The Recording Academy has officially revealed the nominations for the 2024 GRAMMYs, which will take place Sunday, Feb. 4, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
BOLDLY GO: REFLECTIONS ON A LIFE OF AWE AND WONDER
by William Shatner
is a nominee for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording.
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Bahni Turpin, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, and Queen Sugar’s Tina Lifford beautifully embody the three women at the heart of Denene Millner’s epic novel, One Blood. From Jim Crow-era rural Virginia to early 21st century New York City, this memorable story unfolds in three parts. There’s Grace, a birth mother who has her newborn taken away; Lolo, the adoptive mother; and Rae, that child, now an adult with a daughter of her own. Millner’s prose is effortless and honest. She leans into the voices of her characters—brought to life by an amazing cast of narrators—to tell this tender tale of Black motherhood, identity, and love. —M.H.
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Rebecca Hanover, The Last Applicant
(Lake Union Publishing)
“Hanover’s book is dark, ominous, and oppressive from the very beginning, filled with heart-stopping, headspinning twists, bizarre characters, and a spiraling sense of impending doom. This book is for those who enjoy something very dark and very different.” –Booklist
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Genre: Psychological Thriller
From award-winning author Rebecca Hanover comes an emotional thrill ride about two women whose lives take a dangerous turn in the high-stakes arena of private school admissions.
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Author Alice Faye Duncan drops by "GMA3" to talk about her new book, “This Train is Bound for Glory,” which helps children and families celebrate one of the most beloved Black spirituals.
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One Blood by Denene Millner
c.2023, Forge, $29, 432 pages
One drop.
That’s all they said it took to determine someone’s race. Just one drop, the tiniest of amounts, and everything changed: no access, no rights, no cold drink from a fountain on a hot day, no freedoms. No safety. No say in the matter. And in the new novel, “One Blood” by Denene Millner, no way to change it, but time.
. . . Here’s some advice: if you’re not completely immersed in “One Blood” by page 10, you might want to get yourself checked out. There could be something wrong with you.
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Where, two decades prior, David Toop had taken a largely musicological approach to hip-hop, Jeff Chang spends most of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop examining the material conditions out of which hip-hop was born, its imperfect assimilation into the American mainstream, and the revolutionary capacity it retains. Initially hyper-focused in the South Bronx before widening its aperture to include gang truces and the Rodney King uprising in Los Angeles, along with the megacorporation-assisted globalization of hip-hop as an industry, Chang’s history is a rigorous but optimistic love letter to what could still be.
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The Last Applicant, Rebecca Hanover (Oct 24)
Audrey Singer thrives as the admissions director at a prestigious Manhattan private school, enjoying power and privilege, along with a seemingly perfect marriage. The entrance of anxious Sarah Price disrupts Audrey's life, as she strives to secure her son's admission into a coveted kindergarten class. Sarah's actions become increasingly boundary-pushing and reveal hidden motives, raising questions about her intentions and potential darker schemes in this intense competition.
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We chat with author Rebecca Hanover about The Last Applicant, which is an emotional thrill ride about two women whose lives take a dangerous turn in the high-stakes arena of private school admissions.
Do you have any writing rituals?
I only need a few simple things in order to write. An idea that I can’t stop thinking about (most important, of course). A quiet house (let’s face it, it doesn’t even need to be quiet, I just need to be able to shut the door and not have any of my rowdy family of five bother me!). A matcha latte or two. My laptop.
I try to check my email before I begin, and then let it fester while I’m in the zone doing the “deep work.” If I have any pressing chores to take care of, I try to knock them out first so that they aren’t on my mind while I’m trying to be creative. That’s difficult because I always have outstanding chores to take care of. But some can wait, and others can’t. It’s a constant balancing act!
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September is a great month to be a reader, with gems arriving from both best-selling and debut authors.
One Blood by Denene Millner
A powerful story of blood, secrets and love connects the lives of three unforgettable Black women. Teenage Grace is forced to flee 1960s Virginia and deceived into giving up her baby for adoption. Later that decade, Delores seizes the single opportunity she sees to escape an abusive childhood — get married to a man who will protect her, keeping her infertility a shameful secret from everyone. Thirty years later, Rae, whose family is starting to unravel, seeks answers about her upbringing and the decisions she has made as a result. Millner skillfully explores how societal pressures have forced generations of Black women to make difficult choices. (Forge, Sept. 5)
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One Blood By Denene Millner – Release Date: Sept. 5
New York Times bestselling author Denene Millner’s haunting yet exciting book One Blood explores the lives of three women: Grace, LoLo and Rae, as they struggle to overcome life’s unexpected challenges in pursuit of love, hope and their dreams. All three women are connected by time, circumstance and family secrets that reveal they have more than just blood ties in common.
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One Blood by Denene Millner - September 5
“One Blood” is the latest novel from bestselling author and award-winning journalist Denene Millner. The beautifully-written story spans across three generations of women from the Great Migration to the early 2000s, taking a unique look at family and social structure.
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There’s a refreshing frankness about sex and attraction that drives the personal side of the drama, as well as a thoughtful recognition of how grief and loss break people down in different ways
Deliciously thrilling—and thrillingly extra.
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Summertime is a great backdrop to get in with a few good books, but the fast-approaching fall season is even better.
One Blood (out September 5) is a novel written by six-time New York Times bestselling author Denene Millner. One Blood, inspired by the author’s own adoption journey, tells the tale of three generations of women and their fight with forgiveness, love, and survival during major movements in Black American history.
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Denene Millner’s One Blood is the story of three women linked by adoption: a young woman forced to give up her child, the adoptive mother, and the daughter who binds the two. Spanning the Great Migration, the civil rights movement, and 21stcentury New York, the novel weaves the three women’s tales together over time, exploring how our collective histories inform who we ultimately become.
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The new thriller is the latest installment in the popular Will Trent series.
‘One Blood’ explores forced adoption, changing gender roles and generational trauma.
One Blood (Tor/Forge) September 5, 2023
Atlanta author Denene Millner was 12 years old and snooping through her parents’ things one day when she came across a document that revealed a big family secret: She was adopted.
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Starred Review
Faith Erin Hicks. First Second, $25.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-83873-5; $17.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-83872-8
After Canadian teenage hockey player Alix punches her team captain Lindsay following Lindsay’s berating remarks on her lack of social skills, Alix worries about her ability to manage her anger. Even worse, Alix’s coach warns her that she’ll have to learn to control her temper if she hopes for Coach’s recommendation to attend a prestigious hockey camp. When Alix witnesses queer classmate Ezra calmly de-escalate a homophobic encounter with a bully, she asks Ezra to teach her how to handle tense situations. As the duo’s mentor-mentee relationship develops into an earnest friendship, she discovers that, despite his tranquil demeanor, Ezra is hiding intense feelings of rage and pain stemming from his own challenges. Empathetic dialogue and compassionate depictions of characters’ struggles are complemented by gently rendered illustrations. Vibrant blue accents set against thick, inky b&w line emphasize high-energy moments and aid in narrative and emotional immersion. With a keen eye, Hicks (Ride On) delivers a heartfelt graphic novel that is both a perceptive subversion of gender roles and a remarkable tale of unexpected friendship, personal growth, and the transformative power of embracing one’s true self. Main characters appear white. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)
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