King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

 

Hello my lovely readers!

SYNOPSIS

Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.―and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. 

In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father, and fellow activists. King reveals a minister wrestling with his own human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government, and a man determined to fight for justice even if it proved to be a fight to the death. As he follows MLK from the classroom to the pulpit to the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Memphis, Eig dramatically re-creates the journey of a man who recast American race relations and became our only modern-day founding father―as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr.

In this landmark biography, Eig gives us an MLK for our a deep thinker, a brilliant strategist, and a committed radical who led one of history’s greatest movements, and whose demands for racial and economic justice remain as urgent today as they were in his lifetime.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Book Goals for 2024

Hello my lovely readers!

Happy New Year!

It's no surprise that I haven't been as active on here due to my pregnancy and all the shenanigans that have been taking place with it. However, with us being in the year 2024, I do want to give ya'll my book goals for this year!

Last year, I was EXTREMELY ambitious in my reading goal of 100 books for the year and reviewing EVERY SINGLE BOOK. Not only did reading start to feel like a chore with that goal, but by the time I found out I was pregnant, I was completely burnt out. I don't think I'll ever commit to reading 100 books in a year EVER again.

So here are my reading goals for 2024!

• Read 15 books. --Yes, this is a super low number, but I'm giving birth this year and I want to be realistic.
• Read what I own--Last year, I tried (and failed) to put myself on a book buying ban. With saving our money to buy a house, having a baby and daycare costs, there's not going to be a lot of money leftover for book spending (which is a blessing and a curse.) Plus, I have SO many books on my shelves that I need to get to, so win win?
• Re-read my favorites--Toward the end of 2023, I found myself re-reading a lot of books that I hadn't read in years and I want to keep that up this year. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the books I read in high school (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Awakening and Their Eyes Were Watching God to name a few) and I want to continue that trend. There are so many books on my shelves that are say are my ALL TIME FAVORITE, but I haven't read in years. Let's change that in 2024!

Three goals. Pretty simple. No pressure. Happy New Year!

I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings by Maya Angelou

 

Hello my lovely readers! This was another re-read for me. I've been unintentionally re-reading a lot of books from my youth and a lot of them still hold up!

This book was no different. I first read this when I was 16 and spending the summer with my grandparents in Florida. Ah, the memories. This was such a beautifully written memoir and I'm so thankful to have read it again as a grown woman.

SYNOPSIS

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is the beginning in a string of autobiographies about her life. 

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. 

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and racial prejudice.  At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. 

Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors  will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Author Spotlight: Fred Crump, Jr.

Hello my lovely readers!

Welcome to the third installment of  Author Spotlight, where I highlight the authors who have had an impact on myself and my reading journey.

Say hello to author and illustrator Fred Crump Jr.!

He's more of an obscure author, but for those who know the children's books he's written, they LOVE him.

It's funny that they love him, despite not knowing much about him. They probably, like myself, love what he did for Black children in the 1980s and 1990s who wanted to see themselves represented in picture books.

Author Spotlight: Sharon G. Flake

Hello my lovely readers!

Welcome to the third installment of Author Spotlight where I talk about the life and works of authors who've had an impact on my life.

Today, I'm highlighting author Sharon G. Flake.

As I mentioned in my Books that Shaped Me series, her first novel, The Skin I'm In had a profound impact on me as a nine-year-old Black girl.

Sharon G. Flake is a Pennsylvania native, born in Philadelphia and later residing in Pittsburgh. She grew up in a large family with three brothers and two sisters in an inner-city neighborhood in Philadelphia.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Pittsburgh in 1978. After graduating she  worked in foster care and family and community services and then went on to work in public relations at the University of Pittsburgh Press.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar

 

Hello my lovely readers!

Since I started reading again, I haven't been too impressed with my selections. A Burning by Megha Majumdar was no exception even though the plot seemed so good! Let's get into it.

SYNOPSIS

Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely--an irresistible outcast--has the alibi that can set Jivan free, but it will cost her everything she holds dear.

These three characters find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe in contemporary India and examine what it feels like to face profound obstacles and yet nurture big dreams in a country spinning toward extremism. 

The Block Party by Jamie Day

Hello my lovely readers!

It's been a long time and I apologize!

I'm currently pregnant and was in my first trimester the months of August and September. As a first time mother, I had no idea how tired and nauseous I would be all the time! Needless to say, I didn't pick up nary a book or audiobook for weeks and I only managed to finish the three books I did read in August while in a first trimester haze.

Now that I'm safely into my second trimester, I've gained more energy and FINALLY got back into reading. I played it safe and decided to go with the thriller The Block Party by Jamie Day on audio.

Unfortunately....this book did NOTHING for me. At least I'm reading again, though, right? Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS

The residents of the Alton Road cul-de-sac are entangled in a web of secrets and scandals that are unknown to the rest of the world and each other.

Then on the night of the annual summer block party, there's been a murder.

But who did it? Why? Those answers will take the reader back to a year earlier as rivalries and betrayals unfold and when everyone discovers that nothing and no one is ever as it seems.