The choices of summer - executive editor's view - Editorial

Black Issues Book Review, July-August, 2003 by Angela P. Dodson

For some of us, satisfying our curiosity about what others are reading brings almost as much pleasure as figuring out what books we're going to indulge ourselves with next. Often it's even part of that process. We notice what the person in front of us at the bookstore is buying, or we may be motivated to join a book club or just ask a friend what good books they have read lately. Left alone for a few minutes in someone's office or sitting room, we might scan their bookshelves, noting various titles and authors. The same curiosity also inspires us to browse best-seller lists.

In this sense, we are voyeurs of others' reading habits. We like knowing their tastes and hearing their insights. It gives us a window into other people's minds. We feel we know more about people if we know something about their reading preferences. We even enjoy comparing notes and often discover something unexpected or surprising. To find that someone we consider a lot like ourselves--a spouse or best friend, for instance--derives joy from a genre or author we had never considered can cast them in a new light, or be an irresistible invitation to try something new ourselves.

Summer is an especially sweet time for readers--a season when we can browse among books we are not obliged to study for the job or for school. When the temperature rises and the world slows down a little, we permit ourselves to indulge in escapism. A carefully chosen group of books often gets packed away in some of our vacation suitcases before our clothes do.

As BIBR editors, it is happily a part of our job to explore the minds and reading habits of others. This summer we thought we would ask some of the brightest and most talented people in black America, "What are you reading this summer?" We went after an eclectic mixture of authors, yes, but also singers like the incomparable Jill Scott (who lends her joyful countenance to our cover this month), rappers, photographers, children, members of book clubs and anyone else we could think of. The insightful Kim McLarin, a journalist and novelist in Boston, came back with a choice list of people and their reading selections, along with her delightful look at why we begin to link pleasure reading with summer at a young age. In addition, contributing editor Suzanne Rust talked to families with some very well-read children about their plans for the summer, and Pat Houser surveyed a broad spectrum of book clubs.

We also asked a well-connected, young magazine editor, Nicole Saunders, to find out what some of our favorite authors--from poets to historians--were writing this summer. We can look forward to sampling their works in the future. If all their plans come to fruition, we are in for some thoughtful and entertaining reading for many summers to come in the hands of some of today's most skilled authors.

I personally can't wait to read Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks's acclaimed first novel, Getting Mother's Body, which we review in this issue, as well as Jill Nelson's sexy and funny first novel, Sexual Healing, and Tricia Rose's collection of personal testimonies, Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk About Sexuality and Intimacy.

So take note, and by all means, enjoy your own personal summer book selections!

Angela P. Dodson

BIBR Executive Editor