Nubian Circle Book Club

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What We've Read (2001-Present)

NCBC Reading Lists - Main and Nightstand Selections

The Nubian Circle Book Club rates books on a scale from 1 to 5.  Each member provides their rating and a group average is displayed below.
 
The ratings are interpreted as follows:

1 = Poor - Not Recommended

2 = Fair/Needs Improvement - Not Recommended

3 = OK/Good - Recommended (perhaps with caution)

4 = Very Good - Strongly Recommended

5 = Outstanding - Highly Recommended

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2010 Selections

January
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
NCBC Rating = 3.2 
February
Some Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
NCBC Rating = 5 
March
Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
NCBC Rating = 3.3
April
Sugar by Bernice McFadden
NCBC Rating = 3.5
May
Perfect Peace by Daniel O. Black
NCBC Rating = 4.5 
June
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
NCBC Rating = TBD 
July
32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
NCBC Rating = TBD
August
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
NCBC Rating = TBD 
September
TBD
NCBC Rating = TBD 
October
TBD
NCBC Rating = TBD 
 
November
TBD
NCBC Rating = TBD 
December
TBD
NCBC Rating = TBD 

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2009 Selections

January
Midnight:  A Gangster Love Story by Sister Souljah
NCBC Rating = 3.4
 
February
Song Yet Sung by James McBride
NCBC Rating = 4.38
 
March
Push:  A Novel by Saffire
NCBC Rating = 4.3
April
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
NCBC Rating = 3.2
May
Life Is Short But Wide by J. California Cooper
NCBC Rating = 3.1
 
June
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey
NCBC Rating = 2.6
July
The Shack by William P. Young
NCBC Rating = 4.2
August
Children of the Waters by Carleen Brice
NCBC Rating = 3.3
September
The Good House by Tananarive Due
NCBC Rating = 3.4
October
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
NCBC Rating = 3.4
 
November
Mama Dearest by E. Lynn Harris
NCBC Rating = TBD
December
The People vs Cashmere by Karen Williams
NCBC Rating = TBD

 
 

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2008 Selections

January
Color Me Butterfly by L. Y. Marlow
NCBC Rating = 4.25
 
February
Come On People:  On the Path from Victims to Victors by Bill Cosby, Alvin Poussaint
NCBC Rating = 2.0
 
March
Conception by Kalisha Buckhanon
NCBC Rating = 3.5
April
Seen It All and Done The Rest by Pearl Cleage
NCBC Rating = 3.25
May
If The Creek Don't Rise by Rita Williams
NCBC Rating = 3
 
June
Orange Mint & Honey by Carleen Brice
NCBC Rating = 4.70
July
Meeting Cancelled
August
We'll Never Tell by Kayla Perrin
NCBC Rating = 2.2
September
By The Rivers of Babylon by Cindy Brown Austin
NCBC Rating = 3.25
October
Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
NCBC Rating = 3
 
November
Joint Meeting with Mocha Expressions:  Encore Selection: Orange Mint and Honey by Carleen Brice
NCBC Rating = 3.5
December
No Meeting

 
 

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2007 Selections
January
Blood on the Leaves by Jeff Stetson
NCBC Rating = 4.8
 
February
Tumbling by Dianne McKinney-Whetstone
NCBC Rating = 4.8
 
March
Fear of the Dark by Walter Mosley
NCBC Rating = 3.6
 
April
Freshwater Road by Denise Nicholas
NCBC Rating = 4.7
May
Fruit of the Lemon by Andrea Levy
NCBC Rating = 3.2
 
June
Sleeping With Strangers by Eric Jerome Dickey
NCBC Rating = 3.5
July
CANCELLED:  Let's Get It On by Jill Nelson
NCBC Rating = The book was not released as promised.
August
All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P. Jones
NCBC Rating = 4
September
Waking With Enemies by Eric Jerome Dickey
NCBC Rating = 3
October
Sweeter Than Honey by Mary B. Morrison
NCBC Rating = 1.25
 
November
What's Done In The Dark by Gloria Mallette [Joint Meeting With Mocha Expressions]
NCBC Rating = 3.25
December
Them by Nathan McCall
NCBC Rating = TBD
 
 
 

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2006 Selections

January
They Tell Me of a Home by Daniel Black
NCBC Rating = 4.4
 
February
Bailey's Cafe by Gloria Naylor
NCBC Rating  = 3.5
 
A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II by Lee Hayes
NCBC Rating = 2.1
March
Nowhere Is A Place by Bernice L. McFadden
NCBC Rating = 4.4
 
Who Does She Think She Is? by Benilde Little
NCBC Rating  = 3.4
 
April
Forty Acres by Phyllis Dixon
NCBC Rating = 4.3
 
May
Third Girl From The Left  by Martha Southgate
NCBC Rating = 3.9
 
June
Baby Brother's Blues by Pearl Cleage
NCBC Rating = 3.5
July
The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner by Andrea Smith
NCBC Rating = 4.3
August
The Covenant With Black America by Tavis Smiley
NCBC Rating = 3.5
September
Girls Most Likely by Sheila Williams
NCBC Rating = 2.3
October
From Super "Man" to Man by J. A. Rogers
NCBC Rating = 4
 
November
Jump at the Sun by Kim McLarin
NCBC Rating = 2.6 (Using Mocha Expression's Rating Scale) 
December
What I Know For Sure by Tavis Smiley
NCBC Rating = No Rating Applied
 
 
 

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2005 Selections

January
Passion Marks by Lee A. Hayes
NCBC Rating = 4.0
 
Purple Hibiscus by Chiamanda Ngozi Adichie
NCBC Rating = 3.1
February
The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes
NCBC Rating = 4.1
 
Fannin' The Flames by Parry "Ebony Satin" Brown
NCBC Rating = 3.8
March
The Preacher's Son by Carl Weber
NCBC Rating = 4.2
 
Some People, Some Other Place by J. California Cooper
NCBC Rating = 3.8
April
The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips 
NCBC Rating = 4.5
 
Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon
NCBC Rating = 4.4
May
Cover Girls by T. D. Jakes
NCBC Rating = 2.2
 
 
June
Babylon Sisters by Pearl Cleage
NCBC Rating = 4.0
 
Tastes Like Chicken by Lolita Files
NCBC Rating = 3.3
July
Let The Lion Eat Straw by Ellease Southerland (Ebele Oseye)
NCBC Rating = 3.4
 
The Bridge by Solomon Jones
NCBC Rating = 3.5
August
When Loves Calls, You Better Answer by Bertice Berry
NCBC Rating = 3.9
 
September
The Interruption of Everything by Terry McMillan
NCBC Rating = 2.8
 
Genevieve by Eric Jerome Dickey
NCBC Rating = 3.7
October
Better Than I Know Myself by Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant
NCBC Rating = 3.3
 
Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley
NCBC Rating = 3.7
November
72 Hour Hold by Bebe Moore Campbell
NCBC Rating = 4.0
 
 
December
Passport Diaries by Tamara Gregory
NCBC Rating = 4.1
 
 

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2004 Selections

January
Getting Mother's Body by Suzan-Lori Parks
NCBC Rating = 2.9
February
A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines
NCBC Rating = 4.1
 
The Honey Well by Gloria Mallette
NCBC Rating = 4.6
March
A Love Noire by Erica Simone Turnipseed
NCBC Rating = 3.6
 
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted by E. Lynn Harris
NCBC Rating = 4.1
April
Kindred by Octavia Butler
NCBC Rating = 4.7
 
A Woman's Worth by Tracy Price-Thompson
NCBC Rating = 4.2
May
The Wake of the Winds by J. California Cooper
NCBC Rating = 4.0
 
On The Down Low by J. L. King
NCBC Rating = 2.0
June
Leaving Cecil Street by Dianne McKinney-Whetstone
NCBC Rating = 4.4
 
Family Secrets by Astria Richard
NCBC Rating = 3.4
July
Crave by Darnella Ford
NCBC Rating = 3.0
 
Gothan Diaries by Tony Lewis Lee, Crystal McCrary Anthony
NCBC Rating = 2.7
August
Camilla's Roses by Bernice McFadden
NCBC Rating = 3.6
September
Like The First Time by Francis Ray
NCBC Rating = 3.6
 
Man In My Basement by Walter Mosley
NCBC Rating = 3.3
October
Blood on the Leaves by Jeff Stetson
NCBC Rating = 4.9
 
Red Light Wives by Mary Monroe
NCBC Rating = 4.0
November
The Seasons of Beento Blackbird by Akosua Busia
NCBC Rating = 3.3
December
The Blackbird Papers by Ian Smith
NCBC Rating = 3.9

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2003 Selections
January
Nigger:  The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word by Randall Kennedy
NCBC Rating = 3.3
February
Harlem Redux by Persia Walker
NCBC Rating = 4.8
March
Loving Donovan by Bernice McFadden
NCBC Rating = 4.1
April
A Man Most Worthy by Marcus Major 
NCBC Rating = 3.0
May
Chocolate Sangria by Tracy Price-Thompson
NCBC Rating = 2.9
June
Leslie by Omar Tyree
NCBC Rating = 2.8
 
The Sisters of APF:  The Indoctrination of Soror Ride Dick by Zane
NCBC Rating = 2.5
July
The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen Carter
NCBC Rating = 2.3
 
Sexual Healing by Jill Nelson
NCBC Rating = 4.5
August
Redemption Song by Bertice Berry
NCBC Rating = 4.8
 
Selah's Bed by Jenoyne Adams
NCBC Rating = 4.4
September
The Other Woman by Eric Jerome Dickey
NCBC Rating = 4.3
 
Push by Saffire
NCBC Rating = 4.0
October
The Blacker the Berry... by Wallace Thurman
NCBC Rating = 3.0
November
Standing at the Scratch Line by Guy Johnson
NCBC Rating = 4.8
   

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2002 Selections
January
Seraph on the Suwanee by Zora Neale Hurston
NCBC Rating = 4.0
February
Fragments of he Ark by Louise Merriweather
NCBC Rating = 2.8
March
This Bitter Earth by Bernice McFadden
NCBC Rating = 4.8
April
I Wish I Had A Red Dress by Pearl Cleage 
NCBC Rating = 3.5
May
The Justus Girls by Evelyn "Slim" Lambright
NCBC Rating = 4.4
June
Cane River by Lalita Tademy 
NCBC Rating = 4.9
July
Child of God by Lolita Files
NCBC Rating = 4.8
August
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah
NCBC Rating = 4.5
September
The Queen of Harlem by Brian Keith Jackson
NCBC Rating = 4.3
October
Married But Still Looking by Travis Hunter
NCBC Rating = 3.0
November
Addicted by Zane
NCBC Rating = 2.9
   

Nubian Circle Book Club - 2001 Selections
July
This Side of Eternity by Rosalyn McMillan
NCBC Rating = 3
August
All I Ever Wanted by Adrianne Byrd
NCBC Rating = 2
September
Sugar by Bernice McFadden
NCBC Rating = 5
October
Hearts of Men by Travis Hunter
NCBC Rating = 4.0