10. Basketball Jones

by E. Lynn Harris


Having completed this newest release, I am now caught up with the E. Lynn Harris catalog. LOL!

Basketball Jones is another novel that incorporates Harris' love of sports.

A.J. Richardson meets the love of his life in college and embarks on a sweet love affair for the next several years. Where does the drama come in? His lover, Dray Jones, has gone from being a closeted college hoops star to a closeted NBA star. A.J. accepts the secrets that he must keep because he & Dray are truly in love and he is very well taken care of.
But how long can that last when teammates start asking questions and Dray gets married to a woman to hold the comments at bay? Will A.J. hang on to the promise of true-love or will he start to get a life of his own through some of the new people he is meeting?

I found myself sometimes talking out loud to A.J. just like I would if he were a character in a movie! Full of drama and an ending that I didn't see coming. Loved it!

9. No Matter What!

9 Steps to Living the Life You Love

by Lisa Nichols

Every time I say that I am through with reading self-help books, then another one falls into my lap.

I think the first time I was introduced to Lisa Nichols was from watching the now cancelled show, Starting Over. It was a daytime reality show that brought several women into a house to help them let go of past defeats and truly start over on their dreams. There were women from all walks of life being helped by life coaches, psychologists and other professionals. Iyanla Vanzant joined the show as a life coach and took one of the women for coaching with Nichols. The next time I saw her was in the DVD for The Secret (yes, I am one of those people). She stood out as one of only two African-Americans featured (Rev. Michael Beckwith was the other one; I will read his book later) and that was important to me because there aren't a lot of us in the self-help game.

A lot of authors use their own stories as a means of example and this one is no different. Ms. Nichols has gone through her share of difficulties and bad experiences on the road to becoming who she is today. What stood out for me is that she grew up in southern Los Angeles (formerly known as South Central) and her difficulties and bad experiences are similar to ones that I and people I have known have also gone through.

Nichols' books is divided into 9 steps, or "muscles". These are muscles that when developed can help to to navigate life's ups and downs more effectively. Having read a lot of books like this, I really like the muscle concept. When you work out your physical muscles, you don't get results right away. But through diligent work they get more developed and therefore more effective. The same can be said of the 9 muscles that Lisa Nichols outlines: Understanding, Faith-in-Myself, Take-Action, I-Know-Like-I-Know, Honesty, Say-Yes, Determination, Forgiveness, and Highest Choice.

No Matter What! is a fresh take on the self-help genre that doesn't present a quick fix of your problems. Lisa Nichols just doesn't give you a set of exercises that will make every thing all right, she acknowledges that it is a process to develop those "muscles" and it won't be done overnight. Very refreshing.