African American reading - Nook friends/contacts

[daquietstom]

Does anyone have any recommended African American Fiction that I could add to my Nook list? Currently, I am ready "Hood Life" by Meesha Mink. Also, I just bought my nook so I can add contacts for book lending as well.

[cello3]

Beloved by Toni Morrison is one of my favorite books. I also enjoyed her novel Song Of Solomon. Richard Wright's Native Son is worthwhile as well.

[sub_rosa]

I'm not sure I know what the OP means by "African American fiction."  Is that fiction written by an "African American," or with a main character who is "African American," or popular with people who identify themselves as "African American," or maybe all/some of the above?

"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett is a wonderful novel that features several prominent characters who many would refer to as "African American" (although I prefer the black/white dichotomy when referring "race" - just easier than calling white people "European American").  The book is set it pre-civil-rights era Jackson, Mississippi and focuses on the lives of three women - two "African American" maids working for "European American" women - and another "European American" woman, an aspiring author, who is not satisfied with the Jim Crow status quo.

[gqb]

Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladie's Detective Agency is set in Botswana.  There's a whole series.  The protagonist (Precious) is a strong character.

[ssgbutlerec]

I'm searching just like you but it is hard.  It's bad enough trying to find a Black book club in Oklahoma City, but it's even harder with Barnes and Nobles.  Ready to Nook it  up anytime.

[ssgbutlerec]

It can include all, but I'm sure "Storm" means fiction composed by an African-American.  I'm sure "The Help" is a great book, but I don't think a lot of the people that helped it to bestseller status are not Black.   A white author can not relay the Black experience to Blacks.  They can create Black supporting characters, but to devise what is in the mind of servants during the Civil Rights era is a stretch.  It's counterculture.  I'm sure she researched but there are far better, and more realistic books, and autobios, of that era by the people that lived through it.

[EffieTX]

The Darkest Child  This is one of the first books I read after getting my Nook.. Its an absolutely awesome story.. one of those that grabs you by the throat and drags you into its pages... so that you feel like you are living the story.

[03FLHT2]

Not fiction but in USA Today their is a book highlighted by Author Isabel Wilkerson about the migration of black families moving to the north.  THE Warmth of Other Suns.  Reading the review sounds like an interesting story and compelling.   She talks about how families moved from Europe  with out a cent in their pocket and making it and now when these black families moved North they were able to achieve the same things.

[sub_rosa]

---

ssgbutlerec wrote:

It can include all, but I'm sure "Storm" means fiction composed by an African-American.  I'm sure "The Help" is a great book, but I don't think a lot of the people that helped it to bestseller status are not Black.   A white author can not relay the Black experience to Blacks.  They can create Black supporting characters, but to devise what is in the mind of servants during the Civil Rights era is a stretch.  It's counterculture.  I'm sure she researched but there are far better, and more realistic books, and autobios, of that era by the people that lived through it.

---

Perhaps you should read "The Help" before you attempt any criticism.  It is a work of fiction, and I have read it.  In my view, it was not intended to "relay the Black experience to Blacks" or "devise what is in the mind of servants during the Civil Rights era" with any claim of authenticity.  It's a heartwarming story of struggle and triumph in difficult times.

If anyone wants an historical account of what happened in the south during Jim Crow, this is not the book to read - just like Moby Dick isn't a fisherman's guide to whale hunting.

[ssgbutlerec]

Thanks Effie, I read the excerpt and just downloaded the full book.  I'll be commenting on it later.

[angelmhunter]

Add me as a nook lender/borrower 

Please do not post email addresses on these public boards.

Thank you.

Your Admin.

Michael-V

[mommamania]

I have been visiting sites such as aalbc and then checking to see if BN has whatever I am interested in on their website. 

[tweezle]

Make sure to add Bernice McFadden to your list. I've read

Glorious   and it was amazing. I've heard that her books have been used in different universities because of the realism they portray.

[Grammaknits02]

Two books by Lalita Tademy were amazing--

Cane River and Red River.  They were awesome and I could not put them down!!!  Read them both in the course of a weekend--of course, that was all I did that weekend!!!

[Cobbieg]

Someone knows my name by Lawrence Hill

[WanaBook]

Perfect Peace by Daniel Black

Any of the Toni Morrison Books

Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It by JD Mason

Holy Rollers by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

Sins of the Mother by Victoria Murray  

 Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Just to name a few

[token787]

I have read alot of books, but it depends on what category of African American you want to read.  My category is: Historical Fiction, Urban, History, Auto/Biography, Mystery, Crime, Suspense

U can add me to Lend/Borrower

[EyEz]

Check out My B&N for some books I've read already.

[msmoonlite]

Thanks for posting all of the books you are reading or have read.....there are a few books listed that I happily added to my ebooks wish list. I miss the days of going into a bookstore and being able to browse an entire section dedicated to African American fiction/ writers so coming here and seeing this thread has been very refreshing!!!

[Sardonicus]

---

daquietstom wrote:

Does anyone have any recommended African American Fiction that I could add to my Nook list?

---

On the eve of Veteran's day, I think mention of Wallace Terry's "Bloods" is appropriate.  I read it years ago as a DTB.  It is still not available as an eBook.

A good read, nevertheless.

(It does, admittedly, not meet your request for "Fiction", but I don't feel bad about that. )

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Bloods-An-Oral-History-of-the-Vietnam-War-by-Black-Veterans/Wallace...