Richard Wright wrote both fiction and nonfiction, but little about his poetry. He created over 4,000 haikus, and this collection features more than 800 that he selected. It's a pleasure to read in the spring. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky
A few jazz books to deepen your musical knowledge.
Lush Life is one of my favorite jazz songs, performed by John Coltrane or Nat King Cole. It's Billy Strayhorn's most famous tune, but he collaborated with Duke Ellington for over thirty years. I’m reading this biography, perfect for spring. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky
I couldn't do a John Coltrane post without mentioning Alice Coltrane, the harpist and pianist who was also a jazz musician in her own right. A new biography of her life and music was published in March 2026. The Hammer Museum curated an exhibition in 2025. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
Jazz Appreciation Month honors jazz legend John Coltrane, who would have turned 100 on September 23, 1926. My favorite track from the 1963 album *Ballads* is “To Say It.” Coltrane on Coltrane compiles interviews with him. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
Ella Fitzgerald is one of my favorite singers who stays in constant rotation. I also have a biography of her life and music published in 2017, the 100th year of her birthday. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky
I found my way to a bookstore and picked up some books I’d been wanting to read. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky
I'm listening to Dexter Gordon’s Go (1962) album while writing this post. Considered Gordon’s masterpiece, recorded at Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, with superb acoustics that evoke a live performance. Gordon is one of jazz’s great saxophonists. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
Poetry continues with a collection of Modern African poetry by Penguin Classics. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky
It's Jazz Appreciation Month, so why not highlight Miles Davis’s autobiography and biography? It's also the year of his 100th birthday, May 26, 1926. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky
It's new to me. I'm reading it for poetry month.
It's Poetry Month! Omeros is a 1990 epic poem by Nobel laureate Derek Walcott that reimagines Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey in the Caribbean, especially St. Lucia, blending classical myth with post-colonial history, slavery, and personal identity. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
Troubled Lands was Langston Hughes's original title for a 1930s collection of translated stories from Mexican and Cuban writers. Only a few appeared in magazines then. Now, it's published as he intended: a compilation of 33 stories. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
I have some new books on the cultural and intellectual history of slavery in the Americas. #Blackbooksky #Booksky
Last post of the day. I highlight some lesser-known authors and books, including Paul Lawrence Dunbar's essential writings; his short stories are lesser known. The Water House is out of print, but used copies are available. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
I haven’t posted enough for Women’s History Month, but here are several books written or edited by women. Happy Reading! #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
I’m celebrating the Centennial year of BHM. I didn't learn about the book I’ll Make A World until February. There are at least two key lessons: the importance of memory and crafting your narrative. Here are some books that help us with those lessons. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky
This will probably be one of the few memoirs I read this year. I'm looking forward to reading The Flower Bearers in the spring. And the cover is beautiful. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
I want to highlight Barbara Neely, the author of the Blanche White mystery series. Blanche is a middle-aged domestic worker and amateur detective who solves mysteries while offering social commentary on issues like violence against women, racism, class, and sexism with humor. #Blackbooksky #Booksky
You’re welcome.
It’s Women’s History Month, and Effa Manley is the only woman in the Baseball Hall of Fame. She and her husband, Abe Manley, owned the Newark Eagles (Negro League) from 1935 to 1948, and she served as treasurer of the Negro National League. #Blackbooksky #Booksky
This is the last post for BHM. In Gil Scott-Heron’s memoir The Last Holiday, he writes about Stevie Wonder, who invited Heron’s band to open for his Hotter Than July tour from 1980 to 1981. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
It's the last day of BHM, and I want to highlight two people, but I'll make two posts. One will be a biography of J. Dilla, a producer behind influential rap and R&B acts. I love books that blend biography, musicology, and culture. Give me all that. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
Sammy Davis, Jr., a pioneering entertainer, was an actor, dancer, comedian, impressionist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer with a career spanning over five decades. His autobiography, Yes, I Can, was reissued in December 2025 for his centennial. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
Roberto Clemente was a Puerto Rican baseball star and humanitarian who played 18 seasons with the Pirates and was among the first Latin Americans to play in MLB. The first Latin American in the Hall of Fame, he died in a plane crash in 1972. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky
February's almost over, with four days left for Black History Month books. I hope you find a topic that interests you among these choices, whether about the Black National Anthem, a historic Black newspaper, or those committed to freedom. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
Interest in Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson has surged since Howard's Kings and Pawns (highly recommended). Here’s a biography, autobiography, and a book about Robinson’s Spring training in Havana that go beyond the myth. #Blackboosky #Booksky #Booksky
I posted about Paul Robeson, but his wife, Eslanda Goode Robeson, was an anthropologist, actress, author, and civil rights activist who also earned her own biography. She served as his business manager and authored his biography, Paul Robeson, Negro (1930). #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky
