Black Authors & Readers Rock Weekend on October 19-20, 2012

BLACK AUTHORS & READERS ROCK!
The Reading Divas Book Club will host its 2012 event on Friday & Saturday October 19 & 20, 2012 at the Metro Points Hotel, 8500 Annapolis Road, in New Carrollton, Maryland.

Friday 8-11 pm
Reception/Book Club Meeting
Featuring Dr. Daniel Black

Saturday Morning 9-11
Workshops/Panels
Noon Luncheon
Featuring Mary Monroe

Early Bird Tickets/(after 9/15)
Friday Only – $20/($30)
Saturday Only – $40/($50)
Combined Ticket – $55/($75)

To buy tickets, go to www.readersrock.eventbrite.com or send certified check or money order to
The Reading Divas, P O Box 102, Glenndale, MD 20769.

Make it a weekend event! Call for your reservations at Metro Points TODAY! (301) 459-6700

Event: Mindshift 2012

Mindshift 2012 is a panel discussion will be taking place on Saturday March 10, 2012 from
12PM – 2PM.

The event, being held in celebration of Women’s History Month, brings together an eclectic mix of writers and authors will be hosting an open discussion with the public. The event is FREE to the public.

Come Out and be part of the conversation!

Event location: Carson Regional Library, 151 E. Carson St, Carson CA 90745

Contact:
Professor Robyn McGee, California State University Dominguez Hills , robynmarie1973@yahoo.com
Author & Poet Cherise Charleswell, eclecticlifediva@yahoo.com

2011′s Bestselling African American Books

Here’s a list of 2011′s bestselling African American books from Amazon.com.

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
   (Berkley, 2011-04-05, Kindle Edition)
   

   The wildly popular New York Times bestseller and reading group favorite. Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who’s always taken orders quietly, but lately she’s unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She’s full of ambition, but without a husband, she’s considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town…

    

2. Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson
   (Little, Brown and Company, 2011-11-14, Kindle Edition)
   

   The President’s son and daughter are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high-up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark.A deadly contagion in the water supply cripples half of the capital, and Alex discovers that someone may be about to unleash the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. As his window for solving both crimes narrows, Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes–one that may alter the fate of the entire country. KILL ALEX CROSS is faster, more exciting, and more tightly wound than any Alex Cross thriller James Patterson has ever written!

    

3. Summer Heat by Sable Jordan
   (Fresh Whet INK, 2011-06-14, Kindle Edition)
   

   Sizzling hot erotic reads from some of the freshest voices in the genre. Summer just got hotter! Featuring the deliciously naughty writings of Ms. Downlow, The Kween, Perri Forrest, and Sable Jordan.In “Downsized”, a successful young architect is attracted to her hot new neighbor, but what seems like a night destined for sexual ecstasy turns frosty fast when assumptions are made.”Ninety Days” is the story of a wife who’s done everything for her man; the marriage, the baby-carriage…and the threesome–all of which he wanted. But when the other woman likes her more than her hubby, she’s forced to choose between family and her newfound sexual desires. Next up is the stirring tale of a woman coming to terms with love, sex, and self. A break-up brings her some needed peace, but a chance meeting sets the “Butterflies in Motion”. The final entry, “Shaken and Stirred”, tells the adventure of a secret agent with a simple objective: Steal a formula while attending the festivities on the villain’s luxury yacht. There’s just one problem–she has no idea it’s a BDSM party.

    

4. The Leak by K’wan
   (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2011-09-27, Kindle Edition)
   

   The Leak is a complimentary short prequel story that leads into K’wan’s hit novel, Welfare Wifeys.

    

5. Fated: Torn Apart by History, Bound for Eternity by Carolyn McCray
   (Off Our Meds Multi Media, 2011-05-13, Kindle Edition)
   

   From Carolyn McCray comes a historical romance that will leave you hoping that for once, fate will be kind. You will be gripped from the first page to the last, caught in a love that spans eons and an ancient political intrigue whose consequence still reverberates today. This is truly a masterpiece that stays with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

    

6. Secrets Buried in the Soul (Why Settle For Less?) by Déborah Kabwang
   (2011-04-19, Kindle Edition)
   

   Laurymimi Neeyah Kléber is a recent college graduate, living in Dallas, TX. She is young, beautiful, and very single. She is excitingly moving out of her parents’ house and moving to Atlanta with her best friend, Renee. Upon her move to her new city, things get a little bit complicated. Like every other girl, she wants to feel loved! She hopes to find the “Man of God” that her heart longs for and is longing for the man who will complete her. As she struggles to maintain a Christian lifestyle and to focus on grad school all at once, trouble comes knocking at her door. She suddenly faces one of the most difficult decisions of her life. Will she choose Tony Rose, the “Charming Beau,” who she left behind in Dallas? Or, will it be, Cameron Levi, who just seems too good to be true? Will she compromise and forget everything she stands for just to be with “The One?” Once her decision is made without consulting God, it almost kills her and dramatically flips her life upside down. Love, Lies and Secrets…

    

7. An Invisible Thread by Alex Tresniowski
   (Howard Books, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   “Excuse me lady, do you have any spare change? I am hungry.”When I heard him, I didn’t really hear him. His words were part of the clatter, like a car horn or someone yelling for a cab. They were, you could say, just noise—the kind of nuisance New Yorkers learn to tune out. So I walked right by him, as if he wasn’t there. But then, just a few yards past him, I stopped. And then—and I’m still not sure why I did this—I came back. When Laura Schroff first met Maurice on a New York City street corner, she had no idea that she was standing on the brink of an incredible and unlikely friendship that would inevitably change both their lives. As one lunch at McDonald’s with Maurice turns into two, then into a weekly occurrence that is fast growing into an inexplicable connection, Laura learns heart-wrenching details about Maurice’s horrific childhood.

    

8. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
   (Broadway, 2011-03-08, Paperback)
   

   Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave. Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family—past and present—is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

    

9. Deadly Desires by Ann Christopher
   (Kensington Books, 2011-10-04, Kindle Edition)
   

   How can you plan a future. . .After a desperate struggle to sever ties with her husband, Kira Gregory is suddenly a free woman. She can start a new life without guns, drugs, dirty money, or fear. But Kira’s newfound independence seems too good to be true. And it is. . .When you can’t outrun your past? DEA Special Agent Dexter Brady spent months trying to get Kira’s husband, Kareem Gregory, off the streets, but he has never come to terms with his growing feelings for Kira. He knows that any sort of a relationship with her is a recipe for disaster, but when danger finds Kira again, Dexter will bend every rule, face any enemy, and make any sacrifice to keep the woman he loves safe from harm. . .Praise for the novels of Ann Christopher”…(an) exciting romantic thriller.” –Publishers Weekly on Deadly PursuitP>”Trouble is a sultry romance…” –The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers”A brilliant and tasteful novel about love, tragedy, heartbreak and forgiveness.” –Romantic Times on Risk

    

10. Salvage the Bones: A Novel by Jesmyn Ward
    (Bloomsbury USA, 2011-08-30, Kindle Edition)
    

    Winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction.A hurricane is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch’s father is growing concerned. A hard drinker, largely absent, he doesn’t show concern for much else. Esch and her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn’t much to save. Lately, Esch can’t keep down what food she gets; she’s fourteen and pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pitbull’s new litter, dying one by one in the dirt. While brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child’s play and short on parenting. As the twelve days that comprise the novel’s framework yield to the final day and Hurricane Katrina, the unforgettable family at the novel’s heart–motherless children sacrificing for each other as they can, protecting and nurturing where love is scarce–pulls itself up to struggle for another day. A wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal, and restrictive realities of rural poverty, Salvage the Bone is muscled with poetry, revelatory, and real.

     

11. Me And My Bitch by David Weaver
    (SBR Publications, 2011-09-12, Kindle Edition)
    

    What happens when a double crossed female goes to the greatest of all possible extremes to get her revenge? Absolute mayhem! This is a mind twisting, unpredictable, romantic nail biter from the same veins that brought you “A Love Story,” and “Bankroll Squad!”The twists in this book are guaranteed to blow you away all the way to the last paragraph. This is that “I didn’t see that coming” at it’s very BEST!Brisk paced and will not bore you even for a minute. A winding roller coaster of events that will leave you speechless. You will not forget this story!!

     

12. Nasty Secrets by La’Tonya West
    (La’Tonya West, 2011-05-06, Kindle Edition)
    

    Jasmine has a good thing going with her boyfriend, Nathan. He is a hardworking man and gives her anything she wants. Well almost anything…there’s one thing that she wants that he or any other man can’t give her. That’s where his sister Erika comes in. Erika has been having a hard time back in New York, so Nathan asked her to come and live with him and Jasmine for a while until she got on her feet. Big mistake! Erika is openly gay and doesn’t try in any way to hide her love and appreciation of women. From the first time that Jasmine and Erika lay eyes on each other they both realize that there is something between the two of them. When Nathan takes a business trip out of town the two of them explore what has been brewing between them all along but after one steamy and satisfying night together the two of them are hooked. They began a hot lust-filled romance that becomes harder and harder to hide with each encounter. Jasmine soon falls in love with Erika and makes up her mind to break things off with Nathan. She doesn’t want to hurt him but she can’t change the way she feels about his sister. Nathan has been so wrapped up in his work that he hasn’t even noticed what has been going on right up under his nose. Or has he? Is there also a secret that he is hiding? Could it be that work isn’t all that has him distracted?

     

13. Deja (Deja series) by Tajana Sutton
    (2011-05-18, Kindle Edition)
    

    After witnessing the murder suicide of her parents at age 10, being mistreated by her grandmother and betrayed in past relationships, Deja finally found peace in her life. Her best friend Jade introduced her to Xavier Jones. He was the partner/cousin of Jade s boyfriend Jay. She got everything a woman could ever want; the man, the ring, and the baby, but Jay s ex Mona felt that was her position and she wouldn’t stop until she reclaimed the spot. Xavier and Jay had recently retired from the drug game as millionaires but that came with a price and much drama. Xavier s baby mama Latasha wasn t too happy about him either and about him settling down with Deja. She felt she had the baby, so she should have the man as well and she tried everything in her power to break them up until she realized the joke was on her, but it was too late…

     

14. Envy by Lexy Harper
    (Ebonique Publishing, 2011-08-07, Kindle Edition)
    

    Dee and Nina have been best friends since they were little girls and have what everyone thinks is the perfect friendship. In reality Nina is insanely jealous of Dee’s blissful nine-year marriage to childhood sweetheart, Oliver – a man Nina has wanted since she was thirteen. How far will Nina go to steal her best friend’s husband? Would she: a) Tell him that Dee’s been unfaithful to him. b) Give him a blow job that blows his mind. c) Murder Dee. d) All of the above. How well does Dee know her best friend? Will Nina resort to murder to get what she wants? Surely not!

     

15. LAW AND DISORDER: PARTNERS UNDERCOVER by Toye Lawson Brown
    (Books By Toye, 2011-11-10, Kindle Edition)
    

    Morgan Dane lived life on the edge as a member of the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force; hunting criminals was in her blood. Not one to live the fast life or fall in love easily, she prided herself on being focused and not letting outside influences interfere with hunting Cleveland’s most notorious drug dealer, Anton Jackson. Once her beloved partner retires, she fails to make a connection with a number of partners before settling in with Agent Adam Cabrera; the handsome Latino transfer from Miami, Florida. It wasn’t love at first sight or a perfect paring but Agent Paul Hamilton’s mission was to change Morgan Dane’s cold resistance towards love. How will these three work together? Will they find the professionalism to handle the high profile case that they will become deeply entangled in or will they find friendship once common ground has been established? Step in Carmen Maria, the one person to make sure Morgan Dane makes this partnership work with Adam Cabrera on and off the field.Follow the intrigue, suspense and light comedy of this novel of love and hate to find out the twists, turns and events leading up to the perfect match for these displaced team members.

     

16. Deja 2: Unfinished Business (Deja series) by Tajana Sutton
    (2011-02-27, Kindle Edition)
    

    Despite all the drama Deja and Jade had to endure just to be with millionaires, Xavier and Jay, they were finally happy and drama free. Mona and Latasha were finally out of their lives, or are they? After years of hurtful childhood memories, Deja was now content with the life she was dealt and Jade had finally gotten what she longed for. They lived very happy and wealthy lives until they got the shock of a lifetime. The one person they thought was long gone is back for revenge. He wants what he feels belong to him. His plan is to take down any and everybody that gets in his way. But, will Xavier and Jay let that go down? Retired drug dealers turned business men, Xavier and Jay will be forced to re-enter a life they once left behind. You are about to enter a world of love, deceit, and murder. Deja will be left to make a decision between life and death…But who’s?

     

17. Bankroll Squad 2: Kyla’s Revenge by David Weaver
    (SBR Publication, 2011-06-26, Kindle Edition)
    

    ~An instant classic! One of the best urban novels of this year! ~Author of Deadly Sound ~No one twists plots with as much unpredictablility as David Weaver. ~Author of Mother Heart. The highly anticipated sequel to the best-selling urban novel, “Bankroll Squad.” The men ruled the streets in the first book, but now the women take center stage in this action packed dramatical love story. David Weaver’s clever plot twists will continue to shock and amaze you all the way to the very last page. Picture “Set it Off” meets “New Jack City” meets “Bonnie and Clyde.” ~Writer David Weaver is poised to be the next big thing. His level of creativity and timing are natural talents that can not be taught. ~Sentinel Press

     

18. This Can’t be Life by Shakara Cannon
    (Infinite Source Publishing, 2011-04-30, Kindle Edition)
    

    Simone, Stacey, and Talise are your typical best friends navigating life. They brush shoulders with entertainment s elite and experience great successes. Simone is living an extravagant lifestyle, which some may say has come to her easily. She doesn’t trust men and is willing to remain guarded to protect herself. Even though star NBA player, Deon Bradford a good guy, looking for a woman to love him for him has her in his sights, and is making every effort to bring down her guard, Simone remains distrustful. She feels that she can do without a man’s love, until an unsuspecting man comes into her life and shows her what true love is really like, but is he who he portrays himself to be or will Deon win her heart? Talise is the romantic, who dreams of a marriage just like her parents. When she meets a man that she knows is her soul-mate, but later finds out that they stand on opposite sides of religion, will this be a deal breaker? Stacey is the brother, the shoulder, and the comic relief, but when Stacey falls in love, he falls hard. Will his need to give into his heart cost him the ultimate price? Once the secrets start tumbling out of the closets and no door is able to contain them, who do you turn to when your reality feels like a dream and you are sure that this can t be life?

     

2011′s African American Political Bestsellers

1. The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity by Jeffrey D. Sachs
   (Random House, 2011-10-04, Hardcover)
   

   For more than three decades, Jeffrey D. Sachs has been at the forefront of international economic problem solving.  But Sachs turns his attention back home in The Price of Civilization, a book that is essential reading for every American. In a forceful, impassioned, and personal voice, he offers not only a searing and incisive diagnosis of our country’s economic ills but also an urgent call for Americans to restore the virtues of fairness, honesty, and foresight as the foundations of national prosperity.As he has done in dozens of countries around the world in the midst of economic crises, Sachs turns his unique diagnostic skills to what ails the American economy. He finds that both political parties—and many leading economists—have missed the big picture, offering shortsighted solutions such as stimulus spending or tax cuts to address complex economic problems that require deeper solutions. Sachs argues that we have profoundly underestimated globalization’s long-term effects on our country, which create deep and largely unmet challenges with regard to jobs, incomes, poverty, and the environment. America’s single biggest economic failure, Sachs argues, is its inability to come to grips with the new global economic realities.Yet Sachs goes deeper than an economic diagnosis. By taking a broad, holistic approach—looking at domestic politics, geopolitics, social psychology, and the natural environment as well—Sachs reveals the larger fissures underlying our country’s current crisis. He shows how Washington has consistently failed to address America’s economic needs. He describes a political system that has lost its ethical moorings, in which ever-rising campaign contributions and lobbying outlays overpower the voice of the citizenry. He also looks at the crisis in our culture, in which an overstimulated and consumption-driven populace in a ferocious quest for wealth now suffers shortfalls of social trust, honesty, and compassion. Finally, Sachs offers a plan to turn the crisis around. He argues persuasively that the problem is not America’s abiding values, which remain generous and pragmatic, but the ease with which political spin and consumerism run circles around those values. He bids the reader to reclaim the virtues of good citizenship and mindfulness toward the economy and one another. Most important, he bids each of us to accept the price of civilization, so that together we can restore America to its great promise.  The Price of Civilization is a masterly road map for prosperity, founded on America’s deepest values and on a rigorous understanding of the twenty-first-century world economy.

    

2. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
   (Viking Adult, 2011-04-04, Hardcover)
   

   Years in the making–the definitive biography of the legendary black activist. Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins’ bullets at age thirty-nine. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man. In death he became a broad symbol of both resistance and reconciliation for millions around the world. Manning Marable’s new biography of Malcolm is a stunning achievement. Filled with new information and shocking revelations that go beyond the Autobiography, Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of race and class in America, from the rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the struggles of the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties. Reaching into Malcolm’s troubled youth, it traces a path from his parents’ activism through his own engagement with the Nation of Islam, charting his astronomical rise in the world of Black Nationalism and culminating in the never-before-told true story of his assassination. Malcolm X will stand as the definitive work on one of the most singular forces for social change, capturing with revelatory clarity a man who constantly strove, in the great American tradition, to remake himself anew.

    

3. Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to Be Black Now by Touré
   (Free Press, 2011-09-13, Hardcover)
   

   In the age of Obama, racial attitudes have become more complicated and nuanced than ever before. Inspired by a president who is unlike any Black man ever seen on our national stage, we are searching for new ways of understanding Blackness. In this provocative new book, iconic commentator and journalist TourÉ tackles what it means to be Black in America today.TourÉ begins by examining the concept of “Post-Blackness,” a term that defines artists who are proud to be Black but don’t want to be limited by identity politics and boxed in by race. He soon discovers that the desire to be rooted in but not constrained by Blackness is everywhere. In Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness? he argues that Blackness is infinite, that any identity imaginable is Black, and that all expressions of Blackness are legitimate.Here, TourÉ divulges intimate, funny, and painful stories of how race and racial expectations have shaped his life and explores how the concept of Post-Blackness functions in politics, society, psychology, art, culture, and more. He knew he could not tackle this topic all on his own so he turned to 105 of the most important luminaries of our time for frank and thought-provoking opinions, including the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Eric Dyson, Melissa Harris-Perry, Harold Ford Jr., Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley, Glenn Ligon, Paul Mooney, New York Governor David Paterson, Greg Tate, Aaron McGruder, Soledad O’Brien, Kamala Harris, Chuck D, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and many others. By engaging this brilliant, eclectic group, and employing his signature insight, courage, and wit, TourÉ delivers a clarion call on race in America and how we can change our perceptions for a better future. Destroying the notion that there is a correct way of being Black, Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness? will change how we perceive race forever.

    

4. Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family by Condoleezza Rice
   (Three Rivers Press, 2011-10-11, Paperback)
   

   Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, political scientist, and concert pianist.  Her achievements run the gamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europe and the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect the country in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman – and the first black woman ever — to serve as Secretary of State.  But until she was 25 she never learned to swim. Not because she wouldn’t have loved to, but because when she was a little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor decided he’d rather shut down the city’s pools than give black citizens access. Throughout the 1950′s, Birmingham’s black middle class largely succeeded in insulating their children from the most corrosive effects of racism, providing multiple support systems to ensure the next generation would live better than the last.  But by 1963, when Rice was applying herself to her fourth grader’s lessons, the situation had grown intolerable.  Birmingham was an environment where blacks were expected to keep their head down and do what they were told — or face violent consequences. That spring two bombs exploded in Rice’s neighborhood amid a series of chilling Klu Klux Klan attacks.  Months later, four young girls lost their lives in a particularly vicious bombing. So how was Rice able to achieve what she ultimately did? Her father, John, a minister and educator, instilled a love of sports and politics.  Her mother, a teacher, developed Condoleezza’s passion for piano and exposed her to the fine arts.  From both, Rice learned the value of faith in the face of hardship and the importance of giving back to the community.  Her parents’ fierce unwillingness to set limits propelled her to the venerable halls of Stanford University, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become the university’s second-in-command.  An expert in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs, she played a leading role in U.S. policy as the Iron Curtain fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated.  Less than a decade later, at the apex of the hotly contested 2000 presidential election, she received the exciting news – just shortly before her father’s death – that she would go on to the White House as the first female National Security Advisor.   As comfortable describing lighthearted family moments as she is recalling the poignancy of her mother’s cancer battle and the heady challenge of going toe-to-toe with Soviet leaders, Rice holds nothing back in this remarkably candid telling. This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl – and a young woman — trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world and of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community, that made all the difference.From the Hardcover edition.

    

5. The President’s Girlfriend by Mallory Monroe
   (AUSTIN BROOK PUBLISHING, 2011-08-16, Kindle Edition)
   

   When Regina Lansing, an activist attorney from Newark, New Jersey, catches the eye of the President of the United States, she assumes it’s because of her outspoken stance against his tough policies. But when they meet, and sparks fly, she discovers the soul mate she never dreamed would come her way. Walter “Dutch” Harber, the gorgeous bachelor president, has his hands full with a combative Congress and an upcoming reelection bid. But when he meets Gina, this voluptuous black woman with all the right curves, he finds in her a strong, independent equal who keeps him intellectually-challenged publicly and sexually-energized privately, so much so that he becomes convinced that he has finally met the love of his life.But Washington politics won’t give this interracial couple an easy ride, as they must battle forces from within and forces from without that seek to tear down everything they have fought so hard to build up. And just when they thought they had endured every knockout punch imaginable, another curve is tossed their way with the kind of implications, the kind of jarring reality, that can not only destroy a love affair, but can bring down an entire presidency.

    

6. The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World by Dave Zirin
   (Haymarket Books, 2011-10-04, Hardcover)
   

   Seen around the world, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power salute on the 1968 Olympicpodium sparked controversy and career fallout. Yet their show of defiance remains one of the most iconicimages of Olympic history and the Black Power movement. Here is the remarkable story of one of the menbehind the salute, lifelong activist John Carlos.John Carlos is an African American former track and field athlete, professional football player, and a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. He won the bronze medal in the 200 meters race at the 1968 Olympics, where his Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy. The John Carlos Story is his first book.Dave Zirin is the author of four books, including Bad Sports, A People’s History of Sports in the United States, and What’s My Name, Fool? He writes the popular weekly online sports column “The Edge of Sports” and is a regular contributor to SportsIllustrated.com, SLAM, Los Angeles Times, and The Nation, where he is the publication’s first sports editor.

    

7. Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America by Melissa V. Harris-Perry
   (Yale University Press, 2011-09-20, Hardcover)
   

   Jezebel’s sexual lasciviousness, Mammy’s devotion, and Sapphire’s outspoken anger—these are among the most persistent stereotypes that black women encounter in contemporary American life. Hurtful and dishonest, such representations force African American women to navigate a virtual crooked room that shames them and shapes their experiences as citizens. Many respond by assuming a mantle of strength that may convince others, and even themselves, that they do not need help. But as a result, the unique political issues of black women are often ignored and marginalized.In this groundbreaking book, Melissa V. Harris-Perry uses multiple methods of inquiry, including literary analysis, political theory, focus groups, surveys, and experimental research, to understand more deeply black women’s political and emotional responses to pervasive negative race and gender images. Not a traditional political science work concerned with office-seeking, voting, or ideology, Sister Citizen instead explores how African American women understand themselves as citizens and what they expect from political organizing. Harris-Perry shows that the shared struggle to preserve an authentic self and secure recognition as a citizen links together black women in America, from the anonymous survivors of Hurricane Katrina to the current First Lady of the United States. (20110314)

    

8. The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency by Randall Kennedy
   (Pantheon, 2011-08-16, Hardcover)
   

   Timely—as the 2012 presidential election nears—and controversial, here is the first book by a major African-American public intellectual on racial politics and the Obama presidency. Renowned for his cool reason vis-à-vis the pitfalls and clichés of racial discourse, Randall Kennedy—Harvard professor of law and author of the New York Times best seller Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word—gives us a keen and shrewd analysis of the complex relationship between the first black president and his African-American constituency. Kennedy tackles such hot-button issues as the nature of racial opposition to Obama, whether Obama has a singular responsibility to African Americans, electoral politics and cultural chauvinism, black patriotism, the differences in Obama’s presentation of himself to blacks and to whites, the challenges posed by the dream of a postracial society, and the far-from-simple symbolism of Obama as a leader of the Joshua generation in a country that has elected only three black senators and two black governors in its entire history. Eschewing the critical excesses of both the left and the right, Kennedy offers a gimlet-eyed view of Obama’s triumphs and travails, his strengths and weaknesses, as they pertain to the troubled history of race in America.

    

9. Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home by Anita Hill
   (Beacon Press, 2011-10-04, Hardcover)
   

   From the heroic lawyer who spoke out against Clarence Thomas in the historic confirmation hearings twenty years ago, Anita Hill’s first book since the best-selling Speaking Truth to Power.In 1991, Anita Hill’s courageous testimony during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings sparked a national conversation on sexual harassment and women’s equality in politics and the workplace. Today, she turns her attention to another potent and enduring symbol of economic success and equality—the home. Hill details how the current housing crisis, resulting in the devastation of so many families, so many communities, and even whole cities, imperils every American’s ability to achieve the American Dream. Hill takes us on a journey that begins with her own family story and ends with the subprime mortgage meltdown. Along the way, she invites us into homes across America, rural and urban, and introduces us to some extraordinary African American women. As slavery ended, Mollie Elliott, Hill’s ancestor, found herself with an infant son and no husband. Yet, she bravely set course to define for generations to come what it meant to be a free person of color. On the eve of the civil rights and women’s rights movements, Lorraine Hansberry’s childhood experience of her family’s fight against racial restrictions in a Chicago neighborhood ended tragically for the Hansberry family. Yet, that episode shaped Lorraine’s hopeful account of early suburban integration in her iconic American drama A Raisin in the Sun.  Two decades later, Marla, a divorced mother, endeavors to keep her children safe from a growing gang presence in 1980s Los Angeles. Her story sheds light on the fears and anxiety countless parents faced during an era of growing neighborhood isolation, and that continue today. In the midst of the 2008 recession, hairdresser Anjanette Booker’s dogged determination to keep her Baltimore home and her salon reflects a commitment to her own independence and to her community’s economic and social viability. Finally, Hill shares her own journey to a place and a state of being at home that brought her from her roots in rural Oklahoma to suburban Boston, Massachusetts, and connects her own search for home with that of women and men set adrift during the foreclosure crisis.  The ability to secure a place that provides access to every opportunity our country has to offer is central to the American Dream. To achieve that ideal, Hill argues, we and our leaders must engage in a new conversation about what it takes to be at home in America. Pointing out that the inclusive democracy our Constitution promises is bigger than the current debate about legal rights, she presents concrete proposals that encourage us to reimagine equality. Hill offers a twenty-first-century vision of America—not a vision of migration, but one of roots; not one simply of tolerance, but one of belonging; not just of rights, but also of community—a community of equals.

    

10. American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation by Michael Kazin
    (Knopf, 2011-08-23, Hardcover)
    

    A panoramic yet intimate history of the American left—of the reformers, radicals, and idealists who have fought for a more just and humane society, from the abolitionists to Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky—that gives us a revelatory new way of looking at two centuries of American politics and culture. Michael Kazin—one of the most respected historians of the American left working today—takes us from abolitionism and early feminism to the labor struggles of the industrial age, through the emergence of anarchists, socialists, and communists, right up to the New Left in the 1960s and ’70s. While the history of the left is a long story of idealism and determination, it has also been, in the traditional view, a story of movements that failed to gain support from mainstream America. In American Dreamers, Kazin tells a new history: one in which many of these movements, although they did not fully succeed on their own terms, nonetheless made lasting contributions to American society that led to equal opportunity for women, racial minorities, and homosexuals; the celebration of sexual pleasure; multiculturalism in the media and the schools; and the popularity of books and films with altruistic and antiauthoritarian messages. Deeply informed, at once judicious and impassioned, and superbly written, American Dreamers is an essential book for our times and for anyone seeking to understand our political history and the people who made it.

     

11. The Black History of the White House (City Lights Open Media) by Clarence Lusane
    (City Lights Publishers, 2011-01-01, Paperback)
    

    “Clarence Lusane is one of America’s most thoughtful and critical thinkers on issues of race, class and power.”—Manning Marable”Barack Obama may be the first black president in the White House, but he’s far from the first black person to work in it. In this fascinating history of all the enslaved people, workers and entertainers who spent time in the president’s official residence over the years, Clarence Lusane restores the White House to its true colors.” –Barbara EhrenreichThe Black History of the White House presents the untold history, racial politics, and shifting significance of the White House as experienced by African Americans, from the generations of enslaved people who helped to build it or were forced to work there to its first black First Family, the Obamas.Clarence Lusane juxtaposes significant events in White House history with the ongoing struggle for democratic, civil, and human rights by black Americans and demonstrates that only during crises have presidents used their authority to advance racial justice. He describes how in 1901 the building was officially named the “White House” amidst a furious backlash against President Roosevelt for inviting Booker T. Washington to dinner, and how that same year that saw the consolidation of white power with the departure of the last black Congressmember elected after the Civil War. Lusane explores how, from its construction in 1792 to its becoming the home of the first black president, the White House has been a prism through which to view the progress and struggles of black Americans seeking full citizenship and justice.Dr. Clarence Lusane has published in The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, Oakland Tribune, Black Scholar, and Race and Class. He often appears on PBS, BET, C-SPAN, and other national media. The author of several books and former

     

12. At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance–A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power (Vintage) by Danielle L. McGuire
    (Vintage, 2011-10-04, Paperback)
    

    Rosa Parks was often described as a sweet and reticent elderly woman whose tired feet caused her to defy segregation on Montgomery’s city buses, and whose supposedly solitary, spontaneous act sparked the 1955 bus boycott that gave birth to the civil rights movement. The truth of who Rosa Parks was and what really lay beneath the 1955 boycott is far different from anything previously written. In this groundbreaking and important book, Danielle McGuire writes about the rape in 1944 of a twenty-four-year-old mother and sharecropper, Recy Taylor, who strolled toward home after an evening of singing and praying at the Rock Hill Holiness Church in Abbeville, Alabama. Seven white men, armed with knives and shotguns, ordered the young woman into their green Chevrolet, raped her, and left her for dead. The president of the local NAACP branch office sent his best investigator and organizer to Abbeville. Her name was Rosa Parks. In taking on this case, Parks launched a movement that ultimately changed the world.The author gives us the never-before-told history of how the civil rights movement began; how it was in part started in protest against the ritualistic rape of black women by white men who used economic intimidation, sexual violence, and terror to derail the freedom movement; and how those forces persisted unpunished throughout the Jim Crow era when white men assaulted black women to enforce rules of racial and economic hierarchy. Black women’s protests against sexual assault and interracial rape fueled civil rights campaigns throughout the South that began during World War II and went through to the Black Power movement. The Montgomery bus boycott was the baptism, not the birth, of that struggle. At the Dark End of the Street describes the decades of degradation black women on the Montgomery city buses endured on their way to cook and clean for their white bosses. It reveals how Rosa Parks, by 1955 one of the most radical activists in Alabama, had had enough. “There had to be a stopping place,” she said, “and this seemed to be the place for me to stop being pushed around.” Parks refused to move from her seat on the bus, was arrested, and, with fierce activist Jo Ann Robinson, organized a one-day bus boycott.The protest, intended to last twenty-four hours, became a yearlong struggle for dignity and justice. It broke the back of the Montgomery city bus lines and bankrupted the company.We see how and why Rosa Parks, instead of becoming a leader of the movement she helped to start, was turned into a symbol of virtuous black womanhood, sainted and celebrated for her quiet dignity, prim demeanor, and middle-class propriety—her radicalism all but erased. And we see as well how thousands of black women whose courage and fortitude helped to transform America were reduced to the footnotes of history.A controversial, moving, and courageous book; narrative history at its best.From the Hardcover edition.

     

News: President Obama visits D.C.’s Kramerbooks

Three Questions for a Bookseller: Kramerbooks in Washington, D.C.
Marc Schultz
Dec 02, 2011

Question of the Month: What are you looking to give this season?

News: Author Derrick Bell, Law Professor and Rights Advocate, Dies at 80

Derrick Bell, a legal scholar who saw persistent racism in America and sought to expose it through books, articles and provocative career moves — he gave up a Harvard Law School professorship to protest the school’s hiring practices — died on Wednesday in Manhattan.

See more at New York Times.
By FRED A. BERNSTEIN
Published: October 6, 2011

Bestselling African American Books released in October

The top-selling black books by or about African Americans published in October 2011 (Amazon.com).

1. Kill Alex Cross – Free Preview: The First 27 Chapters by James Patterson
   (Little, Brown and Company, 2011-10-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene of the biggest case he’s ever been part of. The President’s son and daughter have been abducted from their school – an impossible crime, but somehow the kidnapper has done it. Alex does everything he can but is shunted to the fringes of the investigation. Someone powerful doesn’t want Cross too close.A deadly contagion in the DC water supply threatens to cripple the capital, and Alex sees the looming shape of the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. He is already working flat-out on the abduction, and this massive assault pushes Cross completely over the edge.With each hour that passes, the chance of finding the children alive diminishes. In an emotional private meeting, the First Lady asks Alex to please save her kids. Even the highest security clearance doesn’t get him any closer to the kidnapper – and Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes.

    

2. A Steele for Christmas (Kimani Romance) by Brenda Jackson
   (Kimani Romance, 2011-10-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   After being dumped by her fiancé, Stacy Carlson has no illusions about love. That doesn’t stop the Phoenix gift shop owner from harboring hot fantasies about her sexier-than-sin landlord. Major player Eli Steele is a heartbreaker in tailor-made designer duds. But who can resist the sensual seducer who’s decking the halls—and her heart—with a passion she’s never known?This Steele brother is no pushover. But it’s time to transform his playboy image. And once Eli turns up the heat, Stacy starts getting into the holiday spirit. Only now it’s Eli’s heart that’s on the line. Can he turn their strictly business arrangement into a Christmas filled with pleasure…and lasting love?

    

3. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration (Vintage) by Isabel Wilkerson
   (Vintage, 2011-10-04, Paperback)
   

   One of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the YearIn this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves. With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettos, as well as how they changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessment, The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration” within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is destined to become a classic.

    

4. The Help Deluxe Edition by Kathryn Stockett
   (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, 2011-10-27, Hardcover)
   

   With more than 3 million copies sold, the #1 New York Times bestseller is now available in a special gift edition. A modern classic, The Help has been a cultural touchstone for the millions of readers who have cheered on Skeeter, laughed with Minny, and hissed at Hilly. The noble and strong Aibileen has become a heroine for countless fans whose letters have poured in from all over the world. Now the bestselling and beloved book is available in a deluxe gift edition. The Help has been on bestseller lists for longer than any other hardcover fiction title since The Da Vinci Code. It was USA Today’s 2009 Book of the Year and has been published in thirty-seven countries around the world. The movie The Help, produced by DreamWorks and 1492 Pictures, is scheduled for a major motion-picture release in August 2011. This beautiful edition, destined to be passed down from generation to generation, is filled with special features, including: -satin ribbon marker -printed endpapers -cloth bound -two-color interior printing This deluxe gift edition is the perfect gift for someone you love-or as a special treat for yourself.

    

5. Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins
   (Avon, 2011-10-25, Kindle Edition)
   

   Outlaw.Preacher. Night Hawk.He’s had many names,but he can’t escape the past.Since Ian Vance’s beloved wife was murderedyears ago, the hardened bounty hunter knowshe’ll never feel love or tenderness again, so he’smade it his mission to ensure others get theirjustice. But when he’s charged with delivering asharp-eyed beauty to the law, Ian can’t helpbut feel he may still have something left to lose.Orphaned at twelve, Maggie Freeman hasalways found her way out of trouble. But nowthere’s a vigilante mob at her back who wouldlike nothing more than to see her hang for acrime she didn’t commit. Maggie may have toaccept help for the first time in her life . . .even if it’s from the one man standing betweenher and freedom. As the past closes in, the sassy prisonerand toughened lawman may just find a passionbetween them that could bring blindinghappiness . . . if they’ll let it.

    

6. Cross Fire (Alex Cross) by James Patterson
   (Vision, 2011-10-01, Mass Market Paperback)
   

   Wedding bells ringDetective Alex Cross and Bree’s wedding plans are put on hold when Alex is called to the scene of the perfectly executed assassination of two of Washington D.C.’s most corrupt: a dirty congressmen and an underhanded lobbyist. Next, the elusive gunman begins picking off other crooked politicians, sparking a blaze of theories–is the marksman a hero or a vigilante?A murderer returnsThe case explodes, and the FBI assigns agent Max Siegel to the investigation. As Alex and Siegel battle over jurisdiction, the murders continue. It becomes clear that they are the work of a professional who has detailed knowledge of his victims’ movements–information that only a Washington insider could possess.Caught in a lethal cross fire As Alex contends with the sniper, Siegel, and the wedding, he receives a call from his deadliest adversary, Kyle Craig. The Mastermind is in D.C. and will not relent until he has eliminated Cross and his family for good. With a supercharged blend of action, deception, and suspense, Cross Fire is James Patterson’s most visceral and exciting Alex Cross novel ever.

    

7. Romancing the M.D. (Kimani Romance) by Maureen Smith
   (Kimani Romance, 2011-10-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   Landing an internship at prestigious Hopewell General is a dream come true for Tamara St. John. She struggled hard to get where she is—and isn’t about to risk it all because of arrogant Victor Aguilar. Tamara and Victor constantly lock horns, but the sinfully seductive doctor is driving her crazy…with desire. Tamara knows that dating a colleague is a prescription for disaster. Until one stormy, passion-filled night…Victor can have his pick of any woman. But he only has eyes for sweet, sultry Tamara. But when tragedy and trauma in the E.R. hit close to home, one false move could put everything they’ve ever worked for in jeopardy. It’s time to stake his claim on Tamara’s heart—with a passionate dose of forever.

    

8. The Politician’s Wife (The Blessed and Highly Favored Series-Book 4) by Vanessa Miller
   (BFP Publishing, 2011-10-18, Kindle Edition)
   

   Can a man still love a woman even when she has destroyed his career and turned him away from the principles he lives by?Eric Morrison’s wife, Linda, hits a football superstar while driving drunk, and Eric tries to cover it up. But Linda is now ready to atone for her sins. With help from unexpected places, she finds the strength to stop drinking and gives her life to Christ. Eric is thrilled when his wife stops drinking. However, when she tells him that she wants to start an organization that helps recovering alcoholics put their lives back together and that she intends to use some of his father’s foundation money to do it, Eric rejects the idea, convinced that it will put his bid for governor at risk.Then a blackmailer threatens to reveal pictures of his wife’s drunk-driving accident unless he receives ten million dollars. Eric must decide whether he will stand up for the truth that his father taught him and that his wife also believes in or sell his soul for public office.This story has so many twists and turns, you won’t be able to put it down!

    

9. Midnight and the Meaning of Love by Sister Souljah
   (Washington Square Press, 2011-10-11, Kindle Edition)
   

   Sister Souljah, the New York Times bestselling author of The Coldest Winter Ever and Midnight, delivers her most compelling and enlightening story yet. With Midnight and The Meaning of Love, Souljah brings to her millions of fans an adventure about young, deep love, the ways in which people across the world express their love, and the lengths that they will go to have it. Powerful and sensual, Midnight is an intelligent, fierce fighter and Ninjutsu-trained ninja warrior. He attracts attention wherever he goes but remains unmoved by it and focuses on protecting his mother and sister and regaining his family’s fortunes. When Midnight, a devout Muslim, takes sixteen-year-old Akemi from Japan as his wife, they look forward to building a life together, but their tumultuous teenage marriage is interrupted when Akemi is kidnapped and taken back to Japan by her own father, even though the marriage was consummated and well underway. “There’s not one drop of inferiority in my blood,” Midnight says as he first secures his mother, Umma, and sister, Naja, before setting off on a global journey to reclaim his wife. Midnight must travel across three countries and numerous cultures in his attempt to defeat his opponent. Along this magnificent journey he meets people who change him forever, even as he changes them. He encounters temptations he never would have imagined and takes risks that many a lesser man would say no to, all for the women he loves and is sworn to protect.

    

10. Murder Mamas by Ashley and JaQuavis
    (Urban Books, 2011-10-01, Paperback)
    

    Robyn and Aries are “The Murder Mamas,” contract killers taking no prisoners in Los Angeles. It doesn’t take them long to link up with Hollywood’s biggest drug kingpin, who hires them to take out a snitch and a judge. But the plans backfire and they only complete half the job. Robyn gets caught and put on Death Row, and Aries goes on the run. She winds up in the Islands, where she takes up a new life as a mother and wife, and tries to forget who she once was. But unfinished business has a way of coming back to haunt you; and when it’s the killing kind, there’s a huge price to pay. Now Aries has to put it all on the line as she sets out to finish what the Murder Mamas started, leaving her family and her sanity and her soul behind….

     

11. My Long Trip Home by Mark Whitaker
    (Simon & Schuster, 2011-10-18, Kindle Edition)
    

    In a dramatic, moving work of historical reporting and personal discovery, Mark Whitaker, award-winning journalist, sets out to trace the story of what happened to his parents, a fascinating but star-crossed interracial couple, and arrives at a new understanding of the family dramas that shaped their lives—and his own. His father, “Syl” Whitaker, was the charismatic grandson of slaves who grew up the child of black undertakers from Pittsburgh and went on to become a groundbreaking scholar of Africa. His mother, Jeanne Theis, was a shy World War II refugee from France whose father, a Huguenot pastor, helped hide thousands of Jews from the Nazis and Vichy police. They met in the mid-1950s, when he was a college student and she was his professor, and they carried on a secret romance for more than a year before marrying and having two boys. Eventually they split in a bitter divorce that was followed by decades of unhappiness as his mother coped with self-recrimination and depression while trying to raise her sons by herself, and his father spiraled into an alcoholic descent that destroyed his once meteoric career. Based on extensive interviews and documentary research as well as his own personal recollections and insights, My Long Trip Home is a reporter’s search for the factual and emotional truth about a complicated and compelling family, a successful adult’s exploration of how he rose from a turbulent childhood to a groundbreaking career, and, ultimately, a son’s haunting meditation on the nature of love, loss, identity, and forgiveness.

     

12. Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family by Condoleezza Rice
    (Three Rivers Press, 2011-10-11, Paperback)
    

    Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, political scientist, and concert pianist.  Her achievements run the gamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europe and the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect the country in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman – and the first black woman ever — to serve as Secretary of State.  But until she was 25 she never learned to swim. Not because she wouldn’t have loved to, but because when she was a little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor decided he’d rather shut down the city’s pools than give black citizens access. Throughout the 1950′s, Birmingham’s black middle class largely succeeded in insulating their children from the most corrosive effects of racism, providing multiple support systems to ensure the next generation would live better than the last.  But by 1963, when Rice was applying herself to her fourth grader’s lessons, the situation had grown intolerable.  Birmingham was an environment where blacks were expected to keep their head down and do what they were told — or face violent consequences. That spring two bombs exploded in Rice’s neighborhood amid a series of chilling Klu Klux Klan attacks.  Months later, four young girls lost their lives in a particularly vicious bombing. So how was Rice able to achieve what she ultimately did? Her father, John, a minister and educator, instilled a love of sports and politics.  Her mother, a teacher, developed Condoleezza’s passion for piano and exposed her to the fine arts.  From both, Rice learned the value of faith in the face of hardship and the importance of giving back to the community.  Her parents’ fierce unwillingness to set limits propelled her to the venerable halls of Stanford University, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become the university’s second-in-command.  An expert in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs, she played a leading role in U.S. policy as the Iron Curtain fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated.  Less than a decade later, at the apex of the hotly contested 2000 presidential election, she received the exciting news – just shortly before her father’s death – that she would go on to the White House as the first female National Security Advisor.   As comfortable describing lighthearted family moments as she is recalling the poignancy of her mother’s cancer battle and the heady challenge of going toe-to-toe with Soviet leaders, Rice holds nothing back in this remarkably candid telling. This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl – and a young woman — trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world and of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community, that made all the difference.From the Hardcover edition.

     

13. Power & Beauty by David Ritz
    (William Morrow, 2011-10-18, Kindle Edition)
    

    Hip-hop artist Tip “T.I.” Harris has received every acclaim the music world has to offer. Now, working with bestselling celebrity collaborator David Ritz, T.I. applies all his talent and experience to the world of fiction by creating the epic love story of Power and Beauty. After the death of his mother, Charlotte, Paul “Power” Clay allows himself to be guided by Slim, a local businessman. Slim always has the best of everything, and Power is sure that if he learns Slim’s ways, he’ll make something of himself–and perhaps be worthy of Tanya “Beauty” Long. From Chicago to Miami to New York, through drugs, women, and violence, Power makes the difficult transition from boy to man and, in doing so, begins to question if those who have taught him–including Slim–truly have his best interests at heart. Beauty has always known that the only person she can rely on is herself. After her mother died when she was eleven years old, she was adopted by close family friend Charlotte Clay. But with Charlotte’s death, Beauty knows she’s no longer safe and protected–especially as Power gets sucked into a new kind of life. As soon as she can, she turns her back on Atlanta–and the growing love she feels for Power–for a chance to make it in the Big Apple. With a successful fashion career on the horizon, Beauty takes New York by storm with her wit, business savvy, and breathtaking good looks. But she’s never forgotten those she left behind. And when it becomes clear that Power needs her, Beauty will risk everything to save the man she loves.

     

14. Legacy of Love (Arabesque) by Donna Hill
    (Kimani Arabesque, 2011-10-01, Kindle Edition)
    

    Superstition and crazy stories…that’s how Zoe Beaumont views the unlucky-in-love history of her family. On their thirtieth birthday, the Beaumont women are said to come into a mysterious “sixth sense.” And if they choose to give themselves fully to the wrong man, they lose not just their powers, but the family’s good fortune.Despite her doubts, Zoe has started having strange, intensely passionate dreams. Her fantasies feature a man who seems too perfect, too sexy, too mesmerizing to be real. Until, one rainy Atlanta evening, Zoe runs into Jackson Tremé. Their attraction is as overwhelming in person as it is in her dreams. Though all of her ancestors have tried and failed, can she overturn a legacy of heartache?

     

15. Street Divas by De’nesha Diamond
    (Kensington Books, 2011-10-25, Kindle Edition)
    

    Set on the enchanting island of Cedar Key, Terri DuLong’s new novel weaves a warm, welcoming tale of second—and even third—chances, of long-held secrets, and newfound loves…For the second time in ten years, Grace Stone is starting over on Cedar Key. Grace first moved to the serene island to escape a disastrous relationship. Now a visit with her Aunt Maude is interrupted by unwelcome news: Grace’s apartment and coffee shop have been destroyed by fire. Grace is devastated, yet ever-practical Maude has a plan. While she helps Grace resettle, Maude even has a business venture in mind—weekend knitting retreats where women can craft, chat, and support one another. But other surprises await, including the return of Grace’s estranged sister, and a tentative romance with the local bookstore owner. Knitting together her past and future will mean untangling the painful threads Grace left behind. But the result could be a vibrant new life—and the courage to live it fully. . .Praise for Casting About”A delightful addition to that genre of needlecraft-inspired books.” –Library Journal “A southern Debbie Macomber, but with a flair all her own.” –Karin Gillespie”DuLong delivers another powerfully moving look at mothers and daughters, sisters and friends… highly recommended!” –Barbara Bretton, USA Today bestselling author “You’ll fall instantly in love with Cedar Key and this homespun knitting community, crafted with expert hands.” –New York Times bestselling author, Lori Wilde

     

16. News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media by Juan González
    (Verso, 2011-10-31, Hardcover)
    

    A landmark narrative history of American media that puts race at the center of the story.Here is a new, sweeping narrative history of American news media that puts race at the center of the story. From the earliest colonial newspapers to the Internet age, America’s racial divisions have played a central role in the creation of the country’s media system, just as the media has contributed to—and every so often, combated—racial oppression. News for All the People reveals how racial segregation distorted the information Americans received from the mainstream media. It unearths numerous examples of how publishers and broadcasters actually fomented racial violence and discrimination through their coverage. And it chronicles the influence federal media policies exerted in such conflicts. It depicts the struggle of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American journalists who fought to create a vibrant yet little-known alternative, democratic press, and then, beginning in the 1970s, forced open the doors of the major media companies.The writing is fast-paced, story-driven, and replete with memorable portraits of individual journalists and media executives, both famous and obscure, heroes and villains. It weaves back and forth between the corporate and government leaders who built our segregated media system—such as Herbert Hoover, whose Federal Radio Commission eagerly awarded a license to a notorious Ku Klux Klan organization in the nation’s capital—and those who rebelled against that system, like Pittsburgh Courier publisher Robert L. Vann, who led a remarkable national campaign to get the black-face comedy Amos ’n’ Andy off the air.Based on years of original archival research and up-to-the-minute reporting and written by two veteran journalists and leading advocates for a more inclusive and democratic media system, News for All the People should become the standard history of American media. Eight pages of black-and-white photographs

     

17. The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World by Dave Zirin
    (Haymarket Books, 2011-10-04, Hardcover)
    

    Seen around the world, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power salute on the 1968 Olympicpodium sparked controversy and career fallout. Yet their show of defiance remains one of the most iconicimages of Olympic history and the Black Power movement. Here is the remarkable story of one of the menbehind the salute, lifelong activist John Carlos.John Carlos is an African American former track and field athlete, professional football player, and a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. He won the bronze medal in the 200 meters race at the 1968 Olympics, where his Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy. The John Carlos Story is his first book.Dave Zirin is the author of four books, including Bad Sports, A People’s History of Sports in the United States, and What’s My Name, Fool? He writes the popular weekly online sports column “The Edge of Sports” and is a regular contributor to SportsIllustrated.com, SLAM, Los Angeles Times, and The Nation, where he is the publication’s first sports editor.

     

18. Deadly Desires by Ann Christopher
    (Kensington Books, 2011-10-04, Kindle Edition)
    

    How can you plan a future. . .After a desperate struggle to sever ties with her husband, Kira Gregory is suddenly a free woman. She can start a new life without guns, drugs, dirty money, or fear. But Kira’s newfound independence seems too good to be true. And it is. . .When you can’t outrun your past? DEA Special Agent Dexter Brady spent months trying to get Kira’s husband, Kareem Gregory, off the streets, but he has never come to terms with his growing feelings for Kira. He knows that any sort of a relationship with her is a recipe for disaster, but when danger finds Kira again, Dexter will bend every rule, face any enemy, and make any sacrifice to keep the woman he loves safe from harm. . .Praise for the novels of Ann Christopher”…(an) exciting romantic thriller.” –Publishers Weekly on Deadly PursuitP>”Trouble is a sultry romance…” –The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers”A brilliant and tasteful novel about love, tragedy, heartbreak and forgiveness.” –Romantic Times on Risk

     

19. All I Want Is You by Kayla Perrin
    (Kensington Books, 2011-10-04, Kindle Edition)
    

    Romance was the last thing on their minds–until the holidays brought these two women face to face with the men of their dreams. . .Holiday Seduction Kayla PerrinMikki Harper isn’t looking forward to going home for her sister’s wedding–especially since she’s just been dumped. Then she runs into “Boring Barry” from high school and soon the two are catching up on old times–and Mikki discovers Barry is anything but boring. Mikki doesn’t expect to see him again, especially not at a dinner hosted by the groom’s family. It turns out Barry wants to relive their fling. But will Mikki run into his arms–or back to her ex, who’s suddenly had a change of heart? Her Holiday Gifts Deborah Fletcher MelloCommissioned to bake a towering cake for the Whitman Corporation’s CEO at their New Year’s extravaganza–Malisa Ivey is mortified when she gets trapped inside. Even worse, the cake is then transported–with Malisa inside–to Gabriel Whitman’s office. The sexy business tycoon is shocked when a beautiful woman pops out of his dessert–and can’t help but wonder what it would be like to have such sweetness in his life all year. . .

     

20. Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home by Anita Hill
    (Beacon Press, 2011-10-04, Hardcover)
    

    From the heroic lawyer who spoke out against Clarence Thomas in the historic confirmation hearings twenty years ago, Anita Hill’s first book since the best-selling Speaking Truth to Power.In 1991, Anita Hill’s courageous testimony during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings sparked a national conversation on sexual harassment and women’s equality in politics and the workplace. Today, she turns her attention to another potent and enduring symbol of economic success and equality—the home. Hill details how the current housing crisis, resulting in the devastation of so many families, so many communities, and even whole cities, imperils every American’s ability to achieve the American Dream. Hill takes us on a journey that begins with her own family story and ends with the subprime mortgage meltdown. Along the way, she invites us into homes across America, rural and urban, and introduces us to some extraordinary African American women. As slavery ended, Mollie Elliott, Hill’s ancestor, found herself with an infant son and no husband. Yet, she bravely set course to define for generations to come what it meant to be a free person of color. On the eve of the civil rights and women’s rights movements, Lorraine Hansberry’s childhood experience of her family’s fight against racial restrictions in a Chicago neighborhood ended tragically for the Hansberry family. Yet, that episode shaped Lorraine’s hopeful account of early suburban integration in her iconic American drama A Raisin in the Sun.  Two decades later, Marla, a divorced mother, endeavors to keep her children safe from a growing gang presence in 1980s Los Angeles. Her story sheds light on the fears and anxiety countless parents faced during an era of growing neighborhood isolation, and that continue today. In the midst of the 2008 recession, hairdresser Anjanette Booker’s dogged determination to keep her Baltimore home and her salon reflects a commitment to her own independence and to her community’s economic and social viability. Finally, Hill shares her own journey to a place and a state of being at home that brought her from her roots in rural Oklahoma to suburban Boston, Massachusetts, and connects her own search for home with that of women and men set adrift during the foreclosure crisis.  The ability to secure a place that provides access to every opportunity our country has to offer is central to the American Dream. To achieve that ideal, Hill argues, we and our leaders must engage in a new conversation about what it takes to be at home in America. Pointing out that the inclusive democracy our Constitution promises is bigger than the current debate about legal rights, she presents concrete proposals that encourage us to reimagine equality. Hill offers a twenty-first-century vision of America—not a vision of migration, but one of roots; not one simply of tolerance, but one of belonging; not just of rights, but also of community—a community of equals.

     

Bestselling African American Books to be Released in November 2011

The bestselling upcoming black books to be released in November 2011 (from Amazon.com):

1. Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson
   (Little, Brown and Company, 2011-11-14, Kindle Edition)
   

   The President’s son and daughter are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high-up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark.A deadly contagion in the water supply cripples half of the capital, and Alex discovers that someone may be about to unleash the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. As his window for solving both crimes narrows, Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes–one that may alter the fate of the entire country.

    

2. An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff, Alex Tresniowski, Valerie Salembier (Foreword)
   (Howard Books, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   When Laura Schroff first met Maurice on a New York City street corner, she had no idea that she was standing on the brink of an incredible and unlikely friendship that would inevitably change both their lives. As one lunch at McDonald’s with Maurice turns into two, then into a weekly occurrence that is fast growing into an inexplicable connection, Laura learns heart-wrenching details about Maurice’s horrific childhood. Sprinkled throughout the book is also Laura’s own story of her turbulent childhood. Every now and then, something about Maurice’s struggles reminds her of her past, how her father’s alcohol-induced rages shaped the person she became and, in a way, led her to Maurice. As their friendship grows, Laura offers Maurice simple experiences he comes to treasure: learning how to set a table, trimming a Christmas tree, visiting her nieces and nephew on Long Island, and even having homemade lunches to bring to school. It is the heartwarming story of a friendship that has spanned thirty years, that brought life to an over-scheduled professional who had lost s…

    

3. A Christmas Affair (Kimani Romance) by Adrianne Byrd
   (Kimani Romance, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   As president of the talent agency she built from scratch, Chloe Banks is a New York success story. But beneath the fast-track facade is a small-town girl who’s never forgotten her humble beginnings—and whose past is a closely guarded secret. Until Chloe’s family comes to visit and brings a special holiday gift. Sensual Southern charmer Lyfe Alton was her childhood sweetheart…and is the man who still owns her heart.Lyfe was devastated when Chloe left their Georgia hometown for the bright lights of the big city. Now he has just four weeks to seduce her back into his bed…or lose her forever. With Chloe nestled in his arms where she belongs, can Lyfe turn their sizzling Christmas affair into a season for second chances?

    

4. Baby, Let It Snow: I’ll Be Home for Christmas\Second Chance Christmas (Kimani Romance) by Beverly Jenkins
   (Kimani Romance, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   Four wish lists. Two holiday stories. The most wonderful time of the year.I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Beverly Jenkins Three years ago, Broadway star Dina Caldwell and celebrity chef Morgan Caldwell were passionately in love. Now America’s onetime favorite couple are about to be reunited in Morgan’s Detroit hometown for the holidays. Is this the season for forgiving and forgetting? With sizzling kisses under the mistletoe, Morgan vows to make this a Christmas Dina will never forget!Second Chance Christmas by Elaine Overton Diana Rogers is ready for some holiday R & R. Until Robert Fenton comes home for Christmas. The handsome, powerful hotelier has plans to take over her beloved family winery. But this is the season for miracles. And Diana’s seductive ex-lover has his own secret wish list—one that includes a second chance with the woman he’s never stopped loving.

    

5. Case of Desire (Kimani Romance) by Jacquelin Thomas
   (Kimani Romance, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   Rich, super-successful New York attorney Maxwell Wade has never lost a case. Hired by Hopewell General to settle a potentially explosive lawsuit, the freewheeling bachelor plans to continue his winning streak by getting Camille Hunter into bed. The spunky PR manager is arousing a healthy dose of desire…but seems to be the only woman immune to his sensual charms.Camille wasn’t expecting Prince Charming when she meets the suavely handsome hotshot lawyer. Forced to work together to protect the Virginia hospital from erupting scandal, she knows she won’t be able to resist Max for long. But she doesn’t plan to be just another notch in the seductive playboy’s belt. Until Max stuns her with a passionate declaration and makes his case…for love!

    

6. Holiday Fantasy: Finding the Right Key\’Round Midnight\Blind Faith (Arabesque) by Adrianne Byrd, Donna Hill and Kayla Perrin
   (Kimani Arabesque, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   Finding the Right Key by Adrianne Byrd Professional party planner Kimora Evans has dreamed up her quirkiest party theme yet—a holiday key party—where singles hook up based on a car-key lottery. With best friends, boyfriends and bosses in the mix, there’s more than enough sexy fun to go around. But what Kimora doesn’t count on is what happens when she plays romance Russian roulette. ‘Round Midnight by Donna Hill Relationship expert Summer Lane is so busy helping lovelorn callers on her late-night radio talk show that she finds herself in her own romance slump. As New Year’s Eve approaches, she decides to follow her own advice—and speak straight from the heart—to keep the handsome program director from slipping away when the clock strikes twelve. Blind Faith by Kayla Perrin Trapped for days in her car when it careens off an isolated stretch of road outside of Buffalo, New York, Andrea Dawson has already said her prayers and given up hope of ever being rescued. But then she suddenly sees a blinding light—not from the great beyond, but rather a flashlight held by her sexy savior, Mark Potter. With both of them looking for something to believe in, has fate brought them together for a reason?

    

7. Ready for Love (Kimani Romance) by Gwyneth Bolton
   (Kimani Romance, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   Maritza Morales and Terrill Carter may be partners in a mega-successful L.A. music company, but Maritza has no intention of making their personal relationship permanent. Even if the gorgeous, supremely arrogant record label exec is the most passionate lover she’s ever known—and her best-kept secret…. The flamboyant ex-video girl isn’t the type of woman who kisses and tells, but Terrill wants to shout his happiness to the world. Doesn’t Maritza know he doesn’t care about her past? Mixing business with pleasure may be a risky proposition unless he can prove he’s the only one for her. A wedding with all the trimmings is what Terrill has in mind. Because he’s in love…and ready for anything!

    

8. Love’s Paradise (Arabesque) by Celeste O. Norfleet
   (Kimani Arabesque, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
   

   In a dazzling new novel in the Mamma Lou series, matchmaker Louise Gates helps two adversaries turn their simmering anger into fiery passion.For historian Sheri Summers, Crescent Island is an unspoiled treasure, and she hopes to keep it that way. If that means shutting down a new beachfront project that could destroy the historic site, so be it. Sheri can deal with developer Jordan Hamilton’s anger. But what she doesn’t count on is their combustible chemistry.…Jordan has powerful allies, and asks Mamma Lou to help arrange a truce. Sheri is as sexy as she is stubborn, but every kiss and heated caress is just one more complication in their ongoing dispute. With no compromise in sight, it’s not just a battle of wills that’s at risk, but something far more precious.…

    

9. Playground by 50 Cent
   (Razorbill, 2011-11-01, Hardcover)
   

   Thirteen-year-old Butterball doesn’t have much going for him. He’s teased mercilessly about his weight. He hates the Long Island suburb his mom moved them to and wishes he still lived with his dad in the city. And now he’s stuck talking to a totally out-of-touch therapist named Liz. Liz tries to uncover what happened that day on the playground – a day that landed one kid in the hospital and Butterball in detention. Butterball refuses to let her in on the truth, and while he evades her questions, he takes readers on a journey through the moments that made him into the playground bully he is today. This devastating yet ultimately redemptive story is told in voice-driven prose and accented with drawings and photographs, making it a natural successor to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Loosely inspired by 50 Cent’s own adolescence, and written with his fourteen-year-old son in mind, Playground is sure to captivate wide attention – and spark intense discussion.

    

10. Power & Beauty: A Love Story of Life on the Streets by Tip “T.I.” Harris
    (William Morrow, 2011-11-20, Hardcover)
    

    Hip-hop artist Tip “T.I.” Harris has received every acclaim the music world has to offer. Now, working with bestselling celebrity collaborator David Ritz, T.I. applies all his talent and experience to the world of fiction by creating the epic love story of Power and Beauty. After the death of his mother, Charlotte, Paul “Power” Clay allows himself to be guided by Slim, a local businessman. Slim always has the best of everything, and Power is sure that if he learns Slim’s ways, he’ll make something of himself–and perhaps be worthy of Tanya “Beauty” Long. From Chicago to Miami to New York, through drugs, women, and violence, Power makes the difficult transition from boy to man and, in doing so, begins to question if those who have taught him–including Slim–truly have his best interests at heart. Beauty has always known that the only person she can rely on is herself. After her mother died when she was eleven years old, she was adopted by close family friend Charlotte Clay. But with Charlotte’s death, Beauty knows she’s no longer safe and protected–especially as Power gets sucked into a new kind of life. As soon as she can, she turns her back on Atlanta–and the growing love she feels for Power–for a chance to make it in the Big Apple. With a successful fashion career on the horizon, Beauty takes New York by storm with her wit, business savvy, and breathtaking good looks. But she’s never forgotten those she left behind. And when it becomes clear that Power needs her, Beauty will risk everything to save the man she loves.

     

11. All Caught Up by Sophia Shaw
    (Kensington Books, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
    

    A woman with connections. . .Thanks to her elite Miami matchmaking service, Jasmine Croft is financially secure—and much too busy finding love for others to settle into a relationship of her own. But when a successful—and skeptical—crime author becomes her client, Jasmine finds herself up against the greatest challenge of her career—and maybe her life. . . A man of mystery. . .Handsome widower Robert Rankin would rather be working—but he needs a woman to accompany him to his brother’s four day wedding celebration. His expectations are low—until his date arrives: Jasmine. A twist of fate brought her there, into the arms of a man far more intriguing and irresistible than she ever imagined. But as the days extend into a relationship, will meddling friends, scheming relatives, and Robert’s own ghosts ultimately tear them apart?… Praise for Sophia Shaw”. . .(an) entertaining story.” –Romantic Times on Tempted to Touch”The passion between the main characters heats up the pages, and a stellar supporting cast makes for a page-turning story.” –Romantic Times on What Lies Between Lovers

     

12. Mafia Princess by Deja King
    (A King Production, 2011-11-01, Paperback)
    

    The story of a Goon and his Daughter Semaj Richardson was raised by the streets, and her ambition was to own them. Changing foreign whips as she hustles one major drug dealer after another is just a day in the life with her treacherous father as her #1 partner in crime. The devious duo s schemes lead to murder plots and countless setups. Unbeknownst to Semaj the same street life she relentlessly chased can be what may become her downfall. When she meets drug kingpin Quasim, who virtually changes her sheisty mindset overnight, her dreams become a reality. But soon her dark past resurfaces, bringing all the havoc she caused to the forefront. Will Semaj ever be able to escape her previous life or will the revelation of her family history pull her into a world that can ultimately destroy her?

     

13. Bachelor Undone (Kimani Romance) by Brenda Jackson
    (Kimani, 2011-11-15, Mass Market Paperback)
    

    Every woman wants him. But he only wants her.When Darcy Owens leaves snowy New York for some Jamaican fun in the sun, the city planner isn’t expecting to meet the hero of her fantasies. But the sexy, sun-kissed man she sees her first day on the beach comes pretty close. Until he turns out to be York Ellis, the drop-dead-gorgeous but supremely arrogant ex-cop who thinks she needs his protection…and his passion.When York looks at Darcy, he knows she’s the woman he’d give his life for. So when Darcy finds herself in peril, the security expert vows to safeguard her. Now it’s not only his body at risk. It’s his heart he’s in danger of losing when she tempts him with the one thing the sworn bachelor never dreamed he’d find: passionate, glorious love.

     

14. Street Divas by De’nesha Diamond
    (Dafina, 2011-11-01, Paperback)
    

     

15. Kitty-Kitty, Bang-Bang (Zane Presents) by Cairo
    (Strebor Books, 2011-11-01, Kindle Edition)
    

    With murder, mayhem and hot sex, Kitty-Kitty, Bang-Bang is a wickedly delicious sequel to The Kat Trap. It was her cutthroat ambition and ruthlessness that got Katrina—or Kat for short, out of the hood and on top of her game. Once a murderer on a seductive prowl with two missions in mind—satisfying her insatiable libido and killing unsuspecting marks—Katrina has lain down her guns. Having once used her alluring charm and exotic beauty to lure men to their deaths, Katrina has had a change of heart. She’s settled for a simpler life and traveling, partying, and shopping have become her only guilty pleasures. In addition, she’s avoiding relationships and men like the plague. For her, life couldn’t be any sweeter—at least that’s what she wants to believe. But, when drama rears its ugly head, Katrina returns with a vengeance. There’s the issue of confronting her ex-friend who she learned had slept with an old boyfriend. Then there are her three aunts—who are angry with how she treated her mother. And now she has to face her family, her demons, and the woman behind them—reopening old wounds, trying to mend new ones. Ultimately Kat has a new mission: to find the man behind her mother’s death and serve him up a dish of her own justice the only way she knows how—with a bullet to his head.

     

16. Hell’s Diva II by Anna J.
    (Urban Books, 2011-11-01, Paperback)
    

    Anna J.’s riveting Hell’s Diva series continues as Mecca Skyes returns to take her ultimate revenge on the only person she ever thought she could trust…. Beautiful Mecca was only a kid when her parents were killed, and she was saved from the rough streets of Brooklyn when her aunt, Ruby, “the godmother of crime,” took her in. Ruby rubbed out the goons that murdered Mecca’s parents and everything seemed fine—until Ruby betrayed Mecca by sleeping with her man, setting in motion a series of events that nearly leaves Mecca dead from a gunshot wound! Now Mecca’s all healed, but her heart is cold, and she won’t rest until she brings Ruby down…. But in the end, everything may not turn out the way Mecca thinks it will….

     

17. Seducing Sarah V.1 (Erotica) (The Madame X School of Sex) by Jinx Jamison
    (CrushStar Romance, 2011-11-03, Kindle Edition)
    

    Ever since her fiance left her, Sarah Caldwell has led an unremarkable life. She goes to work, she pays her taxes and she always separates the whites from the colors. The most exciting thing in her life is fantasizing about her hunky boss Quinn Sanders, who has no idea how she feels.All she wants is the chance to do something exciting. Anything to prove she’s not as sexually inept as her former fiancé made her feel. When Quinn Sanders gets a call from an old friend, the last thing he expects to hear is that his paralegal Sarah has signed up for sex school. He left his life as Master Q behind for a reason and once vowed to never set foot in the Madame X School again. But he’s lusted after Sarah for years and if sex education is what she needs…Master Q is about to come out of retirement.

     

18. Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry (George Gund Foundation Imprint in African American Studies) by Clark Terry
    (University of California Press, 2011-11-08, Hardcover)
    

    Compelling from cover to cover, this is the story of one of the most recorded and beloved jazz trumpeters of all time. With unsparing honesty and a superb eye for detail, Clark Terry, born in 1920, takes us from his impoverished childhood in St. Louis, Missouri, where jazz could be heard everywhere, to the smoke-filled small clubs and carnivals across the Jim Crow South where he got his start, and on to worldwide acclaim. Terry takes us behind the scenes of jazz history as he introduces scores of legendary greats–Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Doc Severinsen, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, and Dianne Reeves, among many others. Terry also reveals much about his own personal life, his experiences with racism, how he helped break the color barrier in 1960 when he joined the Tonight Show band on NBC, and why–at ninety years old–his students from around the world still call and visit him for lessons.

     

19. King’s Pleasure (Arabesque) by Adrianne Byrd
    (Kimani Press, 2011-11-15, Mass Market Paperback)
    

    The sexy King brothers own a successful bachelor-party-planning business and a string of upscale clubs across the country. What could be better than living the single life in some of the world’s most glamorous cities?Finding a woman worth giving it up for…Jeremy King’s brothers may have turned in their player cards, but that just leaves more action for him. Like the gorgeous, bikini-clad party crasher who saunters into the Malibu bachelor bash he’s hosting. Leigh Matthews wants Jeremy, but just for one last fling. And what Leigh wants, she gets.Unable to forget their amazing connection, Jeremy is stunned when weeks later Leigh hires his company—to plan her bachelorette party. Leigh has her reasons for getting married. But after their night of unbridled pleasure, Jeremy doesn’t believe she’s truly in love. Now he’s got six weeks to convince her that their incredible Malibu night was only the beginning.…

     

Eclectic Life Books to part in Cancer Awareness Rally

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 27, 2011

PRESS RELEASE
Eclectic Life Books will be taking part in the Cancer Awareness Rally sponsored by Lolo’s Boutique.

Carson, CA– Eclectic Life Books will be taking part in a Cancer Awareness Rally, sponsored by Lolo’s Boutique. Cherise “Reese” Charleswell, CEO of Eclectic Life Books will be performing a selection of poetry, as well as reading from her newly debuted book, Real Talk Tips: Laugh-Out-Loud Pointers & Suggestions For The Morally Challenged, Socially Inept, & The People Who Love Them. The book, just published in May 2011, is a non-traditional, sassy, tongue-in-cheek, and painfully honest self help guide and workbook for the morally challenged and socially inept members of society; as well as those who want to improve on their quality of life. The Adinkra image that graces the book’s cover is called “Mate masie” and it loosely translates to “What I hear, I keep”. The book draws on my experience as a West Indian child, where wisdom was often imparted as a series of “old time” sayings, tips, and proverbs; leaving one to interpret the true meaning and come to their own conclusion and understanding.

The event being held is a community block party, where other businesses in the area will be contributing to the festivities. It will be taken place on Saturday October 29, 2011 from 12PM – 6PM, and will be located at 21635 South Avalon Blvd, Carson, CA 90473. Near the NW corner of Avalon Blvd and Carson St.

For more information please contact Eclectic Life Books at eclecticlifediva@yahoo.com
CONTACT:
Contact Person: Cherise Charleswell
Company Name: Eclectic Life Books, CEO
Voice Phone# 818-521-8422
Email Address: eclecticlifediva@yahoo.com