Diversebookbloggers, featuring JBelkBooks!

Hey everyone! Get ready for another Diverse Book Bloggers feature. I love doing these features because they remind me that people look at the word “diversity” in different ways. I’m going to jump right into this one– feel free to engage in the comments or on twitter, because I know I always have lots of thoughts after reading people’s responses! Tell us about yourself/your blog! If you focus on a certain type of lit, let us know why! JBelkBooks: where all your dreams come true including bottomless french fries & unlimited ice cream (I wish). Hello, sunshines! My name is Jesalin, the…

Fresh Off the Boat: When parents hurt more than heal

I’ll be honest everyone– I actually read this book a couple weeks ago, and have simply been mulling over what to write ever since. Finally, I figured I’d jump right in, and see if I can make this thought sound coherent.   Despite being loosely based off the text, ABC’s Fresh off the Boat is nothing like the book of the same name by restauranteur Eddie Huang. In the show, Constance Wu, a beautiful actress and thoughtful commentator on the state of Asians in American pop culture, contributes to a comedy about Asian-American life in common suburbs. Viewers laugh along, similarly to…

Diversebookbloggers Feature: African Book Addict!

We’re back with another Diverse Book Blogger feature here on BB&GT, this time with another of my favorite bloggers– African Book Addict! She has so many great recommendations for us in this post, so get ready. When you’re done reading her answers, make sure you visit her blog as well!  Tell us a bit about your blog! If you have a specific literature focus, let us know why!  African Book Addict! was conceived about 2 and a half years ago out of my intense love of reading and discussing books by writers of African descent (in Africa and the diaspora)….

Diversebookbloggers Feature: Zezee with Books

It’s that time of the month again! Here’s yet another fantastic Diverse Book Blogger feature, this time featuring Anaïs from Zezee with Books!  Tell us a little bit about your blog, Zezee with Books! Does it have a specific focus? Zezee with Books is simply a blog of my interests. It mostly focuses on books, but sometimes I feature artwork either by me or artists I like and sometimes I discuss TV shows I watch (if the show has upset me in some way). I publish a variety of posts including discussions and book reviews, which I often refer to as…

“We Should All Be Feminists” is the feminist book we needed all along

“We Should All Be Feminists” | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 49 pages| Vintage Books | Goodreads I love TedTalks, but I very rarely fully absorb the information the way I absorb written material. With that in mind, I picked up this little 8 dollar copy of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists,” which is essentially the written adaptation of her viral Tedx presentation (yes, the one that Beyoncé excerpted). If, like me, you’re the sort who likes to reread poignant sentences and sticky note facts to look up later, perhaps this is the better format for you. As a text,…

#Diversebookbloggers Feature: The Reading Desk

Back with another #diversebookbloggers feature, this time with Vijayalakshmi from The Reading Desk! She’s one of my favorite bloggers to interact with on social media, and I can’t recommend her enough. Check out her answers to a couple of my questions down here, and read all the way to the end. There is so much discussion that could come from her last response.  Tell us a bit about your blog!  There is no defined focus for my blog, The Reading Desk. Blogging is something that I started for fun and to fill time and it is only recently that I’ve started taking…

Guest Post: 15 Middle School Reads by Black Authors

Two weeks ago, my 11-year-old brother asked me to help pick out some great books, and I realized that I didn’t know would be a good fit for him! Thankfully, I knew just who to ask. Hopefully some insight from Black Children’s Books and Authors‘ Stacy Ladonna will help y’all as well.  I know a lot of educators,  and the mere mention of the words “middle school” tends to elicit groans, moans, and all sorts of monosyllabic utterances. It’s that awkward developmental stage—ages 11 to 13—where a child’s physical, social, and emotional growth is all over the place. Cognitively, however, they are growing “increasingly competent at…

Guess what?! It’s been one year!

I’m one year old! It’s been a great first year here at Brown Books & Green Tea. Lately, things have been rather quiet while I get used to my new work schedule. For those of you who don’t know, I actually started this blog in the midst of unemployment, as a way to keep myself sharp during my job hunt. One year later, and my life seems to have done a complete 180. I’m employed at a job I love (so far), I’m in a fantastic apartment, and there are so many other things on the horizon. It’s great! Moving forward,…

20 Black women with killer bibliographies

As many of you know, I’m trying to read a couple Zora Neale Hurston books to get deeper into her not-insignificant bibliography. But she’s not alone on the list of black women whose work I wish I could read and analyze full-time. Who wants to fund a PhD program for me to spend 100% of my time on the following 20 names?

Book Review | The Fire This Time, edited by Jesmyn Ward

The Fire This Time |  edited by Jesmyn Ward | ECW Press | Pub: 8/02/2016 | Goodreads  Toward the end of his The Fire Next Time, Baldwin emphatically states that the inability to resolve its “racial nightmare” is a sin for which America will eventually be held accountable. Race, and whether American can ever overcome its legacy, isn’t something about which Baldwin comes to an simple conclusion. Jesmyn Ward begins her anthology The Fire This Time by pulling this specific quote from Baldwin’s meditation: “…If we do not dare everything, the fulfillment of that prophecy, recreated from the Bible in song by the slave, is upon us: God gave Noah the rainbow sigh, No…