E-clubs: an update on online book clubs that unite eager readers and authors.Online book clubs are thriving as African Americans African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. find places to chat about their favorite books and authors discover them as a link to readers who will buy their books. Authors are thrilled to receive a review on Rawsistaz.com (www.rawsistaz.com), a robust, lively, influential online book club founded in 2000 that focuses on reading, writing and discussion of books primarily by African American authors. With its mission to "keep you in the know," the site (with national and international membership) features literary, publishing and book news, as well as events and a list of attending authors. It offers periodic spotlights and a quarterly reading list. The selected books typically include classics as well as current best-sellers. The group publishes several newsletters, including monthly and weekly book reviews, as well as reviews of children's books. Blackliterature.com (www.blackliterature.com), founded by Sherri Sonnier in 1996, is an outgrowth of a weekly online book chat that she participated in on the now-defunct Netnoir.com. Sonnier says that she became more interested in black books when she found that there were authors that she had never heard of. Blackliterature.com features monthly updates of books and literary events. Features include an author spotlight with a book excerpt ex·cerpt n. A passage or segment taken from a longer work, such as a literary or musical composition, a document, or a film. tr.v. ex·cerpt·ed, ex·cerpt·ing, ex·cerpts 1. and tour schedule; new book releases, a newsletter and links to nearly 100 author Web sites. Authors can add their own sites to the listings along with their favorite independent bookstore. "We started at the beginning of the explosion of black authors," says Sonnier. "In the beginning, it was people communicating with each other through chats. Now it's more of an information exchange." Like the Book of the Month, BlackExpressions.com (www.BlackExpressions.com) offers club members an assortment of popular books online at discounted prices. Black Expressions focuses on contemporary and classic African American fiction, as well as nonfiction titles, classics, books on relationships, children's books and more. Members can choose as many as four books Four Books Chinese Sishu Ancient Confucian texts used as the basis of study for civil service examinations (see Chinese examination system) in China (1313–1905). a month for $1. Black Expressions, which has been around since 1999, is just one of a number of Doubleday, niche book clubs. Voted "Book Club of the Year" in 2004 by the African American Literary Awards, Black Expressions has nearly 400,000 members, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. its Senior Editor Carol M. Mackay. Other Places to Visit Places to Visit (1999) is an EP released by British group Saint Etienne. It showed the band moving toward the experimental electronic sound that they would perfect on their next official full-length, 2000's Sound of Water. : The African American Booklist on the National Education Association ([NEA NEA abbr. 1. National Education Association 2. National Endowment for the Arts NEA (US) n abbr (= National Education Association) → Verband für das Erziehungswesen ]; www.nea.org/readacross/resources/afambooks.html) Web site is a comprehensive reading list of 100 titles that the site says celebrate African American heritage, tradition, and achievement. The reading list is geared toward children from kindergarten through high school, and includes titles such as Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American folklorist and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. , Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Through My Eyes: The Autobiography of Ruby Bridges Ruby Bridges Hall (born Ruby Nell Bridges September 8, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi) moved with her parents to New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of four. In 1960, when she was 6 years old, her parents responded to a call from the NAACP and volunteered her to participate in by Ruby Bridges and Bigmama's by Donald Crews. In addition to the book list, the site offers details about the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education Brown v. Board of Education (of Topeka) (1954) U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. , as well as reading tips for parents, and other recommended books and tips for planning school-based literary events. Ingrid Sturgis is the author of Aunties: 35 Writers Celebrate Their Other Mother (Ballantine Books, April 2004). |
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