The Reading Diva

In 1982, Barack Obama Jr., then a student at Columbia University, received a phone call that informed him of his father's passing. The father, which he barely knew and only met once, was killed in a car accident in his native Kenya. As many of you know, this event will start a path of the now President to find out more about his father - which was explored in his first book, Dreams From My Father. While writing about Barack Sr. for the Boston Globe, Sally H. Jacobs wanted to find out more about the man that who shares a name with the President and little else. The result was The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama's Father. And bold and reckless it was. Growing up in the rural part of Kenya, Barack Sr. was raised by a strict man who had several wives. His intelligence made him a star in school, but his arrogance caused him to get kicked out of the country's equivalent of high school. Eventually, he was able to meet Betty Mooney, a lite...

Christopher Crowe. Christopher Chichester. Christopher Mountbatten. These are three names that Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter went by. But there is one name he will will be forever linked with. Clark Rockefeller. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit is a interesting, well-written book book on how Gerhartsreiter, a German immigrant, was able to con people in both coasts and how his massive web of lies finally came down. For almost twenty years, Gerhartsreiter used different aliases and traveled across the country. He wanted access to the rich and powerful and integrated himself with them while somehow became able to support his "lavish" lifestyle. While in California under the name Christopher Chichester, he met Didi Sohus, an elderly woman who he eventually ripped off. But her son and daughter-in-law became missing. John Sohus' body was eventually found, but wife Linda was never found. Chichester left town, on to his next city with rich people. For most o...

From left, Valinda, Nadia, Veronica, Flash, myself and Cat As you can tell, my "trying to blog everyday during the conference" experiment didn't work. But now I am back (and got some much needed rest), I can tell you about the AWESOME time I had at the National Book Club Conference in Atlanta. I attended this great event with the Literary Divas of the Lowcountry, which I am a member of. I was with my friends Cat, Valinda ( who you can meet here ), Nadia, Veronica and Flashette. Here is a recap of our experience at NBBC. Thursday night: We attended the Black Pearls Magazine Chocolate Social. So we got dressed up and walked to the Westin, which is a block or two from the Hyatt, which where the conference was. And for those who don't know what the Westin is, it is the tall round hotel in downtown Atlanta. So we went to this social and....let's just say we were highly disappointed. The program and the networking was WAY TOO LONG. It was adverti...