My Other Husband by Dorothy Koomson

Hello my lovely readers!

Another day, another Dorothy Koomson thriller.

Quick background story about how I came across this author, as I've been rocking with her for over a decade!

The year was 2010, I was a junior in college and I was in London on a study abroad program. We were getting ready to head to Dublin, Ireland via ferry. In the ferry terminal, a few of my friends and I went to the bookstore. I walked around and saw the pastel-colored cover of The Ice Cream Girls. I was immediately attracted to the cover because it had a Black arm on it. I know it sounds crazy, but there weren't many books with Black body parts or faces on them back during that time.

I picked it up and read the plot. "Wow, this sounds very interesting! I better write down the name of this book," I thought. It was about two teenagers who were accused of killing their teacher. One was Black and got off. The other was White and served time and now she's trying to clear her name. 

Since I didn't have the time or money to buy the book, I jotted it down and forgot about it...for about five years!

I went on a cruise to the Bahamas in 2015 and FINALLY read the book. It was amazing. It's one of my favorite books. However, what had an even deeper impact on me was the fact that it had a Black woman as the main character. In the early 2010s, I was starting to come into my own as a 20-something woman and I think part of that self-discovery was seeing women who looked like me in books, movies and travel. I'd recently discovered tons of travel blogs and travelogues by Black women and it really was life changing. I remember reading Taming it Down and Kinky Gazpacho and Go Girl! The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure during this time frame and my heart was so full. 

I was starving for books about the average, everyday, middle-class Black woman and I didn't even know it. Reading those three books along with The Ice Cream Girls opened my eyes and taught me to look for myself in everything. 

Since then, I've read all of Dorothy Koomson's books.

Phew. That was a lot. Sorry! 

SUMMARY
Cleo Forsum is being framed for murder. The person who is hurting the people who she knows and loves is doing it in ways that are identical to the murders she writes about on her show The Baking Detective. She has to clear her name, but she can't, because if she does, that means she'd have to reveal her other husband.

The Sex Lives of African Women: Self-Discovery, Freedom, and Healing by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

 

Hello my lovely readers!

I'm back again with another book to review....and yikes.

“I spent years avoiding sex with guys because I didn’t want anyone to gossip about me. I wish I had realized sooner that no matter what I did guys would claim to have fucked me every which way under the sun.”

Let's just...get through this.

SUMMARY

Author Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah has spent decades talking to African women around the world about sex. Now, she's translated it into a this book The Sex Lives of African Women: Self-Discovery, Freedom and Healing where she talks to African women across the globe while simultaneously chronicling her own journey toward sexual freedom.

We meet several different kinds of women like Esther, who talks of how a childhood rape made her rebellious and estranged from her missionary parents. We meet Tsitsi and HIV-positive Zimbabwean woman who's raising an HIV-free baby. We hear from the queer community in Egypt, the polyamorous life in Senegal and the intersections of religion and pleasure in Cameroon. 

All these stories make up this book that shows women being in control of their own bodies and pleasure and asserting their sexual power.

Dreaming With His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera by Patrick Manham

 

Hello my lovely readers!

Diego Rivera. The man. The myth. The legend.

I'm sure if you've heard of the great Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, then you know of her turbulent relationship and marriage with fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera.

However, I feel that's usually people's extent of Rivera. I was the same way! One day, while I was in my favorite used bookstores McKay's, I found this biography on him for 75 cents. I didn't know anything about Rivera, so I decided to pick it up. I'm so glad I did!

SUMMARY
This is the first biography of Diego Rivera in more than 40 years. Author Patrick Marnham covers his life from beginning to end, starting off in rural Mexico, then heading to Spain, Italy and most importantly Paris where his life and art would change forever. We see him as he becomes a father, a husband and as he interacts with other legendary artists like Picasso, Modigliani and Leger.

The reader then goes to Moscow, Russia to understand Rivera's "lifelong flirtation with Communism." We see his triumphs and failures in both Mexico and the U.S. and of course, we see his side of his marriage to Frida Kahlo.