Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Listless in Denver

With thanks to Claudia for the suggestion, I've turned to Flashlight Worthy Books for inspiration. It's a site that features book lists compiled by readers. Let's compile some lists over here of books written by black authors. I'll post them next week (or when it seems we've got a good list). Some topics that came to mind:

"Best endings I've ever read"
"Black to the future"
"Books that became movies"
"10 best books by black women"
"10 best books by black men"
"Books with gay/lesbian themes"
"Best black sleuths"
"Top 10 literary novels"
"Books that made me LOL"
"Black books Oprah likes"
"Stories of danger, intrigue and adventure"
"Romances that are well-written and hot"
"Books by black folks that aren't about race"
"Books about mental illness"
"Scariest books I've ever read"
"Tearjerkers"
"Books with happy endings"
"Books written by black celebrities"
"True life tales"
"Best heroes and villains"
"20 best adult novels of all times"
"20 best YA novels of all times"
"20 best children books of all times"
"Contemporaries that deserve to become classics"
"10 most memorable characters"
"Most inspirational (not necessarily Christian) novels I've ever read"

You can email me at carleen at carleenbrice dot com or leave your answers in the comments. What are some lists you'd like to see?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please include The Ties That Bind, a Memoir...,by Bertice Berry.
It's an awesome story.

Doret said...

How about Poetry.

Carleen Brice said...

Poetry is a great idea!

Claudia said...

Yay, I love this idea. Thanks for the shout out. I may have already mentioned some of these before but how about:

*Most memorable mothers
*Most memorable white characters in black fiction
*Black books featuring plus-size women
*Top white authors that black readers enjoy (otherwise known as the Michael McDonald list - LOL)

Let the listing begin! Fun stuff.

Anonymous said...

"Help, I've read everything Chester Himes and Walter Mosley ever wrote, what do I read now?"

That's a list I would love to see :).

Unfortunately, I haven't read enough crime fiction by black authors yet to come up with a list like that myself, but I am gradually getting there.