Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Keep Fighting the Battle to Win Breast Cancer!!! We can win it!!A

NUMBER 94
What a day! What a long and excruciating, long day at work, but I’m home now with my dog Tommy.  It’s quiet at home.  No TV, except I’m going thru my old VHS tapes to see what I recorded years ago, yep, Perry Mason and Murder She Wrote.  Even recorded a 1983 Oprah show on women dating after 35.  Boy, if that scenario was kicking ass then, imagine it now.  With Steve Harvey’s advice, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man and Straight Talk, No Chaser Straight Talk, No Chaser, and other online or TV or radio experts on "dating for women over 35," what is it like now.  According to some of the men on the show, they do not date women over 35, even though they are over 35.  They want young women so that one day they can have kids.  Now, how’s that craporator!!! One man in particular stated he wanted a chance to get to know the woman, date for a year, get marry and a year later, start having kids.  Did women think that also?  I think I did? I thought I would get marry, wait a year or two, have two or three kids and we would raise them together, with struggles, I’m not and was not stupid to think there would not be any struggles, but still be married 20 or 30 years later.  Not!!! What the hell was I thinking that I would be happily every after like that damn Cinderella.  That bitch pisses me off and she is still hanging around stomping on my and others dreams.  Stop it, I say!! Stop it.  
Did I just mentioned I had a long and unbearable day?  Sorry, I have a tendency to ramble on and not get to the point.  It was a long day and now on to my “world” of books.  “Just breath, honey,’ just breath”
BETTY GRIFFIN - A KISS OF A DIFFERENT COLOR - $3.49 - - - I have mentioned her a few times and do love how she writes, not too much sapping, but smooth and flowing slowly down my heart strings (Hey, that sounded pretty good, didn’t it?).  The one I really like is, THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR - $4.47 - The People Next Door. Lisa and Darrell buy their perfect house, but don’t realize it until later that’s it’s right next door to Lisa’s first husband.  I would run as far as I could and take my man with me.  The story does take a while to get to the point, slow really, but if you are on the plane or a long Bus ride, who does that anyway? Cheap people like me, it’s a good read.  Let me get you ready, many people did not like the ending and thought the book was boring.  I always say, give it a chance, everyone’s taste is different.
Now her newest book - - - After nine months of unemployment, physical therapy assistant Miranda Rhett leaves her home in Racine, Wisconsin, to take a job in employment-rich Bismarck, North Dakota, despite the city's startling absence of African-Americans. Once there, far removed from anyone who would tease her about her dream of ballroom dancing, she signs up for lessons, providing the school can find her a partner. The school comes through in the form of handsome, sexy Jon Lindbergh, a recent transplant from Minnesota. 
Jon is as charming as he is agile on the dance floor, and Miranda soon finds that her romantic daydreams about falling in love in the arms of a handsome partner on the dance floor spilling over into real life. But Jon's family history of four generations of failed marriages has made a non-believer out of him. His primary interest seems to be hooking up with someone with whom to spend the bitterly cold North Dakota winter. (I say' I think I would look for that too!! - It's cold in North Dakota.  I know, I've been there and don't won't to go back.)  Miranda doesn't believe in pursuing failure, and an even bigger obstacle is their learning they have the same employer, who instituted a strict no-dating rule in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. Both of them have plenty to lose, especially their jobs.  Miranda paid her own relocation expenses at considerable cost, and while Jon, a director, was reimbursed for his, he has invested in a house. He feels that no one will be the wiser, since he works at corporate and she at the rehabilitation center. Miranda is not so sure. But with the magical sparks that pass between them every time they look at each other and with an average high winter temperature in the single digits and frequent dips below zero, what's a girl to do?

If she's Miranda, she does what comes naturally and tries like hell to be the one to make a believer out of him.

You know you need to pre-order CARL WEBER & ERIC PETE - THE FAMILY BUSINESS (FAMILY BUSINESS TRILOGY) - $13.63 - - - It does not matter what it’s about, it’s by CARL and in my book that’s a funny ass author and one of the best story tellers around.  Pre-order it so that Amazon and other websites selling it that you cannot wait and you want them to print more copies then what they usually print for white authors.  Get the book!!! You will not be disappointed!!!! The first 4 chapters are on Face book.  

I don't mean place the book in your cart.  I mean buy the book on Amazon.  You might as well get it over with because you may be looking for this book at Barnes & Noble when it comes out and they have to order it for you because they ran out and that will cost you more money, more money, more money!!! (In Living Color!!!!)
DANIEL WHYTE III & MERIQUA WHYTE - ...AND FAMILY DRAMA JUST WON’T STOP - $2.99 - - - The title got my interest and for $2.99, I’ll bite.
Every family has its issues.  How will these church families handle the sins of their past and the challenges that life is giving them?  Stacy Wilmington is on her way to college when a devastating secret from her father’s past threatens to ruin her relationship with him and causes her to commit a sin of her own. In hiding his past for so long, will Stacy’s father lose the two most important people in his life — his wife and his daughter?
Terrence Montague, a man committed to providing for his wife, Stella, and daughter, Monica, finds himself caught up in an illegal drug delivering business that he knows is against the law and against his Christian convictions. Will he choose to love God and be true to his family over loving money?
Meanwhile, the new assistant pastor of New Mt. Zion Missionary Evangelical Church, Dwayne Reynolds, believes he has left his past behind, only to discover that it has found him again. Will he choose to face it head on or hide it from the congregation that has come to love and trust his family?  In the middle of all this drama, is Reynolds’ son, Jonathan, and Montague’s daughter, Monica. What does the future hold for them?

Man, I just love drama in the church.  They are too funny and crazy.
RACHEL BERRY - FAMILY PICTURES: WRITTEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF JEALOUSY, LIES & SECRETS -- ALBUM - $4.99 - - - A story about two women, family secrets, and the ups and downs with those people they call family.  
I found this book at Barnes and Noble. 
MONIQUE MILLER - QUIET AS IT’S KEPT - $7.99 - - - She may not get as many orders as those selling for 99 cents to 5 dollars, but everyone deserve a chance and maybe the books is that damn good.
Will Tracy is a good, God-fearing man who had a shaky childhood as he watched his father abuse his mother. But now he’s grown and feeling confident and secure that he has finally met the woman he’s been praying God would send him to be able feel the security he’s always craved. Morgan is beautiful and appears to be the perfect Christian woman. But once Will pledges his life to her, he nearly loses his.  After a series of strange, inexplicable “accidents” plague him, he starts to wonder if the woman he married is all that she outwardly appears to be or if he’s indeed sleeping with the enemy. He continues to honor the vows he made to God and to Morgan. But is this wife of his really a gift from God? Or is she the devil in disguise?
Got to stick on one for Black History Year.  We need to laugh!
MARSHA HUNT - FREE - $4.99 Paperback - - - From the Library Journal, “A novel about freed slaves and their children living in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1913 is potentially compelling reading. Teenotchy is the timid 19-year-old boy who works as a house cleaner and gardener in the Quaker home where his mother had worked. When Teenotchy was five, he witnessed his mother's rape and murder, a devastating event that has left him incapable of intimacy. When a young aristocratic Englishman, visiting relatives in Germantown, falls in love with Teenotchy, the results are disastrous. There is rich material for a novel in this unusual plot, but stilted writing and awkward phraseology make it difficult for the reader to sympathize with the characters. The most vivid, and painful, scenes are those describing the sexual abuse of Teenotchy's "Aunt Em" (actually his grandmother) at the hands of her white owner when she was young. It's a shame that this strong subject didn't evince a stronger novel.  I read this book so many years ago and just found it in my library."

MARSHA HUNT - JOY - $3.99 Paperback 
I didn’t know, but she is the mother of Mick Jagger’s child Karls.  Was in a paternity battle with Mick while fighting breast cancer and is an actress and activist.  To me, she still does look beautiful with her very short hair and for a woman who is 62, Tina Turner, you better watch out. 
Joy is about a woman who grew up to join a singing group reminiscent of The Supremes before dying an early death. Set in a posh New York  apartment in the course of one day in the spring of 1987, the novel contains frequent flashbacks that describe life in a black neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s. The book also deals with stardom in the music business and some people's inability, despite their riches, to make their own American Dream come true and to lead fulfilled lives. Hunt indicates that within her novel, all the characters are victims who are also guilty, a reflection of real life where.  She says, “we get hurt, but we're also hurting each other all the time." 
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Saturday, October 22, 2011

Some of those Urban Street Fictions are really good!! and history

NUMBER 93
Remember last week I told you about  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, and since I currently live in Charleston, South Carolina, I am always looking for local African American authors and this particular book was given to me, so I figure I give it a try.  Well, I just completed it and I did not think I would enjoy it because on it’s cover are four high school "Beyonce's looking girls", yeah! me reading about kids when I should buy a few copies and give it to some kids.  Man! I could not put the damn book down.  I was up so late for three days and tired at work.  Four high school girls who are professional shoplifters with a mouth that would make a rap singer proud.  They meet my man, Alonzo “Zo” Simmons, who happens to be a brother to one of the girls and he gets them involved in distributing drugs, his business.  These kids are not from some bad neighborhood or abused families and one of them is the niece of a serious drug lord who is in jail.  One of them is just stupid and mind blowing when it comes to clothes and money, all in all, these are good kids but I would not run into them at a night club and start a fight.  One of them carries a switch blade and knows how to use it.  Between going back and forth to New York and other cities in South Carolina, still stealing, of course, they have the ride of their lives and enjoying the fancy cars and big money.  As times goes by, one becomes a Christian, one gets hooked on crack due to boyfriend who is a big time booster and dropped out of high school, one marries another drug lord, yeah, It ain’t Cinderella Romance here and one gets killed.  
I am sorry to say that who ever his editor is, they need to go back to school and learn some grammar.  (Hey, I can’t talk too much, I find errors in my own blog and kick myself when I do). It was horrible reading it at times and the short paragraphs were not need.  Alfred is a good storyteller and there is a second book to this and I’m going to get it because I need to know when “Suge” is getting his ass kicked, again.  Lesson learn, sure, will it work in the black community, no, but it’s still a good read and I really did enjoy it.  
For those who watch Basketball Wives, Single Ladies, and the Wendy Williams Show, you may like Tu-SHONDA L. WHITAKER - MILLIONAIRE WIVES CLUB: A NOVEL - $11.99 - - - Evan: Married to a pro-football star who isn’t in love with her anymore and Evan is digging her freshly manicured nails in ever deeper as she fights to keep the husband who loves someone else.
Milan: Half Dominican, half black, and beautifully exotic-looking, Milan is watching her has-been husband’s fortune fade fast, while her romantic attachment to Evan’s husband is heating up.
Jaise: Divorced from a former boxing star who’s now married to a white woman, Jaise is trying to raise her sixteen-year-old son on her own. Will her huge alimony checks keep her from falling in love?
Chaunci: Editor of the hottest black women’s magazine, Chaunci is now engaged to the high-powered man who helped finance her magazine when she was just a struggling single mom. But when a onetime passionate flame reignites, Chaunci may not be able to resist its charms.
When these starlets’ private lives run as wild as their emotions, their relationships with one another inevitably turn into high-profile catfights. Through it all, the cameras never stop rolling on TV’s guiltiest pleasure, where power and diamonds are always a girl’s best friend. I don’t see the point, but if you do, go for it.

JAMES M. McPHERSON & JENNIFER L. WEBER - COPPERHEADS: THE RISE AND FALL OF LINCOLN’S OPPONENTS IN THE NORTH - $1.99 - - - Since I’m living, ‘in this here Carolina,” over the last few years, I have been learning as much as I can about this state, since it's a huge part of our history.  Sorry to say, many black folks here don't bother to learn and they live there.  I happen to find this book for $2.00.  So I brought it and will start reading it later this week.  The Civil War has been covered in history books, but it is always a different story from someone’s else perspective. 
If Civil War battlefields saw vast carnage, the Northern home-front was itself far from tranquil. Fierce political debates set communities on edge, spurred secret plots against the Union, and triggered widespread violence, such as the New York City draft riots. And at the heart of all this turmoil stood Northern anti-war Democrats, nicknamed "Copperheads."

Now, Jennifer L. Weber offers the first full-length portrait of this powerful faction to appear in almost half a century. Weber reveals how the Copperheads came perilously close to defeating Lincoln and ending the war in the South's favor. Indeed, by the summer of 1864, they had grown so strong that Lincoln himself thought his defeat was "exceedingly likely." Passionate defenders of civil liberties and states' rights and often virulent racists, the Copperheads deplored Lincoln's suspension of habeas

Disgraced after the war, the Copperheads melted into the shadows of history. Here, Jennifer L. Weber illuminates their dramatic story. Packed with sharp observation and fresh interpretations, Copperheads is a gripping account of the fierce dissent that Lincoln called "the fire in the rear."
INC THE STAFF OF ENTREPRENEUR MEDIA - START YOUR OWN BUSINESS (ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINES’S STARTUp) - $1.99 - - - Do you want to start your own business?  Have you thought about it?  With the economy the way it is, we do need people to get on the bandwagon and stop listening to those drugged introduced people on the Hill and those Wall Street protesters, I’m still trying to figure out what they hell they want.  I heard on the Bill Maher show (I have the podcast because I have no cable.  Too damn expensive!!) from Jonathan Franzen, the writer of FREEDOM, A NOVEL (Oprah’s Book Club) - $9.99, Freedom: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club) said on the show after Bill stated they, Occupy Wall Street Protesters, needs a spokesperson to help focus, so how do we help them focus their caused?  Franzen stated, (Now, I don't remember word for word, but) “I understand what they are protesting for, it’s not completely clear, but what they are saying is that they resent the people getting millions of dollars for salary and that jobs are disappearing.  We are addicted to cheap food and cheap gadgets and we are not making those products here, but in China and they can, such as the Apple Co. make money here as well, but Wall Street recked the economy and no one is going to jail for the it.  And, with 24 million people without jobs, 50 million people who cannot afford a doctor, 47 million need government help for food, and 15 million families losing their home and cannot sell it because the value has sunken, then yeah, I’ll be their spokesman.”  People in the audience started clapping their hands for a long time and thanked him for saying it.  What do you think?  We all know about the bad news, can’t help seeing or hearing it if you look at TV and such, but then you listen to a Dave Ramsey  The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness (3rd Edition Revised and Updated) - $8.99 and Michelle Singletary,  The Power to Prosper: 21 Days to Financial Freedom - $9.99 and they say, fix it yourself.  Get yourself out of your hole.  Do what ever job is necessary, even working at McDonald's to get out of debt.  Folks, I’m working on that now and wished I had listen to my grandmother more when she said, “What’s goes up will damn sure come down, so get your but ready and save for a rainy day.”  Good God!!
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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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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I'm working on more books!!

NUMBER 91 
I may not read every single book, but boy I’m going to try.  Especially the ones that when I see the book cover or read the flap or read on websites.  Something about the cover will get me closer to exam it and many times when I’m in a book store, I have to feel it and touch it to see if I can get into it.  That’s the problem I’m having now.  So many books and I try to buy them all to support and promote my blog and to help the authors by buying even more books for give-aways to let people know they are out there.  But there are times where I just cannot get into the mood.  It’s like sex, you don’t care about the size (or maybe you do), you care about the before, during and after.  Do you tingle?  Do you feel something inside that makes you want to either go there or get deeper into it.  Maybe this is not quite like sex, but right now that’s in my head and when you write, you try to write what’s in your head. I don’t know, you think it’s Book Burn Out!!! Nah!! It can’t be. 

I log into the computer every day, check my library and libraries all over the world to find books I missed.  It’s doesn’t matter who it's by, usually look for African Americans, it matters did I feel something, anything to make me want to go there.  Below are a few where my taste of urban lit, romance, mystery, etc. flow.  Some writers are really good at getting the story across and others, just plain crazy or nasty.  Some have the same old plot, but they may have added a new twist.  Some just down right, “My goodness, again with the sex, abuse and man hating,” give it a rest, try contemporary, classic, make-believe, illusory, mystery, the Twenties to the Nineties, Black folks did exist during that time.  Try World War I, II and Iraq.  Have we covered everything on this planet? 

Yeah, we have, but there are times we have gone too far and it scares me.  An example of a book someone gave me and I do not remember the title, but the first chapter was about a 14 year old girl being raped by some older jackass who was going to stop because she was crying and he hollers back at her that he thought she was a woe’ hanging around other young girls who prostitutes themselves.  She tells him she is a virgin and he says he could not stop and continue to rape her.  I did not get far with that book and won’t post it on my blog even if I knew the title.  It continued with something about why she became the way she is as an adult.  I could not stomach it.  Not a child being raped.  It reminded me of THE KID - SAPPHIRE - $12.99.  It was my book’s club read last month and I could not finish it, it hurt, I cried and got angry.  I’ve see that type of destruction and don’t won’t to go back there again and see it, it bothers me too much.  Let’s move on to something else, something different, but crazy just the same.  
If you are tired of Vampires, I’m not, they are crazy, try Harkness’s book, and this author is not black, but I’m willing to give it chance since everyone I know says it’s good, but then, don’t listen to me, feel the book and/or story, you know what you like, you like my blog don't’ you?  I do try to cover everything out there, at least until my drugs wear off!!
DEBORAH E. HARKNESS - A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES: A NOVEL - $14.99 - - -  It all begins with a lost manuscript, a reluctant witch, and 1,500-year-old vampire. Dr. Diana Bishop has a really good reason for refusing to do magic: she is a direct descendant of the first woman executed in the Salem Witch Trials, and her parents cautioned her be discreet about her talents before they were murdered, presumably for having "too much power." So it is purely by accident that Diana unlocks an enchanted long-lost manuscript (a book that all manner of supernatural creatures believe to hold the story of all origins and the secret of immortality) at the Bodleian Library at Oxford, (I got that app for my ipad and I just may try to go to Oxford and visit there) and finds herself in a race to prevent an inter species war. A striking debut written by a historian and self-proclaimed oenophile (a connoisseur of wines, I like that already), A Discovery of Witches is filled with a mix of history and magic, mythology and love (hey, the aforementioned vampire!), making for a luxurious, intoxicating, one-sitting read. 

Not one sitting for me, I’m getting into it because I love history and it is actually catching my attention.  I read all of the Twilight series (remember I do have a kid who reads everything under the sun like her mother and I told her I would give it a try.  I did and now I’m hooked on Edward.  As a matter of fact, I am dragging my book/writer friend to a Twilight marathon at the theatre that serves food and drinks while you watch the move.  We are scheduled to start at 5pm to Midnight and at Midnight watch the premiere of Breaking Dawn.  Yes, yes, I’m a sick, sick person, but I love me some Edward and that Jacob looks damn good without a shirt).  
I also love certain “slut” books, hence the name on my T-Shirt, “Book Slut,” JACKIE COLLINS -  LUCKY - - - This is the second book in this series about Lucky Santangelo, daughter of Gina Santangelo, crime boss.  While reading it, I had to go back and read the first one CHANCES - $6.99 (you can probably get it for $4.99) or at your local library.  One of the biggest reasons I enjoyed these two books is because one of the main characters were black and Jackie always add a main black character to her books who are not thugs or drugged out nuts.  I also like them because it’s a soap opera with crime, sex, love, politics, Hollywood and more.  I have not pick up her latest, GODDESS OF VENGEANCE - $12.99, but going to.  
I’m in the mood so I have added, 
J. TREMBLE - BEDROOM GANGSTA - $9.99 - - - Hey, I did say “Slut” but in this case, “Street Urban Lit” - - - Seven, a gorgeous, retired exotic dancer is fed up with her broke and boring lifestyle, oh, parish the thought!!. The dreams promised by her husband, Bryce aren't coming true, and Seven’s heart longs for the endless supply of cash she was forced to give up. When the bills aren't getting paid and they soon face eviction, Seven wants to return to her old ways, but Bryce refuses. However, unbeknownst to him, Seven has a scheme up her sleeve that involves prostitution even though she won t be the one turning tricks. Once the money starts to flow, vows are eventually broken, and unconditional love gets put to the test. This gritty tale of love vs. money will be sure to leave you speechless.  We will see won’t we?
KEVIN BULLOCK - IN THE CUT - 99 Cents - - - After Manus is released from prison, he soon discovers that he has a seven-year-old son. While struggling to get his feet planted deep in the dope game, he becomes attached to the little boy. Being affiliated with other hustlers and robbers eventually jeopardizes his life as well as the child's. When enough guns go off and enough bodies get laid to rest, Manus better have enough money to buy his son from the woman who threatens to separate them forever.
TOYE LAWSON BROWN - NAYLA’S DILEMMA - THE ENDS OF JUSTICE - 99 Cents - - - The sequel to "Obsessive/Obsession,"  District Attorney, Nayla Smith concentrates on the main reason for her return to Cleveland.  Unraveling the mysterious death of Ramona Franklin cost Nayla more than she bargained for.  Did she dig too deep to get to the truth?  Follow the elite team of Cleveland Homicide Detectives as they work with the FBI to get their number one suspect.
TOYE LAWSON BROWN - OBSESSIVE/OBSESSION - 99 Cents - - -  This is the fist book before Nayla’s Dilemma - - - Who is trying to bring the family down and at what cost? The Lofton sisters had it all, money, success, and happiness. Now someone wanted a part of it. Follow the lives of the four sisters as they unite to unravel the mystery of who is stalking them. The romance and intrigue the sisters endure is captivating. The suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat; the humor will have you laughing out loud.  I did buy this and read it and could not wait for the second book, which it finally did.  I’m just sorry the books cost 99 Cents, but then I’m not sorry because I can buy books all day long and not break my budget and these are some damn good stories.  We got some good writers out there!!
Got to stick on one for Black History Year.  
JESSIE REDMON FAUSET - COMEDY: AMERICAN STYLE (MULTI-ETHNIC LITERATURES OF THE AMERICAS - $15.37 - - - Fauset was one of the Harlem Renaissance critic, poet and editor.  She taught french in an all-black school in Washington, DC, Dunbar High School
Recounts the tragic tale of a family's destruction--the story of a mother who denies her clan its heritage. Originally published in 1933, this intense narrative stands the test of time and continues to raise compelling, disturbing, and still contemporary themes of color prejudice and racial self-hatred. Several of today's bestselling novelists echo subject matter first visited in Fauset's commanding work, which overflows with rich, vivid, and complex characters who explore questions of color, passing, and black identity.
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Monday, October 3, 2011

Hey, I'm back on Track: BOOKS oh, lovely BOOKS!




NUMBER 90 
OK, it worked.  My pictures did reflect on my blog and clear form and so far no one has claimed I took a “compromising” picture of them and sold it to the highest bidder.  I have such pictures from my past and should write a book about them, but you don’t won’t to hear about those minor infractions, it’s boring and since I was probably drunk when they happen, who the hell knows.  If they try to blackmail me, I will get “Perry Mason” from the grave.  Have you ever watched Perry Mason?  I am one of the biggest fans of that show.  Yes, it was before my time, but it was part of my mother and grandmother’s Sunday ritual.  Wash my hair, my back to Africa hair, try to comb it, it was a struggle, while sitting down on the floor between my grandmother’s legs while she watch Perry Mason.  I got hooked.  Years later, I’m trying to find and buy all of the series because there was one Black judge (don't know which show), one black guy, (“Perry Mason: The Case of the Nebulous Nephew)  who was on trial, but with a white guy and that black guy was played by Ivan Dixon.  You may remember Mr. Dixon a few movies and TV shows, “Nothing but a Man,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” with Sidney Poitier (Who I love in “In the Heat of The Night.” In that one scene when that white guy smacked him for the never of his (Sidney Poitier’s character) asking him a question about a murder case and Sidney smacked him back.  Brilliant!!!), also, “A Patch of Blue,” “Ironside,” and “Hogan Heroes.”  He died in 2008, but I will look to the ends of the earth to find that particular Perry Mason show with him and that black judge.  I never saw a black judge and I got to find him.  Now you know there were not enough black folks in TV during the 60s when I was a kid, but that’s another of my hobbies, besides writing this blog, looking for TV shows with black actors and where are they now.  Not going to stop looking either.  On ward Prancer!, On ward, Vixen!, On ward Blitzen! and On ward Books!!!  No, I don’t remember all of the reindeer names, who does?
EYONE WILLIAMS - LORTON LEGENDS (DC BOOKDIVA Presents) - $9.99 - - - As someone who knows a lot about the Lorton Prison in Virginia and a few of the more famous drug dealers who went there, I had to get it just to remember my old neighborhood and how we survived or did not survived.  It’s sad, but true.  I knew so many of them and they were handsome and very intelligent men who got caught up in the stupid, stupid drama.  Here’s a recap:
The Lorton Correctional Complex was one of the most notorious prisons in U.S. history. It housed convicts from Washington, D.C. Known for violence and corruption, it shaped and molded every man, or woman, that experienced life on the inside. Sent to Lorton at age 17 for armed robbery, Ronald Mays is introduced to a world where only the strong survive. In prison he is forced to better himself as a man he learns to read, he drops his heroin habit, and becomes a father. Being a loyalist at heart, Ronald gets involved in a feud with older convicts that can cost him everything. A survivor by nature, Ronald makes it out of Lorton alive and returns to the streets of D.C. with his mind focused on doing bigger and better things with his life. He leaves all of his old ways alone and pursues his dreams of becoming a pro boxer if he succeeds he wins for all those close to him. No matter how hard he tries to avoid the drama of the D.C. streets, it comes his way hard and fast. Ronald finds himself fighting his yesterdays in order to attain his dreams of tomorrow. Like most real men that survived Lorton, Ronald is driven by his will to succeed and his demand for respect. Nothing will get in his way. An epic story of struggle, adversity, and accomplishment.
ANGELA WINTERS - BACK ON TOP - $9.52 - - - Hey, I’m buying it because anything to do with my hometown of DC, has got some serious drama and issues.  When it comes to joining the ranks of Washington D.C.'s glamorous elite, no social ladder is too high for these ambitious ladies to climb.  Sherise, Billie, and Erica will do anything to penetrate the capital's shimmering social circle of movers and shakers, even if it means engaging in some risky business. Sherise's dangerous game with a ruthless power broker is putting her on the White House fast track-and derailing her marriage.  High-powered lawyer Billie will use any weapon to battle her sexy ex-husband between the sheets so she can move on after heartbreak.  Erica's prestigious new promotion at the Pentagon means bad news for her former-hustler boyfriend that may wreck her dreams for good, and when drama even these divas never saw coming turns explosive, they'll have to fight fire with fire, and prove their loyalty to each other because in D.C. you always need someone to have your back.  You think!!
GLORIA NAYLOR - BAILEY’S CAFE - $10.21 Paperback - - - Another book I brought years ago because I loved her other book, Linden Hills.  This time this is not one of those reads in a day or so, it’s very slow at first and can be a bit long, and you wonder when, but the people who come into this cafe, church lady, a pimp, a mystery wanna be Miss Marple, a man who likes to dress in women’s clothing.  All of these characters and more talk about themselves and their lives and what lives they have during!  Bailey’s Cafe is set in a dilapidated  neighborhood in Chicago after World War II.  It is also a reminder of other books about past lives and how to either forgive or forget and move forward, which to me reflects why books of this type still draws people to them because we still don’t really forgive, maybe forget a little bit until we see the person who hurt us, but I do not think we really forgive and move on.  It’s like the Pastor said at my church Sunday, “Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping it kills the other person.” It don't, it kills your spirit.
GAIL McFARLAND - THE SETUP - $1.00 - - - Ah! De Ja Vu!!! You have read this before, romance, love, setup and before you know it, you are the set up tee!! Ah!  Love!!
KAREN L. SYED - DARK SHINES MY LOVE - 99 Cents - Romance again, but on the cheap!
Got to stick on one for Black History Year.  
ROSALYN McMILLAN - KNOWING - $12.99 - - - Yes, she is Terry McMillan sister and her writing isn’t bad, but the reviews are killing her.  I say give it a try, well maybe not for $12.00, but I am always willing to listen to someone else give me their reviews.  Maybe they see something I don’t or did not understand.  Here’s one reviewer’s point by Sara of Plano, Texas: The story lines had a lot of potential. There were definitely too many parts to this book. It should have been a miniseries with one book about each character because she had enough information for at least three different books here. If you're looking for a good ending, this is not the book for you. I kept wondering how she was going to tie this book up in 4 pages, and she just didn't. All of a sudden it was over, without any telling description of where they were headed.  Everyone’s opinion is different, draw you own.




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