The Reading Diva

Today's Friday Reads is God Help The Child by Toni Morrison.  My book club is meeting for the first time in a while on Sunday and this is the book that was selected.  I'm more than half-way through and I'm still trying to figure out where this book's going.  It seems like several of the members have read it and enjoyed it. At least the place we're having the meeting has awesome food. Relax in Paradise Ann McGovern,   Brook Stephenson  and David Nobbs . A 100-year-old J. R. R. Tolkien book will be published . Another deceased author that will also have his work published is Truman Capote .  There will also be a book about his friendship with Harper Lee. Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxane Gay TOGETHER  in one article, interviewing each other. Roxane is also working on a Young Adult novel that will be released in 2017. James McBride's next book will be about James Brown . Romance writer Beverly Jenkins talks about her frustration when she st...

Relax in Paradise Ruth Rendell , Josh Ozersky and Marcia Brown . Congratulations to Alice Notely for winning the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize ! Ashley and Jaquavis aren't my cup of tea, but their hustle game is impeccable . Roxane Gay got to talk to Toni Morrison ! Here is an podcast about the new book The Fishermen . Here is a nice review of Pleasantville.   And one on Ordinary Light . Thank God the Internet wasn't around when Marvin Gaye dated and married his second wife .  He would have been the R. Kelly and Tyga of the 1970s. The Mindy Project may be over on Fox, but at least Mindy Kaling can celebrate her new book . ABC show Resurrection, which was based off the Jason Mott book (and not the British TV show), has been canceled .  I think I may put my thoughts into why in another post. The Warmth of Other Suns is being developed as a drama for FX . The Magicians is also being developed for television . So is the Bone Street Rumba series . Reese Wit...

My Friday Reads is the hit The Girl on the Train. I finally got it from the library this week after waiting over a month for to get it.  The library has to keep ordering copies because it's so popular and people keep putting it on hold. The hold list was in the 200s when I put it on hold and now there are over 500 holds.  I hope to start it today or tomorrow.  I hope it's worth the wait. Relax in Paradise  Mal Peet . Congratulations to all of the LA Times Book Prize nominees  and the Lambda Literary Award nominees ! The image for Maya Angelou stamp has been revealed . Hey Ya'll! Paula Deen is on the comeback trail with a new book deal . In today's "Crazy Politician Gets A Book Deal" post, Sen. Ted Cruz is releasing a book in June . Semi-retired NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw is releasing a book about his recent bought with cancer . Fresh off of the end of Parks and Recreation, fellow South Carolinian Aziz Ansari is releasing a book about moder...

  By the time your read this, there is a good chance that I've finished this book, but I'm going to tell you about it anyway. My Friday Reads is Into the Go-Slow by Bridgett Davis . It's 1987 and Angie's life has been stuck in neutral since her older sister Ella died in Nigeria three years earlier.  After college graduation, she decides to go to Nigeria to trace her sister's last days and finds herself in the meantime.  I decided to bump this book to the top of my reading list after the Blerd Book Club decided to make it their January section.  I've enjoyed it, but since I'm close to the end, the route it has taken the last few pages I've read has me scratching my head.  I look forward to the discussion about the book on February 8. Relax in Paradise Margaret Bloy Graham , Tadeusz Konwicki , and Colleen McCullough . Publishers Weekly has a list of the most anticipated book adaptations (on the big screen) of 2015. Sim...

2013 was an eventful year in my literary adventures. 2014...not so much.  I did go to two literary events in Charleston: Nina Foxx (which I helped bring to my local library) and Pearl Cleage during the MOJA Festival.  And as of this writing on Christmas Eve, I have only read 35 books, which is low for me.  Somehow, I lost my reading groove this year.  But I was able to select my favorite books of 2014.  So here they are (in no particular order). Anybody's Daughter : This book was one of my book club selections earlier in the year.  This book about a teen girl who is kidnapped and is forced into the world of sex slavery and trafficking (and the efforts of her uncle and his girlfriend to get her back) was a great read. No wonder it won the NAACP Image Award for Best Fiction of 2013! And it reminded me of the stories I heard about sex trafficking in a conference I was at a few months before I read the book. The Prodigal Son : This is one of my favorite ...

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 ...

Today's Friday Reads is a An Untamed State by Roxane Gay.  It's about a woman who is kidnapped in her parents' home country of Haiti and her family's efforts to get her back.  This is the Book Club Groupies' latest selection and I suppose to have this book done by tomorrow in time for book club meeting (wish me luck). Lately, Roxane has been getting a lot of attention for the other book she released this year, Bad Feminist.  Check out her interview with NPR here .  Read about why she's a Bad Feminist here . And read about her recent unpleasant trip to Best Buy . Relax in Paradise Billie Letts  and Dorothy Salisbury Davis . Time to vote for the African-American Literary Awards ! Deadline is September 7! J. K Rowling sent a letter to a Texas girl who lost her parents and siblings in a shooting. Looks like libraries are struggling with ebooks . Why I am not surprised? Sony e-readers are going in the way of Walkmans, Diskmans and mini-CDs.  What ...

Several months ago at the National Conference on Health Disparities (the conference that sent me to St. Thomas), I heard from several panelists regarding human trafficking for labor and sexual purposes.  The one that touched me the most was hearing from Lisa Williams, who is the founder of Living Waters and Circle of Friends in Atlanta.  For the last several years, Lisa has helped girls escape sex trafficking, violence and street life.  Everyone was moved when she discussed the human sex trade among young girls and what they go through. All of this started to come back while I was reading  Anybody's Daughter by Pamela Samuels Young . The Image Award-winning books is about a 13-year-old girl who is kidnapped and winds up in the human sex trade.  Her uncle, along with his girlfriend (who is the main character), tries to find her.  It's sad that what is happening to girls around the world is not fiction.  I am reading this book for my book club and ...

My Friday Reads is Nikki Giovanni's new book, Chasing Utopia.  I am borrowing this book from a coworker and as always with Soror Nikki's work, I am really enjoying it.  What book do you plan to read this weekend? Relax in Paradise Alexandros Petersen . Last weekend there were memorial services for Wanda Coleman and  Amiri Baraka . Kenyan author Binyavagan Wainaian came out in a new essay , partly inspired by recent anti-gay legislation in Uganda and Nigeria. More Gone Girl Movie News: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross will score the film.   And the end was changed for the movie . Maybe _____ will get what's coming to him/her.

My Friday Reads is Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward.  Just started reading it, but so far, so good. Congratulations to the Whiting Writers' Award winners ! Blame Uncle Steve and Supahead for this one: Will the celebrity self-help book trend ever die ? Following Jaycee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart, two of the three women held captive in Cleveland for a decade are writing about their experience .  BTW, Jaycee's book was really good. Be on the lookout for the tons of books coming out about JFK . Edwidge Danticat talks about her new book in Ebony . In light of Grambling State's troubles, it may be a good time to pick up Breaking The Line .  Author Samuel Freedman writes about it in this essay for ESPN . James Bond, Jeeves and Philip Marlowe have returned , thanks to new authors who have picked up the characters after their creators have passed on. Here are five things you didn't know about Maurice Sendak . And speaking of Sendak, this year is the 50th an...