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| | At least once a month, on my Blog, I will share information about new books that I think you will enjoy. If you subscribe to my blog, via your Kindle or through an RSS feed, you will be able to easily access these book recommendations anywhere, including your mobile device. These recommendations are intended to extend our coverage of books, beyond what is highlighted in this eNewsletter or in reviews we’ve published. I’ll also do my best not to include books that are currently being advertised on AALBC.com, on a current bestsellers list, recommended by Oprah, or already garnering a lot of attention in the mass media. The goal, as always, is to help you discover those hidden gems. |
The EX Chronicles: Plan B by Carol Taylor is funny, erotic, sexy, and insightful. Plan B reveals the darker side of desire, when four women must overcome their lust or be trapped by it. As we follow these best friends from New York, to London, and Amsterdam, they must cope with not only their careers and their past, but also their cheating exes and the love they still have for them. They each need a Plan B. Erotic City: Miami by Pynk tells the story of Milan Kennedy and her heavyweight boxer husband, Lavender Lewis. The couple has moved to Miami to raise Lavander’s son when a test of fidelity arises just as the couple plans to add to their family, and expand their thriving business, Erotic City, a swinger’s club. The newest location, Erotic City: Miami, is a huge success, but at what cost? Will the wife-swapping lifestyle change Milan and Lavender forever, or will they survive the very temptations that their own sex business brings? |
Check out a video with the author, photos from the book and much more. Willis’ book, The Bite Fight, examines the sensational events surrounding the legendary clash. More than 100 interviews-including with the famed fighters themselves-offer a behind-the-scenes look at the bout’s past and present. The Bite Fight is the untold story of one of the most shocking moments in the history of boxing. (Triumph Books, June 1, 2013) George Willis is an award-winning sports columnist for the New York Post and a former journalist with the New York Times, Newsday, and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis. A native of Las Cruces, New Mexico, he lives in New Jersey. |
In this emotionally charged and inspiring novel about a love triangle, secrets between best friends threaten to blow up friendships and a marriage and change lives forever. When Miriam’s fireman husband, Chauncey, dies while rescuing students from a school fire, Miriam feels like her life is over. How is she going to raise her three children all by herself? How will she survive without the love of her life? Luckily, Miriam’s sister-friend Emily and Emily’s husband, Jamal, are there to comfort her. Jamal and Chauncey grew up together and were best friends; Jamal and Emily know they will do all they can to support Miriam through her grief. Jamal steps in and helps Miriam with the funeral arrangements and with her children, plus he gives her hope that she has a future. But all the time that they spend together—grieving, sharing, and reminiscing—brings the two closer in ways they never planned. (Touchstone, June 4, 2013) |
Age Range: 5 - 8 years Sunday afternoons are special for Sarah and Susan because that’s when they visit Aunt Flossie — she has a memorable collection of hats, each with a special story. In the course of a conversation about favorite childhood books a reader mentioned, Aunt Flossie’s Hats as one of their favorites. While researching this book I found a YouTube video of someone reading the entire book and showing each page, the way one would if they were reading the book to a child. (HMH Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition, February 1, 1995) |
The hit online show, The Book Look, opens up with Mayor Cory Booker, catches up with Daniel Black and Twelve Gates to the City, and covers the anthology and new movement, Steamfunk! Host Monda Webb and contributors Charisse Carney-Nunes and Kwame Alexander keep the pages turning while Najee Dorsey talks Art by the Book. Also check out the preview of an up coming Book Look feature interview with Stephen L. Carter on his next novel, The Church Builder , written under the psuedoymn, A.L. Shields. |
In April 2013 C&B Distribution published its first issue of Writers’ World Newspaper. This publication is a resource for self-published and established authors to exchange opinions on literature. Readers will be provided with unique and motivational articles, ideas and resources to further enhance their lives. This paper will be distributed every three months to different venues such as "April is Book Month in Queens" & The Harlem Book Fair, The Queens Book & Health Fair Events, various libraries, high schools, colleges, banks, book stores, supermarkets, restaurants, news stands, and grocery stores. C&B Distribution will distribute 750 - 1000 printed copies to reach the population of Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Jamaica, some areas of Brooklyn, Bronx and Manhattan. More Areas to come! |
Faith Knight is a journalist, author, and project manager. This former interactive executive producer for Discovery.com, and NBC4.com, writes both self-help and children’s literature. Faith is also a former African American Literary Award nominee. She resides in Atlanta, GA. Faith Knight’s most recent book is, The Real Book on How to Cook.
Are you one of those people who never learned to cook? Are you ready and willing to learn? Then this book is for you. The Real Book on How to Cook is specifically created for new and novice cooks to teach them the basics rarely found in traditional cookbooks. Using the P.O.T.S method, Faith Knight will show you how to make the most of your recipe books so you can cook with confidence! |
Winner of the PEN/Norma Klein Award, Rita Williams-Garcia is the author of five other distinguished novels for young adults: Blue Tights, Every Time a Rainbow Dies, Fast Talk on a Slow Track, Like Sisters on the Homefront, and No Laughter Here, the latter four of which were chosen as ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Like Sisters on the Homefront was also named a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and a best book of the year by ALA Booklist, School Library Journal, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, and Publishers Weekly. She has also written an acclaimed novel for middle-grade readers, One Crazy Summer, which the New York Times called "a powerful and affecting story of sisterhood and motherhood." Rita Williams-Garcia is currently a faculty member at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in the Writing for Children and Young Adults Program. She has two daughters, Michelle and Stephanie, and lives in Jamaica, New York. |
We all know Benilde from her critically acclaimed novel Good Hair, which Los Angeles Times called, "…one of the ten best books of 1996." I met Benilde’s husband at a literary salon hosted by Elizabeth Nunez (to be covered in an upcoming eNewsletter) and he told me about Benilde’s next book, Welcome to My Breakdown, which she describes as follows: "It’s my first non-fiction work, after having written four best-selling novels. The book is a momoir (yeah, I just made it up). It’s about my mom and me. It’s about me falling off the cliff from which I’d been dangling and plunging into cavern of depression so dark and scary that I didn’t think I’d find my way out. The book is about coming out the darkest of it, the kind of depression that David Foster Wallace called a "a nausea of the soul." The stories about my smart, determined, hard-working, hilarious, working class mother are about all the invisible Black women born in the early part of the last century. (Simon and Schuster) |
Book Reviewed by Kam Williams
I was just as wary approaching this exquisitely illustrated tale about Billie Holiday (1919-1959), given that it’s aimed at tykes between the ages of 4 and 8. After all, the late jazz legend known as Lady Day died way before her time after a relentlessly-rough life marked by absentee parents from infancy, rape during adolescence, teenage prostitution, a string of abusive relationships, substance abuse, a prison stint for drug possession and passing away of cirrhosis of the liver while in police custody. Apparently, the doomed diva’s saving grace was being a dog lover, including owning a beagle, a mutt, a poodle, a terrier, a Great Dane and a couple of Chihuahuas. This touching tome is devoted to chronicling Billie’s enduring bond with her beloved boxer, Mister. She and the anthropomorphic canine were ostensibly inseparable, with her cooking and knitting sweaters for him while he would keep fans at bay by guarding her dressing room before and after shows. (Harcourt Children’s Books, June 18, 2013) Check out more books about jazz icons written for children. |
Book Reviewed by Anita D. Diggs
Richardson gives an unflinching account of life as a young prostitute who is both addicted to drugs and controlled by unfeeling pimps. It is a raw and heartbreaking narrative which is impossible to put down However, it is her rise from the bottom that is absolutely enthralling. She goes into rehab and manages to re-enroll at Cleveland State. Against enormous odds, Richardson hits the books with a determination that is simply awe-inspiring. She succeeds on a scale that she could not have imagined when she is named Professor of Literacy Studies, in the College of Education and Human Ecology at Ohio State University. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds. (Parlor Press, March 30, 2013) |
“Are you unemployed or stuck in a dead-end job? Don’t worry, we have an answer!” That is the dubious proposition made by How to Make Money Selling Drugs, a tongue-in-cheek (I pray) documentary about the art of dope dealing. The film arrives accompanied by proven provenance, as it features appearances by celebs with street cred like 50 Cent, Eminem, Rick Ross and Russell Simmons. According to one former kingpin, the possibility of jail time is actually worth the risk, provided you’re Caucasian, since 90% of the million Americans arrested annually for drugs are black or Latino. So, this illicit profession isn’t highly recommended for minorities, since the authorities not only target their communities, but employ tactics like profile stops which make apprehension all the more likely. |
Most backup singers are frustrated artists who spend years helping others shine while waiting for that big break that might never come that could catapult them into the limelight. Finally, thanks to Twenty Feet from Stardom, these neglected sisters are finally getting their props, if not the fortune and mega fame that has eluded them for so long. Directed by Morgan Neville, this very entertaining and illuminating documentary includes testimonials by the likes of Sting, Springsteen, Bette Midler, Sheryl Crow and other greats freely paying tribute. A reverential retrospective representing the first tip of the cap to backups I can remember since Lou Reed warbled “And the colored girls go!” on the gritty ditty “Walk on the Wild Side.” |
After hearing some heavy metal in the early Seventies, Dannis, Bobby and David Hackney decided to make a big change in the type of music they were performing. Up until then, the African-American siblings from Detroit had been playing a blend of R&B and rock as the Rock Fire Funk Express. Listen, the personal anecdotes in A Band Called Death are extremely entertaining, and often touching, especially when Dannis and Bobby express their irrepressible fondness for their dearly departed sibling. I suppose music is in the ear of the behearer, but as for the suggestion that this average garage band were somehow visionaries ahead of their time, I just don’t think so. |
They say, there comes a time in every black comedian’s career when he’s asked to put on a dress. Well, it seems the same can be said about appearing in a campy sci-fi as demonstrated by Billy Cosby in Leonard Part 6, Eddie Murphy in The Adventures of Pluto Nash and John Witherspoon in Cosmic Slop. A simplistic, father-son morality play strictly for little kids and diehard Will and Jaden Smith fans. Destined to be added to the pantheon of inadvertently-funny blaxploitation flicks with a devoted cult following. |
On June 12th 2013, Black Classic Press’ Publisher W. Paul Coates Kicked off a Year-Long Celebration of 35 Years in Business at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. This Video features; the Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; author Walter Mosley; and BCP publishers, W. Paul Coates and Natalie Stokes-Peters. |
Poet, professor and activist Dr. Tony Medina was honored by African Voices Magazine during its 1st Annual Literary Awards. This event took place at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture on June 29th, 2013. This video features poetry readings by Willie Perdomo, Mariahdessa Ekere Talllie, Bondafide Rojas, a conversation between Tony an poet asha bandele, and a special performance by Shelley Nicoles’s blaKb she. |
On June 24th Mayweather helped launch an 11 city tour to promote his September 14th bout against Canelo Alverez of Mexico. During this press conference Mayweather shares his thoughts on banned substances in boxing, the Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout fight, the competence of judges, cleaning Up Boxing, and even parenting. This exclusive video was recorded by Troy Johnson, of AALBC.com, in collaboration with NY Sports Style |
This video, created by The Angle, is part of an eclectic documentary web series that features a variety of topics, people, places or things affecting American Culture. The series explores subjects from a variety of angles or perspectives and covers a wide range of topics, from food and sex, to religion and modern politics. Personalities run the gamut from intellectuals and activists to artists and the girl next door. Join our conversation about Pledging Greek: "Waaaay back during my youthful excursion into the college scene, me and my small clique of high school girlfriends decided we would attend the U of Illinois. We were persuaded to pass up a chance to be among the first black coeds to integrate womens’ housing on this campus and, instead, we accepted an invitation from another friend to take up residence at the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority house which was anxious to fill up its rooms in order to stay float. As an aside, during this time, this chapter (Gamma) was the only black one in the entire country to actually have a sorority house. " |
"My great grandfather was so devastated. The war [The American Civil War] was over, he had lost his son, he had lost the war, and he did not know how to deal with life. With no one to help operate his plantation. You know there was 30 something people on his books and the next year’s census I go to find, and there’s like zero." —Paula Dean In this the TimesTalks video, recorded in the fall of 2012, Paula Dean speaks with New York Times reporter Kim Severson. In this clip we get an interesting sampling of Dean’s perspective on race. |
Marcus Books is the oldest black-owned bookstore in the county. It has been located on San Francisco’s Fillmore Street since 1981. The bookstore currently faces eviction. After a predatory loan, the San Francisco bookstore was under threat of foreclosure. The building was sold off in bankruptcy court to real estate investors, Nishan and Suhaila Sweis, who own a taxicab company and specialize in finding distressed properties for investment opportunities. Westside Community Services, an established agency in the Western Addition that has partnered with Marcus Books to provide services for many years, has offered to repurchase the property from the Sweis family in order to keep the bookstore at its current site. SIGN THE PETITION to help save the store. |
The Book Look is now a media partner of the Power List and has committed to announcing our new bestsellers list each quarter. The Spring List was announced in the June broadcast. The Power List is also working out a deal to secure MahoganyBooks as the Official Book Seller for the Power List. The MahoganyBooks bookstore features one of the largest inventories of African American books online, an easy to use website, a social network that promotes provocative literary discussion, and The WritersBloc blog that keeps readers informed on literary issues. The Power List best-selling books not only appears on AALBC.com, and MosaicBooks.com. It may also be found on Book Club 101 Magazine, Urban Prints Productions, and a growing number of places both online and off. The grassroots, collaboration behind sharing these popular titles is a beautiful thing :-) |
2013 Black Pack Party Group Shot |
I’d like to thank everyone who attended the last Black Pack Party. It was inspiring to see so many folks committed to books in one place. I’d also like to thank Marcia Wilson of WideVision Photography who has been kind enough to photograph and help chronicle the last event for the six years. Here are just a few comments from a few attendees from this year’s attendees: “I love the simple, unpretentious, NICENESS of the gathering. Everyone is just NICE. We seem to be exhaling after a leaving the battlefield.”
—Rosalind McLymont, Executive Editor The Network Journal and CEO, Africastrictlybusiness.com “For me, it was and has been an event that affirms ’OUR’ commitment to the written word, regardless of genre and I commend you and your co-hosts for making it happen and hope that it will continue and that you will continue to host it.”
—Marie Brown, President of Marie Brown Associates “Just rolled from the Black Pack party and as it is every year, this year’s was a blast. It’s always good to link with seasoned authors and lit professionals from a different side of the coin. Nothing but positive energy and love being shown.”
—K’Wan, best-selling author “The Black Pack Party/reception at Londel’s in Harlem is always the best place to meet top Black book industry insiders thanks…”
—Patrick Oliver, Founder and Program Development Specialist for Say It Loud! “You know, as you get older and see the talented faces that have stood the test of time like Victoria Christopher Murray, Troy Johnson, Ron Kavanaugh, Donna Hill, Renee Daniel Flagler and so many others, you appreciate the journey. People come and go, but black literature and THE BLACK PACK PARTY is a wonderful reunion of talent, timeless creativity, and LOVE. Kinda Neat stuff…”
—William Fredrick Cooper, Author of several novels including, One Season (in Pinstripes): A Memoir |
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