The Reading Diva

Congratulations to all of the National Book Award nominees ! The Man Booker Prize shortlist was announced this week. The New York Times has created a fellowship in the memory of David Carr. Maya Angelou's art collection sold for over $1 million . Looking for some new African-American female authors to read?   Kalisha Buckhanon has some recommendations . Legendary basketball star and author Kareem Abdul Jabbar is now trying his hand at fiction with a new book about Sherlock Holmes' brother . Beverly Jenkins was featured in a recent Book Riot podcast . Shout-out to romance writer Christine Jones, who started a new blog and podcast about African-American romance called  Girl, Have You Read . A woman wrote a book about hiking in the wild  and it's not called Wild. Girl on The Train author Paula Hawkins  may be coming to a city near you ! A new publishing company has been started by a daughter of one of the Koch brothers . Yes, those wealthy broth...

Relax in Paradise Julian Bond and  Russell Poole . Congrats to the nominees of the First Novel Prize  and the St. Francis College Literary Prize ! Sir Elton is not here for banning LGBT books . Other writers are not here for Jonathan Franzen's recent comments . Remember the story about Pat Conroy opening a gym?   A medical scare inspired him to live a healthier life , which eventually lead him to open the gym. Attica Locke talks about writing for books and for the small screen . Here is a new review of The Turner House . This fantasy book written by an African-American man (and with an African-American narrator) sounds interesting. R.L. Stine says  he doesn't like to read nonfiction books . One writer admitted that she hasn't read most of the classics .  I feel you, sister. A new children's book claims to get children to sleep in minutes and people say it works. Soccer star Cari Lloyd will be releasing a memoir . Ballerina Michaela D...

Congrats to Tracey K. Smith, who was named director of Princeton's Program in Creative Writing ! Ida B. Wells was honored with a Google Doodle  yesterday. Is there a third Harper Lee novel out there ?   A fourth ? A Charleston native spoke about his feelings after reading Go Set A Watchman and how it relates to his family and life.  And Jabari Asim has been rethinking his thoughts on To Kill a Mockingbird. Another book that received a lot of hype this week was Ta-Neishi Coates' new book, Between the World and Me.  Based on his Facebook post, Dr. Cornell West wasn't a fan (and Michael Eric Dyson told him to get over it).  And this guy from the New York Times missed the damn point. Booksellers and authors are demanding the federal government investigate Amazon over anti-trust violations. Publishers Weekly is already talking about fall releases.   And The Million has also dropped their list of books to look forward for the rest of the year. ...

Relax in Paradise Franz Wright . Congratulations to Laszlo Krasznahorkai for winning the Man Booker International Prize ! There will be a lot of stories of Judy Blume in anticipation of her new (adult) book.  Here are some stories here , here and here . An illustrated version of Toni Morrison's Beloved is being released. Taiye Selasi wrote a series of short stories for Dove  (the soap/shampoo, not the chocolate). Soror Angela Flournoy wrote about Detroit's recovery in this essay . Mat Johnson wrote about being biracial in this essay .   Here is a map of the most popular books in each state . I'm not surprised that The Prince of Tides is the most popular book in South Carolina because ya'll know how much we love Pat Conroy. Here are some books to tie you over the series finale of Mad Men and the season finale of Scandal . The BBC is making a movie about the Bronte sisters' lives . The director of The Help is directing The Girl on the Train mov...

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...

Congratulations to all of the Triangle Award and Edgar Award winners!  Congrats also go to Marion Coutts for winning the Wellcome Book Prize ! The Broadway musical Fun Home, which is based off an autobiography ( that caused much controversy at one of the local colleges two years ago ), was nominated for 12 Tony Awards. More than 90 authors are protesting PEN American Center giving a free speech award to Charlie Hebdo .  But Salman Rushdie feels that the authors should get over it . Publishers Weekly has come out with their Summer Reads book list for 2015!  So has Huffington Post . Angela Fournoy's The Turner House was reviewed in the New York Times ! And Roxane Gay reviewed God Help the Child for The Guardian. Speaking of Toni Morrison, if you were like me and missed her speak during her short book tour this week, here is video of her event in New York City on Monday . And this chick got to meet Toni .  I'm jealous. Here are some new stories abo...

Relax in Paradise Gunter Grass and Edwardo Galeno . Congratulations to all of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominees , the Pen Award nominees and the  International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards ! Haruki Murakami and Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche made this year's  Time 100 Most Influential People list . The American Library Association named the most challenged/banned books of 2014 . It also shows that authors of color are the most affected by book banning attempts. Tavis Smiley has been winning lately.  His latest book, My Journey with Maya (which he talks about here ), will become a Broadway play.  Now Death of a King will be adapted for TV . This looks like an ordinary press release about TVOne's future projects .  But if you scroll down to the end of the movie section of the article, you will find that TWO of ReShonda Tate Billingsley's books will be movies next year. Can someone ask BET what happened to the Let the Church Say A...

The last few weeks has been a roller coaster.  My grandaunt passed away last Friday, while I was still mourning the loss over a classmate who died suddenly.  I was also fighting something that was going on in my nasal passages (the doctor said a virus, I say it was allergies).  On top of that, the shooting of Walter Scott happened and when the video came out, the whole incident blew up.  I hate that my hometown will now be associated in the same vain as Ferguson, New York City, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Sanford. Thank God local and state law enforcement took quick action on this or it would have been a ton of chaos on the streets.  Ironically, news of the first video came out when I was having dinner with Lisa from Reads for Pleasure (who was in town on vacation), who lives not far from Ferguson.  And it has been a busy month with work and sorority events. I also decided earlier this week that I was not going to go t...

So I got a Kindle Fire HD 6 now. As many of you know, I go out of town a lot for my job and exhibit at conferences.  At the conference I was at this week, one of the tables was giving away the Kindle Fire.  The person at the table encouraged me to enter the giveaway. So I did and thought nothing about it...until yesterday when they called my name that I had won.  As of this writing, I have not turned it on and set it up (it was a long day yesterday).  And some of you also know that I've had a Nook Color for years .  So if you own one of these Kindles and would like to give me tips on how to work it, or even tell me if you like it (or not), please feel free to drop a line in the comments. Congratulations to the winners of the National Book Awards ! A special shout-out goes to Jacqueline Woodson, who won for Brown Girl Dreaming ! Sadly, Woodson's win was overshadowed by Daniel Handler 's (AKA Lemony Snicket) jokes during the award show .  But he has ...