Urban, Romance and a little bit of Church, Amen!!!

NUMBER 78

I’m heading to Atlanta this weekend for the National Book Club Conference.  To me, it’s another exciting book fair like my experience in Houston, Texas.  A few friends from the book club I’m a member of, The Literary Divas of the Low Country, who I also brought Moses Miller’s book and got it autographed for them while in Houston, will be joining me.  I guess they figure, they better go to this one since it’s close.  It’s going to be fun hanging out with them.  They are some serious, seriously reading DIVAS’s.

Some of the authors I met there will also be in the ATL selling their books.  This time, I think the buyers will be there.  Not going to go into it now, but will post my usual about it when I return.  If you want to stop by or just browse, just out their website - 

http://www.nationalbookclubconference.com

Trying to wrap up a few more authors I met and brought their books at Houston, so I won’t go into too many, just want to give you a taste:

DeMONICA D. GLADNEY - IDENTITY THEFT: DISCOVERING THE REAL YOU - $9.99 - - - Is an inspiring and real life, first-hand account of her personal encounter with identity theft. Many years ago, an impostor secretly stole her natural identity by snatching her good name, money and credit. Simultaneously, the enemy began to subtly steal her spiritual identity by attacking her God-given purpose and destiny. Through both challenging and life-altering experiences, which occurred years after her near fatal car accident, Ms. Gladney gained a powerful revelation and insight about the keys to reclaiming one’s real identity. In a unique, thought provoking approach in Identity Theft, she merges natural and spiritual identity theft together from a biblical perspective to give you a step-by-step road map to recover your stolen identity.  We could all use some help.  Read her book and please post a comment for or against buying it.  You never know who will read your review.

Identity Theft: Discovering The Real You

E. N. JOY - SHE WHO FINDS A HUSBAND - $11.24 - Paperback - - - What was the pastor of New Day Temple of Faith thinking when approving the creation of the New Day Singles Ministry? Better yet, what were its members thinking when they joined?  Doreen, lovingly known as the Church Mother of New Day, thought that when she presented the idea of the ministry to the pastor, it could serve as a foundation to empower, encourage, and enlighten the church's single members. But when only women join and Doreen learns that all these women want only one thing out of the ministry--help in finding a man--her mission goes astray.  “She Who Finds a Husband” is what you get when you combine some Divine, some Independent, some Virtuous, some Animated, and some Stoic personalities all in one setting--DIVAS! Dig into this soap opera in print as the women of New Day Temple of Faith Singles Ministry set flight to include men in their future, not realizing that the past is what's keeping them bound.

She Who Finds A Husband (New Day Divas)

E. N. JOY - BEEN THERE PRAYED THAT - $10.17 Paperback - - - Mother Doreen has left New Day Temple of Faith in Malvonia, Ohio and moved to Kentucky to help her diabetic sister. Her sister's husband, a truck driver, pretty much lives on the road. Mother Doreen feels in her spirit that she's needed to intervene on her sister's behalf, especially when the assistant pastor of her sister's church seems to be there just a little bit too much. Her suspicions really grow when her sister's belly does too. Is it Mother Doreen's spirit of discernment warning her that things in her sister's home and church aren't what they seem, or is Mother Doreen just a busybody church mother sticking her nose where it doesn't belong?  Back in Malvonia, Tamarra and Maeyl's relationship is moving along nicely. She even has a feeling that the man she knows God placed in her life is going to propose to her. But suspicions arise when someone from Maeyl's past shows up at New Day Temple of Faith, unexpected and unwelcome. Will their relationship be able to withstand the strain?

Been There Prayed That (New Day Divas)

E. N. JOY - LOVE, HONOR, OR STRAY - $7.99 - - - Now that Deborah has finally let go of the past that haunted her for so many years, is she ready to grab hold of love? The handsome Lynox Chase certainly hopes so, as he tries everything to win Deborah's heart. Even though she believes in her heart that Lynox is the husband God has for her, there still seems to be a barrier separating the two.  

The ringing of the wedding bells between Paige and Blake can still be heard echoing, but will the roar of temptation rear its ugly head when Paige begins to find comfort in the least-expected old friend?

Just when Tamarra manages to put out one fire, yet another one sparks. When a relative of the person who committed an unspeakable act against Tamarra tries to strike up a relationship with her, what really strikes up is the largest blaze imaginable. Tamarra doesn't even have faith that God can get this one under control. 

Love, Honor, or Stray (New Day Divas)

E.J. JOY - TRYING TO STAY SAVED - $10.95 Paperback - - -

Trying to Stay Saved (New Day Divas)

ASHLEY and JAQUAVIS - DIRTY MONEY - - $2.90 Used Paperback - - - This is an urban tale of sex, money, murder, and mayhem and shows the pros and cons of the game, but don’t get fool that it’s just another “urban” book, the writing will speak for itself.  

Anari is the epitome of a good girl turned bad after world is brutally destroyed. Consumed with her desire for revenge, she, along with her best friend Monica, enter a life of drugs, fast money, and betrayal only to adapt the lifestyle that pushed them in the game in the first place. Hiding their true identities, the pair quickly rises to the top of New Jersey s dope game. Using everyone who crosses their paths, nothing, not betrayal or addiction will stop them from dispensing their street justice. Dirty Money is a page turner that will leave you in awe. Never underestimate the power of a woman.

Dirty Money

ASHLEY and JAQUAVIS - SUPREME CLIENTELE - $6.64 - - - "Every Hustler's reign ends in one of two ways…prison or death." Refusing to let the prediction become a reality, Julius "Jules" Carter creates new rules to an old game. Strategically, he forms one of the most notorious drug operations Harlem has ever seen. Jules thought the game was his biggest challenge that is until he meets Tish. Young and Ambitious she is determined to escape from Harlem's allure, but her love for Jules has her rooted. She gets tangled in his web of lies and deceit. When she finds out about his past demons and connects them with her own, she soon finds out that there's a thin line between love and hate. You can't turn a bad girl good, but once a good girl turns bad she's gone forever. Julius finds out the hard way that everything done in the dark eventually comes to light. 

Supreme Clientele

DWAYNE S. JOSEPH - HOME WRECKER - - - $6.99 Paperback - - - This is one of the many books I brought in Houston at the NBBF, but its on my wall of books to read.  So many books, so little time and so little money, but I love it any old way!!!

Here’s a review from Priscilla C. Johnson “bookmaniac,”  I feel that way myself about books.  Marlene knows that her husband, Steve, is having an affair with his secretary. After all, according to Marlene, Steve has sex like he invented it and no one can resist him or his manhood. Marlene wants a divorce but there are complications. Her co-worker, Lisette, comes up with a plan. A deal is made and Lisette makes twenty-five thousand dollars. Marlene gets her divorce with some added perks and Lisette embarks on a lucrative career. 

Lisette enjoys her job of helping women get rid of their husbands; until she meets Kyra. Kyra wants to get rid of her husband and out of the prenuptial agreement she signed. There is something about Kyra and the job she wants done that does not appeal to Lisette. When Lisette turns down the offer, Kyra makes threats that Lisette ignores until she is faced with losing all control. 

Home Wrecker is sexy and will keep you on the edge of your seat as you try to figure out the next move of Lisette and Kyra - two women who refuse to relinquish their control over any situation. Lisette is arrogant and manipulative and is used to having it all on her terms; and Kyra simply wants what everyone has and then some. Joseph has given readers a sexy mystery that will leave them craving for more.

Home Wrecker

Got to stick on one for Black History Year.  

BRENDA JACKSON - IRRESISTIBLE FORCES - It’s Free - - - I mean FREE. Like get it now. NOW!!! This woman can make a grown women cry with passion, lust, very sensual and with stories that are not just real, but possible. Granted many people do not like it because it’s predictable and yes, they have lots of sex, and a plot that’s a bit unreal. Bull crap never happens to me, at least not in real life, but I do have some dynamite, get down and dirty dreams after reading her books. 

Taylor is beautiful and black and she wants a baby, but without a husband.  One of her clients, she is an Asset Manager, is Dominic Saxon, a biracial millionaire (when I read this book I was thinking of David Bowie and Iman.  Maybe not).  Where are these rich biracial men living? 

Getting back to the book.  Taylor sets up a weekend trip for them to “consummate” the deal.  The deal?  No call backs, no baby mama drama, no money, no getting back in touch with each other, just, sex, sex and more sex in order for Taylor to get pregnant.  Well, Mrs. Jackson’s sex scenes will having you dreaming all night, so be careful what you wish for, you ain’t getting it!!!

After the deed and the deal sealed, Taylor and Dominic begin to feel “love” and eventually they realize it’s real and get married.  Don’t bother to try and understand and try to figure it out.  Don't go around saying that you don’t read that “fluffy” stuff, get the book, sit in your favorite chair with a glass of wine, wine cooler, coke, milk and cookies, what every and enjoy the read.  It will relax you. 

Irresistible Forces (Kimani Romance)

I re-read all of Mrs. Jackson' books.  Can't get enough of that good stuff (Yeah, I know it's old school, but what the hey!!! it's good reading!!!)

Murder and Romance!!! Houston!

NUMBER 77

Are you aware that my mind is still in “Houston.”  Yeah, yeah! I know, you will eventually get tired of me talking about it, but I'm going to do doing something about it.  I’m flying back in a few months to just hang out and be a tourist again.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I miss my home DC, but since my kid is off and running, and it’s just me and the dog, Tommy Pickles (Yeah, my daughter was going thru her Rugrat phase), I need to do something, anything, to move forward.  

You raise your kids and then, what!!! I hear everyone telling me, ‘girl, it’s your time to kick ass and go do what you want to do.”  But, I get a little lost because I know I want to work in a library or bookstore, but the economy is getting in the way.  I know the world of books is evolving and changing.  You hear more and more authors are publishing their books in e-format.  That’s a good thing and I will continue to promote it, but there are still so many people who are out there who do not know you, the author, nor your book in any format.  

I see myself standing on corners, restaurants, concerts, baby showers, man showers, my job (where ever that may be),  talking about and pushing your book in their face.  I got to do that.  I just got too!  It’s in my blood, my heart, my soul, my feet and the top of my head.  It got to get these people straight.  Your books are more than a phase.  It does not matter if it's hardback, paperback, e-format, j-format or any alphabetic format, they need your books.  They need to keep reading and buying your books.  They need you!!!!

Let me tell you about a serious, serious sister who writes “murder,” and she reminds me of Agatha Christie and John Grishman, only she’s black and beautiful and a literary heavyweight mystery writer.  

Mrs. PAMELA SAMUELS-YOUNG.  I met Mrs. Young in Houston and talked and talked my head off.  I was so in awe of her and her writing, I thought I was going to burst!!  I have always read and re-read her mysteries.  You think you know the killer, but you don’t know, just as Agatha Christie writes, Mrs. Young writes "murder most foul" and you don’t know a damn thing until it hits you and it hits you hard.  Here are her books and of course I got every single one.  I’m taking my copies to the National Book Conference in Atlanta to have her autographed them.  Man, I’m loving these book conferences!!!

MURDER ON THE DOWN LOW - $3.99 - - - A high-profile lawsuit erupts into chaos, revealing its place in a larger spree of violence in this scandalous tale of lust, lies, and vengeance. A brazen gunman is targeting prominent African American men on the streets of Los Angeles, and police are completely baffled. At the same time, savvy big-firm attorney Vernetta Henderson and her outrageous sidekick, Special, lead the charge for revenge against a man whose deceit caused his fiance's death. For Special, hauling the man into court and suing him for wrongful death just isn’t good enough. While she exacts her own brand of justice, a shocking revelation connects the contentious lawsuit and the puzzling murders.

Murder on the Down Low

BUYING TIME - $3.99 - - - Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he's about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly's new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there's a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker's fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who's bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly's clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson, who has some skeletons of his own to hide, are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder. 

Buying Time

IN FIRM PURSUIT - $8.49 - - - After winning a multimillion-dollar verdict in a race-discrimination case, Vernetta Henderson's career is on the rise. Weeks away from a coveted partnership, she takes on the defense of a major corporation in what appears to be an open-and-shut sexual harassment case. But Vernetta discovers the case isn't what it seems. After passing up a chance to settle, events place the entire case--and her future--in jeopardy.

It's bad enough working with a pretentious associate with her own agenda. Now Vernetta is up against the smooth-talking litigator she once beat at trial. Just when she needs her husband most, he finds himself in a compromising position that could destroy their marriage. As revelations about the case emerge, Vernetta uncovers a conspiracy of corporate greed, deceit and violence that will touch many lives. With her private and professional lives spiraling out of control, Vernetta is about to discover what really matters--and how far she'll go to protect the ones she loves.

In Firm Pursuit (Sepia)

EVERY REASONABLE DOUBT - $8.49 - - - Determined to become the first African-American partner at one of L.A.'s most prestigious law firms, attorney Vernetta

Coping with the pressures of defending a high-profile case proves challenging, and as the case starts to garner media attention, Vernetta has no choice but to spend more time in the office. Vernetta's new husband, Jefferson, unwittingly adds more stress. He's anxious to start a family, a venture she isn't ready to undertake. As Vernetta's professional life dangerously intrudes on her personal life, she soon comes to realize that providing her client with the best defense could come at a very high price.

Every Reasonable Doubt

JAMES W. LEWIS - A HARD MAN IS GOOD TO FIND - $3.99 - - - Another author I had the pleasure to meet, Mr. Lewis.  I tired to assist him in selling this book and his other, SELLOUT - $.99 cents, (I will talk about that later when I get my autographed book in the mail from the author) but no success.  As I told you, there were not enough buyers but more authors.  Hopefully, at the National Book Conference in Atlanta they will have more buyers than authors.  

I read this book in two days and I laughed so hard after reading the first ten pages and didn't stop laughing until the end.  I kept making comments on face book like, “Who gets their hair done at “El Cajon.”  Is that a Mexican drug cartel for black women’s hair?  Who created “dial-a-dick,” and when did “no soap, no deodorant, no toothpaste become harmful chemicals,!!! Boy, your but stinks.  These are some of the crazy stuff women go thru while “dating,” as I call then, “hard headed knuckleheads.”  I'm sure some men have run into the same type of women, sick, I say, just sick!!

Michelle, single, beautiful, and black is looking for Mr. Right, well who isn’t?  She meets some of the most craziest, ding dong men I have never run into and hope I don’t.  One don’t use “soap,” one is a true freak, which even scared the daylights out of me, and one just huff and puff, but no action, if you know what I mean.

Michelle goes thru these dating tribulations and finally meets an intelligent, good looking Black man who reads, Daryl Jackson.  And let me give you a quote from this good looking black man, “I love to read,” he said, grunting.  Especially black fiction, believe it or not.  I probably read more than I watch TV.  I try to read a new black author every month.”  

Where in the HELL is he???  Where in the hell is he!!  Must I continue with this dramatic arts class call “dating.”  Why Me!!! (Oh, that's me talking and I'm asking, where is he!!!.  I think I'm still asking!!)

After weeks of dating, dinner, traveling and everything else a woman likes, Daryl and her have not done “the thing that we do,” and she is tripping with demented and deranged ideas in her head as to what’s wrong with the guy.  She confronts Daryl and gets the Biggest and I mean the Biggest surprised of her life.  I mean big!!!!!

A Hard Man Is Good To Find

Got to stick on one for Black History Year.  

ROBERT GREER - THE DEVIL’S HATBAND: A NOVEL (CJ FLOYD MYSTERY SERIES) - $13.95 Paperback - - - If you like murder mysteries, because I surely love them, and you like CSI Miami, New York or what ever other city TV is going to create, meet CJ Floyd, a black Denver bail bondsman and bounty hunter.  He’s got a few adventures you will enjoy.  It’s not Walter Mosley, but it’s pretty close.

CJ Floyd, a black Denver bail bondsman and sometime bounty hunter. Hired by a couple of corporate troubleshooters, CJ searches for the missing daughter of a black federal judge, figuring that his clients are less interested in Brenda Mathison than in some documents they say she stole. Brenda is a leader of PlanetFirst, a gang of animal rights fanatics who've been tormenting some ranchers. The group's ranks also include two hard cases who share Brenda's bed at various times, and who have in their possession a new killer virus that could effectively wipe out the cattle population. By the time CJ arrives at Brenda's rural cabin, she's dead on the floor, wearing a barbed-wire necklace. CJ's subsequent investigation is as much a ritual of revenge as it is a battle for controlling rights to the virus. Greer packs in a few too many subplots (a slow romance with a woman at a diner; a feud with a Denver gangster), and he reiterates too often what we already know: that a black man like CJ knows justice isn't blind. But his narrative is taut and the characters?the tough CJ and others?are intriguing. Though Greer could easily have jettisoned a hundred pages and still retain a slick-functioning mystery, his first work, for all its excesses, leaves a reader hungry for more. 

The Devil's Hatband: A Novel (CJ Floyd Mystery Series)

More Authors from National Black Book Festiva

NUMBER 75 

Man, can you believe I’m on my 75th blog?  I did not think it would be this successful because I was not doing it for money, but doing what everyone and God has said, “Do what you love to do” - promote, push (like a drug dealer on his own crack!!), buy, encourage, exert force if necessary and by any means necessary, sell and give books by and about African Americans.    I’m living my dream and want to keep all of you updated on books and book fairs.  My passion.  My life. My love.  Books and more books.  OK, I’ll get off the horse now!

My 4th of July weekend with my cousin, her husband and their son and nephew was the best.  They came down from Bowie, Maryland to get some rest from the traffic, tight money, politics and unemployment.  Their son and nephew are still looking for a job and it’s been harder than they thought it would be for a black 25 year old man.  I told them that South Carolina is no better, but I thought Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland would fair better, I guess I was wrong.  Maybe my connections would help.  I got my daughter and one of her friends a job in the federal government, but she did get lots of encouragement (or whether, you can say, a big ass push and “do as your mother said” look with lots of support)  when I started her volunteering and working summers in DC.  It made the resume look pretty good, if I say so myself.  I told her friends and my cousin, who is looking for another job, hopefully back into the federal government, to never, never stop applying and I won’t stop nagging my contacts.  I hope it helps. 

I’ve talked too much, let’s get to some more authors from the NB BF:

MICHELLE MCKINNEY  HAMMOND - HOW TO GET PAST DISAPPOINTMENT - $9.02 - - - Yes, we have them every day and there are times some are worse than others, but please, please hang in there.  It will pass and there is a bright light at the end.  Women (and I think men as well), will find in this book that disappointments make it easy to miss blessings.  Opening you hearts to Jesus allows you to see overlooked truths.  God’s love helps you face hurts and forgive when necessary and releasing what you want and choosing God’s way opens a new path of hope.  I have a friend who for years had an affair with a married man.  I didn’t not judge because I figure it was her life and I may not have liked it, but I still love her and will continue to.  She finally gave him up after he told her, “Did I ever tell you I would leave my wife for you.”  Damn, that’s a big blow.  She cried and got depressed for a few months, but she survive.  I told her after he left, that she has been blocking her own blessings.  Sure enough, a few months later, she met a good man.  I’m sorry to say, because she was so eager to marry, he got cold feet and dumped her.  She went back to the married man.  I left her alone.  She is back to blocking her blessings.  All I can do is pray for her.  Sad, just damn sad.  When will we learn.  Don't block your own blessings.

How to Get Past Disappointment

MICHELLE MCKINNEY  HAMMOND - GET OVER IT AND ON WITH IT: HOW TO GET UP WHEN LIFE KNOCKS YOU DOWN - $9.99 - - - We all have dreams and expectations of life. But life is unpredictable. No matter what we do or how we live, we are certain to encounter trials and setbacks, frustrations and real suffering. The question is, how are we to respond when we are blindsided by troubles? What can we do when life knocks the wind out of us? If you’re like most people, when hardship hits you can think of countless situations you’d rather be in. Yet the secret of making it through is in learning how to make right choices and thrive in the middle of difficulty. 

Get Over It and On with It: How to Get Up When Life Knocks You Down (Hammond, Michelle Mckinney)

OK, I’ll stop preaching, but you know we all need to keep our heads to the sky.  I’m still on the Earth, Wind and Fire Trip.  Love me some Verdine White!!!

CARLEEN BRICE - ORANGE MINT AND HONEY: A NOVEL - $11.99 - - - Ms. Brice was another author I met and talked with at the NBBF.  She is a beautiful looking woman (I am not going to call anyone ugly.  All African Americans are beautiful, it’s just that some of them their’s heart's that’s screwed up) with long dreadlocks and just as tall as me, 6 feet.  The movie, SINS OF THE MOTHER, is based upon this book, staring Jill Scott.  It also won the NAACP Outstanding TV Movie award and Jill Scott won for Outstanding Actress.  Produced by Damon Lee, who produced Obsessed, with Beyonce Knowles and, my favorite really good looking Black man, Idris Elba.  Whoa!!! that man looks good!!, Undercover Brothers and many more.  

Orange Mint and Honey: A Novel

CARLEEN BRICE - CHILDREN OF THE WATERS: A NOVEL - $11.99 - - - This novel follows two lonely women as they discover they have a lot in common. Having survived a messy divorce and a move back to her hometown of Denver, Trish Taylor already has her hands full raising her teenage son when she reads a letter left by her deceased grandmother. In it, her grandmother reveals that Trish's mother died from a heroin overdose and Trish's baby sister, Billie, was given up for adoption because the father was black. Despite her grandparents' prejudice, Trish has no issues with race. She's white, her ex-husband is black, but Billie is unwilling to believe that her adoptive parents would have kept the secret that she was adopted and is biracial. Billie has other problems as well: an unplanned pregnancy has sent her jazz-musician boyfriend packing and she, like Trish, has lupus. 

Here’s another comment from Lisa Kenney of Denver, she was impressed with the writing and the biracial area, “Brice handles both sides of a silent conversation about race that for most of us remains a one-sided dialog. I feel like I often times am Trish, the white character who, despite having black friends and family she loves will still never be able to experience things from their perspective. Brice forces the sisters to work through the often unrecognized issues that in what some are calling a "post-racial" age, almost everyone continues to struggle with.”

Children of the Waters: A Novel

Got to stick on one for Black History Year.  

TANANARIVE DUE - JOPLIN’S GHOST - $10.99 - - - Tananarive Due was at the NBBF, and I was not able to see her talk.  I have been a fan of her writing for years.  My first book I brought, MY SOUL TO KEEP - $11.67 Paperback - My Soul to Take: A Novel, which is about an African/African American immortal who has been on earth for 500 years thru his many wives, children and experiences.  It has strong characters and plot, with a religious tone added.  I really think you will enjoy this as well as Joplin’s Ghost, which you know it’s about the jazz great.

The rumor of a ghost at the Scott Joplin House in St. Louis, Mo., inspired this contemplative supernatural novel, in which a young girl becomes haunted by the specter of the famous ragtime composer. Phoenix Smalls is just 10 when a falling piano nearly kills her; some weeks later, she sleepwalks to its bench and plays Joplin's "Weeping Willow," a song well beyond her abilities. With crisp, evocative prose, Due juxtaposes Joplin's unhappy life and musical fame in the late 19th century against the struggles of Phoenix, the biracial child of activist, creative parents, in the present day, as, at 24, she tries to make it as an R&B singer. Considering that Joplin's musical career was thwarted by racism, personal loss and illness (he suffered an agonizing death from syphilis), Due has rich material to stir up readers' empathy for the relationship between the ghost and his chosen channel. But the story is also a vehicle for Due's admirable illustration of the musician's dilemma: how to be true to a gift in the face of pressure to create what will sell. Authors face such dilemmas as well; fortunately, Due shows herself true to her own powerful gift. 

Joplin's Ghost

Oh!! Books! Oh!!! Books!!

NUMBER 74

Oh, isn’t it lovely and glorious!!! A beautiful Saturday morning!! Until about 12pm when it will get hot!! hot!!! and more hot!!!  I was cleaning up this morning, I got guest coming this 4th of July weekend.  My cousin, her husband and their son and nephew, so you know I got to at least make an effort to get any stink out of the house.  

One of my stinks, I unfortunately smoke.  Not pot (Even though there are days and I mean days where I could use a joint at work to deal with some crazy ass people!!), but I mean cigarettes.  Yes, yes, I know it’s bad for your health and I have tried to quit two or three times and will probably continue to try until I get it right.  I actually quit when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter and stayed off of it until she was a year and half.  Then my grandmother died and I died along with her and started back smoking.  

As I have told you many times before, my grandmother was my life, my heart, my soul, my love of books.  If I did not have my daughter, I would have died right there with her.  She was the one who walked me to the neighborhood library.  Would read bedtime stories and talk to me about some of the authors she has met like James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison.  I took that love from her and flew with it.  After a while, she let me walk by myself to the library and at the age of 8, I started volunteering there.  

I think they (the librarians) knew I was one hungry child.  Not just for food but books too.  I would go there after school and Saturdays and reshelve books.  For hours I would stay there and just read, touch and smell the books.  Smell the books!  I would just get any book and sit Indian style on the floor and read, smell and feel the books.  It was and still is my supreme bliss!!!! Let’s get to some more books from NBFF - National Black Book Festival, can’t let you miss out on great and cheap books.

Well, it’s now Wednesday and I’m just getting back to my blog.  My family left and I did not get a chance to update my blog.  Will update you later on my weekend, but since I’m behind, way behind in my blogging, I need to get to some books:

OSWALD J. SCOTT - THE PROMISE: A BLACK MAN’S GUIDE TO MONEY, POWER AND RESPECT - $11.05 in Paperback or website, www.getthepromise.com for $12.95 - - - I may not be a “black man” and I may not understand all that they go thru, but I will try to find ways to understand and help them.  One of those ways is to find books that speak to them not preach it.  The book tells the story of a young man seeking answers. Trey Johnson is a 25-year-old black man who upon being released from prison decides he doesn't want to return. Once home he finds that conditions have gotten worse and wonders how he can survive without getting back into the game he left. Determined not to return to prison, Trey begins to see he has few choices. His desire for wanting a different life leads him to a man who seems to have it all. He tells Trey that he too could have the three things every man wants Money, Power and Respect, if he knew the secrets.

The book explores the secret laws and principles, for achieving your dreams and desires. These laws are universal in nature and work as the law of gravity. Gravity is no respecter of color, weight, or religion; you can't see it or feel it but it will cause you to fall every time you jump up. By acquiring the knowledge of these secrets and using them in your life any man or woman can live the life they choose.  I’m not sure if this is another “Secret” book on finding yourself, but I’m willing to give it a try.  Nothing and I mean nothing beats a failure but a try.  Mr. Scott is also a attorney in Houston, Texas.

The Promise: A Black Man's Guide to Money, Power and Respect, Edited Version

ISAIAH WASHINGTON - A MAN FROM ANOTHER LAND: HOW FINDING MY ROOTS CHANGED MY LIFE - $11.99 - - - If you are a fan of Mr. Washington and want to learn more about him instead of reading stuff on the Internet, and I’ve seen as you have also, some crazy ass stuff and some big old lies, then I think you will enjoy reading a bit of history about him.  

A Man from Another Land: How Finding My Roots Changed My Life

MICHELLE MCKINNEY  HAMMOND - SASSY, SINGLE, AND SATISFIED: SECRETS TO LOVING THE LIFE YOU’RE LIVING - $8.11 - - - OK, you may not like living alone or you are getting completely fed up with crap in relationships and on top of that, it is getting freakiest and strange out there in “dating land,” give Ms. Hammond some of your time.  She has a variety of books to boosts your spirits up and keep you up.  This is just one of them, here are others.  They may be more on the speed you are looking for.

Sassy, Single, and Satisfied

MICHELLE MCKINNEY  HAMMOND - HOW TO BE FOUND BY THE MAN YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR - $8.35 - - -  Here’s a review from D. Jones, in May 2011 and she seemed impressed, “I bought the Kindle version of this book yesterday and could not put it down - finished it by evening! This was my first time reading this author's works and I love her writing style - clean, crisp, detailed, engaging. She MAKES you want to continue to read and partake of her insights. Add to it that it is SOOOOO relevant for single women - especially women like me, in her 40s - single (never married) and no kids - and almost every other book about dating has so much more info on how to date if you're a single mom or a divorced woman - and the issues they have to deal with. Nothing against my sisters who are (bless you in your strength), but sometimes if feels like people forget about those of us who aren't. Michelle has provided one of the BEST examples of dating for a christian woman - or any woman. The knowledge of Naomi, the image of Boaz protecting and claiming his wife - and Ruth's graciousness and patience in living her life and doing right regardless of her situation - a WONDERFUL example for all women. The bar has been raised again - back where it belongs!"

How to Be Found by the Man You've Been Looking For

Got to stick on one for Black History Year.  

JAMES BALDWIN - IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Paperback Used - $3.83 or new $7.89 

Tish and Fonny, young African Americans are trying so very hard to get a decent job, marry and get a home. They are young and in love in the 1970s New York, which was extremely hard for a black man when he has been accused of rape. I will always believe to this day that he did not do it, but this book takes you thru the hell both families go thru to get him out of jail. You've heard it before, her family is supportive and his family is sort of supportive and his black father had his own hard time. This book, which was written in 1974, should still be read today by young African American boys/men to, hopefully, finally, help them realize that no matter what decade it is, being black is still hard without strong family support, even if that family is friends or a mentor.  We can pull through any hell. I know I did. 

If Beale Street Could Talk

Did you have a book that still moves your heart and soul?