Monday, November 29, 2010

I need some serene mood swings!

Number 37
I cannot believe I have posted 37 listings of books by African Americans and I still have not scratch the huge amount of books available, but hey, I'm enjoying the hell out it.  It keeps me sane. 
Well today is Monday and once again I had to go back to work after being off four days.  Don’t you think its hard to get back on track?  I do.  I had more work than last week and not enough time to do it.  Oh, well, will keep on going.  As my grandmother (Remember I called her “Muh”) use to tell me, “You can only do one thing at a time, Linda,  stop trying to get everything done!”  “You will fall down and you ain’t got much of a but” “Shaped like your grandfather and he was damn near white!!”  
I miss that woman every single day of my life.  When my daughter left for school, I cried again and cried for my grandmother.  I feel so lonely when my kid is away at school and I know she is suppose to grow up and go away, but what the hell do I do with the rest of my life?  I’m still trying to figure that out.  What the hell do I do?  Yes, many people tell me to, “enjoy your life!  “You got time and money (I don’t know who the hell they are talking to,  me having money.  Somebody had to pay for that damn tuition and it was me!).  I may have time, but very, very, very, little money.  It still does not solve the desolate sense of loss. It doesn’t.  
How about some really cheap books, like two dollars of less so that I can perk my but up:
GEORGE L. COOK III - NAPPY - $.99 - Click Here - Nappy

KATHY J. MARSH - FOR THE LOVE OF CHELSEA - $.99

JAMES HENDERSON - BABY HUEY: A CAUTIONARY TALE OF ADDICTION - $.99

JACKIE CHRISTIAN - N.Y. BODYGUARD - $1.00 (Hey, I just like looking at the guy on the cover - Damn!!)  - 










ROBYN GANT - IN LAWS AND PLAY COUSINS - $.99

CHERIL N. CLARKE - ECSTASY: AN EROTIC VIGNETTE FEATURING KENYA FROM INTIMATE CHAOS - $.99

TAYLOR SILUWE - A TASTE FOR CHERRIES - $.99 - - - Gay romance, if you want to think that!
Click Here - A Taste for Cherries

SHARON OLIVER - ENVY - $.99 - - - Young widower, Deron Bailey, meets a woman named, Treesa Wentworth and thinks she is the woman of his dreams. That is until he learns she is more like a psychotic nightmare rather than a dream come true. But will he realize in time that what he seeks has been there all the time or will it be too late as Treesa makes one last treacherous move?
Click Here - Envy

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Who Cares! Thanksgiving is over and I'm done.


Number 36
OK, Thanksgiving is over!!! My daughter and I made our way to two houses for dinner.  The first one was with a friend of mine husband’s family.  They are a nice group of people with family members expecting a new baby and a couple of weddings.  I hear the usual complaints about, “Damn, that turkey was dry as hell,” (but their asses did not cook anything).  “Man, did you see how big she/he has gotten? (Like they have a model’s body, hell, they should look at their own buts).  Uncle, Sister, Daddy, Cousin, etc., etc, got too damn drunk for me.  Who the hell cares what you think!! Your ass did not cook a got damn thing, just showed up and ate and drank ever thing.  
I refuse to complain.  I was invited to someone’s house to eat dinner and have a nice time. I did not have to cook or bring a dish.  I was more than thankful that I had a place to go and since money is so tight, lunch for a few days.  Do these people realize what it is like to come home to no one?  Do they think because I’m single with no kids at home, just a dog, that my life is Heaven!!  Why the hell crap don’t they just sit their tired, no money, no life, don’t read a damn book, wear tight ass jeans that are too tight for them, drink too much, smoke too much, have one night stands and complain that they cannot find a man/women, go to work and do shit but complain, can’t type, can’t write complete sentences with a noun and verb, don’t vote, but complain about the economy and definitely don’t, again, read a book.
I’m pissed and tired.  I have my bad days too, but it could be worse and I could be unhealthy, without a job and more broke than yesterday.  Damn, holidays can piss you off!!  
Let’s get to some books.  Cheap books!
On one of my library volunteering days, I found a damn good book:
WALLACE FORD - THE PRIDE - $5.59.  I also found out that this book comes out on paperback and Kindle on February 1, 2011.  It must be a reprint.  Whatever the deal, it’s damn good.  It begins with a black guy name Sture Jorgenson from Norway, yes I said Norway.  Didn’t think black folks were living that far out in the cold, cold.  We get to know him and his friends who are part of “The Pride.”  A group of rich and very wealthy African Americans with all the of the money in the world, but major problems too. When you read it, you will need a dictionary a few times, but Mr. Ford knows how to tell the tale that will make you want to read more about - - Paul, Deirdre (Paul’s ex-wife), Jerome (too good to be a true good black man), and we have to have a real jackass, Gordon.  That boy had me laughing and wanting to kick his ass myself.  Let me give you a few quotes from the book that I liked.  "Bonita Woolsey was one of those people that you could stand being around for about . . .  ten nanoseconds.  After that she seemed to be the manifestation of all annoyances.  There was her braying laugh, her phony veneer barely covering the nudity of her hypocrisy and her unbridled ambition.  And probably worse of all was her clear disdain for everyone and everything she surveyed.  She was possessed of the unshakable belief that Bonita Woolsey was the undeniable center of the only universe that counted-hers."  
Another quote.  Paul goes on a job interview with then Mayor of New York, Ed Koch, and the first question from Koch is, "Do you have any white friends?"  Now, what the hell would you do if asked that question?  
Click Here - The Pride
Another venue that I use to find out about new books is 3 Chicks on Lit, which you can listen to on blogtalkradio.   They discuss and interview African American authors weekly.  Log into and listen, you will enjoy it.
PAT TUCKER - DADDY BY DEFAULT - $9.99 - - - Quote from Amazon.  A court-system mistake forces a man to pay child support for a child that's not his.  Parker and Roxanne Redman are heading home in sadness after Roxanne's suffered another miscarriage when Parker's pulled over for speeding and arrested for ,000 in delinquent child support for a child that's not his, by a woman he doesn't even know. Meanwhile, Parker's best friend James, who's divorcing his wife, Serena, has just agreed to pay child support for six-year-old Semaj, ill with sickle cell anemia, although James later learns through a blood test that Semaj is not his biological daughter. Tucker's dissection of family law and corruption in the welfare system is both fascinating and horrifying. The men and the women involved, including Parker's distraught wife, Roxy; working-the-system welfare mom Lachez Baker; and out-of-control Serena come vividly to life, along with the innocent children caught in the crossfire of paternity fraud.
Click Here - Daddy by Default

BARBARA GROVNER - WE BELONG TOGETHER - $4.00 - - - It’s hard to imagine the death of a close family member. Especially when it is someone you admire and look up to, and most especially when it is your very own sister.  It’s also hard to imagine why anyone would want your sweet and loving sister dead.
Click Here - We Belong Together

KHYRRA - FIRST MONDAY IN AUGUST - $1.99
Click Here - First Monday In August

T.R. BRAXTON - DIRTY HANDS - $2.85
Click Here - Dirty Hands

WENDY WILLIAMS - RITZ HARPER GOES TO HOLLYWOOD!  RITZ HARPER CHRONICLES)  - $11.99
Click Here - Ritz Harper Goes to Hollywood! (Ritz Harper Chronicles)



Click Here - Drama Is Her Middle Name: The Ritz Harper Chronicles Vol. 1


WENDY WILLIAMS -  IS THE BITCH DEAD, OR WHAT?: THE RITZ HARPER CHRONICLES BOOK 2 
Click Here - Is the Bitch Dead, Or What?: The Ritz Harper Chronicles Book 2
NATASHA WILLIAMS - GIRLFRIEND LIES - $2.99
Click Here - Girlfriend Lies

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Some stories are too familiar, but we still love them.

Get you a good book and sit outside and read!
You will find your joy!



Number 35
Hey, it's getting close to Christmas.  As a matter of fact, it’s 38 days before Christmas.  But I’m sure you are either ready, getting ready, or too damn broke to care.  I’m a little bit lucky.  I do not decorate my house or buy presents.  My kid is in college and will be working in DC during the holidays while staying with her dad, thank GOD, my money is too damn tight.  My daughter doesn’t want anything for Christmas, she is just glad her Dad and I are paying for her college, she did get come scholarship money, but of course it wasn’t enough, crap, I’m always broke before the end of the month.  Oh, well, at least I got food and a job.
I added to my blog the other day, a video of the Capital BookFest.  I do not think you can view or listen to it on the old version of the Kindle, but maybe the new one.  Go to my blog on the net and check it out.  Yes, I’m in it and looking good.  http://africanamericanbooksonthekindle.blogspot.com/
Let’s get to some books:
ERNESSA T. CARTER
32 CANDLES: A NOVEL - $9.99 - - -  One of my book clubs, I’m in so many, The Literary Divas of the Low Country, read this book and we enjoyed it very, very much.  Here’s a write up from Amazon on it.  I think you will like it.  This debut novel of longing for family, love, and acceptance finds some interesting territory before settling too early into inevitability. Davidia Jones, a nerdy child of poverty, is abused by her alcoholic mother and despicable father and is the subject of merciless taunting at her high school. But it's the "Molly Ringwald Ending" that guides this fragile 15-year-old when she bolts town with a lesbian trucker named Mama Jane and lands a gig as a '40s-style chanteuse in L.A. With a little Hollywood stardust, she redefines herself and begins living the life she's dreamed of--until James, the rich golden boy she had a crush on back home, walks into her nightclub. Not knowing their connected past, James promptly goes gaga for the overhauled Davie, whose need for sweet revenge adds a welcome dark edge to an otherwise predictable trajectory toward self-empowerment. 
Click Here - 32 Candles: A Novel
A book that was recommended by Ernessa T.Carter:
NNEDI OKORAFOR
WHO FEARS DEATH - $11.99 - - - If you are a sci-fi fan, and I have not read it yet, please tell me what you think.  Quote from Amazon.  Okorafor sets this emotionally fraught tale in post apocalyptic Saharan Africa. The young sorceress Onyesonwu—whose name means Who fears death?—was born Ewu, bearing a mixture of her mother's features and those of the man who raped her mother and left her for dead in the desert. As Onyesonwu grows into her powers, it becomes clear that her fate is mingled with the fate of her people, the oppressed Okeke, and that to achieve her destiny, she must die. Okorafor examines a host of evils in her chillingly realistic tale—gender and racial inequality share top billing, along with female genital mutilation and complacency in the face of destructive tradition—and winds these disparate concepts together into a fantastical, magical blend of grand storytelling.
Click Here - Who Fears Death
LYN DAVIS 
For Colored Girls Who Struggle & Pale Girls Who Juggle audio book on CD Kindle Edition - $2.99 - - - It’s a collection of poems of sensual and politically incorrect poems set to the jazz.  
ANITA D. DIGGS
DENZEL’S LIPS - $4.47 - - - I am a member of Audio books.  I download books, podcast and music to my iPod.  I am currently listening to this book as well as brought the kindle version.  So far, I just started, and it’s getting good!!! - - - Quote from Amazon.  Welcome to Hercsville, Long Island, where everyone is young, rich, and beautiful,   Where four women are in search of love, sex, and sanity.  Asha Mitchell Seabrook is hot, young, and married to the very wealthy Nick Seabrook. But as rich as her man is, he just can't seem to satisfy her insatiable appetite for money or sex.  (What else is new.  We all got problems!!!).  Dr. Penelope Brewster is a successful clinical psychologist, who is trying to keep the children of Hercsville's power elite in good mental health and out of trouble. But Dr. Penny has her own demons.  Glamorous, famous, and deeply troubled, Nancy St. Bart might be a successful soap opera actress, but she's also nursing some dangerous obsessions. And Denzel is just one of them.  Shareeka Ellison is as beautiful as the home she perfectly keeps. But her millionaire husband has turned into a man she doesn't know anymore and one who might just destroy everything she's worked so hard for.  As these four ladies struggle with the pressures of being sexy, black, and successful, they're about to discover what living the high life is really all about .  I know I have read this before or either saw some show on TV!  It's too familiar.   Ahhh!
Click Here - Denzel's Lips
WENDY RAVEN McNAIR  - ASLEEP - The price is now $2.99.  I gave you a heads up of this one and now the second one is out, ASLEEP [SECOND HALF] (ASLEEP TRILOGY) 2.99 - - - ASLEEP is a superhero teen love story set in modern day Atlanta that's filled with humor, mystery, romance, and suspense.

I'll be back!!!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Capital BookFest in Charleston





Number 34
There is only one way to describe the Capital BookFest on November 6 at the Charleston County Library, “Phenomenal.” I have worked as a volunteer at the Charleston County Library for over two years and a board member of the Friends of the Charleston County Library, and I have never seen a library filled with so many people.  I was especially proud to see many African American families.  Unfortunately, there were lots of single women with their kids and not enough fathers and mothers together with their kids, but that is another story.  I just get pissed when I do not see enough black men taking an interest in reading for or with their kids.  Don’t get me the hell started, I can go on forever.
The Kids corner was filled to the edge with black children, which I just love to see.  So many young black children interested in books.  It was so good to see that many kids perusing books.  I and the children got a chance to sit and listen to Marjory Wentworth, writer of “Shackles,” Ms. Dinah Johnson, who is a beautiful black women inside and out, “Hair Dance.”  Cassandra Hill, “It’s Your Birthday,” who also did face painting for the children. My favorite character from Sesame Street, Gordon, Mr. Roscoe Orman, and many, many more.  
There were two young children, about 10 or 12 on the library’s computer and logged into Facebook and I overheard their conversation.  It still bothers me a little that so many kids younger than 18 know more about sex, drugs and rock and roll then I.  I did not learn many of what they were saying until I was close to 25 years old and married and I still don’t know half as much as they know.  I’m not sure if that is a good thing that kids know more and can tell more if something is wrong, but, what about their childhood?  Are any of them enjoying it?  Oh, well!! I cannot save the whole world, but I will try through books.
A free book was given out to the first 1,000 call “Indigo Blume and the Garden City” written by Kwame Alexander, the founder and producer of the Capital BookFest and illustrated by JahSun, a handsome young man who I met before at "That Big Book Sale" in October in Charleston.  (Girl, I volunteer every where.  I get a chance to meet authors, see a play and eat good food, which is important to me since I don’t have to pay and my ass is broke.  I’m as cheap as as Ding Dong!) It is a beautifully illustrated book with so many colors that gives a soothing read from page to page and if you do not feel like reading it out loud, it comes with a CD.  You need to buy it or get your friends to buy it and read it to your child.  He or she will really enjoy it and so will you.  It will also get you into the “Green” mode.  Go get it, it’s worth the money and time.  To get the book contact artistjahsun@yahoo.com and pay through paypal of $22.85.
Here are a few of the authors and their books as well as some other books from people who commented on my blog.  Thank You A Billion times for your comments.  In need them to make me a better writer and promoter of books. 
TANANARIVE DUE
BLOOD COLONY: A NOVEL - $11.99 - I am a big fan of Ms. Due’s books.  This is the continuing story of Fana and the other characters from Ms. Due’s other books, Living Blood - The Living Blood and My Soul to Keep My Soul to Keep.  The character Fana uses her blood to cure illnesses around the world, but of course some one, you know who as in all movies or books, the damn military establishment, thinks it’s illegal.  Aren’t they always trying to solve some crap and blow any and everything they can up?  Men and their toys.  Well, anyway, Fana and others set up a underground railroad to fight back and save people from AIDS.  
Click HereBlood Colony

AlTONYA WASHINGTON 
THROUGH IT ALL - $1.00
Click HereTHROUGH IT ALL
LAYERS - $3.75 - - - Kamari Grade was a well-known troubleshooter for the most discerning clients. But when called to investigate one of the most powerful men in financing, she's thrown into the world of Huron Base. Financiers are usually polished in word and deed, but there was a sexy arrogance to Huron that blared former thug and it wasn't an image he wanted to forget. When the lovely troubleshooter crossed his path she was everything he loved about his life-challenge, drive, determination, strength, success, beauty...For a man who could acquire anything, the allure of such a conquest was irresistible.  Don't you just love romance?
Click Here - Layers


CLARENCE NERO 
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING AIN’T BAD - $9.99 - - - Johnny and James survived the tough streets of New Orleans, but when Hurricane Katrina lays waste to their beloved Ninth Ward, they are forced to begin a new chapter in Washington DC. For Johnny, this means finally pursuing his dream of a becoming a student at the historic Wheatley College. James soon joins Johnny in the Nation’s Capitol but the strong connection that brought them together in prison is strained by the pressures of their new lives. Then Johnny’s brother Carl and his wife, Tiffany, introduce Johnny to the beautiful, sexy, and smart, Sheila Doggett with the intent of steering Johnny in a different direction. The entire family rallies around Johnny and Shelia’s budding friendship and Johnny prepares to join the frat that is a legacy in his family.  
Click Here - Too Much of a Good Thing Ain't Bad
JIMI IZRAEL

THE DENZEL PRINCIPLE: WHY BLACK WOMAN CAN’T FIND A GOOD BLACK MAN - $10.99 - - - Yes I read it, but I’m here to tell you that you will get pissed.  
Oh, well, such is life!!!  Yeah, Right!!!
Click HereThe Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can't Find Good Black Men

Hey, I found another black woman mystery writer - BARBARA FLEMINGA woman after my own heart since she lived Washington, DC, my birthplace.  Here’s a little on her.  Note, none of her books are in Kindle format, but still good. 
Like many African-American writers, Barbara Fleming is a product of the Deep South. She grew up in Alabama where she attended elementary and high school before graduating from college with a degree in psychology. Barbara also studied psychology at the graduate level with a concentration in the intellectual development of children. Barbara lived in the District of Columbia for ten years during which time she conceived the plot and the fictional hero of her three mystery novels: 


HOT STONES -  COLD DEATH - Hot Stones: Cold Death (A Matthew Alexander Mystery) 


MURDER ON THE GOLD COAST - Murder on the Gold Coast and 


MURDER AT THE CAROUSEL CLUB - Murder on the Gold Coast (A Matthew Alexander Mystery).


She set her mystery novels with her fictional hero, Detective Lieutenant Matthew Alexander, in the District of Columbia because she retains fond memories of the multi-racial, multi-cultural urban environment she experienced while living there. MURDER AT THE CAROUSEL CLUB is the third installment in the Matthew Alexander mystery series, but Barbara eagerly anticipates publishing many more stories involving her brash young hero, Detective Lieutenant Matthew Alexander of the District of Columbia Police Homicide Division. 

BETTYE GRIFFIN
A NEW KIND OF BLISS - $ 8.96 
Click HereA New Kind of Bliss
THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR - $4.47
Click HereThe People Next Door
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK - $8.96
Click HereIf These Walls Could Talk
TROUBLE DOWN THE ROAD - $8.96 - -  Quote from AmazonThe oh-so-complicated passions and power plays in a Jacksonville, Fla., suburb emerge in Griffin's sticky melodrama (after The People Next Door) about just how low some women might go to snag a rich man, even if he belongs to someone else. Middle-aged Suzanne Betancourt is married to her former boss, radiologist Bradley Betancourt, and, in a frustrating twist of fate, lives next door to Bradley's ex-wife, Lisa, and her second husband and children. If that's not bad enough, she suspects that Micheline Trent, the young wife of Bradley's golfing buddy, wants her man. Micheline's got crazy baggage of her own, as do the neighbors down the street, whose son gets quickie married to Suzanne's pregnant sister. Readers may have trouble keeping up with the large cast and all the twists that Griffin packs into this tart and torrid tempest, but those who crave their drama fast and furious will surely enjoy.  
Click HereTrouble Down The Road
Check our her blog at http://www.bettyegriffin.com


Ms. Griffin:  Thank you for your comments on my blog, I really, really appreciate it and will/have purchased some of your books. 
Thanks again and please, please let me know your comments.  

Monday, November 1, 2010

Capital BookFest - Part II





Number 33
Can you believe it’s November 1st already?  Time has truly gone fast and it get’s faster each year or am I just old, yeah, right!!!  
I’m not old, just gorgeous.  What can I tell you, I get up every morning and say, “Good morning GOD, Good morning LORD, Good morning Muh (My grandmother), Good morning Marie (my beautiful Mother-in-Law), and Good morning Aunt Precious (my great aunt).  These women created me.  They took me to places, not physically, but mentally and spiritually to get up when I fall, be thankful for what I do have and do not, repeat, do not stop fighting for what is right.  
It is a struggle, but I’m not going down without a damn good fight.  I got dreams, Big dreams, but the most influential DreamBuster in your life is you.  "The words you say in life are the words you say to yourself. You talk to yourself all the time and it's not always good.  If you talked to your friends the way you talk to yourself, you wouldn't have any friends because you tell yourself things like 'I should', 'I must', 'I have to', 'I've got to', 'why didn't I', 'I'm no good', 'I can't do it', 'I won't' and 'it will never happen'. 
And you talk yourself out of God's vision, God's dream, God's destiny for your life time after time after time.  The truth is you can't be trusted to tell yourself the truth. You can't trust what other people say either. The only voice you can trust all the time in any situation is the voice of God."   A quote from Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.
Now, I promise to tell you of more books from the Capital BookFest in Largo, Maryland.  Also, let me apologize.  I realized over the last two blogs that I have made some grammatical errors and that is not right.  I cannot expect you to read and pay for my blog when I don’t get the ding dong words right.  Please accept my apology and I won’t do it again.  I will take my time and provide you with the best that you as the customer deserves.  Thanks for your support.  Now on to the books and   stop jabbering VaLinda.

Katie McCabe 
Justice Older than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree (Margaret Walker Alexander Series in African American Studies) - $9.99 - - - Quote from Amazon, “We meet the pioneering lawyer and minister who was among the first black female World War II military officers. We learn how she prevailed in a desegregation case that ended "separate but equal" interstate bus travel and won acquittal for a slow-witted black man accused of murdering a mistress of John F. Kennedy.”  
Click Here - Justice Older Than the Law: the Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree




Pat G’Orge-Walker
Don't Blame the Devil - $7.99 
Click Here - Search Amazon.com Kindle Store for Don't Blame the Devil


Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Wench - $9.99 - - - Quote from Amazon, “Chronicling the lives of four slave women—Lizzie, Reenie, Sweet and Mawu—who are their masters' mistresses. The women meet when their owners vacation at the same summer resort in Ohio. There, they see free blacks for the first time and hear rumors of abolition, sparking their own desires to be free. For everyone but Lizzie, that is, who believes she is really in love with her master, and he with her. An extended flashback in the middle of the novel delves into Lizzie's life and vividly explores the complicated psychological dynamic between master and slave. Jumping back to the final summer in Ohio, the women all have a decision to make—will they run?
Click Here - Wench: A NovelSearch Amazon.com Kindle Store for Dolen Perkins-Valdez


Noni Carter
Good Fortune - $9.99
A Hot Mess: Sins, Secrets and Scandals - $9.99
Click Here - Search Amazon.com Kindle Store for James Guitard

James Jimason
For Adults Only: Keys to Unlocking Your Destiny - $9.95
Click Here - Search Amazon.com Kindle Store for James Jimason

Tracye Lynn McQuirter MPH 
By Any Greens Necessary: A Revolutionary Guide for Black Women Who Want to Eat Great, Get Healthy, Lose Weight, and Look Phat - $9.66
Click Here - Search Amazon.com Kindle Store for Tracye Lynn McQuirter MPH 


Kevin Wayne Johnson
Give God the Glory! Study Guide - $9.99
Click Here - Search Amazon.com Kindle Store for Kevin Wayne Johnson




Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond 
Powder Necklace: A Novel - $9.99
Click Here - Search Amazon.com Kindle Store for Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond 

Jam Donaldson 
Conversate is Not a Word: Getting Away from Ghetto - $9.56
Click Here - Search Amazon.com Kindle Store for Jam Donaldson 

Harrine Freeman 
How to Get Out of Debt: Get an a Credit Rating for Free Using the System I've Used Successfully With Thousands of Clients - $17.05 Paperback (Not in Kindle format)
Click Here - How to Get Out of Debt: Get an a Credit Rating for Free Using the System I've Used Successfully With Thousands of Clients
Deborah Owens 
A Purse of Your Own: An Easy Guide to Financial Security - $9.99
Click Here - Search Amazon.com Kindle Store for Deborah Owens