• @ebonydad Thanks for the vote of confidence! #
• Margarita Engle, the first Latina recipient of the Newbery Award for children’s literature http://is.gd/kXub #
• ‘The Black List: Vol. 2′ is on HBO tonight: http://is.gd/kXjH The 1st was excellent, so I’ll be watc…er…DVRing, more likely. #
• @baratunde I like Stanza. It’s easy. Very intuitive. Haven’t used it to share docs/books from desktop, though. #
• @Sha_Ron I don’t own one, although I keep trying to convince myself I want it. I’ve read books on my iPhone, though. #
• Interesting: News release from Powell’s Books that customers selling back used books up 15% since September. Online, up 40% since January. #
• Just in time for Ash Wednesday: Books on Sister Thea Bowman, a giant in black American Roman Catholic thought http://is.gd/kQIV #
• OK, I’ve sucked abt getting blog posts up lately — especially considering that it’s Blk Hstry Mnth. I’ll do better…next week. I promise. #
• Hee! It’s true that if Kindle offerings grow more comprehensive, one could travel the universe with just it and a towel. http://is.gd/kOE6 #
• The NYT’s David Pogue raves about the new Kindle: http://is.gd/kD1j #
• Condoleezza Rice gets $2.5M 3-book deal with Crown Books http://is.gd/kufu #
• @Sha_Ron I know what I’ve read about the change, and it was actually something I’d worried about, so I’m glad it’s happened. #
• @Sha_Ron I think it’ll work better with the change. Plus, Zack Snyder was reportedly slavishly faithful to book for rest of flick. #
• RT @literaryobama Two Obama Books Win Image Awards: http://tinyurl.com/ao5uda [If you're not following @literaryobama, you should be] #
• @Sha_Ron I had the same experience. Read it 15 or so years ago, and then again last year, and was surprised at how rich it still is. #
• @ebonydad Yeah, I think he can knock it out in a few days if he actually decides to sit down with it. #
• @rawsistaz True. I reminded him of it just this afternoon, and he was surprised at how the time has passed. #
• My husband said a year ago that he’d read Watchmen before movie came out. Movie’s out in 2 wks, book’s still on his nightstand, uncracked. #

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• @oyinhandmade Word. Sadly, it’ll probably be No. 1 or No. 2 at box office this weekend. #
• Folks, consider following @palmeri (disclosure: he’s my husband), @Sojourners, @HarlemWriter, @tobiasbuckell, @mosaicbooks #followfriday #
• @ebonydad I think so too. Good thought experiment, though. #
• RT @booksquare ad age has short video on how the kindle could, uh, kill comics: http://snurl.com/cbdx0 #
• @carleenbrice Heh. Samuel Delany’s Dhalgren. I think I’m still trying to understand that book, and I 1st read it in 1993. #
• Supposed to see friend do spoken word tonight. It’s been more than 10 years since I’ve been to 1 of those. Tend to like my poetry on paper. #
• Sudanese novelist Tayeb Salih has died in London http://is.gd/jZ5P #
• @queenuniquemvp @skinnyblackgirl He looks downright demonic in that cover photo. Deeply, deeply creepy. #
• Went home for lunch, saw we got new issue of Ebony. Terrence Howard sure looks all new millennium Blacula on the cover. It’s terrifying. #
• Yay! 2009 Glyph Comics Awards (best in black comics) nominations are here! http://is.gd/jJPe I’m so torn between ‘Bayou’ and ‘Incognegro.’ #
• @Fortitude1913 Never tried the Aveda, but I’ve heard good things. #
• @afrobella You know what? I think plain old jojoba oil with gel is just fine. Just ordered some Oyin products, though. #
• Apropos of absolutely nothing: I’m not really impressed with Miss Jessie’s hair products. Curly pudding’s just OK, silkening creme=suxxorz. #
• @Fernham Thanks for the “Feast for Ten” rec. #
• @ToureX Ask whether he sees boxing on inexorable decline, given rise of MMA/UFC. As sport/”sweet science,” is it stale even to him? #
• @ycoleman Most def can afford (she’s highly paid AND hubby’s a big deal in the area). I attribute it to poor planning and obliviousness. #
• @ycoleman Not sure. I’m guessing 5 or 6 and 8 or 9. Were whining and complaining loudly of boredom. Think they’re in a back room now. #
• @carleenbrice @claudia_m Post going up about Literary Obama tomorrow. Spent some time w/it last night. Love, love, love. #
• @carleenbrice I wish! #
• I want to be sensitive, but if you have TWO smallish kids and it’s a school holiday, pls make other arrangements sted bringing them to work. #
• @cutiebootycakes That was a powerful post. #
• RT @mosaicbooks National Book Foundation application, http://tinyurl.com/b8scho, due tomorrow. #
• I am dismayed by the presence of some spelling errors, but am enjoying Beverly Jenkins’ 1st foray into mainstream fiction. Review to come. #

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President Barack Obama’s inaugural address is now available as this spiffy printed volume [above] from Penguin Classics.

The book also includes Abraham Lincoln’s first and second inaugural addresses, the Gettysburg Address and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self Reliance.”

In other Obama book news, hie thyself over to Literary Obama, a new blog by Qiana Whitted, a professor of African-American lit at the University of South Carolina. The blog’s about creative writing by and about Barack Obama.

(And in case you’ve forgotten, there are plenty of reasons to associate the president with literature).

Literary Obama posts include a poem written by 44 when he was a young man, inaugural poetry and commemorative books about him.

Think of it as the literary version of Mrs. O — which is all about Michelle Obama’s clothes — only way less, you know, stalker-y.

Photo by Carolyn Kellogg, LATimes.com

Ever find yourself in the children’s literature section, looking for books by black authors as gifts or regular purchases for the little people in your life?

The Brown Bookshelf is in the middle of 28 Days Later, its second Black History Month celebration of black authors and illustrators in children’s literature.

The project is well worth a read (I’ve certainly already learned about some folks of whom I’d never heard).

I don’t think so, but I’m just checking.

Just as a reminder, Shelby Steele is the living definition of a word I rarely use because it offends my feminist sensibilities, but just seems to describe him so, so perfectly (definitions 8, 12, 14 and 15 are pretty much exactly the way I think of him).

Seriously, the man is epic fail, a complete intellectual bankrupt and has been for years.

This week, the New York Times Book Review, of all publications, paid Steele to review Up from History, a newish book about Booker T. Washington by Robert J. Norrell.

This is where I’d normally read and link to the review, especially since I think Washington’s life is ripe for reevaluation with modern eyes.

However, because the review is by Steele and I cannot in good conscience use my clicks to contribute in any way to him having a continued career (like, seriously, at some point, editors will truly get it that his presence diminishes the prestige of their publications), I won’t.

NYTBR, I’m disappointed in you, and you’re going to have to make this up to me.

Oh, what’s that?

There’s a review of Mary Frances Berry’s book about the civil rights movement? And although it’s lukewarm, the review is by Sam Freedman, who is himself a fantastic writer and was a professor (whose class I could never get into) at the place I went to graduate school?

You’re not forgiven, NYTBR, but I won’t pretend I don’t know you when we meet in public.

• I approve this picture of Common from Terminator:Salvation: http://is.gd/jcaq This one, too: http://is.gd/jcaJ [Shallow? Who, me?] #
• I let my 10-year subscription to Vogue lapse in 2006, but I’ll definitely pick up the copy with Mrs. Obama on the cover http://is.gd/ja7c #
• @claudia_m Aaagghh! I’d forgotten TP’s in the new ST flick. Now I have to rethink my eagerness about seeing it. Glad he’s not in Wolverine. #
• @skeskali From The White Stripes? If you’ve never learned how to play drums, you’re already halfway there. #
• Oh, dear Lord. Now the Pride and Prejudice zombie book may get a movie? http://is.gd/j4CE [sigh...] #
• RT @mikecane Oh, aside from no mention of ePub, no mention of Kindle books to SMARTPHONES. Hmmm! #
• @afrobella Are people really commenting about “crazy West Indian women” in attempts to excuse Chris Brown for domestic violence? GrRRrrRR… #
• Ridiculous that Amazon is selling new gen Kindle for $359. I actually expected price to drop slightly. On pricing, Amazon=the new Apple. #
• Reading along with Engadget’s liveblog from Amazon’s Kindle 2 presser: http://is.gd/iUPQ #
• @rawsistaz Thanks for the retweet! #
• “Dear hubby reads every romance novel I bring home…” http://is.gd/iQVT [Can barely get my husband to read ANY fiction!] #
• In 2008, I wrote about St. Josephine Bakhita in my “who’s that black author” series. Today’s her feast day. This was post: http://is.gd/iOyy #
• So I take it the new movie ‘Outlander’ is not based on the Diana Gabaldon series? Pity. #
• RT @tobiasbuckell New blog post: Carl Brandon Feb. reading recommendations list http://tinyurl.com/au8boy #

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Today was Valentine’s Day (and also my birthday, which is one of multiple reasons I haven’t been around much this week), and my original plan, long in the making, was to highlight some excellent love stories/romances in a post to go up today.

But the publicity surrounding the possible violent situation involving the singers Rihanna and Chris Brown made me think twice about that.

Because other people have already done it and done it well, I’m not going to lecture you about how terrible domestic violence is, what a particular danger it is to women of color, how stupid it is to blame the victim, or even how ridiculous it is to use someone’s nationality as a reason why bad things happen to them.

What I will do is point you to — you guessed it — some books detailing the particular pain domestic abuse can cause:

• The Batterer As Parent, Lundy Bancroft
• Violence in the Lives of Black Women, Tom M. Stevenson
• When Violence Begins at Home, K J Wilson
• Battle Cries: Black Women and Intimate Partner Abuse, Hillary Potter
• Black Women’s Lives, Kristal Brent Zook

If you know someone who needs to read these, please pass this list to them, together with a list of more immediate places they can find help.

Also, if you’ve got some time, please watch Jay Smooth‘s excellent video about domestic abuse in black and Latino communities.

Last year, I highlighted a  few black authors during Black History Month. I’ll do a few more for the rest of the month, but before I do so, wanted to point out the posts from last year for those of you who may have missed them.

Without further ado, the Who’s That Black Novelist Series from 2008:

• Mat Johnson
• Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (and yes, I know she’s now dropped the Mbachu)
• Brandon Massey
• Caryl Phillips
• Monica Jackson
• Nichelle D. Tramble
• St. Josephine Bakhita
• Kimberla Lawson Roby

The day I’d been awaiting came today, but I’m still disappointed.

Did you see the price on this puppy? $359!

As much as I want one, I can’t justify the expenditure right now.

Anyway, a roundup of some coverage of the release of the Kindle 2:

• Kindle 2 debuts (Los Angeles Times)
• Still no folder support? (Dear Author)
• Amazon to Kindle: Let Me Upgrade U (New York Times)
• “Definitely an improvement” (TeleRead)
• Coming to cell phones (Gizmodo)

What do you think? Can this seduce some cash from your wallet?

*Photo from Amazon

The Ancestors

L.A. Banks, Tananarive Due, Brandon Massey

Dafina Books

2008

It occurred to me that I’d never actually reviewed The Ancestors, which contains three novellas largely about unsettled spirits of American blacks by three authors who can stake claims to being the preeminent black authors working in the horror/paranormal genre right now: L.A. Banks, Tananarive Due and Brandon Massey.

Obviously, Massey doesn’t have the name recognition of the other two, but I’m pleased to report that although he doesn’t quite have their grace yet, he gets better and better each time I read something new by him. If he keeps getting better, he might slip up and become a favorite.

Anyway, I reviewed the book in haiku.

Here goes:

Banks, Due do their thing
Spirits got no time for sleep
Massey on the rise

Grade: B/B-