plot twists — with one unforgettable woman of radiant star power, sexual magnetism, and unapologetic ambition at the heart of the action.

Publisher’s Website: www.karenhunterpublishing.com

Author’s Website: www.elynnharris.com

See Our Online Tribute & Celebration

SISTERS AND HUSBANDS by Connie Briscoe
Grand Central Publishing, June 2009
288 Pages, Hardcover, $24.99
ISBN-10: 0446534897
ISBN-13: 978-0446534895

BUY A COPY

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Ten years have passed since Sisters and Lovers, and Beverly, now 39, is engaged to Julian, a man her family and friends agree is the epitome of a great catch: he’s gorgeous, loyal, trustworthy, successful, and very much in love with her. Since this is Beverly’s third engagement in the past five years, after breaking off the previous two at the last moment, everyone’s happy that she’s finally settling down. For Beverly and Julian, nothing could be better than being in love and planning their wedding. That is until Beverly’s oldest sister’s marriage falls apart and dampens the mood of what should have been the happiest time in Beverly’s life. Now, second-guessing her impending nuptials, Beverly is forced to wonder if marriage really works. Will she stick it out? Or will her fears cloud her judgment once again?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connie Briscoe has been a full-time published author for more than ten years. Born with a hearing impairment, Connie never allowed that to stop her from pursuing her dreams…writing. Since she left the world of editing to become a writer, Connie has hit the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.

Publisher’s Website: http://www.hatchettbookgroup.com

Author’s Website: http://www.conniebriscoe.com

WHAT THE BAYOU SAW by Patti Lacy
Kregel Publications, March 2009
336 Pages, Paperback, $14.99
ISBN-10: 0825429374
ISBN-13: 978-0825429378

BUY IT LINK

Book Description

The past can’t stay buried forever Rising author Patti Lacy’s second novel exposes the life of Sally, set amid the shadows of prejudice in Louisiana. Since leaving her home in the South, Sally Stevens has held the secrets of her past at bay, smothering them in a sunny disposition and sugar-coated lies. No one, not even her husband, has heard the truth about her childhood. But when one of her students is violently raped, Sally’s memories quickly bubble to the surface unbidden, like a dead body in a bayou. As Sally’s story comes to light, the lies she’s told begin to catch up with her. And as her web of deceit unravels, she resolves to face the truth at last, whatever the consequences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patti Lacy graduated from Baylor University with a B.S. in education. She taught at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois, until 2006, when she began to pursue writing full-time. She has two grown children and lives in Illinois with her husband, Alan, and a dog named Laura.

Publisher’s Website: http://www.kregel.com

Author’s Website: http://www.pattilacy.com

Mare’s War by Tanita S. Davis
Knopf Books for Young Readers, June 2009
Hardcover, 352 pages, $16.99
ISBN-10: 0375857141
ISBN-13: 978-0375857140

BUY A COPY

Book Description
Meet Mare, a grandmother with flair and a fascinating past.

Octavia and Tali are dreading the road trip their parents are forcing them to take with their grandmother over the summer. After all, Mare isn’t your typical grandmother. She drives a red sports car, wears stiletto shoes, flippy wigs, and push-up bras, and insists that she’s too young to be called Grandma. But somewhere on the road, Octavia and Tali discover there’s more to Mare than what you see. She was once a willful teenager who escaped her less-than-perfect life in the deep South and lied about her age to join the African American battalion of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.

Told in alternating chapters, half of which follow Mare through her experiences as a WAC member and half of which follow Mare and her granddaughters on the road in the present day, this novel introduces a larger-than-life character who will stay with readers long after they finish reading.

About the Author
Tanita S. Davis is the author of the young adult novel A la Carte, published by Knopf in June 2008. A native Californian, she lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

Author’s Website
http://www.tanitasdavis.com

WHAT THEY FOUND: Love on 145th St by Walter Dean Myers
Wendy Lamb Books, February 2009
243 Pages, Paperback, $8.99
ISBN-10: 0375845453
ISBN-13: 978-0375845451

BUY A COPY

Book Description

WALTER DEAN MYERS returns to the world of 145th Street: Short Stories to show how love can be found, and thrive, in the most unlikely places. Curtis finds love in Iraq as he struggles to stay alive in a war he doesn’t want to fight, and Letha discovers her own beauty in the love of her child. There is the “good daughter” who realizes that there’s only one way to help her brother and her family. Other stories center on the daily drama of the Curl-E-Que beauty shop, or capture the slapstick side of passion.

Publisher’s Website: http://www.randomhouse.com
Author’s Website: http://www.walterdeanmyers.com

August 4 – Black Book Talk

The Death (or not) of Black Books

August 11 – Book Discussion 

Maneaters by Mary B. Morrison & Noire

August 18 – Blog Book Chat (w/author)

Intimate Seduction by Brenda Jackson

August 25 – Black Book Talk

Summer Reading Challenge Update #2

JULY 2009 Alternate BOM Selection

Mass Market Paperback
Kimani, July 2009
ISBN-10: 0373861206
ISBN-13: 978-0373861200

Product Description
When a man finds a beautiful woman asleep in his bed…

…he has only one choice. To seduce her with a night of lovemaking she’ll never forget. Trouble is, Donovan Steele’s sultry new housekeeper is just as determined not to become the legendary playboy’s latest conquest.

Trading the Ivy League for down South, Natalie Ford is helping out with her ailing aunt’s housecleaning service. But she finds that this powerful, potent man of Steele ignites a different kind of chemistry-one that defies every law of attraction the science professor ever learned.

Natalie knows she has to come clean to Donovan about who she really is…especially when he starts believing she’s out to sabotage his family business. Will she lose her chance to love the real man behind the seductive legend?