A good summer read gets me excited! What made me a Happy Black Daughter growing up was sitting on the stoop in Bushwick, Brooklyn getting my hair braided while slurping on some ice-cold Italian icy then reading a newspaper, or a few good books I checked out from the library.
I would take jump rope breaks in between my reading marathon. My jump rope breaks would cease once the ice-cream truck rolled up on the block. Yes, summer for me was all about fun and part of that fun was reading a great book.
I've read some amazing books that have inspired me and has left an everlasting impression on me as a person and as a writer. Allow me to share some of these books with you and perhaps you might want to pick up a copy for yourself and get your summer reading going!
(Click book and synopsis for more info)
- The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien
A book about Vietnam
-A long Way From Home, by Claude McKay
"We Will Tell Our Own Story joins a growing number of Afrocentric books that are already revolutionizing the way Africans view themselves and their academies. The creation of a cadre of scholars devoted to truth, rigor, ancestrality, and values is a mark of a mature civilization; these authors are the necessary foundation for further growth." - SWAHILI SMT
Now, as I said, these are just a few that I'm sharing with you, however, there are tons more! Looking back at those summer reading adventures, I can profoundly say that reading makes me happy. Perhaps it's no surprise that as a reader, I found myself wanting to write more. Writing for me transcends my limitations as just being a reader. It puts me in a position to crank up my creative juices and let it all out on paper. It releases me from the confines of some of my thoughts and takes me to a meaningful place. Also, I'm striving to become better at it each time I put that pen to paper. Reading, however, I believe will make any writer improve their skill. You can not be a writer and not read something that will inspire you.
My debut book, The Happy Black Daughter was released this Spring and I am so proud of it. My very first published work of art! Inspired by not only the teachings from my father but the many books that I've read along my life's journey thus far, including those that I've mentioned above. I always dreamed about what would my first book look like? How would people respond to the book? Now that my book has been in print for a few months, so many people have emailed me, texted me and in-boxed me about how the book has changed the way they see black men, others have said, reading 'The Happy Black Daughter' makes them want to be a better man, and a better father. That is a great feeling indeed!
If you want to know more about 'The Happy Black Daughter', check out the synopsis here.
You can also pick up your E-book copy from Barnes and Noble or on Amazon.
Enjoy your summer and happy reading to you. :-)
@Allyblogger
@happyblackdaughter