2008

Walter Mosley. Blonde Faith

Easy Rawlins comes home from work and finds more trouble on his doorstep in a day than most men encounter in a lifetime. A friend has left his daughter at Easy's house without so much as a note. Clearly this friend, Christmas Black, a veteran of Vietnam, fears for his life and his daughter's.

2007

Pearl Cleage. Baby Brother's Blues

When Regina Burns married Blue Hamilton, she knew he was no ordinary man. Regina enjoyed a circle of engaging friends and her own work as communications consultant, but she especially relished the company of her husband, who never ceased to be a source of passion and delight. Then everything changes. Frightened women are showing up in West End, seeking Blue's protection from lovers who have suddenly become violent. When the worst offenders begin to disappear, the speculation seems to implicate Blue and his long-time associates. Now that Regina is pregnant, her fears for Blue's safety have become an obsession that threatens the heart of their relationship.

2006

Zane. Breaking the Cycle

Breaking the Cycle is a stunning and moving anthology of stories, each of which focuses on an aspect of domestic abuse. This powerful collection is sure to serve as a wake-up call for people either dealing with a domestic abuse situation, or those watching someone else endure it.

2005

T. D. Jakes. Woman, Thou Art Loosed! The Novel

As a child she called her grandma mama, her mother by her first name, and her motherrs's boyfriends Uncle. She grew up fast with too many men, too many strangers, and too many betrayals. Lost and sentenced to a private hell of abuse, addiction, poverty, and crime, Michelle has now been given a second chance to reclaim her life. But first she has to believe in the possible. She has to believe in herself. What it takes to free her is the one thing Michelle thought she'd never have. It's called faith.

2004

Toni Morrison. Love

This audacious exploration into the nature of love - its appetite, its sublime possession, its dread - is rich in characters, striking scenes, and a profound understanding of how alive the past can be.

2003

Nikki Giovanni. Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea

A collection of 50 new poems, sketches, and meditations charts new territory, including popular culture and life in America, the poet's own battle with illness, relationships between mothers and their children, legendary historical figures, the South, the recent terrorist attacks, and Giovanni's own childhood.

2002

Terry McMillan. A Day Late and a Dollar Short

McMillan's high-spirited novel introduces the Price family: matriarch Viola, her sometimes-husband Cecil, and their four adult kids, each of whom sees life--and one another--through thick and thin and entirely on their own terms. With her hallmark exuberance and sassy cast of characters, the author takes readers into the hearts, minds, and souls of America.

2001

Omar Tyree. For the Love of Money

Tracy Ellison, the sizzling heroine of the bestselling Flyy Girl returns in an eye-opening and sharply crafted sequel from "one of the hottest young black male novelists in a long time" (Rosalyn McMillan).

2000

Nikki Giovanni. Blues: For All the Changes

Intimate, edgy, and unapologetic, Blues: For All the Changes bears the mark of Nikki Giovanni's unmistakable voice. Now, in these fifty-two new poems, Giovanni brings the passion, fearless wit, and intensely personal self that have defined her life's work to a new front.

1999

Alex Haley and David Stevens. Mama Flora's Family: A Novel

This sweeping family saga of three generations in the mid-20th century is the final, brilliant inheritance from Alex Haley. At the center of this poignant novel stands the indomitable Mama Flora, matriarch of an extraordinary family of destitute Tennessee sharecroppers.

1998

Nikki Giovanni. Love Poems

A stunning collection of love poems that includes more than twenty new works. Articulating in sensuous verse what we know only instinctively, Nikki Giovanni once again confirms her place as one of our nation's most distinguished poets and powerful truth-tellers.