Midnight and the Meaning of Love

by Sister Souljah

I struggled with this book. Not in the way that it is written, that's fine. But in my reactions to the title character. In Midnight, I instantly fell in love with him. His strength, intelligence and strong loyalty to family were refreshing. There are not many Black male characters, especially one so young, represented in literature today that have such a sense of right and wrong. If you've read my post about that book, you know what problems I had with it.


Those problems seemed to have followed me to this sequel. Midnight has finally started to build a life with his new bride, Akemi, when her disappearance pulls everything out from under him. Now he has to deal with his need to protect all of the women in his life, his mother and sister, in the States with him and his wife, who is now thousands of miles away in Japan. After making sure that his mother and sister are safe, he heads off to Japan to rescue his wife.

This is a well written, engaging book that fans of the series will definitely enjoy. However, I am still annoyed by the portrayal of African-American women and the ease with which Midnight, a teenager, is able to maneuver, MacGyver-like through foreign countries. A lot of the scenarios were just not plausible to me.

Illustrated Guide to Sewing: Garment Construction

A Complete Course on Making Clothing for Fit and Fashion

I own a lot of books about sewing and fashion, but rarely do I just sit down and read them. Mostly I use them when I need to know something specific. For this one, however, I actually sat down and looked through it from cover to cover and noted some of the things that differentiate this from other books.

This book is for a beginner and they do a very thorough job of taking you through the construction of a garment. Some of the things that stood out to me:

• Explanations of the different type of machine stitches. That's usually only in the manuals that come with the machine
• The illustrations of hand sewing were very detailed and helpful
• Assurances that space shouldn't be an issue when setting up your sewing area
• Guide to the use of color and pattern to enhance different body types. That's usually in books about fashion, not sewing
• Detail about how to straighten fabric and concise and clear instructions on preparing fabric to sew
• Rudimentary instructions for altering patterns made the process seem not so intimidating
• Directions on pinning patterns to fabric and matching plaids and checks. Good for those of us who are slaves to the pattern instructions
• Shows how to assemble five basic garments based on logic not pattern instructions
• Includes men's clothing
• After showing basics, goes into more details with seams, zippers, pockets, etc.

Good for a beginner and also a great addition to any sewing library. 

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a book meme hosted by Literary Marie at Precision Reviews.

• Grab your current read.
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author so that other FLF participants can add the book to their TBR list.

 "It is often difficult to identify the exact moment that your life falls apart."

Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You're Going Through by Iyanla Vanzant

Hurricane

by Jewell Parker Rhodes

I was so sad to hear that this is the last of the Marie Laveau mysteries as I have thoroughly enjoyed her evolution. In the first book of the series, Voodoo Season, Dr. Marie Laveau returns to New Orleans, the land of her ancestors and learns all of their secrets. And yes, one of the secrets is that she is a descendant of the great Voodoo queen of the same name.

In this installment of the series, Marie is raising her daughter and practicing medicine in New Orleans when a nightmare compells her to take a drive. She stumbles upon a murder scene in a small town and is soon drawn into the drama of the community as they recognize her as a voodoo queen and demand her healing powers. During her investigation she uncovers an environmental disaster and all the while a hurricane known as Katrina looms in the distance.

Especially interesting was learning about the devastation done to the Gulf way before Hurricane Katrina hit and exploring the supernatural reasons and ramifications. 

If Sons, Then Heirs

by Lorene Cary

If Sons, Then Heirs is a complex novel about family, legacy and land. For generations the Needham family has owned and worked the land in South Carolina, but after the patriarch, King is murdered and World War II,  most of the members made their way North leaving only Selma, King's widow, behind. Alonzo Rayne, the 30 year old great-grandson of King, is one of the few who has stayed in touch and made annual pilgrimages back. On his latest trip it becomes clear that Selma is too old to maintain the property any longer and Rayne wants to sell the land and use the proceeds to provide housing and care for her. Selma has other ideas and doesn't want the land to leave the family. But complex "heir property" laws make it impossible to do anything without the consent and participation of the entire family and Rayne isn't sure if this is something he wants to tackle.  All of this coincides with the re-appearance of Rayne's mother, who abandoned him in South Carolina when he was 7.

This is a compelling family saga that mirrors many stories of African-Americans in the South who have struggled to survive and hold on to land that others have tried (and in a lot of cases succeeded) to take away from then legally, illegally, and sometimes violently.  It also illustrates the the great migration North of people who no longer felt safe or that they had a viable future there.  My only issue was that the explanation of the entangled heir property laws left me confused a lot of times. But the rich, deep characters portrayed by Cary kept me completely engaged. Another one on my best of the year list.

An Object of Beauty

by Steve Martin

I love reading fiction that I can also learn something from. An Object of Beauty really fits that bill as it is heavily steeped in the art world.  Lacie Yeager is a Southern belle determined to make her way in the competitive and exciting art scene in Manhattan. She lands a coveted spot at Sotheby's and sets out to learn as much as she can, as quickly as she can, so she can live out her dreams.

The problem is we never know exactly what her dreams are and it seems that Lacey doesn't either. Opportunities seem to fall at her feet and she just acts upon them. That might have been Martin's intent, but Lacey is written as such a one-dimensional character that I hardly took the time to care. I had no connection to her or any other character in this book. Of course when a comedian writes a book it turns out to be funny but quippy one-liners about the art world weren't enough to keep me engaged.  

On the positive side, I did learn some interesting facts about art.

The I.O.U.

by Elle

Elle is the pseudonym being used by a bestselling author to write a new series of erotica featuring women in their forties and fifties.

In the first book in this series Lena Macy is in line to take over the reigns as head of Paskin Broadcasting Corporation, if she is able to beat out her chief competitor, T.J. Reynolds. While away on a business trip to the Super Bowl (she currently oversees the corporation's sports network), she meets a man at the hotel bar and they make a bet on the game that later leads them to his hotel room. Turns out he is Jason Armstrong, owner of a sports management firm. The two begin a hot and private affair until a leaked sex tape threatens to derail their public lives and careers.


In her acknowledgements, the author, Elle, writes that as a reader she often is unable to find erotica that suits her needs since:

"I am not a hot-to-trot sorority girl or insatiable freak - just a grown woman with a wisdom about sex, an active imagination and a romantic, sexy side."

So she wrote the book she wanted to read. And she did a great job of crafting a sizzling story that represents women often overlooked.

Heat Wave

The Life and Career of Ethel Waters
by Donald Bogle


I have not done a good job of reading books about history and historical figures. I started several last year and never finished but they are still on the table and I promise them everyday that I will return. That's why, even though it took me a couple of months to finish Heat Wave, I refused to put it down. And frankly Donald Bogle's engaging writing wouldn't let me.


Bogle is an expert on Blacks in entertainment and his love for all those involved and the industry clearly shows in his prose and research.  Ethel Waters couldn't have been an easy subject for him. Yes, she was one of the biggest blues and pop stars of the early twentieth century, but her private life was complicated and shrouded in mystery and half-truths. Waters went from poverty in Chester, Pennsylvania to performing as "Sweet Mama Stringbean" in nightclubs across the country.  Her relationships with the men in her life were covered by all of the Colored newspapers and her "friendships" with women were gossiped about by her peers in the industry. And Waters' notorious temper and jealousy affected most of those she worked with, like Josephine Baker and Lena Horne.


This book is long, almost 600 pages, and kept me engaged because of Waters' ability to reinvent herself as the times changed. From nightclubs to Broadway to Hollywood, she worked to stay relevant as tastes changed.


Sidenote: Two coincidences happened to me while reading this book.

1. Right after I read about Waters working with the great songwriter Harold Arlen early in both of their careers, I walked into work and heard Frank Sinatra singing a song written by Arlen.
2. At the exact moment that I'm reading a passage about her stand-out gospel song, His Eye is On The Sparrow, a house music version comes on my iPod. 

A Wife for a Westmoreland

by Brenda Jackson

I have been reading a ton of romance books lately. So many that I won't be blogging about all of them because it would take up too much of my time. If you are interested in seeing what I have been reading you can head over to my Goodreads page and check it out.

This latest Westmoreland book is the nineteenth in the series and the fourth about the Denver branch of the family. Lucia Conyers has been in love with Derringer Westmoreland since high school when she was friends with his sister. Now, years later, her feelings haven't changed, but with Derringer seeing her as a little sister in addition to his reputation as a ladies' man, Lucia sees no reason to act upon her desires. When she hears that he's been injured in an accident, she finds herself racing to his side and they wind up spending a heated one night together. The only problem is that Derringer was heavily medicated and can remember nothing about the evening. The rest of the book becomes a modern day fairy tale as Derringer tries to figure out who the woman in his bed was and Lucia tries to decide if she can compete with his reputation.


I love the Westmoreland books and can't wait for number twenty.