Dear Diary… You’ve written that many times in your life. Little hurts, schoolgirl crushes, firsts, lasts, and thoughts. It’s all written in your journal so you’d see where you came from and where you’re going.

You hated your tin grin, but that wasn’t as demoralizing as acne, which was nothing compared to hormones, which wasn’t as annoying as untamable hair, which was minimal compared to your teenage self-esteem—which hovered around 5 on a 1-to-50 scale. ...

Your second home is a grand one. It’s much bigger than the house you live in during the week. No, your second home has huge windows to let in the light, fine linens, and it’s usually filled with music.

When it comes to chores around the house, you have lots of responsibility.

For as long as you can remember, there’s always been someone in your corner.

The rumblings you hear from around the office are disturbing. Something’s happening: layoffs, downsizing, something worse, you’re not sure which. You’re afraid it’ll crumble your career. It might tear your income in half.

Your best friend has been all a-flutter about something lately. You haven’t seen much of her, in fact. She’s been sticking close to her nest but that’s okay. Next time you get together, it’ll be just like you were never ...

Politics have arguably been a part of the music of the African Diaspora every since the first slave ship off loaded its cargo in the New World. The Africans fashioned musical idioms as a salve for their wretched existence in ...

You figured you had a lock on things. Sell or steal a little something. Hold for somebody, “borrow” a car, gain respect. Make a little money, and it’d be all good, right? Now that lock you h

No matter where you are, you can remember that sound. You can just about hear it now: that “thwock” that comes when baseball meets bat. That hollow noise, that breathless second before the knowledge that you’ve hit it square; it’s ...

You needed a leader. So why can’t it be you? In the new book, “The Rejected Stone” by the Rev. Al Sharpton, you’ll see how it could happen.

You can’t fix everything. That’s a hard lesson to learn, no matter who you are. You can’t swoop in and make things right, when they’re not yours to correct. You can’t throw money at something to make it go away; ...

Hiring on the basis of race or gender is supposedly illegal … but it happens. And in the new book “For Discrimination” (c.2013, Pantheon $25.95 / $28.95, Canada 295 pages) by Randall Kennedy, we read why the author believes that ...

Would you be surprised to learn that in the beginning, Hollywood, despite the innocence of the time, could be very indecent? In the new book “Room 1219” by Greg Merritt, you’ll see how.