Author Spotlight: Kim McClarin

Hello my lovely readers! 

In this second installment of Author Spotlight, I want to introduce you to the author whose book shaped me as a young Black woman in her early 20s navigating the journalism industry.

Say hello to Kim McLarin!

Kim McLarin is a former staff writer for The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Associated Press. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Duke University and is also a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy.

She is the author of three novels, Taming it Down, Meeting of the Waters and Jump at the Sun. McLarin co-authored the book Growing Up X by Ilyasah Shabazz and is the author of several essay collections and memoirs.  Her work has also appeared in several publications including Glamour, the Washington Post, The Root and The Boston Globe to name a few.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

 

Hello my lovely readers!

This was a re-read and it is as good as I remembered it. I first read this in high school for my AP English class, but that was the first and last time. When I was in college, we read a lot of Kate Chopin in my English 1101 course, but I can't believe it took me this long to re-read The Awakening. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS

I would give up the essential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself. I can't make it more clear; it's only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me.

Twenty-eight year old Edna Pontellier is a wife and mother spending the summer on Creole Isle with her husband and two young sons. While she's here, she meets Robert Lebron and the two take a liking to each other.

However, as feelings begin to grow deep, Robert leaves to Mexico for several months on a business trip. Her husband returns to New Orleans and the boys are send to their grandparents and Edna begins to experience her awakening. Edna starts to shun what's expected of her as a woman in society and live freely. 

Edna resists authority in her quest for freedom in a book that is now regarded as a landmark in American fiction.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

 

Hello my lovely readers!

I finally got onto the Fifty Shades of Grey train a decade after it was released and all the type that followed it! Woof. Cringe. Cringe. Cringe. Let's get into it.

SYNOPSIS
Anastasia Steele is a English literature student interviewing the young entrepreneur Christian Grey as a favor for her sick roommate.

Who she encounters is a man who is intimidating, handsome and brilliant. The shy and timid Ana is desperate to get close to him and Christian is unable to resist her quiet beauty and wit....but he wants her own his own terms.

Christian is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian's secrets and questions if she's willing to go on this dark path with him.

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

 

Hello my lovely readers!

This book was just...meh. Not much of a review to come, but let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS

Jake Hayes is missing. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks his blowing off steam after a their heated fight the night before. But then five days pass and Jake's nowhere to be found.

Lily is Nina's friend and coworker and thinks she may have been the last person to see Jake before he went missing. After she confesses what happened to her husband, Christian, the two decide that no one can ever find out what happened leading up to Jake's disappearance, especially Nina.

But Nina will stop at nothing to find her husband and the truth of what happened.

Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins

 

Hello my lovely readers!

Well I did something different....I decided to read a romance novel! Romance isn't really my genre, I've never cared for it (odd coming from a girl who was once OBSESSED with Nicholas Sparks), and I always found them pretty cheesy. 

The kind of romance that I do enjoy is the romance that is in the background of a story, like in Plum Bun or Americanah, so this was a departure because everyone knows Beverly Jenkins is the queen of Black romance. The plot interested me and I LOVE that it was all about two Black people just being in love. Let's get into it.

SYNOPSIS
The Civil War is over and Garrett, a reporter, has come to Wyoming to write a story on doctors for his Black newspaper back east.

He sets out to interview Colton Lee, as he thinks he'll be an interesting subject. Then he meets Colton's sister Spring. She runs her own ranch, wears pants instead of dresses, takes no mess from anyone and is the most fascinating woman he's ever met.

But Spring isn't looking for love, especially after a past like hers. However, their attraction grows and soon neither of them can deny it.

Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison

 

Hello my lovely readers!

It pains me to write the review I'm about to write for this book. Sigh. Let's get into it.

SYNOPSIS
In Washington, D.C. in the 1950s, Adam Sunraider, a race-baiting senator from New England is mortally wounded by an assassin's bullet while making a speech on the Senate floor. 

From his deathbed, Sunraider calls out for Alonzo Hickman, an old Black minister, to be brought to his side. Out of their conversation a story emerges. Sunraider, once known as Bliss, was raised by Reverend Hickman in a Black community steeped in religion and music. 

Together one last time, the tow men retrace the course of their shared life and confront their most painful memories that hold the key to understanding the mysteries of kinship and race that bind them.

Servants of Allah by Sylviane Diouf

 

Hello my lovely readers!

Another day, another review.  This book was a bit more difficult for me to read. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS

While most know about the African slave trade that brought Africans to South America, the U.S. and the Caribbean, little is known about the faith of these people, particularly Black Muslims.

Most assume that the religion of the enslaved was absorbed into the new Christian milieu, but that's not the truth for Islam. Servants of Allah presents a history of African Muslim slaves, following them from Africa to the Americas. It shows how, even while enslaved, many Black Muslims managed to follow most of the precepts of their religion.

Islam did not survive in the Americas in its orthodox form, but its mark can be found in certain religions, traditions and artistic creations of people of African descent. Author Sylvian Diouf gives a voice to the Muslim slaves who have largely been ignored and the legacy of Islam.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

 

Hello my lovely readers!

This book had such a promising premise...but I ended up DNFing. Let's get into it.

SUMMARY 

Wallace is dead and the grim reaper is ready to collect.

But Wallace is not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so he's given one week to cross over with Hugo, a tea shop owner, by his side to help. Wallace sets about living a lifetime within this week and he learns more about life than he ever imagined.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

Hello my lovely readers!

I first saw the Spanish version of this book when I was on my first solo trip EVER to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The cover had a Black woman on it and to see a Black woman on a book cover in a sea of white faces (I mean...it's Buenos Aires smh), I knew I had to look into it.

I ended up buying the book when I returned to the U.S. (this is another reason for me to return to Buenos Aires and get a local book), but that was almost 10 years ago!  I can't believe it took me this long to pick it up. I'm glad I did! Let's get into it.

SUMMARY
Ifemelu and Obinze area young and in love when they depart the military-rule Nigeria for the West. Ifemelu heads for America and Obinze ends up heading to London. They had both hoped to go to America together, but after 9/11, America is closed to Obinze and he begins his undocumented life in London.

Meanwhile, Ifemelu grapples what it means to be Black for the first time, living in America. Fifteen years later, the reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria and reginite their passion for their homeland--and each other.