The Next Book On My List

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith This is the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series. There won’t be any spoilers for this book, but if you haven’t read the first three there are spoilers abound. I’m just going to jump right in with the review and skip the blurb. This book picks up exactly where the 3 rd book, Career of Evil, left off. Thankfully, because one of the main reasons why I was itching to get this book in my hand was to find out what Robin chooses to do: Does she stay with Matthew or does she leave? The answer is complicated. But with the prologue we jump right back in, not necessarily into another case but right back into the dynamics of Robin and Cormoran’s relationship, now partnership, friendship? That relationship for me is the driving point of the story. No matter how wrapped up I am in their cases, I am also constantly wondering what the state of their relationship is or will become.                 Now let’s jump into the actual case at hand. Bi

The Mother of Black Hollywood: A Memoir  by Jenifer Lewis with Malaika Adero                     Jenifer Lewis. When I think of Jenifer Lewis the very first thing that pops in my mind is “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” But the more I think about it, the more movies come to mind, “Corrina Corrina,” “The Preacher’s Wife,” my son’s favorite movie “Cars.” She is in so many movies and has been around in showbusiness damn near my entire life. When I heard about this memoir it was one I knew I would eventually get my hands on enjoy.                     Lewis writes just like I would imagine she talks. I heard her voice in my head the entire time I was reading this story. All the exclamations, the singing, the joy, the anger, it’s all there. I found her story very interesting. I found her honesty moving and her resilience inspiring. One thing I also appreciated was how she embraced and relays her sexual nature. She never hides from it and in many ways details her escapades. Ju

The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down by Colin Woodard                 I blame the series “Black Sails” for why I enjoyed this so much. The characters that I watched avidly on Starz for four seasons were real and in all of their glory and truth on these pages and I really enjoyed learning of the real history. Woodard with this book, chronologically tells the history of the Golden Age of Piracy. He starts with the roots of piracy, focusing on the why and how of piracy. But he also focuses on the early lives of four of the men whose names are the most well known in pirate history. Three are the pirates Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy, Charles Vane and Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch. The other is the man credited the most with helping to end piracy, Woodes Rogers. But if you are like me, the fan of “Black Sails” there are plenty of other names you’ll recognize as well like Jack Rackham and Hornigold.   

Moby Dick by Herman Melville I’m so disappointed with this reread. I had really fond memories of this book. I read it while in high school, well over a decade ago, and genuinely enjoyed it. I was looking forward to this reread. All I’ve felt the majority of this read through was frustration. This is the story of Ahab and his pursuit of the white whale, Moby Dick, that caused him to lose his leg. At its bones this is what this novel is about. Unfortunately, Melville decided to also provide a course on whaling throughout the novel which stops any kind of natural flow from occurring. At times you don’t know who the narrator is because Melville changes throughout and at times it felt like Melville was just talking. If none of the nonfiction stuff was included and this was just a streamline novel about Ahab’s monomaniacal thirst for revenge against Moby Dick it would have been epic! But it’s not! The story meanders, Melville wanders and then suddenly readers are thrown ba

Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson                 I saw children I know in the pages of this book. I heard their voices. I saw their experiences. I read the words and envisioned these children that I knew. What Woodson did with this novel is open the door for children to be children but at the same time talk about things in a way that we never give them credit for. In a way that’s open, beautiful and honest not only with themselves but with each other. Harbor Me is a novel that looks at how hard it is to be a child coming of age right now and how they can open up to one another when given the space and opportunity. This story is simply the conversations of six kids, whose teacher gave them time to be together and they formed an unforgettable friendship.                 Woodson chose to tackle some very relevant and yet heavy topics: deportation, police brutality, death, race, and privilege. I thought she did this in a way that was both respectful of all these topics and d

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom                 Thick . If that isn’t an apt title for this collection than I don’t know what is, because this is a thick book. Not thick in the amount of pages, but absolutely full of relevant and necessary information. It isn’t curing cancer or solving climate change. But it is giving a voice and analytical eye to the way we treat, judge, measure, love, hate and depict Black women.                 I knew after the very first essay in this collection that I was willing to analyze and absorb everything that Cottom had to write. And write she did, absolutely beautifully. As a Black woman I have been making it a point to not only think critically about my own situation and positioning in this disturbing time in our history, but to also think critically about the experiences of other Black women. I see Cottom doing the same thing in this collection, but in a way so composed that I could never imagine myself capable. Each of

Bruja Born by Zoraida Córdova This is the second book in this series and while there are no spoilers for this book. There are a few spoilers for the first book. In the first book of this series, Labyrinth Lost , we met the Mortiz family, all of whom are descendants of Brujas and Brujos and have their own magical abilities. The first book focused on Alex, who was trying to hide her abilities only to be named an encantrix, the strongest witch of her generation. This book takes place months after the first and focuses on Lula, the oldest sister who has the power of healing. Lula hasnt been the same since returning from Los Lagos. Her magic isn’t the same, she doesn’t feel the same way about her magic or the Deos and it’s taking its toll on everything, especially her relationship with Maks. The day of his last soccer game there’s a horrible accident. Lula, Maks and dozens of others are injured. It’s only through surgery and the healing powers of her family that Lula survives