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.*

Sweet Summer Reads....

The summer of 2016 has by far been my best and most bookish summer to date. I came in at 17 books read ;)! Four more than I read last year!!!! While most of them where great, eight books really stood out. Here they are:

1)1984 by George Orwell

2) Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

3) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

4) The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward

5) The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith 

6) A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker

7) The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey

8) A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

You can find my no spoiler reviews of these books here on my blog. How many books did you read this summer? What books would you recommend for me to read is fall? Please feel free to leave a comment. Happy Reading 🤓

The Bookbabe goes Book Shopping.....

I got more books....here is my mini book Haul for August 2016! 

 **All Synopsis' are from Goodreads.com**

1) A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees by Kenõ

Synopsis: 'It is a most wonderful comfort to sit alone beneath a lamp, book spread before you, and commune with someone from the past whom you have never met...' 

Moonlight, sake, spring blossom, idle moments, a woman's hair - these exquisite reflections on life's fleeting pleasures by a thirteenth-century Japanese monk are delicately attuned to nature and the senses. 

2) Lover Unleashed by J.R: Ward

Synopsis: Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side... and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either. 

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can—and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night—like vampires—he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

3) Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham

Synopsis: Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. He works out of a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge, fine leather chairs, a hidden gun compartment, and a heavily armed driver. He has no firm, no partners, no associates, and only one employee, his driver, who’s also his bodyguard, law clerk, confidant, and golf caddy. He lives alone in a small but extremely safe penthouse apartment, and his primary piece of furniture is a vintage pool table. He drinks small-batch bourbon and carries a gun.

 
Sebastian defends people other lawyers won’t go near: a drug-addled, tattooed kid rumored to be in a satanic cult, who is accused of molesting and murdering two little girls; a vicious crime lord on death row; a homeowner arrested for shooting at a SWAT team that mistakenly invaded his house.  Why these clients? Because he believes everyone is entitled to a fair trial, even if he, Sebastian, has to cheat to secure one. He hates injustice, doesn’t like insurance companies, banks, or big corporations; he distrusts all levels of government and laughs at the justice system’s notions of ethical behavior.

4) The Invisible Library by G. Frogman

Synopsis: Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission - to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.

Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested - the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own.

Soon, she's up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option - the nature of reality itself is at stake.

5) Black Skin, White Mask by F. Fanon

Synopsis: A major influence on civil rights, anti-colonial, and black consciousness movements around the world, Black Skin, White Masks is the unsurpassed study of the black psyche in a white world. Hailed for its scientific analysis and poetic grace when it was first published in 1952, the book remains a vital force today. “[Fanon] demonstrates how insidiously the problem of race, of color, connects with a whole range of words and images.” — Robert Coles, The New York Times Book Review 

6) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling

Synopsis: It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

7) Graceling by Kristen Cashore

Synopsis: Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away... 

                 ***not pictured***

8) The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

Synopsis: Mickey Haller gets the text, "Call me ASAP - 187," and the California penal code for murder immediately gets his attention. Murder cases have the highest stakes and the biggest paydays, and they always mean Haller has to be at the top of his game.

When Mickey learns that the victim was his own former client, a prostitute he thought he had rescued and put on the straight and narrow path, he knows he is on the hook for this one. He soon finds out that she was back in LA and back in the life. Far from saving her, Mickey may have been the one who put her in danger.

A Return to Caldwell: The Bookbabe Reviews Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

We all know that I am a fan of the black dagger brotherhood series; there is really nothing like a good bit of vampire paranormal fiction. So here I am again, back in Caldwell, among the Brotherhood. In Lover Mine we are introduced yet again to Xhex and John Matthews. We are quickly caught up to the fact that Xhex is still missing. Having been taken by Lash; due to his obsession with her. And John is on a mission to find her - without the help of the Brotherhood. What I loved the most about this book is the fact that Ward did not really feature sex as heavily as she has in some of the other books. 
Which was extremely refreshing -because sometimes you just need a break from all of that.  Also, this book is infused with more action and some of the bit players are bought to the foreground. We see more of Quinn and Blay. Finally we get a little bit of a view into this relationship and begun to see it shaping itself into something else. I mean it really was about time. Quinn was beginning to get on my last nerve. And Blay, who was finally getting sick of Quinn's crap decides to go out with someone new. Which might be a mistake because that someone is Quinn's cousin (yikes). One of the most awesome thing of this book is to see how John and Xhex slowly connect to one another after she is back within the brotherhood. 
Xhex, as usual, is hard headed. She does not want to just be sitting on the sideline, allowing John to settle things with Lash on her behalf. She is interested in taking Lash out herself, and she will not allow anyone kill her but herself. Of course, at first, John is not willing to go along with that because (as a typical male) he feels the need to defend the woman that he loves. But, once Lash is cornered and Xhex is injured he sees the error of his ways. He allows her to dole out justice as she sees fit. This was one of my favorite moments of the book because  John was being selfless, he was looking beyond himself and really caring about Xhex - something I think that she never really experienced in her life. Of course, there are many more surprises in the book...but you will have to read it to find out more. I gave this book 3/5 stars on goodreads. 

Here are some of the quotes that I loved from this book:

"The truth was...he was in love with her. Totally over-the-line, no-going-back, not-even-dead-would-he-part kind of shit"

"No, you've got it all wrong, John...You're not half the male you could be because of what was done to you. You're twice what anyone else is because you survived"

Currently Reading: Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward

I am currently reading the seventh book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by the wonderful J.R. Ward. Here is the synopsis: 

Rehvenge is used to living in the shadows and dealing with the roughest night walkers around—including the Black Dagger Brotherhood. As his secret identity as a sympath is threatened, he turns to the only light in his ever darkening world—a female vampire untouched by corruption, who’s the only thing standing between him and eternal damnation.

First impression: (I am 15 chapters in) 

I am pretty impressed with Rev's story so far. We are finally seeing Lash's betrayal unfold. Of course, there is one big thing that is plaguing me and I am wondering how John Matthew's seeing Lash alive is going to play out. I think he is keeping that particular secret. There have been a few surprises in this book so far. Finally Wrath; the king of the vampires, is back in on the action. And Phury is making a comeback as well. I still have a lot of story to make it through but I am

Excited for this book. My plan is to have it completely read by New Years Eve.  

She rescued him as much as he rescued her: The Bookbabe Review of Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

She rescued him as much as he rescued her: The Bookbabe Review of Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

I am a little late with this review; being as though I started and finished this book in August. Lover Awakened was a little harder to get through because it is about the toughest brother of the group, Zsadist. Zsadist has a deep, dark and disturbing past that is filled with a lot of self destruction. Z (as he is known by the brothers) is a former blood/sex slave; having been stolen from his family. He is marked with tattoos on his wrists and around his neck that marks him as what he was. Z is a guy that you want to hate but just can't bring yourself to. In the previous books he positively gave me the creeps and I could not see why Bella would be so willing to get close to him. As we find out its because of his dangerous side, but also because she senses something good and vulnerable in him. During the course of this book we learn a lot about the very tense relationship that Z has with this twin Phury. (Who honestly I am very anxious to get to know). We also find some heart break in this book that I feel will echo across several of the other books in the series. In my opinion this book was one of the best so far. It was deep, with lots of high drama. Ward writes it in such away that you can not help but hope that Z finds the love and support he needs with Bella. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. 

Quotes I loved:

"You are the male I might have been. You are the potential I had and lost. You'll take care of her. I want you to take care of her....it will be a good mating for her. With you as her Hellen, she can hold her head up high. She can be seen with you at her side. She'll be socially invincible. The flyers won't be able to touch her." (Zsadist)

"Oh, God...Z. How could you stomach the idea that I was with her" (Phury)

"Whether it's you or someone else, the pain is the same. Besides, you think I'm not used to hurting. For me, it's home sweet home, my brother" (Zsadist) 

"U, you know what they say about messengers, right?"

"Excuse me?"

"Too much bad news will get you shot"

For more book reviews and to join in my bookish adventures be sure to follow me at 

www.delawarebookaddict.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/thebookbabeofde

A Sexy vampire and The Beast that loves within: Bookbabe Review of Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood #2) by J.R. Ward

It's like Beauty and the Beast but with Vampires: The Book Babe reviews: Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood #2) by J.R. Ward

Let me preface this by saying I have read the first book, and there is no review on that exist for the first book. Mainly because I read it over two years ago, and before the blogs existence. So, I have read the first one so I know a bit about the series. In the second book we meet Rhage, the "lover" of the group. He is drop dead gorgeous with his blond hair, broad shoulders and teal colored eyes. But he is also hiding a secret that could destroy the ones around him. He seems to go through life with an outward appearance  of a greek god and has the arrogant attitude to match. However, that is all masking the hate and shame he feels over his secret. It will take a good woman, with and extraordinary heart to break him down and get him to drop the act. We meet Mary Luce at a very sad point in her life; she is still dealing with the death of her mother and the fact that her battle with cancer may not actually be over. Even with all this Mary is upbeat and bright and friendly, she befriends a young man named John. Who is also dealing with something of a mystery. Which I am sure will be uncovered in upcoming books. Mary "meets" Rhage in a hallway of the Brotherhoods training center. She is bought there to help with John by her neighbor and friend Bella. The meeting is a bit different (Laugh) due to the fact that Rhage is not completely himself at the time. Of course, Mary will not remember this moment because humans are not to know about the vampires living among them. So the memory to "cleared" from her mind. After the meeting Rhage can not get her out of his mind. With the help of a brother and Mary's friend Bella, Rhage engineers a blind date so that he can see her again. For him its love at first sight but Mary immediately thinks its all wrong. She has convinced herself that a man this perfect could never want her because she is to plain. She does her best to shake Rhage off; and well, that does not work. He feels and overwhelming need to protect her and make her his. Mary tries her damnedest to push him away and even though he knows the relationship could cause problems with his brothers he still sees her. He even disobeys the direct order of their leader and it results in his punishment. Its not until this act that Mary sees the lengths he will go to to Protect her from anyone and how dear she is to him. Also during the course of the book we meet the "lessers". An odd society of men trained to kill vampires. The group is trying its hardest to get to the Brotherhood by tracking down other vampires they may know of them or where they live. Let me just say this....these dudes are creepy. With a capital C. Their whole organization and appearance that makes my skin crawl. (I will not explain it here...guess you have to read it) What I loved about this installment was that there was less sex and more sexual tension  between the two main characters. Also Mary and Rhage's relationship  is believable and surprisingly normal. Another thing I loved  about this story was that it flowed well and has a great mix of action. Also, J.R. Ward has mastered the cliffhanger. She leaves us in the mists of a crisis and sets up the story for the next couple. I gave this book five out of five stars on Goodreads. I really can not wait to see how the storyline and the characters grow.

Favorite Quotes:

" Being a bastard's more of a compulsion, really"  -Zsadist

"God spare me the heroes,"she muttered. "Back the fuck off"

"And why had those prayers focused heavenward? Well, it kind of made sense, didn't it? Even when there were no more options for the body, the heart's wishes find a way out, and as with all the warmth, love rises"

Mary"You are a manipulator" /Rhage: "I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer"

For more reviews be sure to follow me at www.delawarebookaddict.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com\thebookbabeofde

My Current Situation!

Awesome August Book Photo Challenge Day 1: Whatcha Reading?

I am determined to get through these for books this month! I started one last night!