#BookReview: FOR YOUR LOVE by Beverly Jenkins

As the sixth book in the Blessings series opened, I wondered if Beverly Jenkins would still be able to draw readers into the imaginary town of Henry-Adams, Kansas in For Your Love.  I shouldn't have wondered because Beverly Jenkins is a master at what she does.  As always, she combines historical fiction with modern times, entertaining readers while teaching them.

For Your Love focuses on returning characters like Trent July, the mayor of Henry-Adams, and his wife Lily, as well as the town owner, Bernadine Brown.  Jenkins also introduces us to a few new characters, including Trent's mother and a family of newcomers.

Friends of Crystal's from her previous life, Bobby and Kelly are a young family she knows from her days on the streets in Dallas. A former gang member and the product of a foster home, Bobby trusts no one except for Kelly.  When Crystal offers the young couple and their twins a chance to leave the hard knock life of Dallas and move to Kansas, they're hesitant.  I absolutely loved watching Bobby mature as Trent and the other men in town mentored him in various ways.  The people of Henry-Adams show time and time again what community looks like.

Watching some of the women's reactions to Rita Lynn return to the small town is interesting.  It gives us a glimpse into what Henry-Adams looked like over forty years ago.  Grudges and mistrust from decades ago kick up their ugly heads, but Jenkins likes a happy ending, so you already know everything will work out before the book ends.

If you're just hearing about the Blessing series and like what you hear, be sure to go back and read the previous titles.  All of the books can stand alone, but reading them in order gives you a more complete view of who is who and the history behind why things are the way they are.

Book 1: Bring on the Blessings
Book 2: A Second Helping
Book 3: Something Old, Something New
Book 4: A Wish and A Prayer
Book 5: Heart of Gold

Purchase Links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

About Author

Beverly Jenkins is the author of thirty historical and contemporary novels, including five previous books in her beloved Blessings series. She has been featured in many national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, People, the Dallas Morning News,Vibe, and many other publications.

Find out more about Beverly at her website and connect with her on Facebook

#BookReview: Something Old, Something New - Beverly Jenkins

Readers of Bring on the Blessings and A Second Helping will be happy to know that the residents of the fictitious town of Henry Adams, Kansas are back.  In Bring on the Blessings, we learned of this town that had been founded by freed slaves after the Civil War.  When the mayor put the struggling town up for sale on eBay, Bernadine Brown, the ex-wife of a multimillionaire purchased it and began to turn the town around.  With Bernadine's help, town residents were able to foster and adopt needy children from around the country and bring them to a place filled with love and history.

In A Second Helping the residents and kids prepare for the adoption process and readers are treated to a history lesson about an August 1st parade.  If you're as unfamiliar with it as I was when I first read about it, here's some background.   Most of us are familiar with Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Texas, the last state to free their slaves in 1865. August 1st celebrates the abolishment of slavery in the British empire in 1834 and was celebrated throughout towns in the United States up until 1927. To this day it is also celebrated in Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Anguilla, The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos and the British Virgin Isles.

With Something Old, Something New the town is preparing for the wedding of mayor Trent July and his high school girlfriend, Lily Fontaine and a few of the adopted children are starting to wonder about their birth parents.  As Lily and Trent move forward with wedding plans, they're challenged with assisting their foster kids with making the transition from the new home life they've come to love to being an extended family.  And, as is the case with everything in Henry Adams, Kansas, the whole town is involved.

What did you like about this book?
Beverly Jenkins always has a lesson to teach and in this book, she treats readers to lessons about Seminole and Cherokee traditions.  I always look forward to reading her work because I'm sure to learn something.

What didn't you like about this book?
Very rarely do things not end perfectly in a Beverly Jenkins book.  While I can appreciate a happy ending, it's not realistic to believe that things always work out so well.  It would be more than okay if things didn't turn out as well as expected.

What could the author do to improve this book?
I'd like to see a book that focuses more on Tamar, Trent's grandmother.  There's a lot of history that swirls around her and it would be interesting to maybe see a prequel or something that focuses more on her back story. 

352pp
Published June 2011

Theme: We Must Be In Love by Pure Soul

Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins

Stories about women living in the newly settled western parts of America fascinate me. I remember reading Ann Weisgarber’s The Personal History of Rachel Dupree years ago. The story of a Black woman who left a big city to move to the Badlands of South Dakota with her new husband and homestead in the early 20th century was mind blowing. But with Wild Rain, Beverly Jenkins introduces an even bigger badass! 

 Spring Lee is a fierce, no nonsense, kick ass now ask questions later “lady.” And while it's true that the romance between her and Garrett McCray, a formerly enslaved journalist who's come to Paradise, Wyoming to interview Spring’s brother, is the overarching theme of the book, Spring’s approach to life is the heartbeat of Wild Rain. Eschewing social norms of the times, she's a land owning rancher, she hangs out in saloons, she breaks wild horses and she embraces her sexuality! It's so refreshing to see a female character who doesn't pretend she doesn't have a past, is open about what and who she wants, and makes the first, second or third move, if she has to. 

 Wild Rain is the second novel in the Women Who Dare series, Rebel was the first. If you're trying to remember where you've seen Spring Lee before, check out Tempest, the third book in Beverly Jenkins's Old West series, where we first meet Spring’s brother Dr. Colton Lee and his bride to be, Regan Carmichael. 

 Thanks to the people at William Morrow Books/Avon for sending this my way!

#BookReview: CHASING DOWN A DREAM by Beverly Jenkins

Summary: There’s never a dull day in Henry Adams, Kansas.

Tamar July has never had a great relationship with certain members of her family. In fact, she’d characterize it as a “hate/hate relationship.” But when her cousin calls her with the news that she’s dying and wants Tamar to plan the funeral, she’s shocked but is willing to drop everything for her.

After a horrendous storm, Gemma finds a young boy and his little sister walking on the side of the road. She takes them in, and quickly falls in love with the orphaned siblings. But when Gemma contacts Social Services to try to become their foster mother, she’s told a white woman cannot foster African-American children.

In the midst of these trials, Jack and Rocky are trying to plan their wedding. The entire town comes together to lend a helping hand.

Though the residents of Henry Adams face seemingly insurmountable obstacles, each of them will discover that family comes in many forms, especially during the most trying of times.

Review:  A recent Instagram challenge prompted the question, what books would you like to see become a series. Immediately the Blessing series came to mind because I love the characters and I love the small town feel of Henry Adams. Beverly Jenkins has created a town that the Hallmark channel would be proud of. For the life of me, I can't understand why they haven't jumped at a chance to bring Henry Adams to life. I tune in to The Good Witch regularly for the small town living vibe that Middleton has. And I loved the unique characters found in The Gilmore Girls' Star's Hollow. If I could pack my bags and head for Henry Adams, I would, but I'd settle for just seeing this lively bunch on TV weekly. But I digress.

Jenkins' strength lies in the fact that she creates so many rich characters in her stories that any of them can take the lead and hold a story line of their own at any point. In her latest, Chasing Down a Dream, we see Gemma, a character with a lesser role in previous books, take the lead as she deals with workplace issues, pursuing college at a seasoned age, and fostering two children, in addition to raising her grandson. She has a lot going on, right? The author doesn't sugarcoat how difficult of a time Gemma is having adapting to her life, but she does give her a great support system.

The illness of a member of the July clan brings Tamar's hell raising, motorcycle riding family to town, which is predictably an adventure. It's always great to see them because they tend to bring history right along with them. And they get Tamar's hackles up, which is quite entertaining.

Some of the children we met in Bring on the Blessings and subsequent books are starting to grow up and move on. It's bittersweet to see this. As a reader, I'm happy to see these kids overcome obstacles and become thriving adults, but what if they decide to leave Henry Adams? Will Jenkins bring them back? Will she follow them on their new adventures? Can you tell how much I love Henry Adams and the Blessings' series? I can't wait to see what's next for this small town's residents.

336 p.
Published: July 2017
Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher; opinions are my own.

#BookReview: A Wish and A Prayer - Beverly Jenkins

Like returning home for a family reunion, Beverly Jenkins takes readers back to Henry Adams, Kansas and its town members.  We first met them in Bring on the Blessings, grew to love them in A Second Helping and were amazed by them in Something Old, Something New. 

In Bring on the Blessings, we learned of this town that had been founded by freed slaves after the Civil War.  When the mayor put the struggling town up for sale on eBay, Bernadine Brown, the ex-wife of a multimillionaire purchased it and began to turn the town around.  With Bernadine's help, town residents were able to foster and adopt needy children from around the country and bring them to a place filled with love and history.

In A Second Helping the residents and kids prepare for the adoption process and readers are treated to a history lesson about an August 1st parade.  If you're as unfamiliar with it as I was when I first read about it, here's some background.   Most of us are familiar with Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Texas, the last state to free their slaves in 1865. August 1st celebrates the abolishment of slavery in the British empire in 1834 and was celebrated throughout towns in the United States up until 1927. To this day it is also celebrated in Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Anguilla, The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos and the British Virgin Isles.

With Something Old, Something New the town prepared for the wedding of mayor Trent July and his high school girlfriend, Lily Fontaine and a few of the adopted children began to wonder about their birth parents.  As Lily and Trent moved forward with wedding plans, they were challenged with assisting their foster kids with making the transition from the new home life they had come to love to being an extended family.

A Wish and A Prayer finds the town doing battle with the neighboring mayor who insists on trying to bring a big box store to their area and wants Henry Adams to pay for it.  Riley Curry, the former mayor and hog lover, shines the spotlight on the little town when he wages a full battle against the county to keep his prized hog and involves a PETA-like organization to assist him.  And Preston Miles finally has a chance to meet his birth mother.

As with any Jenkins' book, there's a historical lesson to be learned and there's no exception with her latest.  Readers are told of the Black Army Corp of Engineers during the building of the Alaska-Canadian Highway.  Not only does it serve as a lesson for the children of town, but for the reader as well.  Jenkins always finds a way to make books entertaining and educational.  If you've not visited Henry Adams yet, there's no time like the present.

320pp
Published: April 2012
Disclosure: Copy received from publisher, opinions are my own.

 

Theme: Already Alright by Yolanda Adams

#BookReview: STEPPING TO A NEW DAY by Beverly Jenkins

Oh to live in a town where everyone knows your business and loves or accepts you anyway, even if you're the former mayor who terrorized the town and your wife with a 600 lb. hog. Henry Adams, Kansas is indeed a forgiving town, a land of second chances. When Riley Curry blows back into town stirring up trouble, the town's residents have to look deep into their hearts to forgive him, but it's going to take some time.

Genevieve Gibbs has finally gotten herself back together financially after Riley's prized pig destroyed her house. Living with her best friend has been fun, but there's a new man in town who's caught her eye. After dealing with Riley, Gen isn't sure that she's ready to get involved with anyone. If she does, she'd like to keep it under wraps and it's hard to keep secrets about her new romance while living in such close quarters.

The children of the town are growing up and some of them are starting to see the boy or girl next door in a different light. And while Henry Adams is an idyllic place to live, it's time for some of the kids we've met along the way spread their wings. But just as they can always come back home to Henry Adams, so can readers.

Some series get stale after awhile, but Beverly Jenkins has a way of keeping characters and storylines fresh. Introducing new characters introduces new perspectives and new storylines. In seven books, I have yet to get tired of Henry Adams, its people or the Blessings series.

If you're just hearing about the Blessing series and like what you hear, be sure to go back and read the previous titles.  All of the books can stand alone, but reading them in order gives you a more complete view of who is who and the history behind why things are the way they are.

Book 1: Bring on the Blessings
Book 2: A Second Helping
Book 3: Something Old, Something New
Book 4: A Wish and A Prayer
Book 5: Heart of Gold
Book 6: For Your Love

304 p.
Published: June 2016
Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher, opinions are my own.

Amazon | B & N | Book Depository | IndieBound

#BookReview: Heart of Gold by Beverly Jenkins

Synopsis: Henry Adams has had its fair share of drama ever since Bernadine Brown bought the town with her divorce settlement. Now just when things are starting to settle down, it's about to get crazy again . . .

Cephas Patterson doesn't just want to be left alone--if you dare step onto his property, he'll meet you with a shotgun and a warning to stay away from his gold. He reminds Zoey of the lonely time she spent living on the streets, so she quietly begins leaving him small offerings. But then Cephas dies and leaves a saddlebag of gold--to Zoey.

And that's not all. Zoey's parents are going through a trial separation, her former BFF Devon is giving her fits, and friend Crystal has run away from home. Then there's Bernadine's mean-spirited baby sister who has arrived unexpectedly, and an ongoing battle with a neighboring town is about to heat up.

Will Henry Adams ever be the same again?

Review: I always get excited when the next book in the Blessings series is announced.  Not only does Beverly Jenkins bring the historical aspect to the series, she's created a town that I want to live in.  This is the fifth book in the series and it's yet to get stale.

Things aren't always perfect in the town of Henry Adams, Kansas, but you know there will always be a happy ending.

336pp
Published: April 2014
Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher, opinions are my own.

New Books Coming Your Way, July 4, 2017

Chasing Down a Dream by Beverly Jenkins
336 p.; Fiction

There’s never a dull day in Henry Adams, Kansas.

Tamar July has never had a great relationship with certain members of her family. In fact, she’d characterize it as a “hate/hate relationship.” But when her cousin calls her with the news that she’s dying and wants Tamar to plan the funeral, she’s shocked but is willing to drop everything for her.

After a horrendous storm, Gemma finds a young boy and his little sister walking on the side of the road. She takes them in, and quickly falls in love with the orphaned siblings. But when Gemma contacts Social Services to try to become their foster mother, she’s told a white woman cannot foster African-American children.

In the midst of these trials, Jack and Rocky are trying to plan their wedding. The entire town comes together to lend a helping hand.

Though the residents of Henry Adams face seemingly insurmountable obstacles, each of them will discover that family comes in many forms, especially during the most trying of times.

Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan
by Elaine M. Hayes
432 p.; Biography

Sarah Vaughan, a pivotal figure in the formation of bebop, influenced a broad array of singers who followed in her wake, yet the breadth and depth of her impact—not just as an artist, but also as an African-American woman—remain overlooked.

Drawing from a wealth of sources as well as on exclusive interviews with Vaughan’s friends and former colleagues, Queen of Bebop unravels the many myths and misunderstandings that have surrounded Vaughan while offering insights into this notoriously private woman, her creative process, and, ultimately, her genius. Hayes deftly traces the influence that Vaughan’s singing had on the perception and appreciation of vocalists—not to mention women—in jazz. She reveals how, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Vaughan helped desegregate American airwaves, opening doors for future African-American artists seeking mainstream success, while also setting the stage for the civil rights activism of the 1960s and 1970s. She follows Vaughan from her hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and her first performances at the Apollo, to the Waldorf Astoria and on to the world stage, breathing life into a thrilling time in American music nearly lost to us today.

Equal parts biography, criticism, and good old-fashioned American success story, Queen of Bebop is the definitive biography of a hugely influential artist. This absorbing and sensitive treatment of a singular personality updates and corrects the historical record on Vaughan and elevates her status as a jazz great.

The Sisters of Alameda Street by Lorena Hughes
368 p.; Fiction

When Malena Sevilla's tidy, carefully planned world collapses following her father’s mysterious suicide, she finds a letter—signed with an “A”—which reveals that her mother is very much alive and living in San Isidro, a quaint town tucked in the Andes Mountains. Intent on meeting her, Malena arrives at Alameda Street and meets four sisters who couldn’t be more different from one another, but who share one thing in common: all of their names begin with an A.

To avoid a scandal, Malena assumes another woman’s identity and enters their home to discover the truth. Could her mother be Amanda, the iconoclastic widow who opens the first tango nightclub in a conservative town? Ana, the ideal housewife with a less-than-ideal past? Abigail, the sickly sister in love with a forbidden man? Or Alejandra, the artistic introvert scarred by her cousin’s murder? But living a lie will bring Malena additional problems, such as falling for the wrong man and loving a family she may lose when they learn of her deceit. Worse, her arrival threatens to expose long-buried secrets and a truth that may wreck her life forever.

Set in 1960s Ecuador, The Sisters of Alameda Street is a sweeping story of how one woman’s search for the truth of her identity forces a family to confront their own past.

Man on the Run by Carl Weber
320 p.; Fiction

It was the night before his wedding, fifteen years ago, that the nightmare began for Jay Crawford--locked up for a crime he never committed. Now, he's escaped prison and wants nothing more than to clear his name and protect his family. To get justice, he'll need the help of the three best friends who have always had his back--Wil, Kyle and Allan. But a man on the run requires absolute trust...and Jay may just be setting himself up for the ultimate betrayal.


Thousand Star Hotel 
by Bao Phi
112 p.; Poetry

Thousand Star Hotel confronts the silence around racism, police brutality, and the invisibility of the Asian American urban poor.

From “with thanks to Sahra Nguyen for the refugee style slogan”:

They give the kids candy to bet.

My daughter loses the first four rounds,
she’s a quiet wire as they take her candy away, piece by piece.
When she finally wins, I ask if she wants to play again.
No! she shouts, grabbing her candy, I want to go home!
True refugee style:
take everything you got and run with it.

#BookReview: LESLIE'S CURL & DYE by D.L. White

Summary: Leslie Baker, owner of Potter Lake’s original hometown beauty shop, the Curl & Dye, has a problem. Her problem isn’t her dwindling customer base. And it’s not the shifty, shady mayor of the idyllic lakeside town. Her problem is a muscular, handsome, 6’4” former basketball superstar with a solid physique and colorful sleeve tattoos. Kade “KC” Cavanaugh is back in Potter Lake following his NBA retirement and the business he’s opened, a slick and shiny co-ed salon, directly competes with Curl & Dye.

KC is all too eager to to pick things up where they left off fifteen years ago, but Leslie can’t forget how KC pushed her away after an intimate encounter, then dropped out of Healy University and left her behind for the bright lights of professional ball. . But although she won’t admit it, time and maturity have eaten away at her anger and her long-buried attraction to Kade Cavanaugh has resurfaced.
With a vengeance.

Now there is a larger problem: Leslie and KC find themselves in the center of a city wide drama, and with both sides of Potter Lake at war and their livelihoods at stake, the two have to stop sniping at each other and start working together. And maybe, in the process, forget the past and revive a budding romance that was very special...a very long time ago.

Review: I love romantic stories set in small towns, so D.L. White scores huge points with me for creating the fictional town of Potter Lake and its cast of characters. Much like the towns Beverly Jenkins created in her Blessings series and Farrah Rochon with her Bayou Dreams and Moments in Maplesville series, I just want to pack up my bags and move there.

While the main characters and their story lines are predictable, in introducing so many townspeople, there's potential to turn this initial story line into a broader series. The playful banter between KC and his twin sister, TC, reminded me of the relationship Cam and his sister Mary Charles have on Survivor's Remorse. It's light and playful on the surface but both would do anything for their siblings. I'd like to see TC get a little more shine. There's more to her than just running KC's business and living next door to him. Leslie's best friend, Tamera, seems to have a story of her own to tell as well. What was she doing back in Potter Lake when Leslie was living it up in Chicago? Miss Earline who gets her hair done at the salon and continues to slay in her golden years definitely has a story. There are so many tales to be told.

I won't pressure the author to churn out another book. I won't bother her about creating a series from this. (I'm lying, yes I will.) I know that good things come to those who wait. It may take time before the rest of the characters start talking to her like they talked to me, but whenever she's ready to go back to Potter Lake, I'll be there waiting.

Published: September 2017
Disclaimer: Copy of book received from author, opinions are my own.

#BookReview: SECOND TIME AROUND by D.L. White

Synopsis: Potter Lake, GA is a small town filled with life and love, where the hustle and bustle slows down just enough to notice what— and who is around you.

For recent transplants Sage Owens and Bennett Alexander, their greatest losses marked the end of to have and to hold. While time marches on, it doesn’t move in reverse; it doesn’t bring back the love of your life.

These two souls are drawn together in this quaint town and discover that their meeting is not so accidental but fated. What time may bring this holiday season is a second chance at love.

Review: I love, love, LOVE romances with seasoned characters. Seasoned being my kind way of saying older characters. I love that the characters have lived so there's no falling in love at the drop of a hat. They've seen some things and they know some things and their romances or, in some instances their situationships, seem to be more realistic than the typical knight in white armor riding in to save some damsel in distress.

Sage and Bennett are such a cute couple and even though we only meet them in the initial stages of their new romance, I feel like they're going to be a successful couple. Sage's relationship with her daughter is also adorable and I'm hoping (from my fingers to the author's eyes) that she stars in her own Potter Lake romance soon.

D.L. White's Potter Lake romances are quickly becoming some of my favorites. They rank right up there with Farrah Rochon's Moments in Maplesville and Beverly Jenkins' Blessings series, set in Henry Adams, KS. It's obvious I love a good, small town romance, right? I can't wait to see what happens in Potter Lake next.

#BookReview: Bring on the Blessings - Beverly Jenkins

Henry Adams, Kansas is a small town settled by freed slaves after the Civil War and it's a community on its last leg. In desperation, the mayor puts the township up for sale on eBay. Bernadine Brown has just received $ 275 million in a divorce settlement and does what any other woman in her right mind would do, she buys a town! Bernadine's dream is to rebuild the town and create a haven for foster children needing families. While most of the town residents warm to the idea, there are a few disgruntled residents (and a pig) that will stop at nothing to discredit Bernadine and keep her dream from becoming a reality.

FREE FOR ALL FRIDAY, June 12, 2015

Freedom to Write Lecture
Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie delivers the 2015 PEN World Voices Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture and then participates in a Q&A with Andrew Solomon, who was recently named President of the PEN American Center.

Catch her lecture and the Q & A that follows it this Sunday, June 14 at 7:45pm EDT on C-SPAN 2.

Nnedi Okorafor announced her newest book on Twitter.

I'm in the final editing phase of my forthcoming children's book CHICKEN IN THE KITCHEN. pic.twitter.com/Tm1TCehBDX

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) June 11, 2015

The Library of Congress just unveiled this year's poster for the National Book Festival, to be held in Washington, DC on September 5. Since it's Labor Day weekend, it's a perfect time to visit DC and stalk your favorite authors like Walter Mosley, Kwame Alexander, Ellen Oh, Ishamel Reed, Annette Gordon-Reed, Marlon James, Beverly Jenkins, Lalita Tademy and Ha Jin.

Remember how much the streets loved Omar Tyree back in the 90s? When Flyy Girl hit the shelves in 1993, it became must read lit for a whole generation of readers. Personally, I can't remember much about it other than everyone I knew loved it. I low key hold him responsible for the re-emergence of street lit. Anywho, it turns out Sanaa Lathan was a fan of the book back in the day and is working on a film adaptation. Will you check it out?




Speaking of authors that dominated the 90s...

http://t.co/GB0rUSz0KC | E. Lynn Harris’ Invisible Life Is Now A Musical w/ @ImBrendaBraxton @frenchiedavis @tdlavell pic.twitter.com/mal712YyIA

— Broadway Black (@BroadwayBlack) June 10, 2015

Invisible Life will only run for six performances June 25-30 at the Apollo. If you plan to check it out, let us know!

In Search of Satisfaction

One of the challenges of being a book blogger is finding books that interest you enough to want to talk about them.  Some books are just blah and I have a hard time stringing together enough words to interest others in reading them.  Some books blow me away and I have a hard time organizing my thoughts enough to get the words out in a coherent fashion.  Lately, I feel like I'm reading more blah books and not enough "shiver me timbers" books.

As much as I read as a kid, the college bookstore opened up a whole new world of authors for me.  While other students charged sweatshirts to their student accounts, I was charging books.  It was there that I discovered Maya Angelou beyond I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; Gloria Naylor; and the Terry McMillan edited anthology, Breaking Ice.

There was an overabundance of good work and good authors in the nineties.  The shelves at The Knowledge Center, the neighborhood bookstore, overflowed with books by Barbara Neeley, Bebe Moore Campbell, J. California Cooper and Lolita Files.  When my budget couldn't keep up with all of the good books, the library of  the mid-nineties through 2005 or so gave me Grace F. Edwards, April Sinclair, Tina McElroy Ansa, Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Dawn Turner Trice, Tananarive Due, Lorene Cary, Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant. 

Today I can walk in and pick up (or download from home) books by Bernice McFadden, Ernessa T. Carter, Martha Southgate, Mary Monroe, Tayari Jones, Carleen Brice, Beverly Jenkins, Michele Grant, Aliya S. King and Danielle Evans.  Do you notice how much shorter that list is in comparison to what awaited me just ten years ago? Yes, there's a flood of self-published and/or street lit authors, but where are the quality writers of the future?  Some of the authors of 20 years ago continue to write, but I worry about who will replace them.  I don't doubt that there are plenty of good writers waiting in the wing, but I do worry that publishers won't give them a chance to be heard.

Last year saw books like Silver Sparrow, Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self and If Sons Then Heirs.  This year has brought Gathering of Waters, Home and The Cutting Season (okay, the last one doesn't come out until October, but trust me, you're going to love it), but when I look at the publisher's summer, fall and winter catalogs, I don't see a lot coming down the pipeline by writers that I'm interested in reading. Knowing what authors and books I enjoy, who do you recommend I read? What authors have I overlooked in the past that I should give another glance?  If all of the good books are already read, what do I read next?

#BookReview: A TREASURE OF GOLD by Piper Huguley

I love good historical fiction, especially when it features people of colour. I "discovered" Piper Huguley's work earlier this year and fell in love with her characters almost immediately. Like Beverly Jenkins, the queen of historical fiction, Huguley does her research, recreating towns and characters of days gone by. Fans of her Migrations of the Heart series might think it strange that I start my review of the series, thus far, with book #3, but its story line is the one that has drawn me in the most.

The Bledsoe sisters are well known in their neck of the woods in rural Georgia. Just as her sisters Ruby and Pearl have done before her, Nettie leaves the country and heads for the big city, Philadelphia, Set before the depression in 1923, A Treasure of Gold is a delightful story that can either be read as part of the overall series or as a standalone book.

The most devout of her sisters, Nettie arrives in Philadelphia to help care for Mags (aka Pearl) who is due to have a baby any day. While she awaits the birth of her newest niece or nephew, she stumbles upon an injured man right outside of Ruby's door. Since Ruby's husband, Adam, is a doctor, it would only seem right that he doctor on the handsome stranger. But Adam and Ruby both have an adverse reaction to their new patient, Jay. Nettie's Christian duty won't allow her to turn a cold shoulder to Jay or his young daughter, Goldie, and before she knows it, she's taking care of both of them and the tongues down at the local church are wagging.

So this is the part that threw me, and had it not seemed so out of character for the characters I'd come to know and love, I wouldn't have questioned it. Jay is a numbers runner, not necessarily an honorable profession, but he wasn't a gangster either. With Ruby and Mags both coming from humble beginnings, and Ruby herself being subject to judgement and ridicule back home, I expected more of them. Both were rigid in their dislike of Jay, as were their husbands. On the flip side, Mag's mother-in-law, who was so cold in A Most Precious Pearl that ice wouldn't melt in her mouth, loved Jay. I also didn't care for the way Nettie's whole family treated her like damaged goods. It was all very strange, almost as if the author either forgot the character's personalities or decided to create completely new personas for them.

That aside, I loved this book for a number of reasons. As I said before, Huguley does her research. She captures the essence of Philadelphia during the Roaring Twenties. I found it to be much more interesting than the small town country living previously featured in the series. I also like that while she makes no secret of her character's being Christians, she doesn't try to beat readers over the head with it as some Christian authors are wont to do. And lastly, her romances involve actual courting. No one is jumping into bed with anyone any time soon. If that's your thing, you're going to want to find another author. But if you appreciate reading about a couple taking time to discover each other, Huguley is for you.  Definitely give this series and her Home to Milford College series a try.

340 p.
Published; November 2015

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#BookReview: A Second Helping - Beverly Jenkins

The second in what I hope becomes a series, A Second Helping is the follow up to 2009's Bring on the Blessings. The residents of the historically black town of Henry Adams, KS are back for more.

Readers of the first book will remember that newly divorced millionaire Bernadine Brown bought the struggling town while looking for a project to immerse herself in after she found her husband of twenty-plus years cheating. A woman with a big heart, Bernadine began a project in the first book to unite the families of Hays Adam with hard to place foster children. In her latest sequel, we find the kids and their families thriving and readying for adoption.

Eleven year old former car thief, Amari, has found a home with the mayor of the small town and has made the decision to become a part of the July family. In order to do so, he must complete a spiritual quest guided by the matriarch of the July family, Tamar, and complete an unselfish task that brings joy to someone else. Paging through old photo albums, Amari stumbles upon pictures of the August 1st parade and decides to organize one for his new family and new town.

Prior to reading this book, I had never heard of an August 1st parade. Most of us are familiar with Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Texas, the last state to free their slaves in 1865. August 1st celebrates the abolishment of slavery in the British empire in 1834 and was celebrated throughout towns in the United States up until 1927. To this day it is also celebrated in Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Anguilla, The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos and the British Virgin Isles.

During the 1830s these annual events were small affairs largely organized in schoolhouses, debating halls, and black churches. Over subsequent decades, however, these annual meetings became much larger, more public, and communal affairs. Thousands of people of African descent would congregate in villages, towns, and city squares during the opening days of August to celebrate the ending of slavery elsewhere and organize for its overthrow in the United States. During the 1850s, these public meetings became breeding grounds for more militant opposition toward American slavery: through the attraction and participation of fugitive slaves; the parade of armed black militias; and, fiery speeches demanding the violent overthrow of American slavery. In British Canada, an older generation of black people, along with fugitives and more recent emigrants, also adapted August First as an important expression of their antislavery actions and political identities. In short, August First Day was to become the most important public commemorative event and popular form of mobilization among people of African descent in the English-speaking Atlantic world between the 1830s and the 1860s. - excerpt from Whatever Happened to August First by J.R. Kerr-Ritchie

Along with the adventures that come with planning a parade, readers are introduced to a few new characters and will be delighted to reacquaint themselves with old, familiar characters.

What did you like about this book?

I loved the introduction of August 1st. The author is known for writing historical romances. Though this is not a romance in the true sense of the word, I'm glad that she introduced the historical aspects of this fictional town.

What did you dislike about this book?

It ended too quickly. Yes, even with 386 pages, I wanted more.

How can the author improve this book?

No improvements needed. It's my hope that this becomes a series and that it doesn't take another year for the next edition to be released.

386 pp

Published January 2010

New Books Coming Your Way, June 28, 2016

The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam
432 p. (Fiction; Bangladesh)

On the eve of her departure to find the bones of the walking whale—the fossil that provides a missing link in our evolution—Zubaida Haque falls in love with Elijah Strong, a man she meets in a darkened concert hall in Boston. Their connection is immediate and intense, despite their differences: Elijah belongs to a prototypical American family; Zubaida is the adopted daughter of a wealthy Bangladeshi family in Dhaka. When a twist of fate sends her back to her hometown, the inevitable force of society compels her to take a very different path: she marries her childhood best friend and settles into a traditional Bangladeshi life.

While her family is pleased by her obedience, Zubaida seethes with discontent. Desperate to finally free herself from her familial constraints, she moves to Chittagong to work on a documentary film about the infamous beaches where ships are destroyed, and their remains salvaged by locals who depend on the goods for their survival. Among them is Anwar, a shipbreaker whose story holds a key that will unlock the mysteries of Zubaida’s past—and the possibilities of a new life. As she witnesses a ship being torn down to its bones, this woman torn between the social mores of her two homes—Bangladesh and America—will be forced to strip away the vestiges of her own life . . . and make a choice from which she can never turn back.

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Stepping to a New Day: A Blessings Novel by Beverly Jenkins
304 p. (Fiction; African-American)

In Henry Adams, Kansas, you can’t start over without stirring things up . . .

Many a good woman has had to leave a no-good man, but how many of them took a back-seat to his 600-lb. hog? On her own for the first time, Genevieve Gibbs is ecstatic, even if certain people preferred the doormat version of Ms. Gibbs. Finding someone who appreciates the “new” her has only just hit Gen’s to-do list when T.C. Barbour appears in her life.

A tiny Kansas town is a far cry from his native Oakland, California, but it’s just the change T. C. needs. While helping his divorced nephew acclimate to single fatherhood, T. C. lands a gig driving a limo for the most powerful woman in Henry Adams. It’s a great way to meet people—and one in particular has already made the job worthwhile. All it takes is a short trip from the airport for Genevieve to snag T.C.’s attention for good.

But it wouldn’t be Henry Adams without adding more drama to the mix. When Gen’s ex Riley returns with his hog in tow, it sets off a chain of events that can ruin everything—unless the residents pull together once again to save the day.

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Jackson, 1964: And Other Dispatches from Fifty Years of Reporting on Race in America by Calvin Trillin
304 p. (Non-fiction)

In this collection, Calvin Trillin returns to the early years of his storied career, when he was a young journalist posted in a fitfully-desegregating Georgia. The people he met there, the country-shaking events he covered, and the changes he saw being made - or blocked - would impact him deeply, and for the next fifty years, Trillin would return to stories about race, racism, and segregation across the entire country. Now, for the first time, the best of Trillin’s pieces on this period and its legacy in the years that followed are collected in one volume.

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Chronicle of a Last Summer by Yasmine El Rashidi
192 p. (Fiction; Egypt)

Cairo, 1984. A blisteringly hot summer. A young girl in a sprawling family house. Her days pass quietly: listening to her mother’s phone conversations, looking at the Nile from a bedroom window, watching the three state-sanctioned TV stations with the volume off, daydreaming about other lives. Underlying this claustrophobic routine is mystery and loss. Relatives mutter darkly about the newly-appointed President Mubarak. Everyone talks with melancholy about the past. People disappear overnight. Her own father has left, too—why, or to where, no one will say.

The story unfolds over three pivotal summers, from her youth to adulthood: As a six-year old absorbing the world around her, filled with questions she can’t ask; as a college student and aspiring filmmaker pre-occupied with love, language, and the repression that surrounds her; and later, in the turbulent aftermath of Mubarak’s overthrow, as a writer exploring her own past. Reunited with her father, she wonders about the silences that have marked and shaped her life.

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The Swan Book by Alexis Wright
320 p. (Fiction; Aboriginal Australia)

Oblivia Ethelyne was given her name by an old woman who found her deep in the bowels of a gum tree, tattered and fragile, the victim of a brutal assault by wayward local youths. These are the years leading up to Australia’s third centenary, and the woman who finds her, Bella Donna of the Champions, is a refugee from climate change wars that devastated her country in the northern hemisphere. Bella Donna takes Oblivia to live with her on an old warship in a polluted dry swamp and there she fills Oblivia’s head with story upon story of swans. Fenced off from the rest of Australia by the Army, its traditional custodians left destitute, the swamp has become “the world’s most unknown detention camp” for Indigenous Australians. When Warren Finch, the first Aboriginal president of Australia invades the swamp with his charismatic persona and the promise of salvation, Oblivia agrees to marry him, becoming First Lady, a role that has her confined to a tower in a flooded and lawless southern city.

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Sins of the Mother - Did We Love It?

I don't know about you all, but I planned my Sunday evening around this movie. I cooked dinner early and retired to my room to watch it in peace. When my daughter asked me to come downstairs to help her make churros for Spanish class, I agreed only after she assured me that she had already turned the channel to Lifetime Movie Network. Even then I refused to come down until the movie was on a commercial break.

I LOVED IT! With a few exceptions here and there, the movie stayed very true to the book. Jill Scott was great, but she's always great. People who haven't seen her performance in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency are missing out on her acting skills. But the break out performance was by Nicole Beharie, the actress that played LaShay. Twitter was abuzz Sunday night with people voicing their dislike for the angry, bitter character. At the same time, tweeps really empathized with Shay.

And the church scene? My timeline was scrolling so quickly that I could barely keep up! I knew it was coming, but I was sitting on the edge of my seat to see how it would play out and I was not disappointed. It was so good that I had to hit rewind and watch it a second time. By the way, the author herself was in this scene sitting directly behind Shay, wearing some fierce glasses.

The casting (I loved the chocolatey goodness that played Oliver), the writing and the scenery all came together to create one of the best "book turned movie" that I've seen in awhile.

So what did you think? Did you enjoy it? Was it everything you thought it would be? Did you read the book first? Comment here, but by all means, comment over on Lifetime's website because we want to see more movies by and about us, right?

And what other literary works are you interested in seeing? Terry McMillan's Mama? Beverly Jenkins' Bring on the Blessings? What about a J. California Cooper series of shorts?

New Books Coming Your Way, Jan. 26, 2016

The Illegal by Lawrence Hill
400 p. (Fiction; dystopian)
Publication date: Jan. 25, 2016

All Keita has ever wanted to do is to run. Running means respect and wealth at home. His native Zantoroland, a fictionalized country whose tyrants are eerily familiar, turns out the fastest marathoners on earth. But after his journalist father is killed for his outspoken political views, Keita must flee to the wealthy nation of Freedom State—a country engaged in a crackdown on all undocumented people.

There, Keita becomes a part of the new underground. He learns what it means to live as an illegal: surfacing to earn cash prizes by running local races and assessing whether the people he meets will be kind or turn him in. As the authorities seek to arrest Keita, he strives to elude capture and ransom his sister, who has been kidnapped.

Set in an imagined country bearing a striking resemblance to our own, this tension-filled novel casts its eye on race, human potential, and what it means to belong.

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Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins
384 p. (Fiction; romance)
Publication date: Jan. 26, 2016

Rhine Fontaine is building the successful life he’s always dreamed of—one that depends upon him passing for White. But for the first time in years, he wishes he could step out from behind the façade. The reason: Eddy Carmichael, the young woman he rescued in the desert. Outspoken, defiant, and beautiful, Eddy tempts Rhine in ways that could cost him everything…and the price seems worth paying.

Eddy owes her life to Rhine, but she won’t risk her heart for him. As soon as she’s saved enough money from her cooking, she’ll leave this Nevada town and move to California. No matter how handsome he is, no matter how fiery the heat between them, Rhine will never be hers. Giving in for just one might quench this longing. Or it might ignite an affair as reckless and irresistible as it is forbidden…

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That Other Me by Maha Gargash
384 p. (Fiction; Middle Eastern)
Publication date: Jan. 26, 2016

Majed, the head of the eminent Naseemy family, is proud to have risen into the upper echelons of Emirati society. As one of the richest businessmen in Dubai, he’s used to being catered to and respected—never mind that he acquired his wealth by cheating his brother out of his own company and depriving his niece, Mariam, of her rights.

Not one to dwell on the past—he sent Mariam to school in Egypt, what more could she want from him?—Majed spends his days berating his wife and staff and cavorting with friends at a private apartment. But he’s suddenly plagued by nightmares that continue to haunt him during the day, and he feels his control further slipping away with the discovery that his niece and his daughter are defying his orders.

Mariam despises Majed, and although she blames him for her father’s death, hers is a strictly-organized, dutiful existence. But when she falls for a brash, mischievous fellow student named Adel, he might just prove to be her downfall.

Largely abandoned by Majed as the daughter of a second, secret marriage, the vivacious Dalal has a lot to prove. The runner-up on “Nights of Dubai,” an American Idol-type reality show for Arab talent, Dalal is committed to being a singer despite the fact that it’s a disreputable career. When her efforts to become a celebrity finally begin to pay off, she attracts the attention of her father, who is determined to subdue Dalal to protect the family name. As Majed increasingly exerts his control over both Dalal and Mariam, both girls resist, with explosive consequences.

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The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
408 p. (Fiction; India/U.S.)
Publication date: Jan. 26, 2016

The first of his family to go to college, Anil Patel, the golden son, carries the weight of tradition and his family’s expectations when he leaves his tiny Indian village to begin a medical residency in Dallas, Texas, at one of the busiest and most competitive hospitals in America. When his father dies, Anil becomes the de facto head of the Patel household and inherits the mantle of arbiter for all of the village’s disputes. But he is uneasy with the custom, uncertain that he has the wisdom and courage demonstrated by his father and grandfather. His doubts are compounded by the difficulties he discovers in adjusting to a new culture and a new job, challenges that will shake his confidence in himself and his abilities.

Back home in India, Anil’s closest childhood friend, Leena, struggles to adapt to her demanding new husband and relatives. Arranged by her parents, the marriage shatters Leena’s romantic hopes, and eventually forces her to make a desperate choice that will hold drastic repercussions for herself and her family. Though Anil and Leena struggle to come to terms with their identities thousands of miles apart, their lives eventually intersect once more—changing them both and the people they love forever.

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The Seventh Day by Yu Hua
224 p. (Fiction; satire; China)
Publication date: Jan. 26, 2016

Yang Fei was born on a moving train. Lost by his mother, adopted by a young switchman, raised with simplicity and love, he is utterly unprepared for the changes that await him and his country. As a young man, he searches for a place to belong in a nation ceaselessly reinventing itself, but he remains on the edges of society. At forty-one, he meets an unceremonious death, and lacking the money for a burial plot, must roam the afterworld aimlessly. There, over the course of seven days, he encounters the souls of people he’s lost, and as he retraces the path of his life, we meet an extraordinary cast of characters: his adoptive father, beautiful ex-wife, neighbors who perished in the demolition of their homes. Vivid, urgent, and panoramic, Yang Fei’s passage movingly traces the contours of his vast nation—its absurdities, its sorrows, and its soul. This searing novel affirms Yu Hua’s place as the standard-bearer of Chinese fiction.

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Soul Serenade: Rhythm, Blues & Coming of Age Through Vinyl by Rashod Ollison
240 p. (Non-fiction; memoir; LGBT)
Publication date: Jan. 26, 2016

Growing up in rural Arkansas, young Rashod Ollison turned to music to make sense of his life. The dysfunction, sadness, and steely resilience of his family and neighbors was reflected in the R&B songs that played on 45s in smoky rooms.

Steeped in the sounds, the smells, the salty language of rural Arkansas in the 1980s, Soul Serenade is the memoir of a pop music critic whose love for soul music was fostered by his father, Raymond. Drafted into the Vietnam War as a teenager, Raymond returned a changed man, “dead on the inside.” After his parents’ volatile marriage ended in divorce, Rashod was haunted by the memory of his itinerant father and his mama’s long forgotten “sunshine smile.” For six-year-old Rashod, his father’s record collection—the music of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, and others—provided solace, coherence, and escape.

Moving nine times during his childhood, Rashod constantly adjusted to new schools and homes with his two sisters, Dusa and Reagan, and his mother, Dianne. Resilient and tough, while also being distant and punitive, she worked multiple jobs, striving “to make ends wave at each other if they couldn’t meet.” He spent time with his acerbic mother’s mother, Mama Teacake, and her family’s living-out-loud ways, which clashed with his father’s family—religious, discreet, and appropriate—where Rashod gravitated to Big Mama and Paw Paw, his father’s parents.

Becoming aware of his same-sex attraction, Rashod felt further isolated and alone but was encouraged by mentors in the community who fostered his intelligence and talent. He became transformed through discovering the writing of Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni, and other literary greats, and these books, along with the soulful sounds of the 1970s and 80s, enabled him to thrive in spite of the instability and harshness of his childhood.

In textured and evocative language, and peppered with unexpected humor, Soul Serenade is an original and captivating coming-of-age story set to an original beat.

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