Browngirl Speaks :: confessions of a book whore

May 26, 2009

Book Meme

Filed under: Daily Blurbs, confessions of a book whore

Truessence tagged me.

Total books I own:

currently 213 (not including my son’s library)

Last book I bought:

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

Last book I read:

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Adichie

Five books that mean a lot to me:

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston

Like the Singing Coming Off the Drums by Sonia Sanchez

Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker

She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Let the Lion Eat Straw by Ellease Southerland

I’m supposed to tag others, but all my reader friends have been tagged, so any takers feels free to join in.

Comments (1)

May 18, 2009

The Thing Around Your Neck

Filed under: confessions of a book whore

The Thing Around Your Neck should be on your summer reading list.

Adichie is definitely becoming one of my favorite writers. This is only the second work of hers I’ve read, the first being Half of a Yellow Sun which is phenomenal.

Beautiful prose…

from "A Private Experience" "…that religion and ethnicity are often politicized because the ruler is safe if the hungry ruled are killing one another."

from "Ghosts" "…and I will be forced to live a life cushioned by so much convenience that it is sterile."

I really appreciate her use of second person narrative in the title story. It makes it that much more engaging and instigates a strong empathy. She liberally takes on sexual politics in regards to women and homosexuality in the African community without a bunch of hype.

"The Arrangers of Marriage" is one of my favorites in which you see a young Igbo woman brought to America by a husband who wants so desperately to fit into the "mainstream" it’s almost disgusting. The last two stories - "Tomorrow is Too Far" and "The Headstrong Historian" - were a bit lackluster in the subtle and heart wrenching language as in the prior stories. But this shouldn’t stop anyone from adding it to their must read list.

The reader will learn that the "The Thing Around Your Neck" applies to each story and some problem, concern, or truth that can be emotionally binding.

This one is worthy of a second date. emoticon

Comments (2)

April 29, 2009

Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa

Filed under: confessions of a book whore

Upon reading the summary of this book, I anticipated heavy, gritty language reminiscent of Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk. I was becoming disappointed that I was not meeting a challenge of hard to swallow dialogue and imagery until I thought of the comparison to To Kill a Mockingbird. Once I kept this in mind as a point of reference, but only for tone and language, I was able to appreciate Tusa’s work.

Christopher Tusa has penned a subtly grimy novel of life of some "Dirty Little Angels" living in and around New Orleans. The cast of characters range from the protagonist, Hailey, who’s a sixteen year old just wanting to keep her family in tact to Moses, who has some slightly warped ideas of religion with his plans for a drive-thru church. Hailey, her brother Cyrus, and their parents-Lena and Jules- all have their crosses to bear and it’s definitely interesting to discover whether or not they are triumphant.

What this novel lacks in intensity it definitely makes up for in spirit and conviction. This one is another one night stand for me.

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April 25, 2009

The Concubine’s Children

Filed under: confessions of a book whore

Finally finished reading Denise Chong’s memoir of her immigrant Chinese Canadian family. I was recommended this book by Amazon. I never take it’s recommendation too seriously, but reading the synopsis and positive reviews made me interested.

May-Ying, Chong’s maternal grandmother, is sold to Chan Sam as a teenager to be his concubine. Chan Sam has left his village of Chang Gar Bin to seek his fortune in "the Gold Mountain"- Canada. He has left behind a first wife who will eventually become mother to the first two daughters born to the concubine in Canada. May-Ying’s third daughter, Chong’s mother, will grow up alone and feeling that she’s been dealt a bad hand but will later in life realize that the opposite is true. Everything Chan Sam works for actually ends up being financed by the wages of May-Ying as she is a highly desired waitress in the tea houses of Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Set against the burgeoning city of Vancouver and a number of exclusionary acts to prohibit entrance of new Chinese immigrants and the Japanese occupation followed by the Communist rule of Mao Zedong in China, this story explores the idea of family in separated by circumstance. But, the reader will learn they’re bound by hope.

Denise Chong’s writing in this work read more like a work of fiction than nonfiction. She writes such moving prose as: "I’d like to see where I was born before I die, Ping said. Then, laughing with her eyes the way my grandmother did, she said to Mother, Yuen can come too; he’ll walk ahead of us. With his crooked feet, he can rake in the gold and you I will follow behind and pick it up!" At 256 pages, I thought I’d breeze through it but was easily distracted. There were passages that brought this book to a lull for me. Because of this, I’m rating this one a "one night stand". I recommend this book, but don’t expect to become too attached.

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January 22, 2009

Who’s that poet?

Filed under: Blackboard, Daily Blurbs, confessions of a book whore

I was unaware of Elizabeth Alexander until the most awesome Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama. So who is she?

Read here….
and here.

I must say, I have much catching up to do…

Comments (4)

December 17, 2008

The Trifecta

Filed under: Music is Sanity, Daily Blurbs, confessions of a book whore

My husband and I are always talking about movies, books and music. Well, who isn’t these days? It seems everyone is into all three lately and I mean everyone thinks she/ he is the authority. Well, they’ve always been “my thing” since I made my little entrance into the world. I’ve asked the mr. a number of times what he’d take on that proverbial deserted island. But I threw in a twist. So now I’m going to throw it into the blogosphere: What’s your trifecta? What is your favorite movie, book and cd/album? You can only name one for each and please share a little about your choices. I’ll start…

Movie: Imitation of Life(1959)
I never tire of this movie. Can I watch it repeatedly? No. It’s so emotionally taxing but so much about relationships resonates with me in this movie. It’s melodramatic 50’s cinema at it’s finest. And please note it’s the ‘59 version that is my preference but I do own both versions.

CD/ Album: My Life - Mary J. Blige
This was the hardest choice to make of the three. I was torn between her and a Nina Simone album. But, alas, MJB gets the number one spot. Yeah this is when she was at the height of her deep funk, but the songs aren’t sad and loathsome. They’re passionate and healing. This one never gets old and is still in my CD rotation.

Book: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
I actually borrowed this from Lisa when I was about 14. It rocked my little world. This began my deep rooted love for African American literature and, especially, the Harlem Renaissance.

So, I guess there’s a rather obvious theme for my trifecta– relationships. Now, I’m passing the torch to HomeGirl, JustLisa, TruEssence and C. Enjoy!

Comments (3)

November 30, 2007

bibliophiles…brace yourselves

Filed under: confessions of a book whore

i love the feel and smell, yes smell. of a book. especially a new one. i’m like a little kid when i leave the bookstore swinging my bag at my hip with some new reads. but amazon has gone and made me raise a brow.

Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device

now this isn’t for everyone but it is for someone. i would love this, but i think it’d be even better for the mr. who usually has several books going at once and never re-reads them. and since we don’t share the same taste in books, it’s pointless for him to buy them. you do purchase a download of the book, but for less than a physical book. you can also get newspaper and magazine subscriptions. this was another plus in why i think the mr. should have one as he is a reader of multiple papers. the reviews on amazon are extrememly mixed on this gadget, but that’s why i say it seems it’s just FOR certain people. are you one?

Comments (7)

November 29, 2007

who me?!

Filed under: confessions of a book whore

Congratulations. You’ve snagged an Early Reviewers copy of Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes: Southeastern Indians Prior to Removal, by Rachal Mills Lennon. You should get your copy in the mail shortly.

I LibraryThing and I recently joined the Early Reviewers group. Mostly to attempt to get free books, but I would like to publicly contribute my two cents more on what I read and this kinda forces me to do so. I’m not obligated to do a review, but those who don’t decrease their chances to get picked in subsequent giveaways. They release about a dozen books every month in limited quantity and i can simply click the ones I’d like to receive. So, I can’t believe I got picked the first month I was in the group! There were about 20 copies of the book I’m getting and about 200 LT’ers requested it. I never win stuff, so this is so very awesome. Anyway, I’m pretty excited especially since this is a reference book also. I’ve been working on my maternal genealogy since I was 12 and being a southerner, this book will hopefully be a breakthrough in the journey…

Comments (3)

September 27, 2007

how it all started

Filed under: Zion's Mom, confessions of a book whore

Frog and Toad Are Friends (I Can Read Book 2)

i was searching for books and lesson ideas in preparation to homeschool my son and found a cute packet to print about turtles. somehow this reminds me of the first book that turned me into the book whore i proudly am today– frog and toad are friends. now, i never fancied any amphibians, but i had little to choose from in the catalog we got at school to order books. i think it was from scholastic, maybe, and i was all of about five or six. i made a wise choice because i remember reading this book so many times and like it was the greatest piece of literature EVER! it’s classic children’s lit. that’s all about true friendship. the stories were so endearing and remembering them made me a bit teary eyed over one of my few fond childhood pleasures. i can’t wait to share this with zion jacob…

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August 31, 2007

SCORE!!!

Filed under: Daily Blurbs, confessions of a book whore

some of the books i’ve mooched finally started to arrive over the last two days. i am so excited when i get home and i have these small packages of books. hey, it doesn’t take much to please me folks. anyway, i was nearly floored when i received my copy of alice walker’s in search of our mother’s gardens and it was SIGNED! emoticon

oh goodness me! i can’t say anymore, the tears are wellin’ up again. gotta blow it out…

Comments (1)

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Book Meme

The Thing Around Your Neck

Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa

The Concubine’s Children

Who’s that poet?

The Trifecta

bibliophiles…brace yourselves

who me?!

how it all started

SCORE!!!