My social media engagement is minimal because at the end of my life I won't think, "I should have spent more time on social media." Earlier this week some comments from accounts that I don't follow and don't follow me commented on my "We Are a Book Sanctuary" photo showing books wrapped in solid-colored paper; no titles/authors/genres, no text at all beyond the letters spelling out the phrase from a display at a local library branch 5 months ago. Rather than responding to or blocking them, I'm sharing my thoughts here.    [screen shot from the Unite Against Book Bans website homepage with their open book logo in the upper left corner and "Unite in Your Community" links to resources to defend books from censorship]  Engaging with social media every day isn't my usual pattern so it took a day or two for me to see these. [a chain of comments from 3 different formerly-twitter accounts in response to an October 2024 post with a photo of a ...

Last week ended with a lively virtual book launch of a writing craft how-to delivered as a new memoir from the living literary icon and educator Marita Golden. Similar to the way in which August Wilson composed "The Pittsburgh Cycle" to examine the complexity of the African-American experience throughout the 20th century, each Marita Golden memoir offers insights into different aspects of her life as a Black person, a woman, a creative, an academic, a wife, a mother with compelling discourse that urges readers to excavate their own lives, motives, and lessons learned in easy and hard ways.     How to Become a Black Writer: Creating & Honoring Black Stories That Matter  by Marita Golden  non-fiction memoir  Mango, February 2025   "All writing is autobiographical."  Marita Golden   https://maritagolden.com/   This memoir offers an examination of self as a way into engaging public conversation with a variety of subjects: the e...

Only 4 months plus a few days until The Write Women Book Fest kicks off on Saturday, July 19th from 12 noon - 5 p.m. & Sunday, July 20th from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Bowie Comfort Inn & Conference Center in Bowie, Maryland!  Details here:  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/#/   This is how our planning sessions usually start.  [a dining table covered in a white linen cloth; 2 linen napkins, 2 salad plates, 2 filled water glasses, 2 glass goblets half-full of red wine, charcuterie plates of fruit, meat, bread, crackers, brownies]   [6 trade paperback library books from left to right: 2 arranged spine up - Deep End, Better Than Friends; 4 arranged face up - A Lifetime in 30 Days, A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke, Maybe in This Lifetime, Single Player]  A Lifetime in 30 Days by A.C. Arthur  contemporary suspense fiction with romance  Montlake, December 2024  key themes: a weekend getaway gone astray, intrigue, danger, regrets, hea...

An unconventional memoir, a study guide and two romances. Plus, more library books!   [3 books face-up: A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter, The Beginner's Guide to Karma, Only for the Week; books arranged atop fabric with a repeating pattern of suns, moons & stars; a small clock set to 2 o' clock covers the lower half of Karma]  A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter by Nikki Giovanni  contemporary literary nonfiction memoir  William Morrow, reissued 2024 (originally 2017)  In poetry and poetic prose, Prof. Giovanni* honors the people, families, communities, and places that nurtured and schooled and educated her. She shares insights from personal and professional lessons learned.  from "The Tassel's Worth the Hassle: An Introduction"  Sometimes people confuse school with education. School is a good idea. Education is the exciting trip...  Her immediate family, friends, neighbors along with mentors and creative counter...

An assortment of very satisfying reads...  [3 books arranged next to each other from left to right: The Queen's Spade, Casanegra, First-Time Caller]  The Queen's Spade by Sarah Raughley  historical literary fiction  Harper, January 2025  Sarah Forbes Bonetta has a vengeance to-do list, and her plan includes making everyone who's on it regret that they ever did her wrong. Her mission is packed with intrigue, danger, double-crosses, unexpected allies, and layered historical context encompassing much more nuance than typical white-washed historical fiction. Start reading this irresistible tale when there's enough time to savor it without being interrupted.  Casanegra (Tennyson Hardwick #1) by Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes  contemporary mystery fiction  Atria Books, paperback reprint 2025 - originally 2008  Wrong place, wrong time jeopardizes anti-hero Tennyson Hardwick's freedom and his life. Alienation, grief, family drama, and...

It was an especially challenging week last week with more of the same expected this week so here's a lighthearted post about bookmarks and their noble duty of preventing crimes against books, like creased, folded and bent pages.   [6 actual bookmarks and 5 improvised bookmarks: East City Book Shop, Old Town Books, "Black History Month", Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Anne Arundel County Public Library, 5 clothing tags from assorted brands, "Welcome to the Library" with welcome in various languages]  Bookmarks from bookstores, libraries, as event swag from authors are lovely charming, useful in placeholding function and advertising. And then there are the interesting, eye-catching tags that always make me think, "This would make a perfect bookmark!" even though I already own more bookmarks than needed for at least two lifetimes.  This week's reading indulgences  [a book stack with 5 books from top to bottom: The Queen's Spad...