One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris (A Book Review)

Sara Lancaster left Georgia after she is raped. She vowed to stay away as long as she possibly could. However, she is forced to return home when her father becomes ill. With her eight-year-old daughter Alana in tow, Sara’s past meets the present and it’s both bittersweet and hopeful.

Jacob Wyler left Georgia under a cloak of shame. His rich and influential family was brought to near ruin in a trail of unfortunate events. His brother raped Sara Lancaster, his sister Naomi died in a car accident, his father Tom committed suicide, his mother Birdie, normally a cold and indifferent woman, became insufferable.

Jacob sought out work in faraway places as an astrophysicist while simultaneously attempting to rebuild his identity. However, visions of his deceased sister lead him to return home.

In Georgia, Jacob and Sara’s paths cross. Things get convoluted when love develops in the most unlikely of ways.

I read this story as a part of Libby’s Together We Read campaign. This was a very layered story. The theme of forgiveness was evident. I found the building blocks the author used to present forgiveness in the story to be unconventional. I personally found it difficult to grasp the idea of the romantic love that developed between Sara and Jacob. The idea for the concept was explained in the back of the book in A Conversation with the Author.

I do know love can form under unlikely circumstances. However, Sara didn’t want to speak about Daniel, barely wanted to utter his name, or want to see him. Sara’s reluctance and hang-ups about Daniel was still very apparent throughout the book, and rightfully so. So, her falling in love with his identical twin felt out of place to me.

Alana was the bright shining star for me in the book, such a breath of fresh air. She brought everything together. She was the healing source in more ways than one. I also enjoyed seeing the warmth displayed in Sara’s family. Sara’s father speaking only in poems was intriguing. I would have liked to know more about why he chose this way to speak. Overall, I liked this story. It was rich and intriguing.

Rating 8/10

Where Wild Peaches Grow By Cade Bentley (A Book Review)

Nona Davenport left Mississippi angry, hurt, and determined. Running away from everyone she knew, she heads to Chicago. She is estranged from her father and sister due to a betrayal that Nona takes deeply personal.

While away, she transforms into a different version of herself, a version she settles for but is far from owning fully.  She makes a new life, one that is built on the importance of history and truth, which is a contradiction to how she currently orchestrates her personal life. When her father dies, Nona returns home. She comes face to face with her own history; a history buried by denial, lies, and assumptions.

Julia Curtis is a woman with abandonment issues. All of which was brought on by her mother leaving as a child and her sister years later. Now she is tasked with burying her father. One of the first steps of this process is notifying Nona, her estranged sister of over 20 years. As she does, her abandonment issues comes to the surface. Will the sisters rebuild the bond they once shared or will the distance and estrangement between them widen the gap even further?

I wanted to like this book better than I did. I’m not against a slow burn at all, which I consider this book to be. There were too many chapters for it to move so slow. I loved the premise of the story. The multiple narratives in the story had many loose ends. With the different narratives not being tied in, it seemed disjointed at times and became an exhaustive read. It was rich with potential, but didn’t hold my attention. I was ready for it to be over.

Rating 6/10

Here’s to reading one book at a time (like a normal person)…just joking but not joking

I am here. I am finally down to one book to read. I intend to keep it that way (for a while at least). I’ve been wanting to get here, if only to absorb one book so I can get to many others. I’ve accepted that my life is different these days, to continue reading multiple books at once as I did in the past is not feasible. For one, things are way too busy for me now. Secondly, my reading patterns have differed, it’s much slower these days. I first noticed this during the pandemic.

So I am adjusting starting now. It’s not so bad though. I’m rather excited about it. It may be a small trivial thing for some people but it’s major for me. The fact that I started reading again and writing about it is a big deal for me. The pandemic did a number on my reading and writing. But it was also a blessing as well. It slowed things down for me, which centered me and put things in perspective.

Joking (not joking) (reading one book like a normal person). Who wants to be normal right? Not me. I am sure I will return to reading multiple books some time in the future because it was always fun for me (like flipping the channel between two of your favorite TV shows.) But for now, I’ll just enjoy reading one book at a time. And that is alright for me. Now let’s see how many books I can get through by year’s end, shall we?

My Other Husband By Dorothy Koomson (A Book Review)

Cleo Forsum, a novelist, is relatively successful in most aspects of her life. She writes best sellers, turned those best sellers into a successful TV show, and has a loving husband and extended family. So why does she want to abandon it all to start anew? When people close to her start turning up hurt or dead, it is evident that something sinister is lurking in the shadows beckoning her to leave it all behind. These criminal acts are almost identical to the crimes in her best-selling novels, which gives reason to the police to be doubtful of Cleo’s innocence.

Cleo just wants the violence to end. Will her compliance with the demand from a figure from her past be enough to stop the bloodshed?

This book was a slow burn. The story became predictable quite early on. About the halfway mark, the predictability was laid right out in the open only to twist ever so slightly and on to another trajectory making this a beautifully treacherous ride. My only grievance was that the book was a bit too long, it could have been shorter. I will be reading more from Dorothy Koomson though, she has tickled my fancy for her other work.

Rating 8/10

What Lives Have You Lived As A Reader?

This is an intriguing and loaded question for a book lover. I have lived many lives as a reader. I’ve been a gang banger, a therapist, a queen, a thief, a cop, a teacher, a cheerleader, a soldier, a slave, a free woman of color during a tumultuous time in history, to name just a few things. I traveled all over the globe. I have lived a thousand lives and experienced adventures overflowing. Reading is such an enriching experience because it allows me to escape and learn simultaneously. I don’t have a favorite life regarding the stories I’ve read, I just enjoyed experiencing it in the moment.

Adventures are always great. The things I learn when I read are priceless. Some things are silly and trivial, while other things are deep and profound. By engaging fully in the story, morphing into the characters and transporting to other continents and worlds, my perspective of the world at large increases and I gain more insight in and about the human experience.

So Many Good Books, I Just Want To Read Them All

I went to the library today in search of more books to add to my TBR list (despite already having three books currently checked out). One can never have or read enough books. Adding books to my TBR list is just as exhilarating as cracking open a book for the first time to start reading it.

Although I am reading the current book a little slower than usual, I am savoring the story and thoroughly enjoying it. I think after reading these three, I’ll go back to reading one book at a time for a while. It seems the busyness of life is interrupting my practice of reading multiple books successfully at this particular time. All is well though because the simple fact remains that I am reading.

Are You A Reader?

Do you like to read? If you do, what kind of a reader are you? Are you a surface reader? You know, the kind of reader that reads enough to get by. Or do you absolutely hate reading? Yes, I actually asked this preposterous question. For a book lover like me that statement is an awful thing to hear. Who hates reading? The horror!!!!

Yeah, I got over the inital shock of hearing that statement, but I have to admit I was taken aback, seriously. Different strokes for different folks. But I have seen the sweetest reversal of this. Years ago, I volunteered with a literacy agency. Some of the most beautiful testimonies were the ones where some adults who could not previously read became avid readers once they learned how to. Their entire world opened up with endless possibilities. They traveled, learned new skills, and walked into wonderful seasons in their lives. They accomplished all of those things by reading books.

All of us have things that we don’t like. For me it’s coffee. I know coffee drinkers who need it to start their day have the same sentiments about me that I had about non-readers (The horror!!!). Lol. But I actually gave coffee a try several times. I could take it or leave it. But I’m not opposed to drinking it occasionally nowadays. I encourage non-readers to step into the reading waters slowly. Just try it. Speak with a person who absolutely loves to read. Let them know your interests and ask them for a good book recommendation based on your interests. Test the waters. That’s all.