The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty

The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty

Lawrence Otis Graham

Okay, so when Book Club number one picked this for their July meeting I was like WTF. I like Graham and have enjoyed his two previous books. In fact, I liked Our Kind of People so much I wrote my freshman thesis around the idea of dark vs. light, AND I got an A! However when I went to the bookstore and saw this book- I was like “Oh no”. It’s big- 480 pages and $27.95. Then I found out Mr. Graham would be there, so I plucked down the money and decided to skim through it. Then I got hooked and read the whole thing in a week- in between bridesmaid’s duty for a wedding that weekend- so you know it was pretty serious/good.

When you saw me, at the David’s Bridal, at the seamstress, at the traffic light on the way to the rehearsal dinner- you saw me reading this book. Even my mom commented on how consumed I was with this book. That’s how good it is.

Graham tells the story of the first black senator that nobody (I knew) knew anything about, Bruce Blanche and the dynasty, his family created and the rise and fall of the family. This book was good and juicy- it almost felt like fiction, then I would remember that it wasn’t and it would be that much better /real. Do not let the size of the book or even the fact that its nonfiction deter you. It is worth every one of its 480 pages. I would go as far as to describe this book as incredible. This a book that every African American family should have on its bookshelf and we should all be knowledgeable and stop letting other people decide what part of our history we learn about.( Sorry about the rant! )

In addition, I also got to meet Mr. Graham at the book signing and listening to him, enhanced the experience of this book for me. I even wrote a list of questions and he answered them!

This book touched on so many areas (and people) and at times it could feel a little repetitive, but that is because it’s a generational story. I don’t want to give too much away but I’ll try to sum it up. It’s a story about a family- taking place from reconstruction until now (at the end of the book, Graham tries to contact the remaining descendents) and their rise, fall and changes they went through. That doesn’t begin to describe it, but I think that between the title and this it should be pretty clear.

My verdict- Great Book- must read and a when you are done, share it!

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life

Lylah Beth LeFore

Every time I think of this book I just want to sing. Anyway my sister bought this book but didn’t like it too much. I think that it’s because she is 16 and hasn’t really dealt with the issues in the book and couldn’t relate.

Destiny Day is a high powered PR/Event planner from NYC who has a list of men that keep her occupied, satisfied and most importantly uncommitted. Then she meets, Taye Crawford and suddenly everything she begins to wonder if that’s good enough. Destiny was a cool character; I enjoyed her friends, especially Ms. Josephine’s sage advice. This book was kind of like a black Sex & the City/ Chic- Lit book.

I really enjoyed this book; although it was a little slow at times, it still kept me interested. I’d be interested in reading more work from the author.

This was a bonus selection for Book Club # 1. The author was supposed to be there, but unfortunately she was injured and unable to come. Instead we got to meet Denene Milner author of Sad I missed her, but Ms. Milner was great as well. We missed out on a discussion of this book and instead, Ms. Milner read from her latest book The Vow. I've read other works ( In Love and War, Love Don't Live here anymore,A Love Story, The Sistah's Rules and my favorite- The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life) by Ms. Milner and enjoyed them, but most of them were so long ago , I can't remember.

As far as The Vow, I think I liked it. I read it in the store cause I couldn't afford it at the time, so I read it pretty quickly

Sweet Magnolia

Sweet Magnolia

Norma L. Jarret

Two embattled sisters and a family full of secrets all return to their beloved New Orleans for a summer wedding/ family reunion. Rife with family drama and secrets that lie underneath all families- the secrets uncovered this summer will require and abundance faith, love and hope to overcome.

I was excited about this book- even picking it up to take with me on a trip to visit my college roommate, but I forgot it in the car and had to due without it. Anyway, so when I finally got around to reading it I enjoyed it, but not as much as Ms. Jarrett’s first book- Sunday Brunch. It was a little harder for me to relate to the characters, but I still enjoyed it. The writing is excellent, the Christian themes are not too heavy, but perfect and make the story and enjoyable read.

I did enjoy the fact that the story took place in New Orleans. All my prayers that the city will one day recover, despite all the obstacles

Recommended.

I Say A Little Prayer

I Say A Little Prayer

E. Lynn Harris

I love E. Lynn Harris. I’ll still never forget the day I found Invisible Life ( never mind the fact that I was 13 and had no clue what I was in for )in my library and got hooked on the Raymond-Nicole-Jared-Basil-Yancey saga. I loved those books and how we got to follow them and even grow with them. So when I saw that after 3 years he was coming out with a new fiction book (his last book, 2004s What Becomes of the Brokenhearted was a memoir) - I was so excited. I even went as far as to pre-order it.

However, after reading it, I was so disappointed.

I didn’t like it too much. I felt like it was really preachy- as though E. Lynn was trying to preach acceptance of gays and show the hypocriticalness of the Black church to African Americans and frankly I didn’t appreciate it. It’s not about whether I agree (because I do); I just don’t like getting preached at in my books. It makes me cranky.

The story was good. I wasn’t expecting “my old friends” so that had nothing to do with my disappointment. I just saw right through Harris’s agenda and didn’t care for it. I was expecting to read for pleasure, had I wanted something more this might have been it- but man was I disappointed in this. Although I did love the Basil update.

My friends and I always wondered how you would pronounce his name- we each had our own theories. My friend said Basil like the herb, I though it was more BA-sil ( Ba like baby, sil silk). Anyway- final verdict:

This is hard for this one- good story, good characters- but be wanted there is an ulterior motive in this book.

Best Kept Secrets

Best Kept Secrets

Rochelle Alers
***** ( 5/5)

Rochelle Alers is probably one of my favorite romance authors, even though I am not a huge fan of romance novels, I always know I can expect a good read when I pick up one of her books. I was doubly excited when I read the back of this one not only was it from one of my favorite writers, but it coved a subject I find interesting as an afro-Cuban/ afro-Latino heritage, culture and history. I just completed a course on it and Alejo Carpentier and magiacal realism So when I read the back of this book I new I had to have it.

M.J. Diaz (Marguerite Josefina) is a young, wealthy beautiful Cuban woman who enjoys the good life courtesy of her father. She however is not your typical Cuban woman of that time- educated, savvy and with a mind of her own, she gives her father his fair share of worries- especially when she is not interested in “just getting marred and settling down”. Then we meet Samuel Cole- a “negro” returning from WWII who has big dreams of starting a business He travels to several Latin American country finally sealing a deal in Cuba and gets a lot more when he meets the beautiful and charming M.J. They fall in love and get marries and Samuel brings M.J. back to the U.S. The book follows their lives together from 1924-1947.*

I loved this book for the imagery and the history of such a magical and enchanting place(s). I also loved seeing Cuba and afro-Latino heritage being a focal point of a book- especially such a beautiful, romantic story. Even if you are not a romance reader I still recommend this book as a great read! Don't let this book be a best kept secret! ( sorry I couldn't resist)

* Apparently this is the back story of one of Ms. Aler’s most popular series “Hideaway”. This was the first I read and I am planning to complete the series

Well Read

Name five six of your favorite books.( and some honorable mentions)

Flyy Girl, Omar Tyree
Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Patillo Beals
Oh the places you’ll Go, Dr. Seuss
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
The Bible,( KJV or NIV)-
Why The Caged Bird Sings- Maya Angelou (I know this is 6 but I can’t leave off Maya)

Honorable mentions

Animal Farm, George Owell – Good old Templeton “All Animals are created equal, some are just more equal than others”
A Lesson before dying, Ernest Gaines
Girl Meets God- Lauren Winner
My Sisters Keeper-, Jodi Piccoult
The Myth of you and Me-, Leah Stewart
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury-
No Crystal Stair-Eva Rutland
The Color Purple- Alice Walker
Their Eyes Were Watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
Queen-, Alex Haley
The Giver-, Lois Lowery
Confessions of a Shopaholic- Sophie Kinsella- Introduced me to chick-lit

What was the last book you bought?
Last time I was in a book store, I ended up buying more than one book. I bought four:

What was the last book(s) you read?

I know I’ve Been Changed by ReShonda Tate Billinslgy; Best Kept Secret by Rochelle Alers and Stories from Between the Testaments Marjorie Kimbrough ( the first lady of my church)

List five books that have been particularly meaningful to you (in no particular order).
I know I’m repeating a list of my favorite books, but to me these questions are one and the same.

The Bible-do I really need to explain why this book is meaningful? A few of my favorite chapters are Ruth, Matthew, John, Proverbs, Hebrews and James, Job, ( Tobit and Judith – Apocrypha) and umm I really do enjoy Deuteronomy and Leviticus.

Fly Girl- Omar Tyree- It’s an essential coming of age story. Although it takes place in the 80’s ( almost a decade before I “came of age”, it resonated deeply with me. I’m a Flyy Girl, I experienced most of not all of what Tracey went though. Reading about Tracey felt like reading about me. Also this book was one of the first the introduced me ( and thousands of others sistas) to black fiction. Books written for us, by us and about us. Before Flyy Girl there was Waiting to Exhale, but at 15, I wasn’t even thinking about exhaling. Although I feel this genre is being abused with the smut out there now, this book opened the door for countless writers and readers.

Warriors Don’t Cry,- Melba Patillo Beals — this book is an “autobiography” written like a novel about the Little Rock Nine. Melba writes about the struggles of growing up, being a teenager having crushes, dates and life and being a history maker. This book opened my eyes to so many things. Mostly though I just wanted to thank Melba , because I wouldn’t be where I am without her braveness. Growing up a colored child, I had more than my share of books on race and prejudice and a few others fall under this book- one in particular Mazion at Blue Hill by Jacqueline Woodson. There is this quote that was my favorite the instant I read it and still is one of my favorites today. So many things made ( more or less) sense for me when I read this quote: Before you are teenager you will learn a lot about these three things:, pain, prejudice and death. Just remember- Prejudice doesn’t know color, Death doesn’t know age and pain doesn’t know might. There were a few others, but these definitely stood out and changed the way I looked at race and at life. Growing up in Germany, I was sheltered from a lot of it. In my eyes ( aside from the swastikas on the playground)I rarely saw this racism and prejudice that I read about in these books, but they definitely prepared me for when I moved to Georgia and began to see this stuff first hand.
Also- Morris Chestnut plays her good friend Ernest Green in the Disney movie about the Ernest Green's experiences.( mmmm... good)

The Red Tent,- Introduced me to the stories of the Old Testament. Now I can’t get away from them. Although my favorite is still Ruth and Naomi, I loved this book and the story of Leah and Rachel as strong biblical women, but still women nonetheless.

Oh the Places you’ll Go.- Dr. Seuss- Great inspiration , no matter how old or what journey you’re taking. I read this before I started and graduated HS and college and when I started my first job. It’s a book you can pick up anytime and you’ll find exactly what you need to hear.

Name five of your favorite authors. ( I added this one)

E. Lynn Harris
Maya Angelou
Dr. Seuss
Mary Higgins Clark/ Sue Grafton
Bebe Moore Campbell

Note: Eric Jerome Dickey was knocked off this list due to the nonsense he has put out recently. ( tsk tsk)

Name three books you’ve been dying to read but just haven’t gotten around to it?
The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman
The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown ( I’ve read Angels and Demons
The Purpose Driven Life, - I really need to finish this. I bough this book for Lent 2 years ago.

Size 12 is not Fat

Size 12 is not Fat

Meg Cabot

**** ( 4/5)

From the author of Princess Diary and the " Email books" ( Every Boys Got One and The Boy Next Door comes a new lovable "mystery, crime fighting" chick Heahter Wells. Heather Wells is a former teen- pop star a la Brittney Spears whose mother ran off with her life savings and her manager and who just caught her pop-star boy friend (a la Justin Timberlake) in bed with another pop star (Jessica perhaps?). She then finds a job as the assistant director of dorm (excuse me) Residence Hall at New York College. When two of the residents are murdered in what appear to be “accidents”, heather goes on the hunt in sear of the truth, all while battling her love of Dove Bars, and not so normal boss, an expanding waistline (size 12 is not fat, it’s the normal size for American women), an annoying, trifling ex and a crush on said ex’s estranged brother.

It was really easy for me to relate to the main character, no I’m not a washed up pop star, but I am a size 12, and I was an RA lat year and came this close to becoming an Graduate assistant director, (but thank God I came to my senses). The stories about the residents hit close to home (crazy notes and the condoms, my life is still inundated with condoms. Try explaining to people (mom) why you have more condoms stashed around than most Health Departments. And at my school the word RA was to never be used, we were Community Assistant, used to foster the idea that we were a community.

Heather is an easily likeable character- cross between Stephanie Plum and ___________ (insert favorite chick lit character here i.e. Nan, Andrea Sachs or Rebecca Bloom to name a few). Although this is not as good (or funny) as the Stephanie Plum novels (Heather’s not a sleuth, she’s just a normal girl) I could not put it down and finished it in two days.

Sometimes the writing comes off as a little juvenile, almost like you’re reading a book made for the younger set. It’s an excellent book in its own merit. The characters fun and believable, the laugh numerous and although the climax was a little lacking, it keeps you on the edge of your seat until the end.

I definitely recommend Size 12 is not Fat and I am looking forward to the forthcoming Heather Well’s mysteries in 07 and 08.