Welcome back to BOOK AND A BEVERAGE!

In case you don’t know the deal about Book and a Beverage, it’s a very simple yet fun feature: We read books, we drink beverages, we take pictures of them and then I share your photos and a little about you to the blogging world!

Give a big welcome to Whitney from Brown Books & Green Tea!

Name & Blog Name: Whitney @ Brown Books & Green Tea
Tell us a little about your blog! BB&GT is a book blog that focuses on diverse literature. I focus on multicultural lit, but I read a little bit of everything.
What’s been your favorite post you’ve written so far? (Link us up!): I know I’m supposed to pick one, but I’m going with my review of When Breath Becomes Air and The Lowland.
Got anything special coming up we should know about? This Mother’s Day, I’m letting my mother take over my blog, so she can give us her favorite reads! Hopefully it’ll help people looking for a gift for their own mothers! I also think it’ll be cool to see how our tastes in books differ.

Whatcha reading? I’m currently reading That Other Me, by Maha Gargash. It’s been on my list for a while, and I’m finally finally finallyyyyy finishing it!
Where did it come from? (Library, purchased, publisher, etc): Publisher
Any special reason you chose to feature this book? I don’t read all that much by Middle Eastern authors, despite the fact that I focus on diverse books. This is a great chance to learn something about the UAE and Egypt, which are two places in which the book takes place.
What’s important that we should know about this book? Would you recommend it? As of right now, I’d definitely recommend it. I’ve studied the Middle East and Maghreb countries a lot in school, but too little of that has been fiction written by the diaspora—too much has been by people from the outside.

Whatcha drinking? Bubble tea!
What’s your favorite thing to drink while reading? My favorite thing to drink is a good hot tea, preferably ginger with the slightest bit of cayenne pepper and honey. It’ll take some getting used to, but I promise you that it’ll keep you awake!
Favorite beverage of all time. Go! Ginger beer! It’s great in mixed drinks, if you like something to get your night started. It’s also just as good without alcohol, and has a stronger kick to it than regular ginger ale.

What are your top three books you would recommend to other people? I’m a big feminist/womanist reader, so my top recommendation is always Sister Outside, by Audre Lorde. I’ll tack on The Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (anything by her, really), which I recently re-read. If you want something completely different from, there’s Murder Over a Girl by Ken Corbett. I reviewed it on my blog last month, and loved it.
What’s your proudest blogging/reading/writing moment? My proudest moment was hosting a mini challenge for the 24 Hour Read-a-thon last weekend! The challenge (in the 18^th hour) was called “Literary Wanderlust,” and had people talk about what they’d do if they had 36 hours in the setting of their most recent book. Think something like No Reservations or The Layover, where you come up with a cool travel itinerary.
Anything else you’d like to share? My blog is pretty active, but I’m trying to become more of an instagrammer—let me know on Twitter if you ladies and gents have any great bookstagram accounts that I should follow (including your own!).
Thanks so much for having me!

 Thanks so much, Whitney! Oh my gosh, I love your mini-challenge idea! That sounds like so much fun! I need to think on what I would do for that… 

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Whitney! Connect with her at the links below!
Blog // Twitter // Goodreads // Instagram

And don’t forget! You can participate in Book and a Beverage at any time! Got a book? Got a beverage? Just tweet or post your photo on Instagram using the hashtag #bookandabeverage!