Sometimes You Just Need to Buy the Book....

As usually when things get crazy I wander into a bookstore. I picked up three new books. Here they are:

Mules and Men:
Mules and Men is the first great collection of black America's folk world. In the 1930's, Zora Neale Hurston returned to her "native village" of Eatonville, Florida to record the oral histories, sermons and songs, dating back to the time of slavery, which she remembered hearing as a child. In her quest, she found herself and her history throughout these highly metaphorical folk-tales, "big old lies," and the lyrical language of song. With this collection, Zora Neale Hurston has come to reveal'and preserve'a beautiful and important part of American culture.

The Devil's Cut:
At first, the death of William Baldwine, the head of the Bradford family, was ruled a suicide. But then his eldest son and sworn enemy, Edward, came forward and confessed to what was, in fact, a murder. Now in police custody, Edward mourns not the disintegration of his family or his loss of freedom . . . but the woman he left behind. His love, Sutton Smythe, is the only person he has ever truly cared about, but as she is the CEO of the Bradford Bourbon Company’s biggest competitor, any relationship between them is impossible. And then there’s the reality of the jail time that Edward is facing.

Lane Baldwine was supposed to remain in his role of playboy, forever in his big brother Edward’s shadow. Instead he has become the new head of the family and the company. Convinced that Edward is covering for someone else, Lane and his true love, Lizzie King, go on the trail of a killer—only to discover a secret that is as devastating as it is game-changing.

As Lane rushes to discover the truth, and Sutton finds herself irresistibly drawn to Edward in spite of his circumstances, the lives of everyone at Easterly will never be the same again. For some, this is good; for others, it could be a tragedy beyond imagining. Only one thing is for certain: Love survives all things. Even murder.

In Search of Our Mother's Gardens:
In her first collection of nonfiction, Alice Walker speaks out as a black woman, writer, mother, and feminist, in thirty-six pieces ranging from the personal to the political. Here are essays about Walker's own work and that of other writers, accounts of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the antinuclear movement of the 1980s, and a vivid, courageous memoir of a scarring childhood injury. Throughout the volume, Walker explores the theories and practices of feminists and feminism, incorporating what she calls the "womanist" tradition of black women.
"This is one of the healthiest collections of essays I have come across in a long time. . . . What [Walker] says about the black woman she says from the depths of oppression. What is said from the depths of oppression illuminates all other oppressions."-New Statesman

Alice Walker is the author of seven novels, three collections of short stories, three collections of essays, seven volumes of poetry, and several children's books. Her novel The Color Purple won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and her work has been translated into more than two dozen languages. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Walker lives in northern California.

*Mules and Men and In Search of Our Mothers Gardens are part of The Lemonade Syllabus.*

Mr. Mercedes Comes to the Small Screen

As a lot of you know I'm a huge fan of Stephen King and it seems like he is owning TV and the movies this summer and fall. The Dark Tower movie was released this month and Mr. Mercedes started on Audience.
Mr. Mercedes is based on the book of the same name (coming from the Bill Hodges series); this book follows a retired Homicide Detective as he tries to catch the killer that got away.
The show so far is pretty true to the books. The only change from book to show is the neighbor living next door to Hodges. I can't really get at the angle they might use with her. All and All I am really impressed with it so far. If you haven't read the series you should. Its a series I never thought I'd be reading from the likes of Stephen King.

When Words Can't Express

Loss...is a funny word. Its a tangible, werid word. And its multidimesonal in scope and in feeling. Loss is something we all experience. We lose things every day. Small things. Sometimes big things. But most of all we lose time. Time to be with those we love. Time to express our gratitude just for that moment. We are always losing something. At 3:07, 8/26/2017 - I lost something. A piece of my heart. A small spot in which dwelled a person that is irreplaceable. At 3:07 am, 8/26/2017 - I lost my biggest cheerleader, the most complex person in my life. I lost the woman that taught me my first prayers, bought me my first Bible. And who allowed me to be myself; flaws and all, quirks and all. At 3:07 am God shifted my world; he set it spinning while seemingly leaving me speechless and motionless. So it is now that words, written ones comfort. It is now that I can write what I can't say aloud. Alice Marie Brown has been called home. She has trancesended this life. My heart feels hollow; my very being is feels silent. And words can never truly express the love, saddness and gratitude I feel all at once. She is mother and grandmother and friend and fierce protector. And God Even as she was flawed, God even with her short comings I loved her. Unconditionally and with my whole heart. No one can ever compare to my grandmother. I feel saddness because she is not here physically. I can't hold her hands or kiss her goodbye anymore. I am grateful that God has seen fit to end her suffering; I am happy that she is with her Mother and Father and other family. I lean now fully into the promises of God. She is absent from me now but she is present with the Lord. That gives my heart and mind the peace they need. I will miss her for the rest of my life but this is only a farewell....a parting until we meet again.

Sometimes you just have to buy a book!

It Can't Happen Here is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression when America was largely oblivious to Hitler's aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a President who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, rampant promiscuity, crime, and a liberal press. Now finally back in print, It Can't Happen Here remains uniquely important, a shockingly prescient novel that's as fresh and contemporary as today's news.

It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war, and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.

Can you ever tame a wild thing? The Bookbabe Reviews Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

As many of you know I am slowing reading through the Lemonade Syllabus (a list of books, music, art and movies based on black feminism and the black female experience in America) and I started with the books that I already owned. The first book on the list was Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The book follows the life and struggles of Janie Crawford; a young African American woman who is looking to live her life on her own terms. Janie wants to love who she wants and live as free as she pleases. The book follows her through two tough marriages and a tragic love affair with a younger man. Janie's story opens up with her still living at home with her elderly grandmother. Her grandmother notices that Janie has taken a liking to a "no good" man (though she only allows him to kiss her) and seeks to marry her off to the best man their little town has to offer. Janie, of course, protests but later relents and marries her first husband. This man is older and definitely not a man she is at all interested in. They have nothing in common and she does as little for him as possible. He foreshadows her leaving him with another man and she does. Jody Starks sweeps her off her feet with all his fancy talk and big ideas. Jody seems to be very different from her first husband; he is ambitious and has money. But Jody has very sexist ideas when it comes to Janie. He seems to want to control her - he is openly critical of her and she takes it for a while until the love is gone. She begins to resent him; and eventually she can not take his mess any more and she tells him off. Her comments are over heard by the people of their town who often visit their store in the evening.
It's clear to them and to Jody that Janie isn't as happy with Jody as she once was. It was the emasculating event that changes the way in which Jody deals with her. The moment seems to even change his very being; and once he becomes ill he stops dealing with Janie all together. He won't eat her cooking and begins sleeping in another room. He stops speaking to her and its not clear until he is on his death bed that she will have her closure. She goes to him and they have a very anti-climatic discussion about their relationship. For a while people in the community believe that she poisoned him. She continues to move about her life until a young man called Tea Cake comes calling. Over time they strike up a friendship and then it turns into something more. With nothing to lose Janie leaves town with him; again she does not realize that Tea Cake may not be the man for her. He seems to have a gambling issue and at one point steals from her and is gone for hours. He also has a scene were he beats her. But still she stays because he is the only man that seems to really let Janie be Janie. With Tea Cake she is truly free. Due to an unexpected illness and with a tragic accident Tea Cake is killed and Janie is left to face the consequences of his death. It's only after his death that she wanders back home - alone; but more assured of who she is as a woman.
I saw a lot of myself in Janie; and she is a character that is very easy to love. She seems like a true free spirit. She wants to experience life on her own terms and is tired of being boxed in by the people around her. Her Grandmother wants to control her future. She first husband wants to force her to love him; and attempts to buy her love by pampering her and treating her like a queen. Her second Husband Jodie mansplains to her repeatedly and seeks to keep her in her place. But only Tea Cake is okay with allowing Janie to be her free and unbound self. Even though the relationship is complex Janie is still able to find herself. So when she comes home with road dust on her feet she holds her head high and does not make excuses for her decisions. She's finally learned how to live life for herself and herself alone.
What I loved about Hurtson's novel was the glowing prose. This book is so beautifully written. I found myself unable to walk away from Janie's story. The tale is highly imaginative and has a deeply personal touch. I have owned this book for years and for the life of me I do not understand why it took me so long to read this.
I gave Their Eyes Were Watching God 5/5 Stars on Goodreads.

Quotes I Loved:

Bonus: The Fan Made Trailer for the T.V. movie adaptation of the book.

Christian Psychological Thrillers....YEAH ITS A THING! The Bookbabe reviews The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker

I was first introduced to Ted Dekker a few years ago; at the time I was seeing his books everywhere specifically The Circle Series. And I had also had a chance to watch Thr3e - a movie based on another of his psychological thrillers (I would recommend everyone see the movie it was really good). Some time ago I picked up the mass market paper back of The Bride Collector. The story had it all and I had every intention to reading it last summer while I was on a mystery kick. But it ended up on the TBR for June of this year. And honestly it was the fastest book I have read in a while. In the Bride Collector we are introduced to Federal Agent Brad Raines; he is a man with a singular focus - to catch the killer known as the Bride Collector before he can kill seven victims. Each of the women the killer selects fits the profile of the perfect bride and each are stepping stones to the woman who he believes to perfect. The Killer is clearly psychotic and is a religious nut.
He uses a warped sense of God's love to justify the killing of each of the women; because they are the most loved they need to die. God is calling these women home - he wants his brides and only the killer can give God what he wants. We begin to see that the killer is focused on revenge when he goes after a woman Brad is involved in. It is the one act in the story that lets us know the true motives of the killer. Little does Brad know but he is walking into the killers trap and he has to get help from an unlikely source (who is connected to the killer) in order to not only bring him down but to identify him.
I enjoyed the pace of this book. I could not wait to see what else Dekker had in store. The most moving part of this book for me was the way in which Dekker approached mental health and the treatment of those afflicted with mental illnesses. In the book we are introduced to The Center for Wellness and Intelligence which is an institution that caters specifically to those with mental illnesses that are highly intelligent. I found this interesting because a week or so before reading the book I had read an article linking intelligence to mental illness. I believe that Dekker was hip to something other people seemed to have been ignoring when this book was published in 2010. I would love to see Dekker tackle another serial killer; and I may get my chance as I own several of his books.
I gave The Bride Collector five out of five stars on Goodreads.

Edgar Allan Poe can be a killers Best friend: The Bookbabe Reviews The Poet by Michael Connelly

After reading The Bride Collector I was ready for another mystery; so I searched through my books and found Michael Connelly's The Poet. The Poet is the story of newspaper reporter Jack McEvoy's need to understand the apparent suicide death of his police officer twin brother. He can't wrap his head around the death. None of it makes any sense to and after a little digging he discovers that everything is not as it seems. The Poet is a killer that leaves behind cryptic messages by using the Poetry and works of Edgar Allan Poe. At the same time we are introduced to The Poet we are exposed to another underlying story: cops involved in the molestation of children. This is a common thread throughout the book and one that ties several of the characters together; however this is classic misdirection. The Poet is a 501 (mass market edition) page wild ride of twists and turns and suspense. This is definitely Connelly at his finest hour. I really can't write to much about the book without giving away vital parts of the plot; so I'll share with you what I loved about the work.
I loved that Edgar Allan Poe's poetry was used by the killer is a calling card. This is a bit different and definitely interesting. At first none of the suicide notes containing these lines made any sense until they were examined further. It was never really explained in the book as to why The Poet used Poe. Another thing that was great about this book were the plot twists. You begin to believe that the killer is identified early. We think we know who the killer is and then plot twist; and with the first twist a sudden and heart wrenching betrayal. Then another plot twist and the real killer is revealed. There were so many layers to these twists; the author really kept me guessing. Another thing I really enjoyed was the ambiguous ending. Connelly left it open for McEvoy to have another encounter with The Poet.
I gave The Poet 5/5 stars on Goodreads.
Quotes I Liked:
"It's lucky no one else knows what our most secret thoughts are. We'd all be seen for the cunning, self-aggrandizing fools we are."

"Writing does for me what you got in that glass does for you. If I can write about it, I can understand it."