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

Genre Shifts are Needed From Time To Time

When I read, I like to be engaged. I look forward to enjoying a book. I do not like feeling exhausted by a story. After reading a book that have my interest waning, I need to switch things up a bit. A genre change is in order when this is the case.

I have certain genres that I gravitate over others. For example, I’m not a particular fan of romance, but I do enjoy it from time to time. Right now, it is romance that is coming to my rescue. Light, dreamy, fun, and quick reads are what’s needed in my reading collection at the moment.

I’m still balancing it out with some books that have a heavier subject matter. I am enjoying this romance genre reprieve though. I might just take a walk in the paranormal world next.

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?

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.

Hush Delilah by Angie Gallion (A Book Review)

Delilah Reddick is a woman trapped in her own life. She’s in a brutal cycle of abuse at the hands of her husband, Chase. Her best friend Carmen constantly pleads for her to leave, but it’s not so simple.

As Delilah folds into herself and examines her life both present and past, she sees a very small glimpse of a silver lining in the unraveling of the tight grip of the abuse. However, exactly what that silver lining will cost, is a thought that shakes Delilah to her core. There is her son Jackson, who would be collateral damage in it all.

This book delves deep into multiple perspectives of what abuse and the decisions linked to it looks like, depending on what a person’s viewpoint about it is. It explores how an abused person wrestles with vaccillating and ruminating thoughts and the difficulty in deciding weighty matters.

Delilah’s inner guilt leaped through the pages. I felt her guilt of how she found herself in what she viewed as a very pitiful place in her life. It appeared most of her guilt involved what she viewed as a betrayal of her own self.

As a reader, it was important to know the delicacy of the situation and not judge her, but to feel compassion. This book opened my heart and made it sensitive to inner battles that others may have to deal with, sometimes with very arresting characteristics. The author really captured the essence of the whirlwind, the fog, and the ties of a toxic relationship.  It was a great book.

Rating: 10/10

Will by Will Smith (A Book Review)

This was an interesting read. Will laid his life out as honest as he could. He bared his inner struggles with what he deemed as cowardice early in his life; a trait that he appeared to carry and battle with throughout his life.

He spoke of how inadequacies in his early life fueled his personal recipe for success. He was able to carve a successful path for himself and his family at least it appeared so externally. He confessed that the success did not always transfer internally within his family.

I enjoyed reading this memoir. It had a few gems as takeaways sprinkled throughout the book. One downside was that in certain instances the book came across as preachy. I would have liked for it to remain matter of fact and/or recounting solely on his experience in those instances.

It felt as if he was giving a lecture to his readers at times instead of trusting his readers enough to get it.

Impactful quote:
Living is the journey from not knowing to knowing. From not understanding to understanding. From confusion to clarity.

Rating 8/10

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor (A Book Review)

Jay Gatsby, an alluring young man with promise, was shot to death at his West Egg, NY home. For all intents and purposes, this is a clear cut case of murder-suicide between local mechanic George Wilson and Jay Gatsby.

Not everyone believes this solid and neatly crafted conclusion to this unfortunate ordeal. Enter Detective Frank Charles, who is called in to find out what really happened. Detective Charles is relentless and is determined to do just that once he finds a diamond hairpin near the murder scene.

During his investigation, three women become persons of interest. Daisy Buchanan, a woman from Gatsby’s past who is currently married to Tom Buchanan, a philandering millionaire. Jordan Baker, an excellent golf player who plays on the national circuit, is Daisy”s best friend and knows Gatsby from earlier years as well. Catherine McCoy, a suffragette, passionate about women rights, whose sister Myrtle Wilson, is in an abusive marriage, is also a familiar acquaintance of Gatsby.

All three women are entangled in an intricate web of deception and obsession, carefully orchestrated by Gatsby himself. Will Detective Charles uncover the truth of who really led Gatsby to his demise?

A brilliant remix on the classic, The Great Gatsby, Beautiful Little Fools, offers a strongly crafted possibility of what happened to J. Gatsby. It is told from the perspectives of the women in Gatsby’s world.

I absolutely loved the reworking of The Great Gatsby. In Beautiful Little Fools, Cantor with much care and respect for the original story, beautifully offered a nuanced retelling of the timeless classic. It brought into focus the women of the Great Gatsby in an interesting way. I thoroughly enjoyed every drop.

Rating 9/10

The Two Lives of Sara by Catherine Adel West (A Book Review)

Sara King, an expectant mother, appears in Memphis under the cloak of hidden truths to start life anew. She arrives at a boarding house ran by a fiesty but warm matriarch named Mama Sugar. Shortly after Sara arrives, she gives birth to a son she names Lebanon.

They’re embraced as family by Mama Sugar, her husband Mr. Vanellys, their grandson William, the boarders and some of the people in community. Sara’s hard exterior starts to soften. It all but vanishes when she starts a romance with William’s teacher, Jonas.

Sara’s embraces her newfound joy. But when the past collides with the present, it brings with it the possibility of forever altering the future for Sara and the people in her life both now and in the future.

There were so many profound moments in this story. The writing was impeccable and poignant. This story will stay with me always. Some of the quotes that both moved me and gave me pause were as follows:

“Well, what’s done is done but I found out when people go through hard places, they don’t need tough’ an they don’t need coddling. They need mercy.” ~Mr. Vanellys

“Friendships are strange evolving collections of laughter and fights and secrets, this rarified brew of humanity you choose to share with another person. And I want that again. To feel close to someone. To share with someone.” ~Sara

“So if you struggle or see someone struggling, seek understanding. You don’t know the wars people fight on the inside. No one save the Lord knows about those inside battles.” ~ Sara’s mother.

“No one likes to own the harm they did to others, it makes them hurt in a forever kind of way.” ~ Sara

“Everything we go through reshapes us, makes us new.”~ Cora

Rating: 10/10