The sad truth about ‘Between the World and Me’

This week Ta-Nehisi Coates won the National Book Award for nonfiction for “Between the World and Me,” a heartfelt letter he wrote to his son about being a black man in America today.

I had read reviews of this book and interviews with the author, a national correspondent for The Atlantic where he writes about cultural, social and political issues, usually dealing with race. Earlier this year, he won a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant for his body of work, which includes this book, a memoir, “The Beautiful Struggle,” and many notable pieces for The Atlantic. Despite this research, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

‘The Grownup:’ Of ghosts and hand jobs

Once again, I find myself at the library pawing through the “New Releases” section and picking up every thin book I see.

I’m in one of my I-gotta-read-more moods and the quickest way to get over it is to come home with a stack of library books and knock them off one by one.

That’s how I found “The Grownup,” the kind of book that gives new meaning to the adjective “slim.” I opened it up: 62 pages, that’s like two poops for me.

How a No. 1 Lady can set things right

I was onstage Friday night and, what with the makeup and show, out of touch with the real world for several hours. We had a very strong performance of a charming show, “Enchanted April,” which, from the laughter and applause, delighted our audience.

On the short drive home I planned my evening: Everyone would be in bed, if not asleep, and I would have the house to myself. I’d pour a glass of wine and finish the last 30 pages of “The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine,” the new No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novel I was reading. Then, satisfied, bed. But when I got home my oldest son was sitting in the den, the television on, his face worried: “I don’t know if you heard, but…”

Hey Classics Challengers: It’s Nobel prizewinners this time

Usually I like to space out my posts, but because I’ve been so lax in writing—but not in reading, though—and the end of the year approaches with still three categories to finish in our Classics Challenge 2015, I’m back, just two days after my last post.

This time we tackle the category of a work by a Nobel Prize winner.

Hey Classics Challengers (and everyone else): I’m back from a distant planet

So I see from my previous post that I haven’t written since September.

Interestingly enough, I’ve still had a lot of of activity on this blog—almost every day for that month—mostly because of my friend Oneita’s marketing prowess and this book for people who eat.

Anyway, I’m looking at less than two months left in the year and three categories still to go in this year’s Classics Challenge so I have to write about the category just finished: A Future or Alternative World; I chose Frank Herbert’s classic “Dune.”