August On Sale Marvelyn Brown's The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and (HIV) Positive

Tomorrow one of the most important books I think we've ever published will go on sale. It's Marvelyn Brown's THE NAKED TRUTH: YOUNG, BEAUTIFUL and (HIV) Positive.

Being that HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for black women age 24-35 , it's a message we all seem to know, but still somehow two decades plus into the AIDS epidemic, many of us still walk around with an "It can't happen to me" attitude.

Marvelyn is truly an inspiration. When she contracted HIV at age 19, she could've given up on life. But she chose to speak out and she's become one of the most sought after HIV activists of her generation. Some of you may have seen her inteview on CNN's BLACK IN AMERICA special last month. And you can catch her on the EARLY SHOW this week too. But for now you can watch her speak for herself during her MTV PSA that won an Emmy. Please spread the word to every young adult you know....

Books We Read Outside of Work

People accuse me of not liking anything. I call it taste. But there are a lot of things myself and our staff do like. And yes publishing folks do find time to read outside of work. Sometimes. Like when we're riding the train or on vacation. Here are some of our staff's recent fiction picks.

Masked Editor (me): A Fraction of the Whole by Australian Steve Toltz. This book is a real riot. A long, rambling debut novel that is so voice drive that the plot almost becomes irrelevant. For whatever reason it hasn't taken off so much in the States, but has been long listed for the Booker Prize. One of my favorite things about this book's marketing push was the trippy book trailer the author made.

Bryan Christian (Marketing Director): The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. All modern suicide, depression, and manic memoirs owe their publication in some way to Ms. Plath. But being that Prozac, Xanax, etc weren't around then, I believe in The Bell Jar's authenticity a bit more.

Dawn Davis (Editorial Director): Dawn claims she has no time to read outside of work. But I catch her carrying around battered paperback novels in her bag now and then. And one of those novels which she has endorsed is The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, winner of the 2006 Booker.

Cathy Serpico (Marketing Assistant): Northline by William Vlautin. Cathy endorses both Northline and Willy's other book, The Motel Life.

Next time I'll highlight something even more esoteric: Short Stories we've read.