Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

Is it time to start looking forward to the exciting books by authors of color coming out in 2014? Author and group member Tayari Jones recently posted that 2014 will be a great year for African American women novelists, with new books by Roxane Gay, Tiphanie Yanique, Natalie Baszile, Bridgett Davis, Pearl Cleage, and Jacinda Townsend. What books are you looking forward to reading next year?

Speculative fiction author Nnedi Okorafor has a new one coming out in April entitled Lagoon.

http://www.amazon.com/Lagoon-Nnedi-Ok...

Wilhelmina wrote: "Is it time to start looking forward to the exciting books by authors of color coming out in 2014? Author and group member Tayari Jones recently posted that 2014 will be a great year for African Ame..."

I cannot believe 2014 is around the corner. Yes, a very nice list of authors. I had an opportunity to read ARC of Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile and really enjoyed.

Wilhelmina wrote: "Speculative fiction author Nnedi Okorafor has a new one coming out in April entitled Lagoon.

http://www.amazon.com/Lagoon-Nnedi-Ok......"

Yes, I am looking forward to reading this book.

Here are a couple of books being released in Jan/Feb 2014 that I am looking forward to reading:

Radiance of Tomorrow - Ishmael Beah
Children of Paradise - Fred D'Aguiar
Foreign Gods, Inc. - Okey Ndibe
The Scent of Magic - Deborah Johnson
Dust - Yvonne Adhiambo Owuar

Beverly wrote: "Here are a couple of books being released in Jan/Feb 2014 that I am looking forward to reading:

Radiance of Tomorrow - Ishmael Beah
Children of Paradise - Fred D'Aguiar
Foreign Gods, Inc. - Okey N..."

I'm really looking forward to Radiance of Tomorrow: A Novel. I loved his memoir, A Long Way Gone. Thanks for the heads up!

It won't be out until June, but I am looking forward to Morowa Yejide's book, Time Of The Locust. Full disclosure - I know Morowa. Her son and my grandson were classmates. Time Of The Locust was a finalist last year for Barbara Kingsolver's PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.

Wilhelmina wrote: "It won't be out until June, but I am looking forward to Morowa Yejide's book, Time Of The Locust. Full disclosure - I know Morowa. Her son and my grandson were classmates. Time Of The Locust was a ..."

Thanks and she has a very nice website:
http://morowayejide.com/home

Hi Wilhelmina -

Publishers' Weekly has issued its call for African American book titles for 2014. You may want to review this list when it is published

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by...

Also - Deborah Johnson's book is THE SECRET OF MAGIC.

Two more releases for 2014 -

non-fiction THE HIPPEST TRIP IN AMERICA: SOUL TRAIN AND THE EVOLUTION OF CULTURE AND STYLE - Nelson George 3/25 release date

fiction THIRTY GIRLS - Susan Minot 2/11 release date

Peggy wrote: "Hi Wilhelmina -

Publishers' Weekly has issued its call for African American book titles for 2014. You may want to review this list when it is published

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by......"

Thanks - I keep calling Deborah's book The Scent of Magic - do not know why :)

Here are a couple more 2014 releases by AOC:
Soy Sauce for Beginners - Kristin Chen
For Today I Am a Boy - Kim Fu
Boy In the Twilight - Yu Hua
The Fall of Saints - Wanjiku wa Ngugi
Kinder Than Solitude - Yiyun Li
All Our Names - Dinaw Mengestu
The Orchard of Lost Souls - Nadifa Mohamed
Bedrock Faith - Eric Charles May
Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi
Team Seven - Marcus Burke
A Wanted Woman - Eric Jerome Dickey
Debbie Doesn't Do It Anyway - Walter Mosley

Looks like a great year coming up!

I agree, Mina. Yippee!

That Mosley title has me curious. Prolific writer and a genius. Love him!

Oh my goodness: I can't wait!

Mosley's next book, Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore: A Novel

Product Description
In this scorching, mournful, often explicit, and never less than moving literary novel by the famed creator of the Easy Rawlins series, Debbie Dare, a black porn queen, has to come to terms with her sordid life in the adult entertainment industry after her tomcatting husband dies in a hot tub. Electrocuted. With another woman in there with him. Debbie decides she just isn't going to "do it anymore." But executing her exit strategy from the porn world is a wrenching and far from simple process.


Millions of men (and no doubt many women) have watched famed black porn queen Debbie Dare—she of the blond wig and blue contacts-"do it" on television and computer screens every which way with every combination of partners the mind of man can imagine. But one day an unexpected and thunderous on-set orgasm catches Debbie unawares, and when she returns to the mansion she shares with her husband, insatiable former porn star and "film producer" Theon Pinkney, she discovers that he's died in a case of hot tub electrocution, "auditioning" an aspiring "starlet." Burdened with massive debts that her husband incurred, and which various L.A. heavies want to collect on, Debbie must reckon with a life spent in the peculiar subculture of the pornography industry and her estrangement from her family and the child she had to give up. She's done with porn, but her options for what might come next include the possibility of suicide. Debbie . . . is a portrait of a ransacked but resilient soul in search of salvation and a cure for grief.

While we're on the topic of incredible authors of color who consistently pushes the envelope then...

Colson Whitehead with The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death

I'm really looking forward to: Jacinda Townsend's Saint Monkey

Not certain how "literary" this book is, but it's published by Akashic and received plaudits from Colin Chandler, Dennis Lehane and Publishers Weekly. Can't be too bad...

Bedrock Faith by Eric Charles May March '14

Columbus wrote: "Oh my goodness: I can't wait!

Mosley's next book, Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore: A Novel

Product Description
In this scorching, mournful, often explicit, and never less than moving..."

OMG! For sure.

I have an advanced copy of Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore & can't wait to start reading in the next couple weeks.

PW has issued the African-American Interest Adult Titles 2013-2014.

Do note that the list contains titles being released from Sept 2013 - March 2014.
Also note that the titles seem to be "African American" subject books as tagged this way by the publisher. I did not see books like - Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beach, Foreign Gods, Inc. by Okey Ndible and Dust by Y. Owuar, etc. It also seems to be NF heavy.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by...

Beverly wrote: "PW has issued the African-American Interest Adult Titles 2013-2014.

Do note that the list contains titles being released from Sept 2013 - March 2014.
Also note that the titles seem to be "African ..."

I applaud PW for even presenting such a list. It is heavily tilted Non-Fiction, however, there are some very interesting titles listed that I would be anxious to get my teeth into. Thanks for sharing, Beverly!

Columbus wrote: "Beverly wrote: "PW has issued the African-American Interest Adult Titles 2013-2014.

Do note that the list contains titles being released from Sept 2013 - March 2014.
Also note that the titles seem..."

Me too - PW does this list and articles on African American Publishing. This time the article looks at the global demand for AA titles. I have not yet read but glad AA titles are getting translated and getting global attention.

I know that how books get tagged either helps or hinders their marketing so I am find with the list.
I take titles from this list and other sources to get a list to that fits my reading tastes. :)

There are several audio books by African American authors produced by AudioBooksa, an African American owned audio book producer. Check them out at www.AudioBookSa.com

This one getting really good buzz...

The Book of Unknown Americans: A Novel by Cristina Henriquez

Columbus wrote: "This one getting really good buzz...

The Book of Unknown Americans: A Novel by Cristina Henriquez"

Yes, it is on my list.
I have read the author's book - The World in Half

Oh my, hadn't heard about this one. Coming next month.......

The Secret History of Las Vegas: A Novel by Chris Abani

Has anyone read Chris Abani? I loved GraceLand

Columbus wrote: "Oh my, hadn't heard about this one. Coming next month.......

The Secret History of Las Vegas: A Novel by Chris Abani

Has anyone read Chris Abani? I loved [book:Gr..."

Yes, I have read several of Abani's novels, have not read his poetry. Have enjoyed his prose.

Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole released 3/25/14.

For readers of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Michael Ondaatje, Every Day Is for the Thief is a wholly original work of fiction by Teju Cole, whose critically acclaimed debut, Open City, was the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named one of the best books of the year by more than twenty publications.

If you are an audio book reader there are 4 new audio books by African American authors and produced & narrated by African Americans available through our website: http://www.audiobooksa.com/Products.html

Change: If I Can you Can by Travis Angry
Stepping Down by Michelle Stimpson
Is Your Man Gay by Tonja Ayers
12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

I just love the book cover for this April 2014 release:



'Til the Well Runs Dry: A Novel by Lauren Francis-Sharma

Beverly wrote: "I just love the book cover for this April 2014 release:



'Til the Well Runs Dry: A Novel by Lauren Francis-Sharma"

It is a pretty cover. The book seems interesting.

I agree with Beverly that the 'Til the Well Runs Dry: A Novel cover is giving me life. Definitely look forward to seeing the cover in person and reading the book. And although it's not fiction, I'm having a hard time waiting on Everybody's Got Something by Robin Roberts. Eagerly awaiting the April release.

I'm starting a giveaway for my book about a Hawaiian girl during ww2:

Here's the link to the book and a quickie description:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

An intrepid teenage OSS agent goes behind enemy lines to stop the Japanese atomic bomb project during World War II. Inspired by actual historical events.

Mina was once your average sweet-yet-sassy 1940s teenager. She watched Saturday afternoon serials, slurped cherry Cokes, and delighted in Frank Sinatra and big band swing.

Then she watched her father die trying to save a U.S. Navy sailor from the burning wreckage of Pearl Harbor, strafed by a swooping Zero fighter plane.

And oh yeah –- Mina is Japanese American.

Fighting racial prejudice, Mina joins the OSS (the precursor to the modern-day CIA) to avenge her father, and this Hawaiian-born schoolgirl becomes embroiled in a war she never thought she would be part of. Her life becomes a whirlwind odyssey of redemption, loss –- and vindication. Codenamed "Coral Hare," this undercover doe-eyed, gun-toting firebrand is Uncle's Sam's secret weapon against the Empire of Japan.

But the Empire of Japan has an ace up its sleeve -- the development of a devastating new weapon that will usher in a new era -- the atomic bomb.

Armed only with her wits and a handful of real-life gadgets, Mina must venture alone behind enemy lines to stop the Empire of the Rising Sun from extending its rays across the face of the globe. With details woven together from actual historical events surrounding Japan's World War II atomic weapons projects, the journey follows this pint-sized Hawaiian princess from the streets of Tokyo, to the rustic outback of Korea, to the malaria-infested jungles of the Pacific in her mission to prevent atomic annihilation.

Seamlessly blending poignant moments of heartache with blast-from-the-past, high-octane derring-do, Coral Hare is an elegantly woven tale of perseverance and courage that everyone from our Greatest Generation to Millennials can savor.

A couple of more books coming out later this year (Aug 2014)

Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay

William Wells Brown: An African-American Life by Ezra Greenspan

The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord

The Lotus and the Storm: A Novel by Lan Cao

Beverly wrote: "A couple of more books coming out later this year (Aug 2014)

Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay

William Wells Brown: An African-American Life by [..."

Thanks, Beverly!

Have you read anything by Roxanne Gay (essays, short stories, criticisms, reviews)? I recently read a short story by her along with an essay and other musings...impressive.

Columbus wrote: "Beverly wrote: "A couple of more books coming out later this year (Aug 2014)

Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay

William Wells Brown: An African-American Lif..."</i>

I am looking forward to reading her fiction book [book:An Untamed Statewhich comes out in May.

Beverly wrote: "Columbus wrote: "Beverly wrote: "A couple of more books coming out later this year (Aug 2014)

Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay

[book:William Wells Brown: An Afr..."

Edwidge Danticat and Tayari Jones both loved it. Looking forward to it!

This looks interesting.

http://www.salon.com/2014/03/02/boy_s...

“Boy, Snow, Bird”: The (much) darker side of Snow White
Helen Oyeyemi's new novel transposes the classic tale to the racially charged world of 1950s New England