A LOOK AT BOOKS

I know how limited our reading time can be sometimes, so I want to help by sharing with you some books that have caught my attention. I’ll update the list from time to time. For now, here are some titles of books I wanted to make sure you considered. Some have just been published and some are classics. They are all wonderful books. I highly recommend them.


CLASSICS

THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, by Zora Neale Hurston. (My all-time favorite novel. When I read this for the first time as a senior in Gloria Wade Gayles’ African-American Literature class in 1971, it changed my life by showing me that one could write about country Southern black people – bean pickers and store clerks and maids and roustabouts – and create literature from their lives.


NEW

SPEAK, SO YOU CAN SPEAK AGAIN by Lucy Anne Hurston and the Estate of Zora Neale Hurston. (What a treasure trove! I felt as if Zora Neale Hurston had opened up her personal trunk up in the attic and shared her life with me. This is a must for anyone who loves and respects the artist who was Zora.)
 
DYING IN THE DARK, A Tamara Hayle Mystery by Valerie Wilson Wesley. This is the seventh book in this series. Valerie always delivers.
 
DREAMS FROM MY FATHER
A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (U.S. Senator from Illinois.)
Now this is a man to watch! This memoir includes the complete text from his ‘04 Democratic Convention keynote address.
 
BABYLON SISTERS
by Pearl Cleage
Pearl, who always captures our hearts and minds with her deeply rendered characters and ideas, returns to Atlanta with a love story that is fast-paced and emotionally resonant. She is a true artist who I’m proud to call a sisterfriend.

TINA’S ALL-TIME FAVORITES

BELOVED SISTERS AND LOVING FRIENDS:
Letters from Rebecca Primus of Royal Oak, Maryland, and Addie Brown of Hartford, Connecticut, 1854-1868. Edited and with commentaries throughout by Farah Jasmine Griffin. Alfred A. Knopf, 1999.
 
ONLY TWICE I’VE WISHED FOR HEAVEN
by Dawn Turner Trice
I love first novels. And this one is a beauty! And so are the other four debut novels listed below. Two are new and two were published in the 1990s. All are worthy of your time. You will also want to pick up these authors’ later works, too.
 
THESE SAME LONG BONES
by Gwendolyn M. Parker
Gwendolyn has captured a time and family in a way that will capture your heart.
 
LIVING WATER
by Obery Hendricks
This man understands women and is able to put that understanding on the page in beautiful language. This will become a classic.
 
SOUL KISS
by Shay Youngblood
Shay broke new ground with is deeply felt, moving coming-of-age novel. It is just a beautiful work. Ten years after first reading it, I still remember scenes from it.
 
SHIFTING THROUGH NEUTRAL
by Bridgett M. Davis
This novel will resonate with every daddy’s girl or person who has listened to a Stevie Wonder tune while driving down the highway.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

JAZZY MIZ MOZETTA
by Brenda Roberts, Illustrations by Frank Morrison
(“One fine evening, Miz Mozetta puts on her firecracker-red dress and favorite blue shoes and heads outside to enjoy the moonlight.”)
 
DID I TELL YOU I LOVE YOU TODAY?
by Deloris and Roslyn Jordan, Illustrations by Shane Evans
The authors are the mother and sister of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. They celebrate family in this reassuring book about the many special ways we cherish those we love.
 
HARLEM STOMP! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance
by Laban Carrick Hill, foreword by Nikki Giovanni.
A breathtaking whirlwind tour through this fascinating era. Lavishly designed and illustrated, it’s a virtual time capsule, packed with poetry, prose, photographs, paintings, and historical documents.
 
THE PEOPLE COULD FLY:
The Picture Book by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
This is one of my all-time favorite children’s books. I have given it as gifts to folks of all ages. It is considered the late Newbery Medalist Virginia Hamilton’s finest story about long-ago Africa when the people knew magic that enabled them to fly, then lost the magic when they were brought to America to be slaves. Powerful illustrations by the multi-Caldecott Medal winning Dillons illuminate every page.
 
REMEMBER: The Journey to School Integration
by Toni Morrison
This book contains a treasure chest of archival photographs that depict the events of this tumultuous time. The unforgettable images serve as inspiration for Morrison’s fictional account of the dialogue and emotions of the students who lived during this era.

 

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