by Terry McMillan  

Format: Hardcover, 448pp. 
ISBN: 0670896764 
Publisher: Viking Penguin 
Pub. Date: January 2001

A Day Late and a Dollar Short is also reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller's List 

Much-heralded and long awaited, Terry McMillan's tour-de-force novel introduces the Price family-matriarch Viola, her sometimes-husband Cecil, and their four adult kids, each of whom sees life-and one another-through thick and thin, and entirely on their own terms. With her hallmark exuberance and cast of characters so sassy, resilient, and full of life that they breathe, dream, and shout right off the page, the author of the phenomenal best-sellers Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back has given us a novel that takes us ever-further into the hearts, minds, and souls of America-and gives us six more friends we never want to leave.

Hailed as "a dreadlocked dervish of words...the Bob Marley of American poets" (Esquire), Saul Williams is a gifted young poet who is opening up this literary art form to a new generation of readers. Like his writing -- a fearless mix of connecting rhythms and vibrant images -- Saul Williams is unstoppable. He received raves for his performance as an imprisoned street poet in the Trimark Pictures release Slam, winner of the Camera d'Or at Cannes and the Grand Jury prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. The consummate spoken-word performance artist, Williams has also been signed by producer Rick Rubin to record a CD of his poetry. 

by Paul Robeson Jr.

Format: Hardcover, 400pp.
ISBN: 0471242659
Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
Pub. Date: April  2001

The long-awaited, untold, inside story of the rise of the legendary actor, singer, scholar, and activist. The first volume of this major biography breaks new ground.  The greatest scholar-athlete-performing artist in U.S. history, Paul Robeson was one of the most compelling figures of the twentieth century.

Now his son, Paul Robeson Jr., traces the dramatic arc of his rise to fame, painting a definitive picture of Paul Robeson’s formative years. His father was an escaped slave; his mother, a descendent of freedmen; and his wife, the brilliant and ambitious Eslanda Cardozo Goode. With a law degree from Columbia University; a professional football career; title roles in Eugene O’Neill’s plays and in Shakespeare’s Othello; and a concert career in America and Europe, Robeson dominated his era.

#5
Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction edited by Carol Taylor
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Format: Paperback, 272pp.
ISBN: 0452282241
Publisher: Dutton/Plume
Pub. Date: December  2000

Silk sheets...jazz playing softly in the background. The many moods of Eros are explored in this rich and diverse array of black erotica, written especially for this Plume collection.

Brown Sugar brings together some of the most acclaimed voices in today's black literary world-Sapphire, Natasha Tarpley, Reginald Harris, and Pamela Sneed, among them. These titillating stories cover the full spectrum of black experience and identity as they reveal sexuality and sensuality in all their varied and exotic forms. From the subtle to the graphic, Brown Sugar embraces the ardor and passion of black love and lust, and will appeal to both men and women. Featuring both well-established authors and promising new writers, this one-of-a-kind collection represents the past, present, and future of black literature at its pleasurable and outrageous best.

It is a must-have for every lover, as well as every lover of first-rate fiction.

Author Bio: Carol Taylor is a former book editor now working as a freelance editor and writer. She co-edited and contributed to Sacred Fire: The QBR 100 Essential Black Books.

#6
She by Saul Stacey Williams
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Format: Paperback, 114pp.
ISBN: 0671035304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Trade
Pub. Date: June  1999
Edition Desc: BOOK and CD

#7
Any Way the Wind Blows by E. Lynn Harris

Format: Hardcover, 352pp.
ISBN: 0385495056
Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Incorporated
Pub. Date: July  2001
Edition Desc: 1 ED

At the end of Not a Day Goes By, the terminally bisexual John Basil Henderson declares: "I'm back, in full form. And I'm out there. Roamin'. And switching lanes." Now, in Any Way the Wind Blows, Basil, good-looking gadabout and homme fatal, is back at the top of his game (razzle-dazzling both the women and the men). All is well until Basil's picture-perfect life starts to unravel ...

Left at the altar a year before, jilted Broadway bombshell Yancey Harrington Braxton stages her comeback-this time as a recording star-but has she forgiven ex-fiancé Basil, or does she still need to even the score? As Yancey's star continues to rise, her past threatens to catch up with her and she fears someone may be after her as well ...

In a wicked little dance of revenge, Basil and Yancey struggle to keep their lives on track, while a chorus of unforgettable characters either come to their aid, or make matters worse. In the mix are: Yancey's mother, Ava "Mama Dearest" Braxton, a diva's diva and a second-rate showgirl housed in the body of an aging supermodel; the wise and wonderful Windsor Adams; and the new guy in town, Bartholomew "Bart" Dunbar, a rogue's rogue and handsome hunk of a man who stands to make Basil look like a choirboy.

With just the right amount of wickedness, love, and compassion, Harris's masterful storytelling and delicious plot twists will have fans and newcomers alike frantically turning pages trying to find the answer to the ultimate question: Does revenge ever really pay?

#9
The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
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Format: Paperback, 1st ed., 302pp.
ISBN: 0883781042
Publisher: Third World Press
Pub. Date: November  1990
Edition Desc: 1st ed

Preface: "We now are nearing the final decade of the 20th century. Recently, there has been an unraveling and an analysis of the core issue of the first global power sysem of mass oppression-- the power system of racism (white supremacy). One the collective victim (non-white population) understands this fundamental issue, the ultimate organizing of all of the appropriate behaviors necessary to neutralize the great injustice of the white supremacy power system will only be a matter of time. The length of time required to neutralize global white supremacy will be inversely proportional to 1) the level of understanding of the phenomenon; plus 2) the evolution of self- and group-respect, the will, determination and discipline to practice the appropriate counter-racist behaviors--on the part of the non-white victims of white supremacy."