Thursday, September 10, 2009

Color Me Brown Links

Recently we concluded a very successful Color Me Brown Challenge and last week I shared that we would follow up with a new feature: Color Me Brown links. Every Thursday, I'll post links to reviews that feature POC characters. Great way to find new reads and an opportunity to promote some cool bloggers.

While I love discovering great reviews, feel free to drop me an email with your suggestions. You can write me at cora_litgroup@yahoo.com. Now on to this week's links:

Bayou, Vol. #1 by Jeremy Love. Scroll to the near bottom of the post. Find this at Eva's A Striped Armchair. Eva is a voracious reader and her reviews will cause you to pick up more books than you can read.

Like Water for Chocolate
by Laura Esquivel. Find this at Amanda's The Zen Leaf. Amanda and Jason are a very cool couple. Must be very fun to be their kids.

No God But God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan. The participants in the 50book POC challenge at Livejournal is a treasure trove. This review is from Wordsofastory.

The Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins. Find this at Edi's Crazy Quilts. If you don't know, Edi is my wise mentor. And I've made it clear what I think about Mitali.



6 comments:

Eva said...

So excited about this new feature! :) And thanks for linking to me!

Amanda said...

Wonderful idea! I love it. Thanks for linking to me, too. :)

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Great idea! I ***loved*** Bayou! You can read it online at the Zuda Comics site, at http://www.zudacomics.com/.

I also loved No God But God, although it may seem a bit on the academic side for readers. I have a review of it that is not on my blog but is on my LibraryThing site. I gave it 4/5 stars and said:

Reza Aslan has written a history of Islam that tells a similar story to the one told in many books about Christianity: founder with good intentions, followers caught up with power and "reformation." Aslan's Quran sounds pretty reasonable; its depiction can be contrasted to that given in Sam Harris's The End of Faith. It is probable that, like the Bible, the Quran has enough contradiction to accommodate everybody.

In the course of telling us the histories of Muhammad, Islam, and those who would interpret their meanings, Aslan paints a comprehensive portrait of the different branches of Islam - not only Sunni and Shi'ism, but the many divisions within those sects. Unlike authors such as Samuel Huntington in The Clash of Civilizations, Aslan argues that "the violence and bloodshed we are witnessing in large parts of the Islamic world are chiefly the result of an internal struggle between Muslims (rather than of a war between Islam and the West)".

The development of Islam is every bit as fascinating as the development of Christianity, and arguably more important to understand these days. I was never bored, and came out with a much better sense of the differences among the different movements in Islam, and why the opposing factions have such hatred of one another.

Beverly said...

I enjoyed Bayou Vol 1 and passed the book to my daughter and the next thing I know my 11 yr old grandson calls me up and says he really enjoyed the book and could I order him Bayou Vol 2.

MissA said...

Lovin the new feature!
I really liked Water for Chocolate (the movie was pretty good too). i'm determined to read secret Keeper by the end of September. forget homework! haha
No god but God sounds interesting as does Bayou.

Zetta said...

Jeremy Love is AMAZING! Thanks so much to you and Eva for this important introduction...