December is National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month? Well where have you been?
My favorite author of all time is Zora Neale Hurston. She was black. Other than that I have to admit there are not many black authors in my collection. I mean of course there's lots of Alice Walker. That goes without saying. And back in Virgina my book group read The Known World. Those characters (the "crazy" slave woman who wandered around all night?) will be with me forever.
Anybody out there want to buy me a book by a black author? Or loan me one? Or recommend one for me to buy myself?
Hit me!
I look forward to your suggestions.
(BTW, I've given away lots of copies of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, to a lot of not black people. But perhaps something more contemporary is in order)?
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The (recently late) Octavia Butler wrote some very wrenching and effective SF novels. They're way too grim for me, and a tad self-indulgent at times (for example, the main character being a bit too morally right and noble and everyone else being a bit too wrong), but the characterizations are amazing, and some of her ideas about society are complex and interesting.
Plus, she was a Clarion grad. (Not Clarion South, one of the US Clarions. But still.)
If you like Zora and Edward P. Jones, try Your Blues Ain't Like Mine by Bebe Moore Campbell. Also, Song Yet Sung by James McBride.
For contemporary writers, I'd suggest Tayari Jones, Bernice McFadden, Zadie Smith (British, Pearl Cleage, Diane McKinney-Whetstone, and Donna Grant and Virginia DeBerry.
Third Girl from the Left by Martha Southgate is a current fave of mine too.
Happy reading! Give books!
If you're into light reading, you might enjoy Rita Mae Brown's mystery series she writes with her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown.
For a very amazing and much more serious read, try "Zenzele, a letter for my daughter" by J. Nozipo Maraire.
And you've probably read "Breath, Eyes, Memory" by Edwidge Danticat
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Thanks - now I have another stack of books on my desk to reread.
:)
Hmm, contemporary, huh? Maya Angelou's poetry is astonishingly good and I love anything by Toni Morrison, but I'm actually embarrassed to say that I don't know many other black authors off the top of my head.
Yes, I have read Breath, Eyes, Memory. I think of it way too often as I am smashing up Riley's supplements with the mortar and pestle.
Call me traumatized!
Wow, I never knew there was such a thing, and if there was I thought it would be done in Feb, during black history month!
Toni Morrison - need I say more? You would love any of her books. My faves are Beloved and Jazz. The opening lines of Jazz alone are so intriguing........
White Teeth, Zadie Smith
anon, i agree that toni morrison is mesmerizing - sula is my personal favorite
i recently read long way gone, memoirs of a boy soldier by ishmael beah. it was incredible .. a breathtaking story of will .. but beware, it's grim and violent and raw
Hi...
I am here to announce that I feel like a tremendous a** because it was just brought to my attention that Rita Mae Brown isn't even the tiniest bit black. In my defense, you have to admit she is a very tan woman in the photo on her website.
http://www.ritamaebrown.com/content/index.asp
Um, they're still really cute books if you're into that sort of thing...
I can't think of any off the top of my head so I shall follow your comments and steal your tips!! LOL!!!
The Color of Water by James McBride.
I'd send it to you but apparently, if you hang a plastic bag containing a book on my sister's doorknob, her kids will think it's a garbage bag, stuff it with crap and then throw it out. Not that I'm annoyed or anything. Anyways it's an autibiography about growing up as mixed race child in a black neighbourhood with a Jewish mom. It's messy, funny, sad, and real. What more could you want?
You'd probably like Lorraine Hansberry and Maya Angelou if you haven't read them. Langston Hughes poetry is gorgeous. Afraid most of my black authors are folks I read 30 years ago. I know I read something else more recent but I can't remember what it was or who the author is.
Our Target has an excellent selection of books by African American writers - novels - some that look quite steamy. I could use some steamy!
I'd highly recommend No Safe Place by Kim Reid - she wrote a memoir about growing up as the daughter of one of the investigators in the Atlanta Child murders (her single Mom.) I started that book and could NOT put it down for a minute. A great read - she's a wonderful storyteller.
As Rita Mae is a Virginia woman, and she may very well have a bit of African American blood. However, you're right. She's white. Sneaky Pie isn't even a black cat. ;) I love her books -- all of them.
'White Teeth' by Zadie Smith caused a real literary buzz in the UK when it first came out around 2000. Alex Haley 'Roots - The saga of an American Family' is one of my all time favourites - great for setting kids up for a lifetime of anti racism
Actually, the first names that popped into my mind were Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou. I know there are many other black authors whose works I have read but right now, my brain went dead on me and I can't think of any other names.
http://sormag.blogspot.com/
Great blog and newsletter on multiculti writers! Check it out!
KIM
Send me your address and I'll send you some books. bernicemcfadden@hotmail.com
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