Sapphire: 'The Kid'

With Push, Sapphire introduced us to Precious Jones’ unforgettable tale of uphill survival against incredible odds. Precious’ son, Abdul, is the focus of The Kid, where the author continues to unabashedly dig under the filthy devastation that AIDS and horrifying abuse has unleashed upon the African-American community. We asked Sapphire what drove her to continue telling this story.

Read more summer books recommended for women.

You’ve previously described Precious as a survivor. Is Abdul also a survivor?

Abdul is a survivor in the fact that he is alive, stays alive and goes on to become an artist. Would he ...

Read the full post >

Hilderbrand Takes Cues From Madoff Scandal in ‘Silver Girl’

In her latest, Silver Girl, Elin Hilderbrand continues her trademark inclusion of life on Nantucket, but in addition to the beautiful beaches and quaint town life, she reveals the story of an innocent woman hiding out to escape the notoriety her Ponzi-scheming, incarcerated husband has brought upon them, with only the help of her oldest and estranged friend. Hilderbrand talked to us about Bernie’s other half, WASP life and why every beach read needs the equivalent of a hunky handyman.

Want more books for the beach? Check out Kirkus' list of summer reads. 

Silver Girl has similar components to ...

Read the full post >

Molly Birnbaum: ‘Season to Taste'

Molly Birnbaum, creator of the blog My Madeleine, always dreamed of being a cook. Even if it meant starting at the bottom as a dishwasher, she was determined to see her plan through. But when a car accident left Birnbaum badly injured, she was soon faced with a new challenge—the loss of her sense of smell. Gone were the aromas of freshly baked bread, garlic, roses, even her boyfriend’s familiar scent. Birnbaum chronicles it all in her savory memoir, Season to Taste, charting her path back to the kitchen, where she determined to find out how and why ...

Read the full post >

Pearl Cleage and her ‘Too Fine Five’

Vampires continue to be all the rage, and for her latest novel, Just Wanna Testify, Pearl Cleage is happy to take her fans back to the West End, a fictional neighborhood in Atlanta, to give readers a healthy dose of bloodsucker fun. Here, a group of female vampires—dubbed the “Too Fine Five”—survive on tomato juice instead of blood. But they do need some men to mate with, and therein lies the conflict. We talked with Cleage about her latest vampy romp.

Read more great books, some with a supernatural bent, by African-American fiction authors.

Are these the first ...

Read the full post >

'The Mommy Docs’ Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy and Birth'

The trio of board-certified doctors behind Discovery Health’s Deliver Me, which is moving to Oprah’s OWN network this May, celebrate Mother’s Day with the release of their comprehensive and engaging The Mommy Docs’ Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. Leading readers from the first neo-natal stirrings through the postpartum process, Yvonne Bohn, Allison Hill and Alane Park pull from their professional knowledge—as well as what they’ve picked up along the way as mothers themselves. They told us what makes their guide different from other pregnancy books, what motherhood has taught them about doctoring and the ...

Read the full post >

'Love Shrinks' with Sharyn Wolf

“This is the story of a marriage counselor who couldn’t keep her own marriage together.” So writes Oprah’s go-to relationship expert and practicing psychotherapist Sharyn Wolf in Love Shrinks. The book chronicles the author’s failed marriages—four in total to three men (she married her second husband twice)—and offers advice she’s pulled from her own experiences and those of her patients. Wolf spoke with us about the paradox of being a “marriage expert with a failed marriage," with a special focus on her relationship with her third husband in the book. 

Sharyn Wolf is only ...

Read the full post >

'Biggest Loser's' Jillian Michaels

In her latest book, Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life, New York Times bestselling author and fitness maven Jillian Michaels focuses on syncing up the inner you with the outer you – she doesn’t want you to just survive, she wants you to thrive. And she has no time for your excuses, your rationalizations or your pathetic dilly-dallying. Michaels encourages her readers to discover what is their true passion, then hands over tools (like quizzes and daily tracking journals) to make sure you quit just existing and start living your own “exceptional life.”

Check out more books on health ...

Read the full post >

Kirkus Q&A: Allison Pearson

While her first novel, I Don’t Know How She Does It (Knopf, 2002), is currently being made into a movie starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Allison Pearson tackles the confusing and competitive undercurrents of teenage girl friendships in I Think I Love You. Add a pop idol such as David Cassidy, and readers have an unwitting lightning rod to fuel jealousy and hysteria to boot.

SEE OTHER NEW AND NOTABLE TITLES FOR FEBRUARY HERE. 

Despite the title, the book isn’t really about David Cassidy, is it?

It’s a great deal about female friendships and how they transform. When ...

Read the full post >

American Rose: The life of Gypsy Rose Lee

Following up her critically acclaimed debut, Sin in the Second City (2007), Karen Abbott delivers American Rose, a firecracker biography about the queen of burlesque Gypsy Rose Lee. By delving directly into the dark and bawdy heart of vaudeville, then burlesque, Abbott fleshes out a dynamic, ambitious woman who single-handedly titillated audiences worldwide.

Did the brothels in Sin in the Second City lead to the burlesque of American Rose?

I may have a fascination with bad women in history! My grandmother told me her cousin saw Gypsy Rose Lee perform in 1935. He said she took 15 minutes to peel ...

Read the full post >