The Reading Diva

Happy Holidays everyone!  As 2012 comes to a close, I would like to recap the book events that attended this year.  There were several books signings I attended this year (and I hope to have the bell hooks and Jonathan Safran Foer recaps up on the blog soon).  I also attended the South Carolina Book Festival in Columbia, where I got a chance to meet a lot of authors and go home with a lot of books (and did I tell you I got to meet Eric Jerome Dickey?). I have also been away for a while due to my busy schedule.  I did a lot of volunteering for the Obama campaign in my hometown, which involved a lot of phone calls and paperwork.  After the president won reelection (YAY!), I started to get prepared to go to Little Rock, AR for work.  I spent almost a week there and even got to go on my first plane ride (it had been pretty much cars and buses before this).  Now that the holidays are here and I got over a week off from work, I have a little time to read ...

Dee and I at the South Carolina Book Festival in May I have returned to the blog with a heavy heart.  Dee Stewart, also known as Miranda Parker, passed away on Friday. I got a chance to meet her twice.  The first time was last year at the National Book Club Conference , where my friends and I met her at the chocolate social.   Her first book had just been released and she was giving out chocolate cupcakes.  She was very nice and took the time to talk to us. After NBCC, we stayed in contact via Facebook and Twitter. When she announced that she was going to be in Columbia for the South Carolina Book Festival , I told her that I would make sure that I would make an effort to see her.  At the festival, she was a part of a new authors panel and even discussed her upcoming book , which was about to be released at the time.  We got a chance to talk afterwards and she was grateful that I attended her panel and signing. We still communicated on soci...

First, I would like to apologize for not writing any posts lately.  I have been busy with my professional life and have been going through long-term writer's blog. I have been wondering what book I was going to review next and what direction the blog was going to take. Then, this afternoon, I saw this .  It asked what happened to the type of black literature that was popular in the 90s and early 2000s. Let's go over the authors that are listed in the beginning in this article. Yes, Bebe and E. Lynn are no longer with us. But E. Lynn's estate has released three books since his passing.  Asha Bandele came out with a book two years ago.  And Bernice McFadden came out with a book this year ( which I reviewed her e) and an ebook . My point is this: that type Black literature is still around. You just have to find it. Here are a few tips. Google/Yahoo Search/Bing is your friend:  I don't care what kind of search engine you use.  Just look up...

Several weeks ago, I received an advanced copy of God Don't Make No Mistakes by Mary Monroe.  I admit that I hadn't read the "God Don't" series (but I do plan to!). I knew my friend Flashette ( which you met here)  had read the series and would like to have the opportunity of reading and reviewing it. I gave her my copy to check it out and she gave me a review.  Flash is a teacher, reviewer for OOSA , avid reader and friend.  Here is her review: God Don’t Make No Mistakes is the final installment in the “God Don’t” series by Mary Monroe. The series follows the lifes and adventures of two childhood friends: Annette and Rhoda. These ladies have survived it all from molestation to breast cancer, from prostitution to the death of a child. They make it through these challenges because of their unshakeable friendship. This bond is again tested as the ladies find themselves at odds about the best interest of their daughters.   Annette’s daughter Charlo...

Note: this blog post has spoilers for two books.  About three years ago, I read In Love With A Younger Man by Cheryl Robinson.  It's about 43-year-old Olena Day trying to decide between two younger men.  Matthew is 25 and has his life together at a young age. Jason's 32 and a retired football player. While reading this book, I really wanted Olena to get with Matthew because he seemed to be a pretty decent guy.  Something about Jason always seemed off and I wasn't feeling him. At the end of the book, Olena finds out that Matthew is the son of a man she dated in college (and got pregnant by, which resulted in an abortion).  That leaves her with only Jason, who just found out he has prostate cancer . So when I heard a sequel was coming out, I was happy, but cautious.  I was hoping that Olena had enough sense to give Matthew another chance. But based on the description of The One , I wasn't holding my breath. This book starts out with Olena nursing J...

Last year, I wrote this extensive list of which books I was looking forward to reading over the summer.  But this year, I don't have that kind of list.  This summer, I will be trying to read as many books that I have bought from festivals, signings, Friends of the Library events and just plain old bookstore visits/B&N Website browsing (for the Nook Color). Here are some major media outlets that are featuring their summer reads list. More will be added as they become available: NY Times USA Today (Interactive) NPR Good Housekeeping Journal Sentinel (Added 5/29/12   I got 99 books....) Chicago Tribune (Added 5/29/12) Wall Street Journal (Added 5/29/12) Entertainment Weekly (Added 5/29/12) Library Journal (Added 5/29/12) NY Daily News (Added 5/31/12) Entertainment Weekly (Added 6/1/12) Publishers Weekly (Added 6/8/12) LA Times (Added 6/8/12) Oprah Magazine (Added 7/5/12) Daily Candy (Added 7/5/12) Learnvest (Added 7/5/12) ...

Wonderful.  That is the best word I can use to describe the 16th Annual South Carolina Book Festival .  I had so much fun and got to a chance to meet (and re-meet) some wonderful authors during this two day event in Columbia.   After waking up early Saturday morning and driving about an hour an a half to the Capital City, I arrive at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.  And the first person I see when I arrived is Kwame Alexander.  And he notices that I'm wearing my Capital Bookfest tee.  I also met with my friend Valinda (who was volunteering at the festival) at the door and she took pictures.  For those who have seen these pictures on my Facebook page realize that I am not smiling in that one.  When Valinda took the other picture, it looks like I'm frowning. But I was getting ready to smile when she took that picture. After greeting Kwame, Valinda and I went to see Kimberla Lawson Roby.  She talked about her new...

It's time for the South Carolina Book Festival !  I will be heading to Columbia (also known as the Capital City and Gamecock Country) tomorrow to take up two days of authors, books and more books. This is my first time going in two years . I'm so excited because this year because several of my favorite authors are going to be there. Kimberla Lawson Roby will be there Saturday morning and Zane will be speaking in the afternoon. (Side note: to be honesty, I think the author of 50 Shades of Gray took Zane's M.O.) I will also get to see Miranda Parker, who I had a great chance of meeting last year at the National Book Club Conference . Acoustic Rooster will also make his way to the Columbia Convention Center as  Kwame Alexander will take part in this year's festival. On Sunday, I finally get to see and meet Eric Jerome Dickey! He's one of the few famous African-American authors I haven't met. So when I found out he was coming, I nearly passed out (seriously). ...

About ten years ago, I read Fifth Born .  It's about Odessa, a St. Louis girl who experienced mistreatment from her mother and sexual abuse from her father during the 1960s and 1970s. It was a book that I highly enjoyed and it has stuck with me to this day. When I read from another blogger that there was a sequel , I wanted to read it.  My local library didn't have it, but I was lucky that my employer offers a ILL service where books are shared among the colleges in the state.  One of the community colleges had the book and it was sent my way. ( MAJOR SPOILER ALERT! If you have not read the first book, you may want to skip to the end.) I was so glad that the sequel rehashed the end of the first book.  Odessa finds out that her assumed crazy aunt Ella Mae (who lives in Mississippi) is her real mother and that she was a product of rape (the aunt was raped by her father).  Odessa is left in Mississippi after she confronts her parents, especially her fathe...

Last month, I started on a journey to read ten books in thirty days.  I thought I was on the way of getting there, but I failed. I read four books. The third book I finished was Diamond Life , the sequel of Platinum .  It's about the lives of hip hop stars and their spouses/lovers and some, if not all, of them were inspired by real life stars.  I actually enjoyed this one a little more than Platinum, but my only complaint is that one of the characters that was highly featured in Platinum wasn't in Diamond Life much. And if the real life inspiration to Bunny is anything close to the character.... The fourth book I finished was Redefining Diva by Sheryl Lee Ralph.  This book is mostly a biography, but gives pearls of wisdom along the way. I had a chance to meet Soror Ralph at Regional Convention last year and she is just as sweet and gorgeous in person. I think what messed me up was that I read a lot of books that were long and needed more of my attention rath...

Gathering of Waters

There is one word to describe this true crime book: BOO! I had started reading The Good Son almost two weeks ago, but didn't really get that far. Since the book's not long (about 260 pages), I decided to make it a part of my challenge. This is a case where a 19-year old guy killed his parents with the help of his girlfriend, her best friend and the night manager at the IHOP they hung out at. The motive was (supposedly) for money. The parents were stabbed and shot to death. I would normally list the names of these people when I review true crime books, but this book may me not care. Why? Because only 70 pages of this book was dedicated to background about the suspects and the victims. The rest of the book was dedicated to trial coverage of the guy and his girlfriend (the other two suspects plead out). Then in the end, the author admits that she sent the guy books in jail and has been communicating with him. WTH? It was an easy read, but I kind of wish I passed on it. I...

While on Facebook last week, I came across SistahFriend Book Club's 10 Books in 30 Days Challenge . So I decided to not only to try to read 10 books in 30 days, but to blog about them! So far, I am doing well on the challenge (I know it's only day 1). I am more than half-way through a true crime book and hope to finish by tomorrow. I also got some of friends to take part of the challenge too. I'm still debating on whether to participate in the 24-hour read-a-thon on April 21st. I just realized that I have a book club meeting that day. I thought about doing it last October, but it was on my birthday weekend. (They do it twice a year.) I hope to have the first post up very soon and got a (somewhat) strategy on how to tackle this challenge! Wish me luck!

First off, I want to apologize for not being around as much as I want to (or suppose to). I had minor surgery last week and needed a few days to recover. That and work has kept me away. I am doing a lot better now. Yesterday was this blog's second anniversary. I would like to thank all of my readers who have stuck by me these last two years. But this week has been sad. As you may know, we loss Whitney Houston on Saturday. There have been many questions surrounding her death. What will happen to Bobbi Kris? What will her legacy be? And what will happen to the Waiting to Exhale sequel? Yes, people have been asking what will happen to the Getting To Happy movie, which will be based off of Terry McMillian's latest book. Savannah, Robin, Gloria and Bernadette are 15 years older, and hopefully wiser. And according to 20th Century Fox, it will still happen. I have my concerns about the Getting to Happy movie, and it has nothing to do with Whitney. Let's go back to the 1995 ...

Happy New Year! Hope your 2012 is going well. Everything is good here in the lovely state of South Carolina. We've been flooded with commercials, stories, signs, etc. because the Republican Presidential Primary is Saturday. And I will be so happy when it's over. Even though some cool people are in town, including Anderson Cooper, Donna Brazile and hometown favorite Stephen Colbert, I am tired of the bashing and the negativity. Can't wait until things are back to normal. So far, I've read 5 books, which I think is good. Four of those books were books I started in 2011. I'm almost halfway through Perfect Peace , which is really good. I am trying to read it by Saturday since the Book Club Groupies (the book club formally known as the Literary Divas of the Lowcountry) will be discussing it. And I'm almost to the point where the stuff hits the fan. And for anyone who has read this book knows what I'm talking about. This past Friday (which I know it was th...