books on the root

Known for works like his films “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” and “Watermelon Man,” and his musical “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death,” Melvin Van Peebles is an artist who’s unafraid to cross boundaries, disciplines, and traditions in his work. His forthcoming project is no exception. The seventy-six-year-old is gearing up for the release of…

Who Deserves a Book Deal? NeNe Leakes, one of the real housewives of Atlanta recently sold a book called “Never Make the Same Mistake Twice: Straight Talk on Love and Life from a Real Housewife.” It’ll publish in July and will be written with Denene Millner, who coauthored Steve Harvey’s “Act Like a Lady, Think…

It can be hard, borderline infuriating to sift through all the books being published these days and find ones deserving of your attention. Books on the Root’s Reading List will do some of the hard work for you by providing recommendations and suggestions regularly. Here’s a quick catch-up edition to help keep your TBR (to…

It may be a cliché, but it’s still true: in order to understand where you’re going, you must understand where you came from. This is the approach that writers Danzy Senna and W. Ralph Eubanks take in their new books, both of which explore their histories in order to arrive at the heart of their…

There’s talk in the literary blogosphere surrounding the Coretta Scott King Book Award. The reason for the debate: some folk think it’s racist. My first reaction: are they serious? Unfortunately, they are. A little background: The CSK was founded by two school librarians and is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year. In 1982, the American…

With the news that the First Family is hosting a Poetry Jam (not slam, as has been cleared up by Social Secretary Desiree Rogers) at the White House tonight, it made me wonder if poetry will benefit from the good press. I’m just saying. Poetry is often treated like the underappreciated stepchild. Publishers ain’t really…

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Farai Chideya, the former host of NPR’s “News and Notes,” remixes the badass trifecta in her debut novel “Kiss the Sky,” a tale of a former rock star whose constant search for happiness in all the wrong places brings her to discover the power within.Chideya opened up to Books…

Are you Black or Post-Black? The world of books has always offered insight into race matters in this country. Couple that with the internet and there’s a lot to talk about. Earlier this week author and critic, Touré reviewed Colson Whitehead’s new book “Sag Harbor” for the New York Times Book Review. And as ringShout…

“Mama knew love like the back roads, used to fall asleep daily in her work clothes.” I love that line from Anthony Hamilton’s song, “Mama Knew Love,” because it’s dead-on in describing the extraordinary strength of mothers. But as I continue into my own adulthood, I also realize that the line hints to the extreme…

“I identify more with Nick Carraway now than I did when I was younger,” Nelson George says about the observant character from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Carraway captured George’s attention when he was a nerdy adolescent growing up in Queens, a fact he recalls in his new memoir City Kid, which chronicles his…