Keep an eye out for Volume One of Barack Obama's presidential memoirs, A Promised Land, set to hit the shelves November 17th.
Tag: Barack Obama
Barack Obama’s Memoir Is Out Nov.17
Two weeks after this coming election day, the first volume of Barack Obama’s memoir will be out for the public to get their hands on. The book is called A Promised Land and will detail his time as president during his first term into his presidency.
“I’ve spent the last few years reflecting on my presidency, and in ‘A Promised Land’ I’ve tried to provide an honest accounting of my presidential campaign and my time in office: the key events and people who shaped it; my take on what I got right and the mistakes I made; and the political, economic, and cultural forces that my team and I had to confront then — and that as a nation we are grappling with still.”
The memoir will give the reader a glimpse of the personal journey that he and his wife, Michelle Obama, went through while in their stations as President and First Lady respectively. The book will be distributed by a division of Penguin Random House and a second volume hasn’t been determine as of yet.
Featured image via CNN
Black-Owned Bookstores Experiencing Increase in Sales
Now, more than ever, black-owned bookstores are experiencing a huge increase in book sales.
You Don’t Want To Miss Audible’s Top BHM Picks
As I should hope you’re all aware by now; February is Black History Month. It’s an international celebration of African-American leaders and artists, and Audible have some top titles to mark the occasion. Abby, Audible editor, says that Audible has chosen to “highlight luminaries who’ve taken the lead in shaping change and movement”. With activism as a core subject, here’s what they’ve picked:
Staff picks
The team at Audible have chosen Michelle Obama’s Becoming as a staff favorite, alongside Such a Fun Age and The Skin I’m In. These were chosen for a myriad of very valid reasons, but one thing they share is the incredible authors of color at their helm. Why not take a listen yourself and see if you agree with their choices?
MEMOIRS
In telling important stories of African-American experience, it’s important to have an authentic voice. These titles are memoirs from leading speakers and visionaries of color, such as Staceyann Chin and Nelson Mandela. Plus, with such a wide range of titles, there’s something in there to interest everyone.
image via shariffa
FICTION
Storytelling is an integral part of many different cultures, and in these titles, their authors have ingrained senses as storytellers. This is particularly noted for authors such as Zora Neale Hurston, who retains the vernacular speech in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Having a story told in the voice that would have originally told it heightens the entire experience.
politics
In activism, a political voice is always necessary. These titles “dive deep into the issues, both past and present”. There’s a wide range of diverse voices from Barack Obama to Stacey Abrams, most of which are narrated by the author themselves. Commemorations of Black History Month often take place in political spheres, too, making this section particularly necessary.
image via amazon
What’s new?
Some of their titles are free to Audible members for the month of February, like Malcolm and Me written and performed by Ishmael Reed, or Our Harlem written and performed by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson.
On February 18th, two new titles are being released as part of The Great Courses:
African American Athletes Who Made History, written and performed by Louis Moore
Great Figures of the Civil Rights Movement, written and performed by Hasan Kwame Jefferies
Not only are these great titles for the series, they are perfect for Black History Month.
Audible have tonnes more to offer from Children/YA literature, to author interviews and profiles. Check out their Black History Month portal here for all of their February content to mark the occasion.
Featured Image via amazon
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8 of Michelle Obama’s Must-Reads
Book lovers and Obama supporters alike wait with anticipation every year to hear Barrack Obama’s book picks for that summer. Fortunately, you now have another round of books to choose from thanks to Michelle who has a few book recommendations of her own. Despite your ever-growing to-be-read pile, when Michelle Obama tells you to read a certain book, you listen!
Following the release of her own memoir, Becoming, Michelle reveals eight more must-reads in her “By the Book” interview, published on December 6, 2018 in the New York Times. Other titles come from an interview with Jenna Bush Hager and a memorial posted on Instagram for what would have been a Holocaust victim’s ninetieth birthday.
8-Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Image Via Image via The Stanford Daily
Part of the reason why Morrison received the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature, Song of Solomon follows the life of Michigan native, Macon through his life as he searches for a sense of identity.
7-The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Image Via Image via Penguin Books Australia
Before the major motion picture, Rachel was just a girl who liked to ride the train everyday to London and back. It’s definitely not because the train passes her ex-husband’s house or the because she can see the perfect couple she envies so who live a few houses down. Definitely not.
6-White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Image Via Image via Book Riot
Smith’s London-centric novel follows two friends, one Bangladeshi and one Englishman, as they navigate family, friendship and life in the city.
5-Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Image via Apple Books
The archetype for unreliable narrators, Gone Girl will have you guessing until the very last page. Follow Nick and her husband Amy who disappears, but why…and how…and where?
4-An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Image Via Image via Oneworld Publications
Jones’ novel follows newlyweds who separate after a daunting rape trial. When they reunite later in life, things somehow get even more complicated.
3-Educated by Tara Westover
Image via Booktopia
Westover’s biographical memoir tells the story of how she fell in love with learning after growing up with little to none of it at all.
2-The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
Image Via Image via Book Depository
Frank’s diary which she kept as a young girl before her family was sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust relay the horrors of the terrible tragedy.
1-Commonwealth by Anne Patchett
Image Via Inprint
Patchett’s bestseller tells the story of a family whose dynamic gets turned upside down at a family christening and what happens when that child grows up and decides to share that story.
Featured Image via AARP
