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African American Fiction & Non-Fiction November/December 2017
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The Betting Vow
by K. M. Jackson
Tired of the supermodel thing, Leila Darling, who has the talent to be a serious actress, is in serious need of an image makeover and gets an offer she cannot refuse from TV producer Carter Bain, who will give her any of his A-list roles if she gets married and stays married for six months.
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Bluebird, Bluebird: a Novel
by Attica Locke
Forced by duty to return to his racially divided East Texas hometown, an African-American Texas Ranger risks his job and reputation to investigate a highly charged double murder case involving a black Chicago lawyer and a local white woman. By the award-winning author of Pleasantville.
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Death By His Grace
by Kwei Quartey
The chief inspector of the Ghanaian federal police investigates the murder of a woman who was accused of being a witch after she proves to be infertile in her marriage.
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Desperate Hours
by David Mack
Lieutenant Michael Burnham gets the chance to prove herself as First Officer when she and the crew of the Shenzhou must protect a Federation colony that is under attack by an ancient alien vessel.
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The Devil You Know
by Mary Monroe
Lola seeks revenge on her nasty relatives who cheated her out of everything she worked for while Joan reels from her husband’s devastating betrayal, in the final novel in the series following Never Trust a Stranger.
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The Diamond Empire
by K'wan
When his crew is usurped by an ambitious rival, an exiled Diamond carefully plans his comeback only to be outmaneuvered by an unexpected enemy from the past; while a grieving Pearl finds herself pushed into the very life her father worked to prevent. By the award-winning author of Gangsta.
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Lightning Men: a Novel
by Thomas Mullen
""Reads like the best of James Ellroy." --Publishers Weekly (starred review, on Darktown) "Mullen is a wonderful architect of intersecting plotlines and unexpected answers." --The Washington Post, on Darktown From the acclaimed author of The Last Town on Earth comes the gripping follow-up to Darktown. Officer Denny Rakestraw and "Negro Officers" Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith have their hands full in a rapidly changing Atlanta. It's 1950 and racial tensions are simmering as black families, including Smith's sister, begin moving into formerly all-white neighborhoods. When Rake's brother-in-law launches a scheme to rally the Ku Klux Klan to "save" their neighborhood, his efforts spiral out of control, forcing Rake to choose between loyalty to family orthe law. Across town, Boggs and Smith try to shut down the supply of white lightning and drugs into their territory, finding themselves up against more powerful foes than they'd expected. Battling corrupt cops and ex-cons, Nazi brown shirts and rogue Klansmen, the officers are drawn closer to the fires that threaten to consume the city once again. With echoes of James Ellroy and Dennis Lehane, Mullen demonstrates in Lightning Men why he's celebrated for writing crime fiction "with a nimble sense of history...quick on its feet and vividly drawn" (Dallas Morning News)"
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The Night Language
by David Rocklin
The Night Language tells the story of a young man, Prince Alamayou of Abyssinia (present day Ethiopia), who is taken from his home and the Abyssinian war to the court of Queen Victoria--a world he knows nothing about.
With him is Philip Layard, a young apprentice to one of the doctors on the battlefield in Abyssinia, who becomes Alamayou's guardian, only friend, and eventually, the love of his life. When Parliament accuses Alamayou of murder, the young prince is sentenced to return to Abyssinia where he will be executed.
Alamayou's only hope comes from the very thing that cannot be uttered: the unexpected and forbidden love between him and Philip.
Inspired by true events, The Night Language is a unique novel of love, loss, and the consequences of repressive societies.
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The Origin of Others
by Toni Morrison
Examines how literature has positively and negatively impacted the history of race in America, and how the notion of the "other" develops at a cultural, societal, and individual level.
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Packing Heat: a Blue-Collar Lover Novel
by Zuri Day
Content with his steady paycheck, post office employee Douglas Carter must convince his new co-worker Janice Baker, who aspires to become a singer, that despite his seeming lack of means and ambition, there is far more to him than meets the eye—and that he is the perfect man for her.
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Passage: a Novel
by Khary Lazarre-White
Navigating the snowy streets of 1993 Harlem and Brooklyn, secure in the love of his family but confronted constantly by human and supernatural reminders about prejudice, a young black man struggles to graduate from an underprivileged school while becoming increasingly subject to the spirits of his oppressed ancestors.
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Pearl Tongue
by Tyrone Bentley
Aphtan takes to stripping to support her mother and herself when her father goes to jail, but when she meets Scooter, she trades that life in for that of a housewife, but she soon finds out that nothing lasts forever.
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The Perfect Present
by Rochelle Alers
A trio of heartwarming holiday romances includes Rochelle Alers’ A Christmas Layover, in which a Navy SEAL Captain and elementary school teacher pose as a couple when their flight is grounded and she brings him home to stay with her extended family for one night.
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Sing, Unburied, Sing: a Novel
by Jesmyn Ward
Living with his grandparents and toddler sister on a Gulf Coast farm, Jojo navigates the challenges of his tormented mother's addictions and his grandmother's terminal cancer before the release of his father from prison prompts a road trip of danger and hope. By the National Book Award-winning author of Salvage the Bones.
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A Stallion's Touch
by Deborah Fletcher Mello
Nicholas Stallion's championship dreams are almost within reach. The star quarterback has lucrative endorsement deals, A-list friends and beautiful women on call…until a play-off injury changes his life. He's angry at the world—and butting heads with family friend Dr. Tarah Boudreaux. Yet the ambitious neurosurgeon's unwavering encouragement sparks an intimacy that blindsides them both.
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A Time to Stand
by Robert Whitlow
"In a small Georgia town where racial tensions run high and lives are at stake, can one lawyer stand up for justice against the tide of prejudice on every side? Adisa Johnson, a young African American attorney, is living her dream of practicing law with a prestigious firm in downtown Atlanta. Then a split-second mistake changes the course of her career. Left with no other options, Adisa returns to her hometown where a few days earlier a white police officer shot an unarmed black teen who is now lying comatose in the hospital. Adisa is itching to jump into the fight as a special prosecutor, but feels pulled to do what she considers unthinkable--defend the officer. As the court case unfolds, everyone in the small community must confront their own prejudices. Caught in the middle, Adisa also tries to chart her way along a path complicated by her budding relationship with a charismatic young preacher who leads the local movement demanding the police officer answer for his crime. This highly relevant and gripping novel challenges us to ask what it means to forgive while seeking justice, to pursue reconciliation while loving others as ourselves."
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The Tragedy of Brady Sims
by Ernest J. Gaines
"Ernest J. Gaines's new novella revolves around a courthouse shooting that leads a young reporter to uncover the long story of race and power in his small town and the relationship between the white sheriff and the black man who "whipped children" to keep order. After Brady Sims pulls out a gun in a courtroom and shoots his own son, who has just been convicted of robbery and murder, he asks only to be allowed two hours before he'll give himself up to the sheriff. When the editor of the local newspaper asks his cub reporter to dig up a "human interest" story about Brady, he heads for the town's barbershop. It is the barbers and the regulars who hang out there who narrate with empathy, sadness, humor, and a profound understanding the life story of Brady Sims--an honorable, just, and unsparing man who with his tough love had been handed the task of keeping the black children of Bayonne, Louisiana in line to protect them from the unjust world in which they lived. And when his own son makes a fateful mistake, it is up to Brady to carry out the necessary reckoning. In the telling, we learn the story of a small southern town, divided by race, and the black community struggling to survive even as many of its inhabitants head off northwards during the Great Migration."
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Trouble in the White House
by Brenda Hampton
President Stephen C. Jefferson faces adversity from all sides as his wife and mother continue to pull him in opposite directions just as he receives news that a son he never knew he had is classified as a terrorist.
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The Unquiet Grave: a Novel
by Sharyn McCrumb
A tale based on the bizarre 1897 case of the Greenbrier Ghost follows the "talking therapy" of an asylum inmate, a black attorney who decades earlier helped to defend a white man on trial for the murder of his young bride, who famously implicated her husband from beyond the grave.
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Unforgivable Love
by Sophfronia Scott
Heiress Mae Malveaux strikes a deal with Valiant Jackson where the reward for seducing her young, virginal cousin, Cecily, would be a night in her own bedroom, in a reimagining of the classic French novel Dangerous Liaisons set in 1947 Harlem.
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Ali: a Life
by Jonathan Eig
The best-selling author of Opening Day draws on insider access to present an unauthorized portrait of the iconic champion fighter, arguing that race was a central theme in Muhammad Ali's career, faith and advocacy work and that his political beliefs and neurological health shaped his complex character.
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Black Tudors: The Untold Story
by Miranda Kaufmann
Drawing from long-forgotten records, the author provides insight into how Africans came to be in Tudor England, what they did there and how they were treated, forcing readers to re-examine the 17th century to determine what caused perceptions to change so radically.
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The Book of Leon: Philosophy of a Fool
by Leon Black
"Everyone's favorite house guest who never left, Leon Black (played by award-winning comedian JB Smoove on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm) drops his wisdom and good-bad advice for the masses. Learn the secrets Larry David has gleaned from the Falstaff of television."--~Amazon.
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Chuck D Presents This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History
by Chuck D
A comprehensive, chronological survey of rap and hip-hop from 1973 to the present, written by one of the industry's most influential lyricists, is based on his long-running show on Rapstation.com and details the most iconic moments and relevant songs from the genre's recorded history.
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Courage Is Contagious: and Other Reasons to Be Grateful for Michelle Obama
by Nicholas Haramis
A collection of 19 essays inspired by the memorable tribute, "To the First Lady with Love," includes contributions by a range of award-winning writers, celebrities, designers and chefs ranging from Chimamanda Ngochi Adichie and Tracee Ellis Ross to Alice Walters and Gloria Steinem, in a volume complemented by two essays by eighth-grade students.
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Dare Not Linger: the Presidential Years
by Nelson Mandela
A sequel to the best-selling Long Walk to Freedom completes the Nobel Prize Laureate's unfinished memoirs and is complemented by notes and speeches written by Mandela during his historic presidency.
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Don't Call Us Dead: Poems
by Danez Smith
An awarding-poet presents a collection of works that opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police—a place where suspicion, violence and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love and longevity they deserved here on earth.
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Electric Arches
by Eve L. Ewing
Blending stark realism with the surreal and fantastic, Eve L. Ewings narrative takes us from the streets of 1990s Chicago to an unspecified future, deftly navigating the boundaries of space, time, and reality. Ewing imagines familiar figures in magical circumstances blues legend Koko Taylor is a tall-tale hero; LeBron James travels through time and encounters his teenage self. She identifies everyday objects--hair moisturizer, a spiral notebook--as precious icons.
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Encyclopedia of Black Comics
by Sheena C Howard
"The Encyclopedia of Black Comics, focuses on people of African descent who have published significant works in the United States or have worked across various aspects of the comics industry. The book focuses on creators in the field of comics: inkers, illustrators, artists, writers, editors, Black comic historians, Black comic convention creators, website creators, archivists and academics--as well as individuals who may not fit into any category but have made notable achievements within and/or across Black comic culture."
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Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide
by Patrice Banks
The author, devoted to empowering women to learn basic car repairs and knowing what to do in an emergency, presents this must-have guide, revved up with easy-to-follow instructions, great tips and lifesaving rules of thumb, that teaches women what they need to know about how their cars work, and what they need to do to keep them running smoothly.
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A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter
by Nikki Giovanni
A celebrated American poet offers an intimate, affecting and revealing look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart, taking us into her confidence as she ruminates on her life and the people who have helped shape her into the woman she has become.
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The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums
by Will Friedwald
A deeply personal survey of 57 of the greatest 20th-century jazz and pop albums considers how singers and musicians shaped and organized their extraordinary collections of songs, revealing personal stories of the singers’ successes and failures.
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Jimmy's Blues: and Other Poems
by James Baldwin
A complete collection of published poems by the acclaimed writer of Notes of a Native Son includes six significant poems previously only available in limited editions and offers insight into his near-prophetic views on race, class, poverty and social orientation.
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Never Stop: a Memoir
by Simba Sana
Never Stop is the wrenching memoir of Simba Sana, the cofounder and former leader of Karibu Books, a major indie-bookselling phenomenon and perhaps the most successful black-owned company in the history of the book industry. In this memoir, Sana reveals how his experience with Karibu jumpstarted his lifelong journey to better understanding himself, human nature, faith, and American culturewhich ultimately helped him develop the powerful personal philosophy that drives his life today. ~Horizon
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Soul Survivor: a Biography of Al Green
by Jimmy McDonough
A biography of the legendary soul singer best known for “Tired of Being Alone” traces his career from gospel to secular music, from combined sales of more than 20 million records to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Stand by Your truth: and Then Run for Your Life!
by Rickey Smiley
The stand-up comedian, radio personality and TV One star shares in-depth essays on the opinions he occasionally voices on the air, from parenting and education to his Baptist upbringing and absolute conviction about being true to oneself.
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Strange Fruit: the Biography of a Song
by David Margolick
A portrait of the song "Strange Fruit," written by Abel Meeropol and describing a racial lynching in the South, which was recorded by legendary singer Billie Holiday in 1939, examines the influence of the song on the growth of the Civil Rights Movement and traces the lives of singer Billie Holiday and songwriter Abel Meeropol.
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Take the Lid Off: Trust God, Release the Pressure, and Find the Life He Wants for You
by Smokie Norful
"According to Smokie Norful, sometimes our lives feel like a pot of rice in his grandmother's kitchen: hissing, boiling over, about to explode and create panic. The only way to avoid an explosion is to take the lid off--that is, to stop being trapped inside ourselves and instead look to God and his grace to make us all he intends us to be. Taking the lid off, Norful argues, entails four actions: look inward, experiencing the cleansing of forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit; look outward, seeking for others to experience the joy of living for God and have the best God has to offer; look upward and marvel at God's love and strength to accomplish his purposes; and move onward, devising a strategy to accomplish all God has put in our hearts to do." ~Book Jacket
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We Were Eight Years in Power: an American Tragedy
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A compelling portrait of the historic Barack Obama era, combining new and annotated essays from the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me, includes the articles, "Fear of a Black President" and "The Case for Reparations" as well as two new pieces on the Obama administration and what is coming next.
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Wild Beauty: New and Selected Poems
by Ntozake Shange
In a collection of more than 60 original and selected poems in both English and Spanish, a poet, novelist and award-winning playwright, drawing from her experience as a feminist black woman in America, shares her utterly unique, unapologetic and deeply emotional writing that has made her one of the most iconic literary figures of our time.
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