Right now I'm reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It's about life for African-Americans during a post-slavery time period (I believe early 1900s) and racial interactions not only between African-Americans and European-Americans but between African-Americans, themselves, and a little on African-Americans and Africans as seen through Nettie's eyes. I have always loved the movie and can't stop myself from watching it whenever it's on television, but I was not prepared for how amazing the book is too. There is such a positive message underlying the story regarding acceptance, progression, understanding, and trying to find yourself in a world that might not want to see you.
I'm almost finished with the book. Next up is Sage's Eyes by V.C. Andrews. While I stick by the opinion that the ghost writers (family members?) for V.C. Andrews since her passing are no where near as interesting as the original author herself, there is a part of me that can't pass up a good, sordid (and sometimes badly written) story. When I want that, I pick up a new Andrews book and sometimes one of the older, classic ones.