Book Review - Here comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis Benn ⭐⭐⭐

I am glad that after hearing several reviews about this book and author that I finally got my hands on a copy of this book to read.

I love reading stories from Caribbean authors and this book has to be one of the best I have read lately. The story is about a young woman Margot who will stop at nothing to help her sister Thandi escape the hardship of life in the ghetto in Jamaica. Margot's mother Delores also shares hope that Thandi, who wants to be an artist would become a doctor and help the family elevate. Margot sacrifices a lot to achieve success for herself and to help her sister but of course there are costs to everything.

I think that what makes this story so relatable to me is that some of the issues are indeed what happens in families that are experiencing hardships. It highlighted some social issues such as the treatment of the LBGTQ community in Jamaica, sexual tourism, rape, crime and I actually love it when a work of fiction really takes us down a realistic path such as this book did.

It was a well written story though I think the ending for me left too many gaps. All in all this was a great read. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26530351-here-comes-the-sun

Book Review _ Girl Woman Other by Bernadine Evaristo NO SPOILERS ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

I needed a few days to get over this book. This is a no spoiler review.

I read this as an e book and now I am going to the bookstore to get a physical copy of this book to add to my shelf. Yes it was that good. The writing in the book caught me by surprise because of the layout first. there was literally no punctuation marks so entire chapters felt as one sentence. In my opinion this was brilliant because it really kept me reading wanting to get to the very end. 

The story began with this woman named Amma who apart from being a radical feminist and part of the LBGTQ community she was a black woman, owner of a theatre living in Britain. She was getting ready to host her biggest theatre production yet, and through the guests at the play we see lives of other women coming together. I think everyone should read this book. It exceeded my expectations and it was well deserving of the Man Booker Prize of 2019. I plan to read more from this author.

Caribbean TBR

 It has been a while that I have read a Caribbean book....

Just last week I downloaded two e books that I have wanted to read for a while and these are:

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis Benn

The Lonely Londoners by Samuel Selvon (wanted to read this for years and I finally have it)…

I have heard great things about these books. Be sure to look out for my reviews.

Have you ever had books forever on your shelf??

 

This year because of the Coronavirus I have been working at home since March teaching online. 

Being at home all the time has been restful and some days downright boring. I have been a book lover since my childhood. I have been fascinated with libraries and buying books. Every spare money I have goes into buying books. So for a number of years I have been amassing quite the book collection. Now I'm sort of in a dilemma because I do not know if everyone is like me but I tend to always read the latest book I acquire. So now I have shelves of books that I have not read. 

This year I set my goodreads challenge at 50 books and I am trying to get through some books that have just been pushed to the back of my shelf somehow. Today I am planning to start the second book in the Song of Fire and Ice Series by George R.R. Martin "A Clash of Kings" this has been on my shelf since 2015. I finally read the first books Game of Thrones and I absolutely loved it. I know I have some excellent books on my shelf so for this last part of 2020 maybe I will get through most of them. We will see how it goes.

Happy Reading....

September 2020 Wrap Up - What I read

This month marked the start of the school term online so for me, it meant back to work time. That has prevented me from reading as much and as often as I would have liked. I still managed to read four books 

 The Forbidden Daughter _ Shobhan Bantwal

The Lake house by Joe Clifford

Role Play _ Tu Shonda L. Whitaker

Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys 

Book Review - The Lake house by Joe Clifford ⭐⭐⭐

 

This story was a gripping and exciting tale about a small town Covenant where it is relatively peaceful, that is until Greg Norman ( a man accused of the murder of his wife, a resident April) comes to rebuild his life in a Lakehouse near the beach after being acquitted. A little while after returning a young lady Wendy, was found dead near the lake house and this investigation set off a whirlwind of events that revealed secrets that shook this peaceful little town to the core. 

I really liked the story. The characters were relatable I especially liked Tracy, Amanda and Uncle Bob's characters .It read like an enjoyable TV series in some parts. I think that in end we could have had more detail of how Greg and Tracy's relationship turned out because I felt they just left the story abruptly (read the book so you will know what I'm talking about). This is one of those mystery stories that you just had to wait till the end to see who did it. I had so many thoughts about who the murderer could be that I just gave up speculating and just waited till I was at the end and what an ending it was. I would definitely recommend this book and I look forward to more like this from the author.

Book review Role Play by Tu Shonda L. Whitaker ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Thanks to Net galley for this ARC.

What a story that was...

I love it when a book grips me from the very beginning with characters so relatable that you can't put the book down till you reach the end and when you finally reach the end of the story it's like a big surprise ending. This is the exact feeling I got from reading Role Play.

The character I connected with most was Brooklyn. I felt she was dealt a bad hand in life and her relationship with Monty was just something she needed to survive. Monty's treatment towards Brooklyn and even Elle showed me that he had little regard for women and that he had deep seated abandonment issues from his mother leaving. The moral of this story in my opinion is that nothing in life comes easy but we need to be honest and not let our lust and greed for status and power get the better of us. 

Check out this and my other reviews on Good reads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3553911541

Book Review -The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal

 

This was quite a gripping and interesting story.

The Forbidden daughter a story set in India, followed Isha a mother who faces a society that favors makes over females. She is pregnant with her second girl child at the beginning of the story and this led to the doctor and her in laws requesting that she have an abortion. This request setbof a chain of events including her husband's death and her in laws rejecting her forcimg her , a young widow to fend for herself.

I really enjoyed how the author took us on an adventure with Isha. I felt that I was right there experiencing everything. The story with the arrival of an admirer from college Dr. Salvi became a romantic adventure. I like it when authors work in social issues in works of fiction and this author did that remarkably.

The only thing i could say is that I would have liked a lot more adventure at the end because I think that would have really made a greater impact. Overall I would recommend this book.

New ARCs

Since joining Net-galley a month ago (yes I am a new member) I have been getting a few Advanced Copies of books. Here are the latest. I am now devoting specific times out of my schedule to read. I found the descriptions for these quite interesting.

 

Description

For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street—a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.

There’s nothing like a black salesman on a mission.

An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.

After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.

Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.

escription

High-level corruption, high-priced addiction, high-voltage infidelity. The American Dream . . .
 
Loving husband, doting father, respected politician. On the surface, California Governor Montgomery ‘Monty’ Fields appears to have it all—and he intends to keep it that way. But even a powerful man like Monty can’t control everything or everyone . . .
 
First Lady Ellaina ‘Elle’ Lockhart-Fields has a juicy secret. One that she’s succeeded in keeping under wraps. Until her longtime lover shows up as her husband’s top security officer and threatens to ruin everything. Desperate, Elle concocts a clever plan. But it’s far more dangerous than she realizes.
 
Thanks to her scandalous affair with the governor, single mother Brooklyn Pryce is living in luxury. But empty nights and lonely holidays are starting to break her spirit. A passionate encounter with a mystery man inspires her to leave Monty. But that’s not as easy as she thinks . . .
 
Behind it all is a reporter who’s been tracking Monty’s every move, determined to bring him down, no matter who he has to seduce to get the job done. And as pressure from the women in Monty’s life, the press, and his partners in white-collar crime starts to boil over, Monty begins to unravel in ways no one sees coming . . .

 

Having read the description of  The Dance Towards Death (The Brother Hood Chronicles) and realizing that it was part three of a series I requested all three books.

Description

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A THIRD VOLUME IN THE BESTSELLING INTERNATIONAL CRIME SERIES THE BROTHERHOOD CHRONICLE. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED YOU READ THE PREVIOUS TWO VOLUMES OF THIS SERIES AS THE NARRATIVE IS CONTINUOUS. THE PREVIOUS TWO VOLUMES, THE BROTHERHOOD (2012, SECOND EDITION 2018) AND THE RUN AND HIDE (2019) ARE BOTH AVAILABLE ON NETGALLEY FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.

The third volume of Tejas Desai's riveting and acclaimed international crime series The Brotherhood Chronicle continues the stories of several survivors of a complex international criminal world. With blood on his hands and Manu by his side, Niral continues to balance divided loyalties. In New York City, Lance, Carty and others scheme over the The Long Island City Project, while in North Carolina, Ashok and Hemraj concoct other plans. In Thailand, Duncan and Mr. Hong hunker down while Nat searches for his missing son. In India, Talim salivates for revenge and Bhai prepares for Shri Diwali, culminating in a powerful climax.

All these are available on Netgalley. My reviews are coming soon I hope.

August 2020 Wrap Up

 Hi readers,

August was in my opinion a good reading month.

I read five books in total and I reached thirty out of fifty books (30/50) on my good reads challenge.

I really hope that this year I can meet my goal of fifty books it will indeed be a new accomplishment for me as is what I plan on doing every year.

Books I have read

1. Things fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 

2. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

3. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult 

4. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

5. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (ARC) by Deesha Philyaw

All these books were page turners in their own special way but the mosr gripping story for me this month was My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. If you are looking for a good book to read you can pick that one up.

ARC - The Secret Lives of Church Ladies - Deesha Philyaw

 

The Secret Life of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

I recently joined Net galley as a reviewer and already I am receiving advanced reader copies (ARC's) digitally on my kindle. This is the second one I have received for the week. After binge watching the five seasons of Green leaf on Netflix I have a new interest in what goes on behind the scenes in a church setting. I am looking forward to reading this one. See the description below

Description:

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions.

There is fourteen-year-old Jael, who has a crush on the preacher’s wife. At forty-two, Lyra realizes that her discomfort with her own body stands between her and a new love. As Y2K looms, Caroletta’s “same time next year” arrangement with her childhood best friend is tenuous. A serial mistress lays down the ground rules for her married lovers. In the dark shadows of a hospice parking lot, grieving strangers find comfort in each other.

With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be, and as free as they deserve to be.

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/189451

UPDATE:

REVIEW

This is my first review of an ARC on Net galley and my first time reading this author.

I read this book in one sitting it was definitely a page turner, All the characters were relatable and the struggle with respect to relationships, family, sexuality and religion were so vividly expressed in every single story.
What stood out for me with these short stories is the role that Christianity plays in the lives of these women especially in their decision making.

My favorite story was Peach Cobbler I think that story alone could have been an entire novel. it was so well thought out. I also liked Eula and How to Make Love to a Physicist,
I hope this is the first of many things to come from this author.

I highly recommend this book

 

Book Review: "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult ★★★★☆

I gave this book four out of five stars.

Synopsis:

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate—a life and a role that she has never challenged... until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister—and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

A provocative novel that raises some important ethical issues, My Sister's Keeper is the story of one family's struggle for survival at all human costs and a stunning parable for all time.

My review

This story could easily go down as one of my favorites of all time.

As they say first impressions are lasting impressions and being that this is my first time reading Jodi Picoult all I can say is Wow...

Apart from being a tale that evoked every emotion a person can feel sadness, anger, love, passion, empathy. What stood out for me is the maturity of the main character Anna. At thirteen years old she was so mature beyond her years, willing to take her parents to court to make them stop and think about how giving kidney to her sister will affect her life.

This book had me questioning whether or not if placed in that situation where I had a child that was dying would I have handled it like Sara?

This tale is a good one for parents to be reminded that they must treat all their children equally in spite of the situation. Having a sick child is stressful on parents and on entire families, the author through Sara and Brian illustrated that fact as well. All the characters were relatable and most of all this tale was so realistic.

Brace yourself  for the ending it would leave you speechless.

Excellent book!! 

Follow all my reviews on goodreads and to see what I'm reading you can follow me on instagram @bookishfran38

My story : Why did I start a book blog?

As early as eight years old I have always been a reader. 

Actually my dream in life was to become a librarian because apart from loving to read I have a fascination for libraries and book stores. 

In my early twenties, one of my first jobs was at a bookstore and my favorite section was the novel sections perusing the occasional book once the opportunity presented itself. 

There was a period of time however, upon entering tertiary education and moving to the corporate world that reading took somewhat of a back burner. I would still go to the library on occasion and borrow the occasional book and if I were in the mall or near a bookstore I would purchase or download a book or two on my kindle. But reading was more like an occasional hobby for me for a few years.

Fast forward to 2019. In 2019, I discovered book tube and honestly it changed my life. What fascinated me about it was not so much the content of the videos like the book hauls, T B R piles or the Book recommendations. I was fascinated that the internet through Social Media platforms like You Tube, Instagram has given new life to a hobby that most find cliche' or sometimes boring. These things renewed my love for reading and I started reading more and diversely too. 

Fast forward 2020, Coronavirus hit and as an educator I now have to deal with school closures and teaching at a distance, which means now I have some extra hours to do things that I am often busy or tired to do so.

I decided that I would try this bookstagram thing and sure enough I began actually getting followers from all over the Caribbean and the World.

Now I am taking one step further in the that this book blog can make the same impact. 

I love the idea of sharing what I am reading and most importantly, showing people that books can give you a whole world to explore.

So, in a nutshell I really did start this blog to share my passion for reading one book at a time.

August 2020 - Reads.

 

I am having a good reading month so far. (Yes for me four books is a lot in a month considering I do a lot of other things). 

Book Titles

1. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

2. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

3. My Sister's Keeper _ Jodi Picoult

4. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga