Are you ready to read like never before?
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Are you ready for fun reads, thought-provoking discussion questions, AND fun book giveaways? Look no more! Check out my NEW online book club, Reading Between The Wines starting now! I am super excited about this since many of you have asked me to create one, so here it is! Make sure to click on the Reading Between The Wines tab at the top and join me this fall as we read amazing reads and discuss! Let's Jump into Black History Month together with this month's read, An American Marriage x Tayari Jones! You are welcome to comment, repost, and mingle amongst each other! Also, it is a great way to meet new readers, engage in intellectual discussion, and read great reads (yes, wine is accepted!) You don't want to miss it! Also, don't forget to subscribe to my book club for more fun updates, new reads, fun apparel & more!
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To subscribe, click on the Reading Between the Wines tab at the very top of the site, scroll down to "Yes, We Have Wine!", enter your e-mail address, and you will then be added to an email list where you can receive amazing updates, first dibs on fun giveaways, new reads & more! 

HAPPY READING!

a few of my picks....
  • The Hate U Give x Angie Thomas 
  • Invisible No More x Andrea Ritchie 
  • Girl, Wash Your Face x Rachel Hollis 
  • Born to Love, Cursed to Feel x Samantha King
  • You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life x Jen Sincero 
  • The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl x Issa Rae 
  • Shook One x Charlamagne tha God ​
  • An American Marriage x Tayari Jones (new book club pick!)
  • Black Girl Magic x Mahogany L. Browne, Idrissa Simmonds, and Jamila Woods
  • In the Company of Women x Grace Bonney
  • Between the World and Me x Ta-Nehesi Coates
  • Rest in the Mourning x R.H. Sin
  • The Sun and her Flowers x Rupi Kaur
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness x Michelle Alexander ​
  • The Last Black Unicorn x Tiffany Haddish
  • A Good Cry x Nikki Giovanni ​
  • ​Milk & Honey x Rupi Kaur
  • Year of Yes x Shonda Rhimes 
  • The Girl on the Train x Paula Hawkins
  • The Chaos of Longing x K.Y. Robinson 
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks x Rebecca Skloot
  • We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy x Ta-Nehesi Coates 
  • The Last Time I'll Write About You x Dawn Lanuza 
  • Becoming x Michelle Obama (my favorite bestseller!)
Happy Black History Month readers! Today marks the beginning of #BlackHistoryMonth, a time to celebrate Black culture and history, and to reflect on the significant and historic contributions that embody our black culture today. 

I wanted to jump into Black History Month by sharing my favorite writer, author, and poet, the amazing Maya Angelou. Her work and her literary art for decades has inspired many, and continues to be the forefront of writing today. I first fell in love with Maya Angelou's body of work when I first read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings written in 1969 in an AP English course during my junior year in high school. Friend and fellow writer, James Baldwin urged Angelou to write about her life experiences, resulting in the enormously successful 1969 memoir about her childhood and young years. The poignant story made literary history as the first non-fiction bestseller by an African American woman. The book, which made Angelou an international star, continues to be regarded as her most popular autobiographical work. 

Happy Black History Month!

Dr. Maya Angelou:

Marguerite Annie Johnson Angelou, well known to many as the great Maya Angelou, was an American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet and civil rights activist best known for her 1969 memoir, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first non-fiction best-seller by an African American woman. Angelou received several honors throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category in 2005 and 2009. 

​Fun Facts:
  • During her young childhood, Angelou became the first black woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco, according to the Times.
  • A globetrotter, Angelou spoke a number of languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, and the West African language, Fante! (Who knew?!)
  • She edited the Arab Observer! The Arab Observer was one of very few English-language news outlets in the Middle East during its publication from 1960 to 1966. While traveling in Egypt, Angelou met and married civil rights activist Vusumzi Make, and, after moving to Cairo, she received a job as an editor for the Observer after W.E.B. Du Bois’s stepson David fudged her credentials. She’d never worked as a journalist before, but her job at the Observer tossed her into the deep end of reporting while working in an office full of men who’d never worked with a woman before.
  • She was only the second poet in history to recite work at a presidential inauguration. When President John F. Kennedy took the oath of office in 1961, the legendary Robert Frost became the first poet to participate in the inauguration ceremony. Lending her voice to President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993, Angelou was the first poet since Frost to enjoy the honor of the august platform, reading the centuries-spanning epic "On the Pulse of Morning" which she wrote for the occasion. Her recitation scored her a 1994 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.
  • She taught as a full-time professor at Wake Forest University! 

Caged Bird x Maya Angelou:

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind   
and floats downstream   
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and   
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   
with a fearful trill   
of things unknown   
but longed for still   
and his tune is heard   
on the distant hill   
for the caged bird   
sings of freedom

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