Reading Recommendations: Martin Luther King Jr Day

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. - Martin Luther King Jr

It's Martin Luther King Jr Day today (as if you didn't already know) so I thought it would be appropriate to share six of my favorite books that fit into the black American literature and civil rights themed genre. I know that there are a lot of amazing books in this genre that are not listed here, so feel free to list your own recommendations or additions to this list.

The Best Books in the World According to My Kindergartener

One of my favorite things to do is take my son book hunting with me. We enjoy looking for books to read at nighttime as we wind down for the day. I'm not sure if all kids are like this, but we seem to have a rotation of favorite stories that we read night after night. Are you kids like this? I'm pretty sure I was - I have memories of reading Make Way for Ducklings over and over again.

I asked my little guy to pick out his five favorite books and here is what he brought to me:

Book Anticipation: January 2016 New Releases

There are a slew of new releases out this month that I can't wait to read. Here are a few new reads out this January that sound interesting to me:

Title: The Longest Night by Andria Williams
Genre: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction

Print Length: 400 pages

Publisher: Random House (January 12, 2016)

Publication Date: January 12, 2016

Set in Idaho Falls 1959, Nat and Paul Collier move with their two daughters to a remote military town where Paul will be stationed to oversee a nuclear reactor.

When Paul discovers that the reactor has been compromised and that the military intends to cover it up, he keeps the information from Nat.

His lies, along with her growing unrest and difficulty settling into a new town takes its toll on their relationship and they begin to drift apart.

Book Review: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

image via amazon.com

Title: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson
Genre: Mental Health, Biographies, Memoirs

Print Length: 300 pages

Publisher: Flatiron Books (September 22, 2015)

Publication Date: September 22, 2015

Rating: 5/5 stars

Furiously Happy is about "taking those moments when things are fine and making them amazing, because those moments are what make us who we are, and they're the same moments we take into battle with us when our brains declare war on our very existence. It's the difference between "surviving life" and "living life". It's the difference between "taking a shower" and "teaching your monkey butler how to shampoo your hair." It's the difference between being "sane" and being "furiously happy." -Furiously Happy