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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.
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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:
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:

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:
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-
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