Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Urban Nonfiction Feature: It's Bigger Than Hip Hop - The Rise of the Post-Hip-Hop Generation



By M. K. Asante, Jr.




Product Description

It's Bigger Than Hip Hop takes a bold look at the rise of a generation that sees beyond the smoke and mirrors of corporate-manufactured rap and is building a movement that will change not only the face of pop culture, but the world.
M. K. Asante, Jr., a passionate young poet, professor, filmmaker, and activist who represents this new movement, uses hip hop as a springboard for a larger discussion about the urgent social and political issues affecting the hip-hop and post-hip-hop generations.
Through insightful anecdotes, scholarship, revolutionary rap lyrics, personal encounters, and conversations with youth across the globe as well as icons such as Chuck D and Maya Angelou, Asante illuminates a shift that can be felt in the crowded spoken-word joints in post-Katrina New Orleans, seen in the rise of youth-led organizations committed to social justice, and heard around the world chanting "It's bigger than hip hop."

Monday, August 30, 2010

Urban Book Feature: Section 8 - A Hoodrat Novel


By K'Wan


Product Description

Since she was a little girl, Tionna's on and off addicted mother taught her to get hers by any means necessary. Tionna's heart is as cold as a December chill, but she holds a warm place in it for Duhan, the father of her two sons, and her on-again-off-again boyfriend since they were teenagers. Duhan becomes her knight in shining armor until the government turns their dream into a nightmare. With Duhan behind bars and everything she loves seized she finds herself starting over in the same neighborhood she swore she'd never come back to.
With two kids, a man in prison and no back up plan, Tionna is once again living by her wits in order to maintain the lifestyle she'd become so accustomed to. Back in the thick of things with her best friends Gucci, Boots and Tracy, she finds herself rediscovering her old life and suddenly begins to wonder if she's really cut out to be a prisoner's wife.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Urban Book Feature: Contagious




By Quentin Carter

Click Here for the Latest Price of Contagious


Product Description

Maurice Jones is a smooth, conniving player who specializes in   manipulating young women for his own financial gain. Tired of dealing   with the same naive women day after day, Maurice searches for the one   female who can match his wit.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Urban Book Feature: Flint Book #7 - The Finale


By Treasure Hernandez



Product Description

The story is coming to an end. Find out what happens to Halleigh and Malek in the final installment in the Flint series. Will these young lovers, separated by fate, finally be able to live their happily ever after, or will their love be swallowed up by the mean streets of Flint?

Friday, August 27, 2010

Urban Book Feature: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao


By Juno Diaz


The Washington Post - Jabari Asim

…weirdly wonderful …Oscar clearly is not intended to function as a hero in the classical sense. Is he meant primarily to symbolize the tangled significance of desire, exile and homecoming? Or is he a 307-lb. warning that only slim guys get the girls? Are we to wring from his ample flesh more of that anguished diaspora stuff? Could be, but I find sufficient meaning in the sheer joy of absorbing Diaz's sentences, each rolled out with all the nerdy, wordy flair of an audacious imagination and a vocabulary to match…Diaz pulls it off with the same kind of eggheaded urban eloquence found in the work of Paul Beatty (The White Boy Shuffle), Victor LaValle (Slapboxing with Jesus), Mat Johnson (Drop) and his very own Drown. Geek swagger, baby. Get used to it.

Winner of the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, for Fiction

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Urban Fiction Feature: Flint Book #6 - A King is Born





By Treasure Hernandez




Product Description
The love story with a hood flavor is back, but there is still no happy ending for Halleigh and Malek. Their situation has just taken a turn for the worse. Halleigh has been kidnapped by Malek's adversary, who's holding her for ransom. Malek only has 72 hours to save her, or she will be gone forever. With the help of Scratch, a seasoned junkie with a soft spot for Halleigh, Malek terrorizes the city to get his true love back. Will Halleigh make it out alive, or will she finally fall victim to the game?
Treasure Hernandez brings you an action packed, suspenseful story that will have you wanting more of Flint. Welcome to the most dangerous city in America.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Black Christian Fiction Feature: Strongholds (Blessed Trinity Trilogy)



By Vanessa Davis Griggs



From the Back Cover

When Pastor George Landris, the dreadlock-wearing minister of the new mega-church, Followers of Jesus Faith Worship Center, urges his congregation to approach the altar and cast off their strongholds--also known as their weaknesses--it's the start of intense soul-searching for many. From a married couple's twin additions to gambling and gluttony, to a female member's adulterous affair, a computer expert's obsession with cyber-porn and a therapist's workaholism, the Pastor's church family is about to open the proverbial floodgates. And that's just the beginning. There's also the woman whose battle with mental illness hides a buried trauma, and the religious devotee who's so busy fearing the devil she's forgotten what faith is really about. The plot only thickens when the Pastor's wife lightens his load by helping him counsel--and finds herself at the center of a decades-long deception.
Insightful, witty, and always poignant, Vanessa Davis Griggs delivers another compelling novel, taking readers behind the scenes of mega-churches to show the amazing power that redemption and faith can have on people's lives.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Urban Book Feature: The Ultimate Sacrifice



By Anthony Fields

 

Product Description



Betrayal is worse than slaughter. That's what Antonio Ameen Felder always instilled in his friends. When a murder at the prison threatens to incarcerate them all for life, one man decides to sacrifice himself to free the others. All he asks in return is for his family to be taken care of. Luther Khadafi Fuller is the leader of the recently freed trio. He takes his two friends Boo and Umar on a ride they will never forget through the streets of DC. Take a ride with these three men as they make love and money, while trying not to forget the man they left behind. When one wrong move causes things to spiral out of control, can their bond survive the viciousness of the streets? Will their lives be spared? Or will their promises to each other be forgotten? The Ultimate Sacrifice is a story of love, life, money, sex, betrayal and murder. This is a page turner that you won't be able to put down.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Urban Book Feature: The Golden Hustla



By Wahida Clark

Click Here for the Latest Price of the Golden Hustla

Product Reviews

"Wahida Clark's debuts novel is an entertaining, graphic, somewhat erotic look at the streets. The book is a drama-filled quick read that will leave you wanting more." (RAWSISTAZ Reviewers on THUGS AND THE WOMEN WHO LOVE THEM )

"Victor L. Martin, LaShonda Teague, Bonta, and Shawn "Jihad" Trump are writers to watch, but Clark pulls out all stops in 'Makin' Endz Meet,' introducing Nina, a sassy street girl who tells us, 'Now here I be. Twenty-on years old, three kids, three babies' daddies, and on welfare.' You go, girl.'"
(Library Journal on WHAT'S REALLY HOOD? )

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Black Christian Book Feature: Blessed Trinity



By Vanessa Davis Griggs

Click Here for the Latest Price of Blessed Trinity

From Publishers Weekly

In Griggs's faith-filled third novel (after 2005's Wings of Grace) featuring charismatic, dreadlocked pastor George Landris, George and his wife, Johnnie Mae Taylor, have left their Atlanta megachurch to start afresh in Johnnie Mae's hometown of Birmingham, Ala., where the pastor believes God sent him to begin a new congregation. Financial troubles and a hostile reception from power-hungry local ministers stall George's plans, but he puts his trust in God and soon builds a thriving congregation, Followers of Jesus Faith Worship Center. The pastor and Johnnie Mae face another challenge in three mysterious new churchgoers: the controlling diva, Faith Alexandria Morrell; Faith's more cautious, shy identical twin, Hope; and their plain easygoing sister, Charity. This inspirational novel leaves the reader eager to know what Griggs plans next for this spiritual family.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Urban Book Feature: Flint Book #5 - Back to the Hood



By Treasure Hernandez

Click Here for the Latest Price of

Product Review

This is like a HBO series. Halliegh finally is in good with malek, but when my man kidnaps her it GETS DEEP. Dont want to give away book but it is good. I give it a 5 star for sure. Great Plot! Jersey Queen

Friday, August 20, 2010

Urban Nonfiction Feature: Souls of My Young Sisters: Young Women Break Their Silence with personal Stories That Will Change Your Life (Souls of My Sisters Book)



By Dawn Daniels


Product Description

No woman comes into this world with all the answers, but every woman can learn from her sisters.In the Essence- #1 national bestseller Souls of My Sisters, strong, successful black women shared their unforgettable personal stories of faith, hope, and healing. Now, a dynamic new group of young sisters with hopes and dreams, fears and struggles, just like you, tells their stories of triumph over adversity for the generation coming up...
Being a young woman today means belonging to an ever expanding global community, filled with new opportunities--and complicated challenges. With change comes choices, and making the right ones isn't always easy. The journey can seem overwhelming--but you're not alone. Whether you're dealing with issues of self-esteem, dating, domestic violence, cyber stalking, or racial profiling, within these pages a diverse gathering of women, including entrepreneurs, activists, and entertainers, have words of wisdom, inspiration, and practical information for you. So if you're headed to college, in the midst of your quarter-life crisis, or getting your career or family started, look to your sisters and their heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, but always encouraging real-life stories.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Urban Book Feature: Natural Born Hustler

By Nikki Turner


Click Here for the Latest Price of

Natural Born Hustler


Product Description

The reigning Queen of Hip-Hop Lit, Nikki Turner returns with a fresh and fierce tale sure to satisfy longtime fans and create new ones.
Desember Day is beautiful, confident, and smart. She has more game in the streets than a basketball player does on the court, and her boyfriend, Fame, loves every single inch of her. But unlike her mother, who has been in one bad relationship after another, Desember is not going to wait on a knight in shining armor to save her, and even her love for Fame can’t stand in the way of Desember selling anything and everything—legal or illegal—that can turn a profit, so that she never has to depend on a man. The only thing Desember feels she’s lacking is a father to call her own. And her mother refuses to tell Desember who he is.
When Fame finds himself at the wrong end of a gun, fighting for his life, Desember wants nothing more than to stand by her man, but Fame warns her from his hospital bed that she isn’t safe. Desember wonders if she was the real target. Her mother, concerned for Desember’s safety, arranges for her daughter to travel to Richmond, Virginia, to live with Desember’s father and his wife.And when her father’s identity is finally revealed, Desember learns that she is a Natural Born Hustler.
But are her troubles really over? Or is the worst yet to come?

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Black Christian Book Feature: Second Sunday

By Michele Andrea Bowen


Click Here for the Latest Price of Second Sunday


Product Description

This story is set in St. Louis in the 1970s. The 100th year anniversary celebration of Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church is approaching and the pastor has died. How will the church pull itself back together and find a new pastor in time to prepare for the church centennial, let alone survive one more day? It seems as though everyone in the church has an idea about who the new pastor needs to be and what direction he should be going. In the tradition of Gloria Naylor's Women of Brewster Place, Bowen weaves the hilarious stories of several church members as they plan, plot, and connive to have their choice installed as the next pastor before the anniversary celebration. Second Sunday refers to one of the main worship Sundays in small traditional Baptist churches. In the book, it is the day of the scheduled centennial celebration.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Urban Nonfiction Book Feature: Hip Hop America


By Nelson George




From Publishers Weekly

George (The Death of Rhythm and Blues) calls this wide-ranging history of hip-hop a "book of memory" and compares his relationship with the music to a love affair. A portrait not just of the music but of the whole culture coalescing around beats and rhymes, from graffiti to break dancing and basketball, George's narrative sometimes jumps from topic to topic like the fragmentary soundscapes of his subject. Nonetheless, he does follow a loose, anecdotal trajectory from the "post-soul" era of the early 1980s through the Old School to the New School, through gangsta rap to the latest innovators. Often, detours seem to be taken solely because George couldn't bear to drop material, and the writing can seem hasty. One may disagree with certain assessments (he says of trendy vocalist and hip-hop impresario Puff Daddy, "Never in the history of postwar black pop has a single man done so much so well"), but quibbling aside, the author's knowledge and passion run deep. George conveys a continuing excitement and personal investment rather than pretending critical distance, still rethinking his own past positions. Most refreshingly, while an advocate, he is blunt and perceptive in areas where traditional hip-hop advocates can be blindly protective. The book is at its best when George is more commentator than chronicler; one wishes more space had been devoted to exploration of many provocative issues raised in passing: Is democracy good for art? Why no great women rappers? One such thought George offers is that art can be suffocated when "loved too well by the people [it was] intended to make uncomfortable"; the best audience for these memories may turn out to be those outsiders rather than hip-hop purists.-- intended to make uncomfortable"; the best audience for these memories may turn out to be those outsiders rather than hip-hop purists.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.





Sunday, August 15, 2010

Urban Book Feature: Dirty Money



By Ashley & Jaquavis



Product Description

Dirty Money is an urban tale of sex, money, murder, and mayhem and shows the pros and cons of the game. Anari is the epitome of a good girl turned bad after world is brutally destroyed. Consumed with her desire for revenge, she, along with her best friend Monica, enter a life of drugs, fast money, and betrayal only to adapt the lifestyle that pushed them in the game in the first place. Hiding their true identities, the pair quickly rises to the top of New Jersey s dope game. Using everyone who crosses their paths, nothing, not betrayal or addiction will stop them from dispensing their street justice. Dirty Money is a page turner that will leave you in awe. Never underestimate the power of a woman.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Black Christian Book Feature: Church Folk



By Michele Andrea Bowen


Product Description

From Booklist

Rural Mississippi in the 1960s stood in the midst of the civil rights movement. Social changes began in black churches. Essie Lee Lane, a small-town girl who is faithful to her church and loyal to her family, meets the man of her dreams in an unlikely encounter. The Reverend Theophilus Henry Simmons is an eligible pastor, as smitten with Essie as she is with him. After they begin a long-distance courtship between Mississippi and Tennessee, the couple decide to marry. They soon find that the blessings of being the "first couple" come with challenges from the local church and the national denomination. The secular issues of greed, sex, misconduct, money, and politics are as evident and dangerous in the church as outside. These human failings cause the Simmonses to struggle with their roles as husband and wife as well as church leaders. The Reverend Mr. Simmons is faced with taking a stand that will forever separate him from the ordinary and make the church congregation proud. Accepting this assignment becomes a test of his faith and the steppingstone for his future. Lillian Lewis
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