The Reading Diva

“In truth, love is everything. You can live without money. You cannot live without love…of someone or something. Everyone is forever trying to find love in some way. Everyone is trying to win something. Wanting some satisfaction.” — Paul from “In Search of Satisfaction" by J. California Cooper Relax in Paradise J. California Cooper  and Alastair Reid . Congratulations to all of the Amtrak Residency Program winners! Publishers Weekly wrote about diversity in the publishing industry and realized that it was sorely lacking . Duh. The mother of one of the Columbine shooters is writing a book .  Um...I don't know about this. I'm looking forward to reading The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.  The author, Jeff Hobbs, spoke to an NPR station about the book. Another book I am looking forward to is New York Times columist Charles M. Blow's memoir.  Read an excerpt here . Gabriel Garcia Marquez's books will be released as e-books . R.L. Stine supp...

More books have arrived in the mail so it's time for another edition of Mailbox Monday! I received two books from Harper Books .  One is about college basketball and one is about education, so I may eventually give them to the parents.  My mother is a principal and my stepfather likes reading about sports. Bleeding Orange Lessons of Hope Does any of these titles interest you?  Hit me up in the comments section! Thanks to Harper Books for the ARCs!

Congratulations to all of the National Book Award nominees! The MacArthur genius grants were announced this week and the winners include Columbia native Terrance Hayes. A Brooklyn poet is moving to Detroit after winning the Write a House Project contest . Is Oscar Pistorius trying to pull an OJ and write a book about killing his lover ? Yamma Brown, the daughter of the Godfather of Soul, talks about her parents' abusive relationship and how she fell for an abusive man . Meanwhile, her brother Daryl thinks that James Brown was killed by those in his inner circle .  He must be comparing notes with the Jacksons. The war of Amazon vs. Hatchette continues with Hatchette authors going after Amazon's board. Speaking of Amazon, new Kindles and Kindle Fires were just released , including a version for children. Barnes and Noble has suspended the ability to download their e-books on your personal computer . Maya Lang read To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time and ...

More books have arrived in the mail so it's time for another edition of Mailbox Monday! I received these books two weeks ago.  But due to my busy schedule, I was unable to post them last week.  So here are the books I received from Kensington Publishing : As Close As Sisters The Pleasure Trap Boy Trouble Do you see any books that you would like to read?  Hit me up at the comments section!  Thanks to Kensington for the books!

Relax in Paradise Graham Joyce . Congrats to all of the short-list nominees of the Booker Prize! Here is the 20 most beloved books of all time... according to Facebook . In light of what happened last week when a review about a book about slavery wasn't received well , what happens when book reviews don't go so well ? Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has a book deal . YA author Jane Quin-Harkin says that 80s teen lit never gets old . We are three weeks away from the Gone Girl movie and author Gillian Flynn interviews Rosamund Pike (who plays Amy) for Glamour . Judge Judy is offering her new book for free. There is a new project that will adapt novels to become television series. Don't be surprised if the Lambly (also known as Mariah Carey's fans) come after Nick Cannon for leaving her name off a children's book they were suppose to write together. A teen secretly publishes his mother's manuscript , which boosts her writing career. Please...

Relax in Paradise Joan Rivers ,  Charles Bowden  and A. J. Langguth . Labor Day is over which means lists of fall's anticipated books will be making their arrival.   Here is USA Today's .  And Jason Mott got featured in Wednesday's book section ! A teacher in Maryland was suspended from his teaching job for writing a book about a school shooting .  The school district said that is not the case . Here are 10 things that happen when you can't put down a good book. Sony Pictures has hired someone to find books and develop them into TV shows and movies .  That sounds like a cool job! I'm still trying to figure out why there is a 50 Shades of Gray movie.   Why are there plans for a sequel and why is Kendall Jenner possibly up for a role ? Speaking of those who hustle on a regular basis, Nick Cannon is coming out with a poetry book for children .  And what's going to happen with that children's book he was working on with Mariah since th...