Tour_ORDINARY GIRLS by Jaquira Diaz

Synopsis of ORDINARY GIRLS:

In this searing memoir, Jaquira Díaz writes fiercely and eloquently of her challenging girlhood and triumphant coming of age.

While growing up in housing projects in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, Díaz found herself caught between extremes. As her family split apart and her mother battled schizophrenia, she was supported by the love of her friends. As she longed for a family and home, her life was upended by violence. As she celebrated her Puerto Rican culture, she couldn't find support for her burgeoning sexual identity. From her own struggles with depression and sexual assault to Puerto Rico's history of colonialism, every page of Ordinary Girls vibrates with music and lyricism. Díaz writes with raw and refreshing honesty, triumphantly mapping a way out of despair toward love and hope to become her version of the girl she always wanted to be.

Reminiscent of Tara Westover's Educated, Kiese Laymon's Heavy, Mary Karr's The Liars' Club, and Terese Marie Mailhot's Heart Berries, Jaquira Díaz's memoir provides a vivid portrait of a life lived in (and beyond) the borders of Puerto Rico and its complicated history-and reads as electrically as a novel.

Review: 

5 Stars

The best memoirs are those in which the author is unafraid of transparency and vulnerability, of holding themselves accountable for living their lives, able to write with clarity of the good and bad. With such emotional exposure, the reader is able to examine the author's life, to relate, to learn, and sometimes even to gather renewed purpose. In ORDINARY VOICES, Jaquira Diaz explores her life vividly and saliently.

THE TALKING DRUM by Lisa Braxton _ BLOG TOUR

Review: 5 Stars

A fascinating and original exploration of urban "gentrification" from the viewpoint of the residents and shopkeepers most directly affected, rather than the upscale citizenry who directly benefit from sports stadiums, gourmet shops, and hugely expensive loft apartments. The characters are deeply delineated and the urban setting is brought vividly to life along with the concomitant issues, domestic, political, and socio-economic.

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Info Sheet / THE TALKING DRUM by Lisa Braxton

THE TALKING DRUM by Lisa Braxton / Info Sheet

On sale date: May 30, 2020

Publisher: Inanna Publications

ISBN: 9781771337410

Price: $22.95

Buy Link: Amazon; IndieBound; B&N 

Author website: www.lisabraxton.com

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisabraxton6186/

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.a.braxton?ref=bookmarks

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisareidbraxton/

Author GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19923317.Lisa_Braxton

BOOK SUMMARY

In 1971, the fictional city of Bellport, Massachusetts is in decline with an urban redevelopment project on the horizon. The project promises to transform the dying factory town into a thriving economic center, with a profound effect on its residents. Sydney Stallworth steps away her law degree in order to support her husband Malachi's dream of opening a cultural center and bookstore in the heart of their black community, Liberty Hill. Across the street, Della Tolliver has built a fragile sanctuary for herself, boyfriend Kwamé Rodriguez, and daughter Jasmine, a troubled child prone to frequent outbursts.

Six blocks away and across the Bellport River Bridge lies Petite Africa, a lively neighborhood, where time moves slower and residents spill from run-down buildings onto the streets. Here Omar Bassari, an immigrant from Senegal known to locals as Drummer Man, dreams of being the next Duke Ellington, spreading his love of music and African culture across the world, even as his marriage crumbles around him and his neighborhood goes up in flames. An arsonist is on the loose. As more buildings burn, the communities are joined together and ripped apart. In Petite Africa, a struggling community fights for their homes, businesses, and culture. In Liberty Hill, others see opportunity and economic growth. As the pace of the suspicious fires pick up, the demolition date moves closer, and plans for gentrification are laid out, the residents find themselves at odds with a political system manipulating their lives. “It’s a shame,” says Malachi, after a charged city council meeting, where residents of Petite Africa and Liberty Hill sit on opposing sides. “We do so much for Petite Africa. But still, we fight.”

AUTHOR BIO

Lisa Braxton is an Emmy-nominated former television journalist, an essayist, short story writer, and novelist. She is a fellow of the Kimbilio Fiction Writers Program and was a finalist in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University, her M.S. in journalism from Northwestern University, and her B.A. in Mass Media from Hampton University. Her stories have been published in anthologies and literary journals. She lives in the Boston, Massachusetts area. www.lisabraxton.com

Review: WHEN ENEMIES OFFEND THEE by Sally Whitney

5 Stars

A painful,  angry, novel suffused in hope. This could have so easily been yet another account of #Metoo, but the author chose to really dig deeply into her characters and to examine the backdrop of their culture, economy, history.  Reading what happened to protagonist Clementine, the ugly crime and the ugly aftermath,  frightened and infuriated me. But the novel didn't drop us there. What ensues is a marvel of character evolution,  acknowledgment that joy can come eventually after grief. I would never say Clementine 's tribulations should be visited on anyone, but her ability to strengthen in the Crucible of Adversity made me proud for her.

Review: STEPHEN KING'S THE BODY BOOKMARKED by Aaron Burch

3 Stars

This entry in Ig Publishing's BOOKMARKED Series,  in which writers discuss a life-changing book, is author Aaron Burch's nonfiction essay/memoir of his discovery of, and his life of admiring, Stephen King's novella "The Body," and its film version, "Stand By Me."

Actually this is an ode to both film and story, perhaps because the author seems to identify so strongly with the protagonist Gordy [also quite possibly a function or alter of "The Body"'s author,  Stephen King]. I found intriguing the lengths to which Aaron Burch "followed" the  film and novella.

Review: MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD by Robin Talley

5 Stars

LGBT

Sometimes I am so blessed by a book, when it moves me, moulds me, and changes or improves my perspective.  MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD gave me all that, in addition to a long stroll down Memory Lane coupled with seeing those memories of history through others' perspective. Yet at the same time the characters' emotions so powerfully resonated with me, not just the YA protagonists (Sharon, Tammy, Peter) but of some of the adult characters as well such as Tammy and Peter's single mother. I just fell into this story immediately and never wanted to surface. I "lived it," I "was right there," thanks to a very gifted author,  Robin Talley.  It's an enormous pleasure to encounter a novel so touching and thought-provoking and eventually life-changing.

Review: WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens

5 Stars 

My immediate thought when I  first commenced WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING,  a selection of the Rising Stars Book Club at Writing. Com, was to remember BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA by Dorothy Allison, a novel also notable for the power of its Setting.  Indeed, in both novels Setting is a character in itself,  and this is overpoweringly true of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, which opens and closes and is rife throughout with the importance of Setting. Ar times, I felt as if character were unimportant,  as Setting carried the day in every instance.  I think this is a novel of which Thoreau would be proud.

Review: THE FIRE AND THE DARKNESS by Sinclair McKay

5 Stars

Reading about the Dresden Firebombing of February 1945 is a painful and horrific encounter,  as is reading about Hiroshima or Nagasaki,  September 11 2001, the Holocaust or the history of lynching.  Yet we as readers and thinking humans need to be aware of the evils of history as well as the glories. On the other hand,  Dresden 's history also testifies to the invincibility of the human spirit,  above and beyond the biological drive to survive.  For biology alone cannot account for the city 's reconstruction nor for the impetus to record for posterity its tragedy, nor for those outside Dresden who strive to repair and to improve it. There is something in humanity that is propelled to rise above its frequent inhumanity and destruction.

Review: GLISSANDO by Debbie Burke

5 Stars

Jazz is the background, backstory, and thematic soundtrack for this unusual and intriguing novel of a Catskills native, product of a non-practising Jewish household, who trains as a paralegal, happily marries a local correctional officer, then finds herself the wronged spouse and determines successfully to form her own life. Until--at age 55, she joins a university-community jazz band, a great artistic outlet and lots of fun. It's also the commencement of her own midlife crisis, as she finds herself stunningly enraptured by an accomplished trumpet player, her age. When it rains, it pours, and soon she is professionally and romantically involved with an attorney through her firm, while remaining starry-eyed over the jazz musician.

What impressed me the most in this character-driven novel is the protagonist's self-awareness, her acceptance of herself at various life stages, her willingness to grow. She is strong in the right sense: a strong, self-aware, independent woman (who loves dogs). 

This story does include love, romance, lust, marriage. It's erotic but not Erotica. It's the story of a metaphorical "coming of age" and personal growth that lasts a lifetime.

Review: AND THROW THE SKINS AWAY by Scott Archer Jones

4 Stars
Literary Fiction

 A literary novel of Survivorship,  the protagonist Rebecca (Bec) survives an ugly childhood,  a perverted pastor, breast cancer, her pastor husband's faith crisis, depression,  and subsequent military overseas deployment. She also after moving to Northern New Mexico from Dallas,  survives his loss and an up-and-down involvement with a nearby disabled veteran.  Even when she doesn't know her own decisions,  Bec survives.

Review of THE PUBLICIST (1-4) by Christina George

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30180817-the-publicist-series---book-1---4" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Publicist Series - Book 1 - 4: Contemporary Romance Series PLUS a Bonus Book!" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463146127m/30180817.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30180817-the-publicist-series---book-1---4">The Publicist Series - Book 1 - 4: Contemporary Romance Series PLUS a Bonus Book!</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6556822.Christina_George">Christina George</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2722033539">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I started reading this series a couple of years ago, and even though I don't often select chick lit or women's fiction or anything with romance. However, I do admire a feckless hero or heroine and Kate Mitchell, the eponymous publicist of this heartwarming series, is Feckless with a Capital, but that's why she's lovable. And for those who do like chick-lit and romance, and those who like insights into the publishing kingdom, there's plenty here to love for those readers too. The author has paid her dues in the publishing world and clearly knows well whereof she speaks (or in this case, writes).
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7302570-cats-of-ulthar-february-weird-fiction">View all my reviews</a>

Review_OSLO SPIES

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39074903-oslo-spies" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Oslo Spies" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1528203458m/39074903.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39074903-oslo-spies">Oslo Spies</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13550573.S_J_Slagle">S.J. Slagle</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2581295179">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Review of OSLO SPIES<br /><br />One of the blessings of historical fiction is that when well-written and thoroughly researched, authors enlighten and vivify a given historical period, bringing it to life and simultaneously humanizing it. Such is true of OSLO SPIES, which from the very beginning captures the era, the culture, the history, while creating vivid and vibrant characters with whom readers will resonate. In addition, due to the author's fine grasp of the historical era and what it meant, not just for a nation, but for individuals living through it and after it (World War II, Norway), we are educated in a way that makes us visualize the setting and realize “what life was like” for those living in that era. The novel is also well-written and maintains readers' attention and intrigue.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7302570-november-is-nyarlathotep">View all my reviews</a>