48. Get Yours! The Girlfriends' Guide to Having Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More

by Amy Dubois Barnett

started 10/16/07 finished 10/21/07

If you read as many magazines as I do, then you start to recognize certain writers and editors as they move along in their careers. I remember Amy Dubois Barnett first from Essence magazine and then as editor-in-chief of Honey magazine, my most favorite, favorite, favorite publication of all time (can you tell that I loved it?).

Get Yours!, Barnett's first book, is a self-help blueprint to help you improve all of the various areas of your life. She quickly dispels the notion that magazine writers, especially those that deal with celebrities, lead a lofty, glamorous life that we can all aspire to. She uses her own life story filled with its own up and downs to illustrate that there is not much that we can't overcome if we put our minds to it.

Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of our lives, including health, finances, spirituality and general happiness. They begin with a quiz to determine where you are at this point in time. Then there are action steps you can take to change today, this year, and always. And finally, each chapter ends with an interview with a celebrity who embodies the principle covered. The women she interviews include: Gayle King (Get That Gig), Kelis (Get Your Chic On), and Mo'Nique (Get Your Family Together). The lone man, Hill Harper, is interviewed in the chapter on relationships (Get Him).

Although it doesn't say it, this book is clearly geared towards African-American women (the publishers probably made sure to omit it from the title & subtitle) but of course the subjects covered are universal and all women would enjoy it. I recommend it especially for young women in college and just starting out, maybe even high school. But even a 42 year old (such as my self) could find inspiration and guidance to help balance their lives.

47. Nappily Married

by Trisha R. Thomas

started 10/20/07 finished 10/20/07

I woke up at 5:30 this morning (I usually get up at 4:30, so I got an extra hour of sleep!) and started reading this book. I finished around 9:00 am. Nappily Married is the third book by Thomas featuring Venus Johnston. In the first book, Nappily Ever After, Venus cuts off all of her long relaxed hair and goes natural after breaking up with her boyfriend. In the second book, Would I Lie to You, Venus moves across country for work leaving behind her boyfriend of 2 years and tries to make the long distance relationship work. In Nappily Married, Venus is married and a stay at home mom with a young daughter and returns to work taking a position that may threaten her marriage. Just like the first book, when she faces a turning point in her life and marriage she winds up in the beautician's chair looking to tame her curly, natural hair and go back to the relaxer.

Trisha R. Thomas always has well-rounded modern African-American female characters and she has managed to make the hot-bed issue of our relationship to our hair humorous.

Footnote: If you were wondering why Halle Berry has been growing her hair out the past few years, it is because she owns the movie rights to Nappily Ever After and has to have a haircut during the story. I believe that she will begin filming sometime next year after her well-deserved maternity leave.

46. The World In A City: Traveling the Globe Through the Neighborhoods of New York City

by Joseph Berger
started 9/29/07 finished 10/16/07

I am a true city girl. I like being surrounded by all sorts of activity, whether I want to participate in it or not. What I loved about growing up in my Northeast Washington, DC neighborhood was the variety of people from all social strata. While we were almost an exclusively African-American community, just a short bus or train ride away you could travel to China, Latin America and if you went to one of the Smithsonian Museums, even back in time. I now live in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta and although it is by no means perfect, it is just as eclectic. Some days I can look out of the window of my apartment and see an aspiring rapper taking promo pictures in front of an abandoned building (they will get extra street cred for showing that they are at home in the hood; the day care center next door is probably cropped from the shot). This morning as I write this I can hear a parade on the next street over. I can't see them, but from the flawless playing it sounds like it is the Homecoming parade for one of the colleges up the street. Happy Homecoming, Spelman, Morehouse, or Clark Atlanta (I don't know which one)!

The World in A City is exactly what the title says: an exploration of the different people that inhabit the neighborhoods and the various countries and cultures they represent. This isn't your standard soul food in Harlem, cheap shopping in Chinatown book. It is more about how the neighborhoods are changing due to gentrification, immigration, and more opportunities outside the city. Neighborhoods that were once predominately Greek are now morphing into Middle Eastern; historically Italian communities are now Korean. With crime down and median incomes up, these tales of old-timers holding out while their children flee to the suburbs, hopeful immigrants (legal & illegal) and young professionals moving in show why New York City is the only true melting pot that this country promises.

Self-Induced Punishment

Every now and then I put myself on sewing purchase punishment. This means that I can't buy any new fabric or patterns until I actually sewed something. But because of general malaise and procrastination nothing gets made. Now not buying fabric has proven relatively easy. Because of my very limited budget, sometimes it is a choice between that cute dark-wash denim or groceries. But what I haven't been able to resist are 99 cent pattern sales. First I justified it by saying that because I had gained some weight I had to buy larger sizes (which is true). So now I have the patterns in the correct sizes and still no sewing. I went back on punishment....until I had to go to Hancock's for elastic. Fortunately the Hancock Fabrics on Piedmont Road in Atlanta, GA (yes, I called them out. I hate them that much, but there aren't any other fabric stores close to me) almost never has any fabric worth buying so I knew I could get in and out. And I did, with elastic, thread, buttons and...

McCall's 5556

McCall's 5525

Confession: I ordered rainwear fabric for this from Denver Fabrics cause they are having a blowout sale and I will have a trenchcoat for less than $20.

McCall's 5472

I already have some brown tweed knit fabric for this. I would scan a swatch for you but there is too much stuff on top of the scanner and I don't feel like moving it.

McCall's 5522

Damn those 99cent sales! Gotta go now. I am back on punishment.

45. Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

by Dana Luster

started 9/22/07 finished 10/6/07

I am not nearly as materialistic as I was in high school and college. I used to be very particular about which brands that I wore, and they didn't always jibe with what my peers in inner city D.C. were wearing. My tastes were decidedly Preppy with a touch of the Hamptons mixed in. I did not wear Izod, only Polo ( I even had a mini-Polo wardrobe to take to start my freshman year - Orange Polo with Green Rider; Green Polo with Orange Rider; matching socks - Go Rattlers!). My jeans were only Polo or Calvin Klein. My shoes were Bass Weejuns for the winter and Bernardo & Ferragamo sandals for the summer. As I have gotten older (and responsible for paying my own bills) I don't rely on brands as much and bought my last pieces of clothing at Target (never would have done that in high school). I have found that there are more important things in life than having the latest designer bag (but if a Hermes Birkin bag fell from the sky, I would give thanks!).

This book chronicles the luxury market and its evolution from being exclusive to the rich and powerful to being accessible and coveted by everyone. It starts with the story of Louis Vuitton (the only logo bag I would ever carry) and the company that still bears his name. It follows the ups and downs and the (over)saturation. Other luxury dynasties are reviewed here including Prada, Chanel, & Hermes. The most interesting chapters cover the emergence of handbags as status symbols, the lucrative counterfeiting industry, and the importance of the internet to the luxury market. It brings it full circle by showing designers like Tom Ford (no longer affiliated with a megabrand like Gucci) and Christian Louboutin who strive to bring back the quality, service and exclusivity that established the market in the first place.

Oh, and if you don't believe all the hype in the news today about China being the next financial superpower, please read the chapter called What Now? In the next 3 years, 300 shopping malls will open in China; 375 in India. This is a great read for those who want to know the history and future of some of your favorite designers.