The Reading Diva

My Friday Reads is Virgin Soul .  It's about a girl who gets involved in the Black Panthers while in college.  I have been reading it off and on for months and think I am finally getting into the groove.  What do you plan to read this weekend?  Here are five books that let you travel without leaving your couch . This book about video game consoles will be out in May, but there are already movie plans . Looks like African-American romance has made a lot of strides in the last 30+ years ! One of Malcolm X's daughters has wrote a children's book about her father . Speaking of Malcolm X, a court will be deciding next week  if the diary of Malcolm X will be published . R. L. Stine will be honored with a lifetime achievement award  from the Horror Writers Association. Never knew there was an award for books that have medical themes . Do you want a chart of 162 Young Adult retellings ?  I did read a Jane Eyre retelling a few year...

Happy (Belated) Birthday Toni Morrison!! Read ZoraToniMaya's appreciation post . Relax in Paradise Mavis Gallant . Here are some inspiring quotes from Audre Lorde , who would have turned 80 Tuesday.  Here are also 10 reasons to love her . Congratulations to all of the winners of the BCALA Literary Awards ! Also congratulations to all of the LA Times Book Prize finalists and honorees ! There is a Raisin in the Sun exhibit at the New York Public Library . NEW FEAR STREET NOVEL!!!! YES!!!! And speaking of YA books, this list of African-American YA books is EVERYTHING . After the success of her first mystery novel (after it was leaked it was her), J.K. Rowling will return with another Robert Galbraith novel . Hey Sci-Fi writers, racist and sexists rants are not allowed . If the humor of Pearls Before Swine are any indication, these Timmy Failure books should be awesome . Bret Easton Ellis says that he's working on a film project with Kanye West .  Please m...

More books have arrived at my mailbox, so you know what that means...another edition of Mailbox Monday! I received three ARC (advanced review copies) books from Harper Books over the weekend: Welcome To The Real World The Book Of You Postcards from Cookie All of these books will be released in April. Do you plan to put any of these books on your to-be-read list?  Let me know by dropping a line in the comments section! Thanks Harper Books for the ARCs!!

Relax in Paradise Maxine Kumin , Maggie Estep and Erik Belgave . Open Road Media has bought E-Reads, the oldest digital publisher . Oldest, as in 1999. Why there are only 11 reasons to date a bookworm ? And why there are only 11 reasons why books are better than Valentines ? And why there are only 6 reasons why librarians are great ? A photographer went around ALA Midwinter Meeting and took pictures of librarians , to show that we are not those stereotypes you see in the media. And I have a message for the brother librarian from Brooklyn: #heyboo. Roy over at A Line A Day came up with some of his favorite reads for Black History Month .  And ZoraToniMaya has some suggested memoirs and essays . Here are some books about Black History for young readers .  And some graphic novels . Publishers Weekly has a list of anticipated debuts that are coming out or have been recently released.  And this is their anticipated spring list . Leah Dunham shared a phot...

Welcome to the first Mailbox Monday! This new section will highlight books (mostly advanced review copies, or ARCs) that I have received in the mail.  This section will not be here every week, but every few weeks once books come in.  Here are the books that I received last week. From Kensington Publishing : Two books from Tiffany L. Warren: The Replacement Wife  and Don't Tell A Soul Two books from M. William Phelps: Obsessed and Cruel Death Two YA books: Beware of Boys and True Story Pretty Girls in The VIP Strong Heat And Then She Was Gone Maneater From Random House : Thirty Girls A Star for Mrs. Blake From Penguin via Goodreads contest win: Queen Sugar Are any of these books are your to-be-read list? I would like to hear from you!

Lesson of this video: don't get drunk at book club meeting. A few days ago, I kept seeing the hashtag #thegamechanges on Facebook and Twitter and I wanted to know why. Everybody found out the answer on Monday when Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley announced they have started their own publishing company, Brown Girls Publishing .   Here is Publishers Weekly's coverage of the announcement .  Now #thegamehaschanged. Don't forget to watch the Alice Walker documentary on PBS tonight! Here is an awesome question-and-answer with Mitchell S. Jackson , the author of The Residue Years. Simon and Schuster launched a new website dedicated to business books . NoViolet Bulawayo was named a fiction finalist in Barnes and Noble's Discovery Awards . Amazon just came out with a list of 100 books you should read in a lifetime . Want to know how fast you read? This test from Staples (yes, the office supply store) will tell you! I wonder if the ...