Bookshelf: HIV

Ashamed to Die: Silence, Denial, and the AIDS Epidemic in the South
Andrew J. Skerritt writes that the United States has failed to adequately address the threat of HIV in communities of color, and that taboos about race, sex, and love -- along with Southern conservatism and a legacy of racism -- continue to create an unacceptable death toll. (Lawrence Hill Books, $24.95)

Delicate Courage: An Exquisite Journey of Love, Death, and Eternal Communication
Following the 1978 murders of San Francisco city officials Harvey Milk and George Moscone, author Jim Geary joined the Shanti Project, which he later helped develop into an internationally acclaimed model of AIDS services. In this book, he documents those early days in San Francisco, ground zero of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. (iUniverse, $32.95)

Ten Days With Minor
Tackling a triptych of issues -- immigration, AIDS, and love -- Nsedu Onyile's first novel relies on the author's experience as a Nigerian immigrant with AIDS to tell the tale of Minor, a dying man struggling to adjust to Western society, and Usukuma, a free spirit whose West African traditions help Minor cope. (AuthorHouse, $8.69)

Songs for the New Depression
Drawing on his experience of losing a partner to AIDS, Kergan Edwards-Stout has crafted a work of fiction that follows middle-aged Gabe, a man who must finally tackle his demons with a little help from his mother's new wife. (Circumspect Press, $15.99)

The River: A Journey to the Source of HIV and AIDS
Of all the books on HIV and AIDS today, few look at the origin of the virus, but Edward Hooper, a former United Nations official and BBC correspondent, searches for the source in this amazingly comprehensive history of the disease that is for serious readers only. (Little, Brown, $9.99 Kindle edition)