To be fair this is the 5th book in a series, I was semi-forced to read it for a book discussion (for the record I didn't pick the book), and I'm certainly not the demographic the author was aiming for(I'm guessing middle aged African American female). Maybe if I had read some of the other books i...
So, I'm currently on the Megabus. As I'm starting this post, we are stopped in Milwaukee. Earlier during this bus ride, I read the entirety What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (also PAUSE we just left Milwaukee and I have my own two seats, YESSSS).This was one of the books at our house that ...
This story is about Regina Burns and how she turned her life around after getting hooked on drugs and almost losing her mother’s house. Cleage didn’t dwell much on the drug abuse, but it was the reason that Regina found herself in the predicament she did. There are other themes as well, such as t...
For centuries, African American women have been remaking the world, giving testament to the power of hope, courage, and resilience. But it took the inspired generosity of Oprah Winfrey to honor fully the many gifts of sisterhood. For three amazing days–from May 13 to 15, 2005–a distinguished grou...
Content warnings: Domestic violence, domestic abuse, abuse, threats of violence, mentions of rape and what constitutes rapeI THINK that's all the content warnings. Despite them (or maybe because of those things) this was REALLY GOOD. And as it turns out I own the book that's technically before th...
This book tried to cover so many topics: inner-city violence, politics, single parenthood, girls-who-have-to-turn-to-stripping-to-survive, renegades, men-on-the-DL, light-skinned-blacks-who-take-advantage-of-the-race, corrupt cops. It was a lot - probably too much.I couldn't get into the whole pa...
(originally published at http://nomadreader.blogspot.com)The backstory: Babylon Sisters is the second novel in Pearl Cleage's West End series. Although this book isn't a sequel to Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do, the main characters from Some Things do pop up a few times here, which will delig...
“That’s a rumor,” she said calmly. “You can’t put a prison right in the middle of a neighborhood like that.” We were sitting in the kitchen looking through seed catalogues. The garden had gone from strictly sunflowers to a more eclectic mix of sunflowers, collard greens, herbs, and tomatoes. Abbi...
Anyone who had taken any of Abbie’s classes or gone on her retreats knew that candles played a big part in setting the mood that Abbie was so good at creating. Her admirers all over the country often sent her beautiful candles and all manner of lovely holders for them, so she had an eclectic coll...
We just stood there for a minute or two, grinning and crying and generally making a spectacle of ourselves. I laid my cheek against the vest of his Sunday suit and he squeezed me tight enough to make up for the ridiculous five months we’d been apart. “Welcome home, daughter,” the Rev was saying o...