Has anyone read the Blanche series by Barbara Neely? I am intrigued after seeing this blog post on the series: http://laurietobyedison.com/discuss/?p=5525 and would love to hear other opinions.

His books are amazing. I really enjoyed reading them all. One of his book was actually made into a movie, "The Devil In a Blue Dress" with Denzel Washington.

Mosley's mysteries deals with issues of race, class, and gender from a black man's point view. I really like the way he describe the surroundings, the setup of the story line which within minutes of reading would grip readers attention.

I would recommend this for anyone who is "stuck" in life. Lisa has an amazing ability to tell her story and provide advice in a way that you can relate to it, and take action. It would be a particularly good book to share to a young person who is searching for answers.

I have to recommend "The Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill (I think it was published as "Someone Knows My Name" in the US). Aminata Diallo is a Muslim girl who is captured as a slave and shipped to the US. She journeys up to Canada and returns to Africa. Although her story is at times a little too much to believe, the fiction and storytelling sweep you away. I couldn't put the book down.

I recently finished "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore and I highly recommend it. It has some very profound things to say about expectations that we have for ourselves and that others have for us as we are growing up.

Wes Moore (Author) : The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates [Hardcover]

Delany's science fiction deals with issues of race, class and gender in innovative ways. He also has a knack for making linguistic issues into gripping narrative. I especially like his novelette Babel-17, about a poet conscripted into cracking a secret alien language.

I enjoy the writings of Carl Weber. His books are fast-paced and true to life. They are usually quick reads!!!

I was totally captivated listening to "Lost in the City" - (fictional) tales of folks in current-day Washington, D. C.

She is a supernatural author. She has a short story in an anthology called The Ancestors with LA Banks & Brandon Massey (2 other African American authors).

I am currently reading Joplin's Ghost, about a woman being haunted by the great ragtime composer Scott Joplin. Look up the ragtime song "The Entertainer" and you'll be surprise that it was written by an African American, if you didn't already know.

Keeper of Secrets... Translations of an Incident is composed of eight short stories united by strong characters and revolving around one central incident. The stories are each told from a different point of view and reveal how the central incident affects the lives of the witnesses and even of people who were not present during the incident - like the ripples made by a stone as it impacts the water in a still pond.

http://www.librarything.com/work/4891503

This is a new book, and the first in a trilogy. Captivating fantasy set in a rich and disturbing new world. I found this novel captivating from beginning to end.