Stuff I've Been Reading February 2022
First, I am always happy to see that I read more books than I bought. That always makes me happy. Now, for a few thoughts on the books I read.
Books Purchased February 2022
Collected Poems by Sonia Sanchez. (Hardcover). From Barnes & Noble, Marlton, N.J. 3 February.
Heavy: An American memoir by Kiese Laymon. (kindle). 3 February.
Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson. (audible audiobook). 9 February.
Chester B. Hines: A biography by Lawrence P. Jackson. (audible audiobook). 21 February.
Books Read February 2022
Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates. (library hardcover). 154 pgs. 1 February.
This is a fairly quick read from one of the true living giants of American letters. The plot is a fictional version of the Chappaquiddick incident. This was a short read that I enjoyed.
We Call This Thing Between Us Love by Jason Mott. (paper). 82 pgs. 236 running pgs. 2 February.
A collection of poems from the author of the truly impressive book Hell of a Book.
Heavy: An American memoir by Kiese Laymon. (kindle and overdrive audiobook). 241 pgs. 477 running pgs. 4 February.
A rather intense autobiography about a young man dealing with racism, being overweight, and trying to learn how to be a writer. Also, there is gambling addiction.
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds. (Kindle). 272 pgs. 749 running pgs. 7 February.
Considerably lighter in tone than Laymon's book, Reynolds' novel is a young adult book about a Black teenager who gets a job working at a neighborhood funeral parlor, among other things.
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson. (Kindle and audible audiobook). 448 pgs. 1197 running pgs. 12 February.
A young adult novel about two middle school best friends in Washington DC. Jackson uses an unreliable narrator to great effect in this book.
Not All Robots #2 by Mark Russell, Mike Deodato jr., and Leo Loughridge. (ComiXology ebook). 22 pgs. 1219 running pgs. 12 February.
Not All Robots #3 by Mark Russell. (ComiXology ebook). 32 pgs. 1251 running pgs. 13 February.
Sort of a Me Too story in a world where robots and humans live in an uneasy alliance. Hat tip to Rand Bellavia for suggesting this one.
The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, fusion politics, and the rise of a new justice movement by William J. Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hargrove. (library hardcover). 151 pgs. 1402 running pgs. 15 February.
An autobiography with a call to justice. Barber is a person worth paying attention to, at least in my opinion.
Possibilities by Herbie Hancock with Lisa Dickey. (library inter library loan hardcover). 352 pgs. 1757 running pgs. 19 February.
Hancock is a giant of jazz, keyboard, and electronic music, among other forms of music. I posted another entry with some of my favorite sections from the book.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Big squirrels don't cry by Ryan North. (ComiXology ebook). 261 pgs. 2018 running pgs. 21 February.
This book is just a laugh riot. Another hat tip to Rand Bellavia for pointing me to this series of entertaining books.
Chester B. Himes: A biography by Lawrence P. Jackson. (library hardcover). 606 pgs. 2624 running pgs. 28 February.
If you are asked the question who are the most important African-American writers who were active between the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement I would guess that you might say Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright or James Baldwin. Himes needs to be ranked higher in the canon. Himes drew on his experiences as a convicted prisoner to write about that experience, he wrote about male-male romance, and he explored issues around what is now called social injustice. And his books about Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson were among the first black detective novels. Really, it was not until Walter Mosley and his Easy Rawlins books that there was another Black detective writer in the same league as Himes. Cotton Comes to Harlem was made into a movie in 1970 and is, arguably, the first Blaxploitation movie.
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