Monday, July 2, 2012

Fresh ARCs! Get your fresh, hot ARCs!

NOTE: THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. And the winners are...Anonymous, who gets FREEMAN; Carla, who gets THE MAN WHO TURNED BOTH CHEEKS; Stacy Michelle, who gets SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST; and Tea, who gets BEAUTIFUL, DIRTY, RICH. Winners, please email me your mailing addresses (carleenbrice AT gmail DOT com).

ARCs are advanced readers' copies, and I've received 4 recently from publishers that I want to pass along. So before 10 p.m. MDT Monday, July 9th leave a comment on this post. Tell us the title of a good book you just read or what you're looking forward to reading next and which of the 4 books (Beautiful, Dirty, Rich; Freeman; South by Southeast; or The Man Who Turned Both Cheeks) that you'd like to win. I'll pick names at random using Random.org.

Beautiful, Dirty, Rich by J.D. Mason. On sale tomorrow, July 2nd! First in a new series about Blink, Texas, a tiny town with lots of secrets. If you're psyched because "Dallas" is back on the air, you should know the Ewings have got nothing on Mason's Gatewood clan! From RT Book Reviews: "This is a captivating story with so many twists and turns that readers may feel dizzy. The clues to Desi's mystery are as intriguing as the characters, who all hide deep secrets. Readers will find this one hard to put down."



Freeman by Leonard Pitts, Jr. In stores now! Django Unchained isn't the only story about a former slave on a search to find the love of his life. See post with a Q&A with Pitts here.


South by Southeast by Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes (presented by Blair Underwood). The fourth in the Tennyson Hardwick mystery series is due out in September. If hearing that it could be could be described "as Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins meets Miami Vice" doesn't make you want to buy the book, just watch the video below. Perhaps something about it will get your attention. :) Remember, Barnes and Due also have their zombie novel The Devil's Wake out at the end of this month!




The Man Who Turned Both Cheeks, second in a series by Gillian Royes. This one isn't out until December. Talk about getting an early sneak peek!
From the publisher: "Jamaica is the picturesque background for this explosive novel about love, fear, and intolerance, the second in Gillian Royes’s mystery series featuring charming and charismatic bartender-turned-detective Shad. Hopes for the impoverished village of Largo Bay come alive with the arrival of Joseph, estranged son of bar owner Eric. Janna, who has returned to the island, falls for Joseph’s good looks and charm, but she isn’t the only one with an eye for this mysterious man. As questions about Joseph’s sexuality arise, Shad struggles with protecting the survival of his beloved birthplace amidst the deeply ingrained culture of intolerance that surrounds him. Questions arise about what it means to be a man and a father, and Shad feels pressure to defend what he knows is right. As in the acclaimed The Goat Woman of Largo Bay, the first book in this series, Gillian Royes paints an indelible picture of a beautiful land where religion is strong but life is cheap, and explores what happens when a village must confront its own darkness or lose a bright future."

A good list of new and upcoming releases from Mala Nunn, Stephen Carter, Susan Fales-Hill and more can be found on the APOOO Book Club site. Thanks to APOOO, I found one I'm especially interested in: Elsewhere, California by Dana Johnson. Danzy Senna, author of one of my favorite novels Caucasia, says "Dana Johnson’s extraordinary novel offers an arresting vision of black female identity that transcends color and class even as it reveals its continuing power in our lives. The main character, Avery, is everything at once: struggling and middle-class, black and not-quite-black-enough, sexually invisible and sexually exoticized. Avery is about as complex and compelling a heroine as I’ve read recently, and Elsewhere, California is a luminous, funny, and poignant tale that speaks directly to a whole generation raised in a state of cultural confusion.”


The Go On Girl Book Club has posted a list of the books they're reading between now and the end of the year. Check it out. Maybe you'll see something you like!

In other news, The Bat Segundo Show has some new author podcasts up you might want to check out, including talks with Samuel R. Delany, author of Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders, and Jesymn Ward, author of Salvage the Bones.


Note to readers: Full disclosure: I know J.D. Mason, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes. Agate Bolden, publisher of Freeman, will also publish a writing book by me tentatively titled The Not So Fearless Writer. However, I never post about books that I don't believe in. Even if a book is not my particular cup of tea, people who like the genre or type of book may like it and I enjoy letting readers know it's out there.

21 comments:

Tea said...

A list of great books, like each one.

Elizabeth said...

Next on my to read list is Viper's Tangle by Francois Mauriac. I've been looking forward to it for a long time, I just have to get through my backed up pile now.

Freeman sounds great. I'd love to read it. Thanks for sharing these books!

liz@misswisabus.com

Jessica said...

The Man Who Turned Both Cheeks looks great! Right now I'm reading If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson and enjoying it a lot.

penrynsdreams at gmail dot com

longvowels said...

I just finished Ayiti by Roxane Gay and loved it. Freeman and The man who turned both cheeks sound my alley! I would love to read either of them!

Elizabeth said...

I loved If You Come Softly. Finally picked up the sequel a year ago. It's great as well.

Carla said...

I recently read and loved Twelve Gates to the City by Daniel Black. A future read that I am looking forward to is Lois Leveen's The Secrets of Mary Bowser.

I would love to have Freeman since I really loved his first novel Before I Forget!

Carleen Brice said...

2 votes for If You Come Softly! Sounds like I should check it out! Never heard of Viper's Tangle. Need to check it and Ayiti as well! Thanks for the recommendations.

Carleen Brice said...

I haven't heard of The Secrets of Mary Bowser either. Thanks! Carla, yes I adored Before I Forget too. I think you'll like Freeman.

Wilhelmina said...

I am in the middle of "Freeman" and it is every bit as good as I thought it would be. I am eager to read "South by Southeast". I have read the three earlier Tennyson Hardwick books by Due, Barnes,and Underwood and have been eagerly anticipating the fourth.

saraphen said...

I just finished Bernice McFadden's My Name is Butterfly...five stars. Next on my list is Into the Web by Shonell Bacon.

I would love to have South by Southwest. I read the first three Tennyson Hardwick novels and I'm panting for the next one in the series.

Anonymous said...

I just completed Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward which was extraordinary. Next up is Wolf Hall and the Warmth of Other Suns.

I would love a copy of Freeman which is on my summer reading list.

Thank you Carleen for all the work you do to foster a reading community and love of Black authors. I am so grateful!

Marian said...

The Freeman is on my to-read list, but I already have it. I also have, but haven't yet read, The Goat Woman of Largo Bay. Currently reading I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits and can't wait to get deeper into is. So I guess I'd really like to win The Man Who Turned Both Cheeks so I can read it after I finish The Goat Woman.

RaShauna said...

I have recently finished 72 Hour Hold by the late Bebe Moore Campbell.I would be delighted to win a copy of Freeman, or Beautiful, Dirty Rich. Thanks for the opportunity!

Stacy Michelle said...

Just finished & loved "Chasing Sophea" by Gabrielle Pina. I would love to read Freeman or South by Southwest

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Doret said...

Can you put me in the drawing for South by Southeast - that's a great series.

The devil in Silver by Victor Lavalle is at the top of my queue. I also can't wait to read The Devil's Wake.

Carleen Brice said...
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Carleen Brice said...

And the winners are...Anonymous, who gets FREEMAN; Carla, who gets THE MAN WHO TURNED BOTH CHEEKS; Stacy Michelle, who gets SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST; and Tea, who gets BEAUTIFUL, DIRTY, RICH.