More African American Fiction

 

Yellow Wife is a novel by Sadeqa Johnson. Pheby Delores Brown was born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia and lives a sheltered life. She is shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and is cherished by the Master’s sister. This sets her apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither the white nor the black world. She was promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she had imagined with her true love, she is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. Pheby unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the vileness of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond where the enslaved are broken, tortured, and sold on a daily basis. There she is not only exposed to her jailer’s cruelty, but also to his contradictions. If Pheby wants to survive, she’ll have to outwit him, even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice.

Luster is the debut novel of writer Raven Leilani. Edie is like most people in their twenties—listlessly going through life, clocking in and out of her admin job, and making a series of questionable sexual choices. She occasionally gives heat and air to the art that is burning inside of her. Edie then meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey. Eric’s wife has agreed to an open marriage—with rules. When Edie finds herself unemployed, she receives an invitation to Eric’s home, but not by Eric. She becomes an uneasy ally to Eric’s wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. This is a haunting depiction of how hard it is to believe in your own self-worth and of the unexpected influences that help us to become ourselves.

Fifty Words for Rain is a novel by Asha Lemmie. Eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson is this: “Do not question, do not fight, do not resist.” She is the product of her married mother’s affair with an African American GI and, as such, considered a pariah to her aristocratic grandparents.  So, Nori will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin tone. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life despite her natural curiosity and intellect. That changes, however, when her older half-brother Akira comes to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond. Their formidable grandparents cannot allow this bond, however, because it will forever change the lives they were meant to lead. But now that Nori has had a taste of a world in which there is actually a place for her, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—even if it costs her everything.

Butterfly: Book 3 is by Ashley Antoinette."The hardest thing Morgan Atkins has ever done is let go of love. After losing Messiah, she never thought she’d find someone who understood her again. Until she reunited with Ahmeek Harris and their friendship quickly transformed into something deeper, but there was one problem... she was engaged to a man she didn’t love and he’s holding a deadly secret over her head. If that wasn’t enough, her long lost love Messiah returned to claim her as his own. Three men plus one woman equals inevitable heartbreak. Morgan wants to follow her heart and take the risk of a lifetime, but she risks destroying her family in the process. Will Morgan enter a loveless marriage? Or will Messiah and Ahmeek fix their brotherhood and work together to save the woman they both love?" (from Amazon.com)

African American Fiction

 K'Wan's latest is Black Lotus 2: The Vow. "It's been months since Kahllah El-Amin, aka the Black Lotus, hung up her pistols, retired from the murder-for-hire business, and finally found peace. But when a police officer is murdered and a familiar flower is left at the crime scene, all signs point to it being the work of the Black Lotus. Someone is trying to frame her. Things get more complicated when the case is handed to Detective James Wolf, a former adversary who has since become a friend. To clear her name, Kahllah is forced out of retirement and once again must don the mask of the Black Lotus. She races against time to catch the real killer while trying to outrun her most formidable rival. Their deadly game leads to a shocking truth buried under a mountain of lies, as Kahllah attempts to find justice in a world devoid of light." (from Amazon.com)

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a National Book Award Finalist written by Deesha Philyaw. This collection of nine stories features four generations of characters struggling with what they want to be in this world. They are caught between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions. Fourteen-year-old Jael has a crush on the preacher’s wife. Lyra realizes that her own discomfort with her body is holding her back in her relationship. Caroletta’s yearly arrangement with her childhood best friend is up in the air as Y2K looms. A serial mistress has to lay down the rules for her married lovers. Finally, grieving strangers find comfort in one another’s embrace in the parking lot of a hospice. These church ladies are seductive, vulnerable, unfaithful, unrepentant, and as free as they deserve to be.

The Prophets is a novel by Robert Jones, Jr.  Isaiah and Samuel belonged to one another. It was that way in the beginning, and it is the way it will be until the end. These two enslaved young men try to find moments of happiness as they tend to the animals in the master’s barn. They manage to transform a hollowed-out shed into a place of refuge and hope in a world ruled by a cruel master. When an older fellow slave begins preaching the master’s gospel in order to gain favor, the other slaves begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel’s love—once so simple—is now seen as sinful and a clear danger to the harmony of the plantation. As the tension builds, the weight of the centuries comes crashing down, culminating in an inevitable reckoning.

Rumaan Alam is the author and National Book Award Finalist for Leave the World Behind. Amanda and Clay are looking forward to their vacation out in a remote corner of Long Island in a luxurious home they’ve rented for a week. It’s a chance to leave their hectic life in New York City behind and to reconnect with their teenage son and daughter. Late one night there is a knock on the door and an older couple—Ruth and G. H. who claim to own the home—have arrived in a panic. The strangers inform the family that a sudden blackout has swept New York and they have nowhere else to go. They have come to the country for shelter. With the TV and internet down, and no cell phone service, Amanda and Clay cannot verify their story. Should they trust this intruding couple? What has happed back in New York? Is the vacation home a safe place for the two families? Are they safe from one another? These are the questions at the center of this suspenseful and provocative novel.

New Nonfiction in Honor of Black History Month

African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song is part of the Library of America Anthology series and is edited by Kevin Young. African American Poetry is one of the great American art forms and encompasses many kinds of verse: formal, experimental, vernacular, lyric, etc. This anthology opens with moving words about the power of poetry as a means of self-assertion. Poets like Phillis Wheatley and George Moses Horton, along with activists like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper bring a passionate voice to the resistance of slavery. Fresh, young voices of the Harlem Renaissance like Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen stand alongside their lesser-known counterparts like Gwendolyn B. Bennett and Mae V. Cowdery. The rise of the Black Arts Movement is also represented here with scope and originality. Also included here are many long out-of-print and hard-to-find poems.

Newly elected Vice President Kamala Harris has a new memoir with The Truths We Hold: An American Journey. Covering her life from her upbringing in Oakland, California through her time as a United States Senator, this book seeks to point out the core truths that unite us all and how we can act upon them. Kamala Harris is the daughter of immigrants and civil rights activists who was raised in a community the deeply cared about social justice. Her experiences as she rose to notoriety in the political sphere would become her foundation as she grappled with an array of complex issues and brought a voice to those who had none. In this book, she endeavors to deal with the big challenges that we face together. She draws on her own experience as well as the work of those who have most inspired her to articulate a vision of shared struggle, shared purpose, and shared values as we face the challenges of our times.

Ben Okri writes the introduction for 20 Years of The Caine Prize for African Writing that has stories which cover the length and width of the African Diaspora. These twenty short stories showcase each author’s unique take on modern African life. This volume contains a jailer’s love poems ghost-written by a prisoner, love blossoming between two girls in spite of the horror of their community, street kids stick-fighting or stealing guavas from the rich, and a dystopian world where women must go naked until they marry. Whether it is a celebration, the marketplace, the bus stop, the ritual, the family, the funeral, or the bildungsroman, the short stories in this collection illuminate the everyday experience in such a way that the reader holds onto it long after the book is closed.

Grammy-winning rapper and bestselling author Lecrae delivers his newest with I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion But Found My Faith. In this poignant memoir, Lecrae faces the traumas of his past—sexual abuse, physical trauma, addiction, and depression—to emerge on the path to wholeness. He relates the simple transformational steps and practices he uses in his daily life for mental, emotional, and spiritual health. He looks at the personal and public influences that can hurt us—culture, politics, family, church, and personal failures. He also reminds us that letting go and forgiveness will allow a life of creativity and freedom that God means for us to have. He reminds us that “God is near, he hears, and he’s not done with you yet.”

Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson has a new cookbook called The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food. Samuelsson’s desire to reclaim Black culinary traditions and energize a new generation of cooks has resulted in a book filled with delicious recipes with a spotlight on various chefs, artists, and activists who represent cultures all over the world. The introduction features an over view of the pantry of the African diaspora. Recipes include chilled corn and tomato soup, grilled short ribs with a piri-piri marinade, crab curry with yams and mustard greens, and saffron tapioca pudding. Samuelsson highlights the diverse flavors and influences in Black cooking today as well as those who are creating and innovating the culinary world.

Grammy-winning artist Alicia Keys lays her life bare in More Myself: A Journey. Since Alicia rose to fame, her public persona has contradicted a deep personal truth: she has spent years trying to please others without realizing or honoring her own worth. She started asking questions of herself after holding back for so long: Who am I really? How can I become brave enough to embrace the answer? Part autobiography, part narrative journey, Alicia’s true self is revealed not only through her discoveries, but through the observations of those closest to her. From her girlhood in Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem to the process of growth and self-discovery that almost everyone goes through, this is a complete look at the beautiful soul and talented spirit of Alicia Keys.

New Adult Non-Fiction

 

The How Not to Diet Cookbook is by Michael Greger, M.D., FACLM and the recipes come from Robin Robertson. This book features more than one hundred plant-based recipes meant to help with healthy, permanent weight loss. Dr. Greger’s introductory chapter explains what he means by the title and which foods are best for his approach to weight loss and healthy eating. He also includes his “Daily Dozen” list to help you make sure you get the nutrients and exercise necessary for optimum health. Things like beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds, greens, cruciferous veggies, hydration, and exercise comprise most of the list. There is a helpful chart you can photocopy so that you can remember how many servings of each you need per day. There is also a chart of “21Tweaks” that will help you hack your weight loss by reminding you what to do at each meal, every day, and every night. Flipping through the book, I have found that there may be ingredients that would be difficult to find in our area, but there are plenty of simple, delicious-looking recipes to choose from, so you are sure to find something to suit your taste. 

It’s almost the time of year to start that garden and we have the perfect book for you: Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden by Jessica Walliser. Veteran gardeners and scientists know that intentionally growing certain plants together can benefit the whole garden. Jessica Walliser teaches you about the modern understanding of the web of connections happening in your garden and how to use them to create the results you want. These plant partnerships will offer strategies for breaking up heavy soils, combating weeds and disease, keeping pests away, attracting beneficial insects and improving pollination. For instance, did you know that chamomile discourages cabbageworm butterflies from laying their eggs? Or, if your potato patch is overrun with weeds, a cover crop of rapeseed (canola) may help you out? If you are a novice gardener, or if you just want to learn more about plants, then this is a very informative and interesting read. Who knows, you may improve your green thumb. 

The latest cookbook from infamous chef Gordon Ramsay is called Quick and Delicious. There are no difficult recipes or unusual ingredients here. Our favorite foul-mouth chef has gathered together one hundred recipes that can be cooked in thirty minutes or less. Ramsay shares the tips he has learned over the years to cut down on cooking times, but he never skimps on flavor. The introduction gives the home cook advice about faster, better cooking as well as an equipment list and an ingredient list that will help you punch up the flavor. With recipes like Moroccan Chicken and Couscous, Lamb Sirloin Roast with Creamed Cannellini Beans, and Dark Chocolate and Coffee Mousse, you can’t go wrong with giving a few of these a try. 

Author/photographer Brandon Stanton created Humans of New York in 2010. “What began as a photographic census of life in New York City soon evolved into a storytelling phenomenon.” Millions of people all over the world began following HONY on a daily basis. In this book, Humans, Stanton broadens his lens to include people from across the world. He traveled to more than forty countries and conducted interviews across continents, borders, and language barriers. These faces and locations may vary from page to page, but the stories that are told are shared by us all. These shared experiences range from the joyous to the sorrowful, the spectacular to the mundane, but they are all told with a candor and intimacy that makes them universal. 

Celebrated pastry chef Kelly Fields (with Kate Heddings) brings us The Good Book of Southern Baking. The subtitle—A Revival of Biscuits, Cakes, and Cornbread—lets us know right off that we are in for a treat. Fields begins her cookbook with a brief overview of the ingredients, techniques, and equipment that she thinks are most important for successful baking. She also says that, for the most part, you can use whatever suits you, but it is suggested you read the introduction so you can make the best choices for your baked goods. Fields has filled her book with all sorts of goodies: quick breads, muffins, biscuits, puddings, custards, cookies, bars, pies, cakes, and cobblers. This book is certainly chocked full of enough recipes to satisfy any sweet tooth or bread lover. Why not try the Praline Brownies, Bananas Foster Bread Pudding, or the Sweet Potato and Toasted Honey Marshmallow Pie?