Reading Check-In ("Before I Forget" by Leonard Pitts, Jr.)

 

My #ReadSoulLit Start-Ups

 

So I would start a James Baldwin book the weekend before taking my Grandmother to two specialists the following week. Then the week after is my birthday week, as well as my return to the classroom. Busy little beaver, I suppose. Not the best time to find myself waist deep in Baldwin’s level of immersion and gripping engagement. Yet, I chose to pick up his book, Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone. But who am I kidding? It is always the perfect timing for a Baldwin book. As I write this, I am fifty pages in and on my second cup of coffee for the evening. His work is that absorbing; I always want to be alert to his offerings. And here it is about to start raining! The right vibe. The right move. The right night. As I have stated, perfect timing.

I’m halfway through Tammye Huf’s A More Perfect Union. It is the book chosen for the #ReadSoulLit read-along of 2021. So far, I am liking the book. It is a fictionalized retelling of the author’s ancestors' love story, seeded in a Virginia plantation around 1849. You take a slave named, Sarah, and her Irish immigrant beau named Henry; imagine the peril involved. One thing I enjoy is Henry's narrative insight into the Irish immigrate experience. I also enjoy the parallel of family pain and trauma both Sarah and Henry share, though the overall illustrations of those shared traumas are fairly "light" (if you will). Nevertheless, their pain is something that draws them to one another. To keep a balance, Sarah and Henry do alternate shifting his or her narrative throughout the book. Yet, there is a third character named Maple that is as desperate to share her painful narrative as well. And an interesting one it is, considering she is the half-sister of the plantation’s mistress.

We Got Some NEW Black Mysteries Up in HERE!

Ahhhh, some black writers writing mysteries.  Should I scream once again on how excited one is?  I mean, I have been doing so up and down these blogging streets for over seven years now.  Ain’t a thing gon’ change either?  Anyway, here’s what I got.  Two released in 2020 (one as recently as last week), and a newfound series came falling into my lap.  For more info click the links below (they are Amazon affiliate).

Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

Secrets, Lies, & Crawfish Pies by Abby L. Vandiver

The Missing American by Kwei Quartey

Baldwin Reading of "Going to Meet the Man"

#MarchMysteryMadness 2020 Giveaway WINNER (or "WIN-TAH!")

#ReadSoulLit & #WheelofTime #FRIDAYREADS (That's a lot of #'s)

CHOP IT UP: Starlight Passage by Anita Richmond Bunkley #ReadSoulLit

#ReadSoulLit Read-Along Timemafacation w/ The Last Thing You Surrender by Leonard Pitts Jr.

Closing January Library Visit

Man, oh man how I love the library.  Isn’t the library great?  I couldn’t imagine a world without libraries, and am always stunned when one is close to shutting down.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me when they do.  Well, I guess bureaucratic mess is mostly to blame.  Anyway, I’m getting off track.  The point is that Thursday I moseyed on down to the library to look for something to read–even though I have 1,001 unread books on my shelves.  And because I stay in there and scanning shelf after shelf for new discoveries, here’s what I found… 

Long Distance Love by Marita Golden

"A woman flees the South of the 1920's to join the Black migration Northward, marries a black rationalist and has a daughter, who returns to the South to fight for civil rights and find her own identity"

Flight of the Blackbird by Faye McDonald Smith

"Members of the Black professional elite in Atlanta, Mel and Builder Burke work hard and enjoy the benefits of private school for their daughter and two vacations a year, but their dream begins to fade when Mel loses her job and Builder's business crumbles."

CHOP IT UP: Call Numbers by Syntell Smith

I love the public library. Loved the place since I got my first library card in the first grade (and still have it). Spent my childhood begging to go there, and dreaming I had a car to take myself whenever I wanted. I can do so now three or four times a week if I choose, thank you very much. Nevertheless, life is always good when you have access to a public library. Which is why I wanted to read Call Numbers when asked by the author, Syntell Smith, to do so and share my thoughts afterward. And while the library-centric aspect was the titling piece in my decision, other interesting elements were too. For starters, Call Numbers is set in the '90s ('80s baby/'90s kid here). And it carries a cast of knotty characters traversing personal and professional troubles inside a New York (say "hey" to the big city piece and messy drama) public library. So it has the decade, character and setting that rang my bells. And, despite a few grievances, bells it rang.

PART TWO of #ReadSoulLit TAG (A-LICIOUS)

PART ONE of #ReadSoulLit TAG on my blog!

BOOOMMMMNM!  And the walls SHOOKETH!  Hee-hee.  Here's the second half.  Once more, sorry for any inconvenience.

Sorry if the volume is low.  Tag originator issssss... Brown Girl Reading.  I filmed this on the 14th, but thank FreeFormLady for tagging me.  My ass is just behindddddd–per usual.

6.  A lot of us diehard fans refer to Toni Morrison as "The Queen".  Which writer do you feel could be the next Queen in African-American Literature?  I believe I answered this wrong.  I slipped into my fanboy mode instead of thinking about what NEW author may slide into the potential "Queen" area.  Or something like that.  But you guys know how I am when I get excited into a thought. ;)

Nonetheless, Mama Day & Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor

7.  What's the last book by an African-American author you read, loved and gave 4 or 5 stars?

Life is so Good by George Dawson

8.  Show some beautiful books by African - American authors?

L. A. Banks & Eric Jerome Dickey

9.  Black History Month is about its people.  What book would you like to read to learn more about African-Americans?

From Babylon to Timbuktu by Rudolph R Windsor

10.  Show what you're currently reading from your #readsoullit TBR.

Gathering of Waters by Bernice L. McFadden

PART ONE of #ReadSoulLit TAG (A-LICIOUS)

Sorry if the volume is low.  Tag originator issssss... Brown Girl Reading.  I filmed this on the 14th, but thank FreeFormLady for tagging me.  My ass is just behindddddd–per usual.

IN-TEE-WAY.  I split the video into two parts because the buster was too longggggg.  LOL.  Sorry for any inconvenience.  For my peace of mind, I just try to keep my videos under ten minutes.  And thank you to everyone who understands and stuff!

Part One set of questions goes as (all links are Amazon affiliate):

1.  What book(s) are you looking forward to reading this February in honor of black History Month?

You can check out my #ReadSoulLit TBR video on my blog HERE! 

2.  Cite and talk about a classic #readsoullit book published before 1970 that you love.

Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington

3.  What #readsoullit book would you like to see adapted to film?

Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Katrice Barnett

4.  Show and talk about one of your favorite #readsoullit books by a male author.

The Conjure-Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem by Rudolph Fisher

5.  What #readsoullit new release(s) are you excited about this year?

Borrowed Time by Tracy Clark

#ReadSoulLit TBR Add-To

2019 #ReadSoulLit ~ Corrections ~ Black Gold by Anita Richmond Bunkley

I am determined as all get-out to read Anita Richmond Bunkley’s 1994 book, Black Gold.  So much so that I ordered my own copy off Ebay–after my library check-out expired before I got to it.  Well, to be exact, I couldn’t renew the check-out because some other individual in my city decided she/he wanted to read it too.  That was not going to stop me, though.  Anyway, this is probably my most anticipated read off my 2019 #ReadSoulLit TBR.  

And I can't exactly tell you why.  Only that we're talking black landowners in Texas during the 1920's fighting to preserve their oil fields.  Or something close to that degree.  The point is that the book is drenched in saga-style feels.  That–of course–equates to drama.  Who doesn't love drama?  Let’s get into this!

Hallelujah!  I got my book!

  

2019 #ReadSoulLit TBR & Things of That Nature

Sooooo.  Links and such to consider...

Currently Reading...

1.  J. D. Robb/Eve Dallas fans and readers, I haven't forgotten about her latest release of Connections in Death (blog "exclusive").   

#ReadSoulLit-centric...

2.  #ReadSoulLit hosted by Didi over at Brown Girl Reading

3.  #ReadSoulLit Goodreads Group

2019 #ReadSoulLit Read-Along ~ Unforgivable Love by Sophronia Scott

Channels & Such Mentioned:

1. [#ReadSoulLit] = Brown Girl Reading   

AND the subsequent GOODREADS GROUP  

2. [Black-a-Thon] = Bowties & Books  

Book Mentioned:

3. [BookOutlet] Unforgivable Love by Sophronia Scott  

4. [Amazon] Unforgivable Love by Sophronia Scott (Affiliate Link)  

"In this vivid reimagining of the French classic Les Liaisons Dangereuses, it’s the summer when Jackie Robinson breaks Major League Baseball’s color barrier and a sweltering stretch has Harlem’s elite fleeing the city for Westchester County’s breezier climes, two predators stalk amidst the manicured gardens and fine old homes. 

Heiress Mae Malveaux rules society with an angel’s smile and a heart of stone. She made up her mind long ago that nobody would decide her fate. To have the pleasure she craves, control is paramount, especially control of the men Mae attracts like moths to a flame. 

Valiant Jackson always gets what he wants—and he’s wanted Mae for years. The door finally opens for him when Mae strikes a bargain: seduce her virginal young cousin, Cecily, who is engaged to Frank Washington. Frank values her innocence above all else. If successful, Val’s reward will be a night with Mae.    

But Val secretly seeks another prize. Elizabeth Townsend is fiercely loyal to her church and her civil rights attorney husband. Certain there is something redeemable in Mr. Jackson. Little does she know that her worst mistake will be Val’s greatest triumph."  

[2] New Black Cozy Mystery Series ~ Mayhem & Mass by Olivia Matthews

[1] New Black Cozy Mystery Series ~ The Plot is Murder by V. M. Burns

#ReadSoulLit FauxCast | Where I'm Bound by Allen Ballard

Where I'm Bound by Allen B. Ballard on Amazon (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/2pJV0Dr

A former slave turned cavalry scout becomes a hero for an African-American cavalry regiment in the Civil War. But, as the war draws to an end, the soldier, Joe Duckett, embarks on his most dangerous mission yet-to return to the plantation from which he escaped to find his wife and daughter.A Washington Post Notable Book. Also a winner of the First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association."The important story of black soldiers in the Union Army has finally found a writer of historical fiction equal to the occasion." James A McPherson, Professor of History, Princeton University

#ReadSoulLit FauxCast | Ruby by Cynthia Bond

The audio quality drops mid-way.  I do apologize.  We have glitches we can't control at times.  

Ruby by Cynthia Bond (Amazon affiliate link): https://amzn.to/EBiagq

"Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby Bell, “the kind of pretty it hurt to look at,” has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. Ruby quickly winds her way into the ripe center of the city—the darkened piano bars and hidden alleyways of the Village—all the while hoping for a glimpse of the red hair and green eyes of her mother. 

When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town’s dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy.

Full of life, exquisitely written, and suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby is a transcendent novel of passion and courage. This wondrous page-turner rushes through the red dust and gossip of Main Street, to the pit fire where men swill bootleg outside Bloom’s Juke, to Celia Jennings’s kitchen, where a cake is being made, yolk by yolk, that Ephram will use to try to begin again with Ruby." ~ On Amazon