Kazi 88.7 Fm Book Review

Host Hopeton Hay discussed  how peanuts developed into a cash crop and impacted slavery in colonial Senegal in his interview with Jori Lewis, author of SLAVES FOR PEANUTS: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History. Jori Lewis is an award–winning journalist who writes about agriculture and the environment.  Her web site is https://www.jorilewis.com/. 

Host Hopeton Hay discusses the new novel AFTER THE LIGHTS GO OUT (published June 2022) with author John Vercher.  AFTER THE LIGHTS GO OUT is  “a harrowing and spellbinding story about family, the complications of mixed-race relationships, misplaced loyalties, and the price athletes pay to entertain.” Learn more about the book and author at https://www.johnvercherauthor.comDiverse Voices Book Review Social Media: Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshay

Host Hopeton Hay discusses the new book SOMEWHERE WE ARE HUMAN: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings with its co-editor Reyna Grande (Sonia Guiñansaca also co-edited). The book is a unique collection of poems, and artwork by forty-one migrants, refugees, and Dreamers—including award-winning writers, artists, and activists—that illuminate what it is like living undocumented today.  More information on the book is available at http://reynagrande.com/human/.Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.comWeb site: https://diversevoicesbookreview.wordpress.com/ 

In his interview with acclaimed author Don Lee, host Hopeton Hay discussed the inspiration for his short collection THE PARTITION.  The collection explores Asian American identity in settings across the U.S. and Asia.  Learn more about THE PARTITION at http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/the-partition/.  Host Hopeton Hay cab be contacted at hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com.

Host Hopeton Hay interviews award winning author Elizabeth Nunez about her latest novel NOW LILA KNOWS.  In NOW LILA KNOW Caribbean professor Lila Bonnard arrives in Vermont for a short-term teaching position and is forced to confront the terrible legacy of American (in)justice.  In the novel, Lila says “I know the game they're playing…I suspect white America is more comfortable with us, foreign blacks, with you, African Americans, they have a constant reminder of America's original sin.”More information on NOW LILA KNOWS is available at http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/now-lila-knows/.  Hopeton can be reached at hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com. 

Host Hopeton Hay discusses the SOUTHERNIZATION OF AMERICA: Democracy in the Balance with authors Frye Gaillard and Cynthia Tucker.  In the interview they discussed how they went from the optimism of the civil rights movement to their deep concerns with the political trends of today. Also they revealed how the 1974 book, THE AMERICANIZATION OF DIXIE by John Eggerton was a source of inspiration for their book. We also discussed how former House Speaker Newt Gingrich discouraged bipartisanship and trained Republicans to use language that demonized Democrats.   More information on the book is available at http://www.newsouthbooks.com/bkpgs/detailtitle.php?isbn_solid=158838456X.

My guest is James Lee Burke, author of the novel EVERY CLOAK ROLLED IN BLOOD.  The novel is described on his web site as “IN HIS MOST AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL TO DATE, JAMES LEE BURKE CONTINUES THE EPIC HOLLAND FAMILY SAGA WITH A WRITER GRIEVING THE DEATH OF HIS DAUGHTER WHILE BATTLING EARTHLY AND SUPERNATURAL OUTLAWS.” More information on his book is available at https://www.jamesleeburke.com/books/every-cloak-rolled-in-blood/.Hopeton Hay, Host and ProducerDiverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.comWeb site: https://diversevoicesbookreview.wordpress.com/ 

My partners in crime, Austin writer Amanda Moore, Scott Montgomery of BookPeople, and Molly Odintz of CrimeReads.com, joined me as they do every month to discuss the books we are recommending from May. Our crime fiction picks for May 2022 are BREATHLESS by Amy McCulloch, EVERY CLOAK ROLLED IN BLOOD by James Lee Burke, MY SUMMER DARLINGS by May Cobb, NOBODY’S PILGRIMS, by Sergio Troncoso, THE DEVIL HIMSELF by Peter Farris, and THE LIONESS by Chris Bohjalian.  Tune in to learn more.  Check out a great array of crime fiction reviews on crimereads.com, and purchase your books from Austin independent book store, bookpeople.com,.Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.comWeb site: https://diversevoicesbookreview.wordpress.com/ 

Sergio Troncoso’s first crime/thriller novel, NOBODY’S PILGRIMS, is about (from his web site) “Three runaway teenagers…chased in a road trip from the Texan frontera to New England, by a drug cartel planning to unleash chaos unto the country…A coming-of-age novel of literary fiction with a thriller twist, from preeminent Mexican-American author Sergio Troncoso.”  I am hoping for a sequel.  More information on Sergio and his book is available at https://sergiotroncoso.com.

CITY ON FIRE is the first of a planned trilogy on an Irish and Italian mob families based in Rhode Island. In our interview Winslow discussed how his novel is based in part on an epic poem by Roman poet Virgil, The Aeneid, written sometime between 30 and 19 BC.  CITY ON FIRE’S protagonist, Danny Ryan, is based on the protagonist of the Aeneid, Aeneas.  More information on Don Winslow is available on his web site https://www.donwinslow.com/books.  Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.comWeb site: https://diversevoicesbookreview.wordpress.com/ 

My guest is John Harris, co-author of a memoir of Hall of Fame football player, Edgerrin James, FROM GOLD TEETH TO GOLD JACKET: My Life in Football and Business. In his new memoir, James shares his unique, no-holds-barred perspective in becoming an all-time NFL great while also building a financial empire while raising six children.  Edgerrin Harris played running back in the NFL for 11 seasons.  He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2020.  Co-author John Harris is an award-winning journalist who covered sports for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Toledo Blade, Tampa Bay Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Austin American-Statesman, Lexington Herald-Leader, Booth Newspapers, Youngstown Vindicator, ESPN's Andscape (formerly the Undefeated) and CBS Sportsline. A native of Philadelphia, Harris resides in Austin, Texas.  More on the book is available at From Gold Teeth to Gold Jacket | Book by Edgerrin James, John Harris, Peyton Manning | Official Publisher

On June 2 at 7 p.m. at the Austin Central Library, the Library Foundation and the PEN America Austin Chapter are partnering to host a discussion about The 1619 Project and free speech. I interviewed Timothy Staley, Executive Director of the Library Foundation and Jennifer M. Wilks, an English professor and director of the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas, who will moderate the discussion.  The program, entitled The 1619 Project: Who’s Afraid of Black Books?, will feature two contributors to The 1619 Project: acclaimed author ZZ Packer and award-winning poet Danez Smith.  More information on the event is available at https://austinlibrary.org/at-central/.Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.comWeb site: https://diversevoicesbookreview.wordpress.com/ 

Nancy Bilyeau’s latest novel, THE FUGUTIVE COLOURS, is set in a fascinating time in English history, the 1760s. Its protagonist, Genevieve, is a young married woman who finds herself entangled in a web of intrigues, spies, and deceit.  A Huguenot living in Spitalfields, Genevieve one day receives a surprise invitation from an important artist. Grasping at the promise of a better life, she dares to hope her luck is about to change and readies herself for an entry into the world of serious art.She soon learns that for the portrait painters ruling over the wealthy in London society, fame and fortune are there for the taking. But such high stakes spur rivalries that darken to sabotage and blackmail—and even murder. And watching from the shadows are ruthless spies who wish harm to all of England. A sequel to Nancy Bilyeau’s The Blue, The Fugitive Colours again reveals a dazzling world of glamour and treachery in Georgian England, when beauty held more value than human life.  Nancy’s web site is http://www.nancybil

In Aaron Philip Clark’s novel, UNDER COLOR OF LAW, a black police  detective in Los Angeles is assigned to investigate the murder of a black police recruit.  Set during our current times, the novel explores the black communities deep concerns about police violence, racism, and discrimination. It is also about the many faces of Los Angeles, and the way black and brown communities, are marginalized and demonized in the media.  Clark, a native of Los Angeles, was inspired to write the novel by his experiences as a new recruit in the Los Angeles police department.  Aaron Philip Clark is a novelist and screenwriter. UNDER COLOR OF LAW is his fourth novel.Aaron Philip Clark is a native of Los Angeles, CA. He is a novelist and screenwriter. A self-described "son of the city," Clark takes pleasure in exploring the many facets of Los Angeles and enjoys hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains.  Clark’s web site is https://www.aaronphilipclark.com/.Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewI

Teens Choice Book Show producer and host Maya Hay interviews Natalia Sylvester about her latest novel BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN.  In this novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.Learn more about the book at https://www.nataliasylvester.com/books-by-natalia-sylvester. Formerly a monthly show on KAZI 88.7 FM, Teens Choice Book Show features interviews with authors of new books that are of interest to teenagers.  It is hosted and produced by its founder Maya Hay, and co-hosted by Alex Winston and Alexis Winston.

Welcome to first to the first episode of the monthly podcast of Travis County Commissioner Jeffrey Travillion hosted by Hopeton Hay.  In the first episode we discuss how Commissioner Travillion’s involvement with the Austin NAACP shaped the development of his leadership skills.  He also discussed some of the critical issues he addressed as its president from 1992 to 1997.  The guests were Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP and Walter Muse, who served on the executive committee of the Austin NAACP when the Commissioner was president.  In the episode, Commissioner Travillion also discussed the key issues he’ll be focused on in upcoming episodes including the Travis County budget, job training, childcare and affordable housing.

What an enlightening interview I had with Dillard University graduate, Tara T. Green, author of a stunning biography of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, a pioneering Black woman who actively addressed racial and gender inequalities as a writer, suffragette, educator, and activist in the late 19th and early 20th century.  She was born in New Orleans in 1875 to a mother who was a former slave and a father of questionable identity.  Dunbar-Nelson was a graduate of Straight University in New Orleans, the forerunner of Dillard University, a Historically Black College and University.  Dr. Green first became acquainted with the work of Dunbar-Nelson as an undergraduate at Dillard University.  She is a Black feminist community-engaged scholar, mentor, and university professor.  She is also the author of See Me Naked: Black Women Defining Pleasure During the Interwar Era.   Credit for Tara T. Green’s picture goes to Toni Shaw.  Her web site is http://www.drtaratgreen.com/publications.html. Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:

On this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review we had our crime fiction picks of the month with Scott Montgomery and Amanda Moore, but opened with an extended conversation with Gary Phillips, author of the novel ONE-SHOT-HARRY.  Molly Odintz, who is part of the monthly crime fiction team, was not able to join us this month.   In ONE-SHOT HARRY, freelance Black crime photographer Harry Ingram is a Korean War vet in 1963 Los Angeles on the eve of a visit by Martin Luther King, Jr. prior to the March on Washington. Then a long-gone foxhole buddy shows up and dies under mysterious circumstances. Armed with his wits, his camera, and occasionally his service .45, Harry plunges headfirst into the seamier underbelly of L.A. society — tangling with racists, leftists, blackmailers, gangsters, zealots and lovers, all in the hope of finding something resembling justice for his friend.  Gary Phillips’s web page for his new novel is https://gdphillips.com/portfolio/one-shot-harry/.Our April Crime Fiction Picks of the Month

In his mix of genres in his collection of personal essays, TO THOSE BOUNDED, Donald Quist examines the perils of black manhood in America.  He reflects on the fracturing of identity necessary to survive living in America.  Quist mercilessly examines his experiences from childhood to marriage to death, and how it interacts with the American myth of exceptionalism while many struggle to survive.  It was one of the best books I read in 2021.Donald Quist is also author of HARBORS, a Foreword INDIES Bronze Winner and International Book Awards Finalist. He has a linked story collection, For Other Ghosts.  He is creator of the online nonfiction series PAST TEN. He is Director of the MFA in Writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts.  His web site is https://www.donaldquist.com/.Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.comWeb site: https://diversevoicesbookreview.wordpress.com/ 

Ladee Hubbard, the critically acclaimed author of The Rib King, returns with THE LAST SUSPICIOUS HOLDOUT, a collection of short stories including the title story written exclusively for this volume, that explore relationships in a Black neighborhood over the course from the late 1980s to the eve of Barack Obama’s inauguration. Her web site is https://ladeehubbard.com/.Social media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.comWeb site: https://diversevoicesbookreview.wordpress.com/