Thursday, October 13, 2011

Hey, it's 99 Cent and Good!!

NUMBER 92 
From October 6 thru October 9, I volunteered at the “That Big Book Sale” at the Gaillard Auditorium in downtown Charleston.  The Friends of the Charleston County Library has this sale annually and throughout the year we have smaller sales at local libraries.  Next year,due to construction on the Gaillard Auditorium, we will be having it at the Omar Shrine Center in Mt. Pleasant.  They tell me it’s not as large as the Gaillard, but it will do.  No, there is not large selection of African American books because we don't donate books very much.  And there is not many blacks attending the fair.  We do have a few more black volunteers, wish we had more.  If you want to know the truth, there's only two blacks on the board of the Friends of the Charleston County Library and one of them is me.  I'm sure there maybe one or two more, but I haven't seen them.  It's OK, when the blacks due show up at the book fair, I usually provide them with the books by us, since I help unload and load the books, I see all of the books firsthand and they usually are buying children's books, which we have a huge selection by all types of authors.  I love children's books, they are so cute and I get all misty eye because it reminds me of when I use to read to my kid.  You know I also buy a box or two since the prices are 50 cents to $4.00, who in the hell would not take that bargain! 
Commercial break - I just heard: Two women in Walmart fighting and using bleach and ammonia, which is a bad combination and it caused the store to be evaluated.  One of the woman followed the other into the store, fight had begun outside the store, woman was fighting other woman because she has a child by the other’s woman’s man and I’m sure other reasons.  Then to top it off, when the police arrested one of the woman, damn woman was wanted for assaults in other incidents.  Both women are black. What the hell is going on with us!!! What about the child!! Let’s stick to the child!! Damn!!
Let me get back to books, before I really lose it!!
At my part time job, they have seen me read all kinds of books and have asked if they could also read them.  I got them hooked (note:  They are black and white, some old, some young, some from NY, some from Charleston).  I started giving them, yes at first I was lending them and I know authors do not like that because the book gets spread around their friends and no one will bother to buy it, so I started buying them for them.  One young lady took my advice and went to Northwoods mall and the kiosk that Carl Weber’s cousin run and brought a few books, which I have gone and also brought some books, but I did not see these:
ALFRED ADAMS, JR. - PORT CITY - $16.95.  It’s not sold in Amazon, but you can go to his website - www.deweyhillpublishing.com and find this one as well as his others, which are on Amazon, but in paperback.  Since I live in Charleston, South Carolina, I will always look for local African American authors and this particular book was given to me, so I figure I give it a try.  Have not started to read it yet, it does sound interesting, so why not.

On the back cover: Port City is a tale about found young females from Charleston, South Carolina, who unfortunately make the choice to engage in shoplifting.  As time passes, they become as close as biological sisters, and also the link between various hustlers throughout the City.  One hustler in particular, Alonzo “Zo” Simmons, who happens to be the holder brother of one of the girls, ends of detecting the love, loyalty, and bond, in which the four girls have for one another, and decides that they would undoubtedly be assets to what he is doing in the streets!  You may not be a high end fan of Urban Street Lit, but there are times where the writing is superb with a fairly decent plot, this one has an acceptable plot and if you have any young ladies around, it just may keep they off the streets.  We go to at least try to keep them out of the streets.  
His other books:
TILL DEATH DO US PART - Used $1.95
MY BROTHER’S KEEPER - Paperback - Used $3.00
JUNE - THIS GAME HAS NO LOYALTY - 99 cents - - - Review from “C. Drayton: I Love to read a book and it pulls you in from the first page, with this book I couldn't wait to read it. Always looking to see what was going to happen next. June comes out to the book game and takes off running, his book is a best seller. This book is so real and you can see yourself being right there. I also Love that I don't have to wait forever for part II its already available and I've started it and I'm already hooked, Keep them coming June you have a fan for life!!!!!!!!!!!!  
On Facebook, June submitted a long, very long excerpt from the book. It’s a nasty street fight between three women and all you read is fu** you and fu** that and so forth.  If you are not interested, OK, but if you like that kind of Urban Lit, go for it, it’s only 99 cents.   
MARVA FARRIS - A CHANGE OF GRACE - 99 Cents - - - Grace has been running from her past for years, and part of her believed that she could keep her secrets forever. But when her only two children reached adulthood, they become eager to get to the bottom of some things. As her youngest daughter Egypt prepares for her dream wedding, she wants to know the truth about the identity of her father. 
While the oldest, Kenya, struggles to understand Grace’s absence during her childhood. Kenya finally gets the opportunity to confront her mother when they drive from Charlotte, NC to Cleveland, OH 
for Egypt’s wedding. Grace’s revelations are so surprising that they change the lives of everyone involved.
TRACEY MICHAEL’L LEWIS - THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SASHA RENEE - 99 Cents - - - Set in Chicago, "The Gospel According to Sasha Renee" is the first of four "gospels" chronicling three generations of women in an African American family and reveals the compelling story of a young woman wrestling with her views of herself, love, and spirituality. The feisty and stubborn Sasha Billingsly overcomes seemingly insurmountable circumstances with the help of her soul-mate, Langston Germaine, and the unseen forces of the spirit realm. While many Christian fiction offerings focus on characters that are already Christians, Lewis takes the reader on Sasha’s amazing journey to salvation and beyond. 
"I want to challenge the often peripheral and passive roles in which Christian writers are branded within the African American and arts community at-large. It's time for a revolutionary approach to the message."-Tracey Michae'l Lewis.  OK, I’m gamed
LILY L. RATLIFF JENKINS - ALL IS NOT LOST - 99 Cents - - - Sandra Blakely had it all: a successful, five year marriage to a wonderful husband, a good paying job, and a new home to entertain their many friends. It wasn't until she found out the secrets of her husband's past, his seemingly frequent whereabouts and the news of her dying grandmother that Sandra's life started to take a turn for the worse. With the only thing she had left, Sandra went on a quest to find her way, knowing that through her faith in God, all was truly not lost.
Got to stick on one for Black History Year.  We need to laugh!
JAMES HENDERSON - PERNICIOUS - 99 Cents - - - Two strong-willed African American women, Tasha Montgomery, a southern homicide detective, and Perry Davis, a gorgeous femme fatale who has killed three husbands for insurance money, engage in a dramatic battle of wits, fisticuffs and verbal assaults that culminates in a life-or-death duel when Perry targets Tasha's ex-husband. I needed a laugh and this book gave it up.  

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