QUICK REVIEWS PT. IV

 Hello my lovely readers! Let's get into some more quick reviews!

Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder by Rachel McCarthy James
A bloody examination of the axe's foundational role in human history, from prehistoric violence, to war and executions, to newspaper headlines and popular culture.

This was a quick and easy read, but it was more about the history of the ax sprinkled with a few stories about specific murders. The tone was confusing between trying to be a fact based nonfiction or a humorous book. 3 out of 5 stars

I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney
When Bud Stanley, an obituary writer, accidentally publishes his own obituary in his newspaper, he finally learns how to live.

Cute and humorous book about death and dying. 4 out of 5 stars.

Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany by James Wyllie

Hello my lovely readers! All the books I've read this month have been nonfiction. This book elicited strong emotions from me. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS
Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Hess, Bormann―names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margaret, Lina, Ilse and Gerda...

These are the women behind the infamous men―complex individuals with distinctive personalities who were captivated by Hitler and whose everyday lives were governed by Nazi ideology. Throughout the rise and fall of Nazism these women loved and lost, raised families and quarreled with their husbands and each other, all the while jostling for position with the Fuhrer himself. Until now, they have been treated as minor characters, their significance ignored, as if they were unaware of their husbands' murderous acts, despite the evidence that was all around the stolen art on their walls, the slave labor in their homes, and the produce grown in concentration camps on their tables.

James Wyllie's Nazi Wives explores these women in detail for the first time, skillfully interweaving their stories through years of struggle, power, decline and destruction into the post-war twilight of denial and delusion.

Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells by Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Hello my lovely readers! This was the last book on my Audible account that I wanted to get to before I deleted my account. If I have the physical version of a book, I also like to see if the audiobook is available so I can get through it faster. This book did not let me down. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS

Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was one of the foremost crusaders against black oppression. This engaging memoir tells of her private life as mother of a growing family as well as her public activities as teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight against attitudes and laws oppressing blacks.

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality Tomiko Brown-Nagin

Hello my lovely readers! This was a book I've had on my shelf for a while now and I finally decided to read it. Well...honestly it was prompted by the fact that I was canceling my Audible account and I wanted to physically read it and listen to it so I could get through it faster! Let's get into it.

SYNOPSIS

Born to an aspirational blue-collar family during the Great Depression, Constance Baker Motley was expected to find herself a good career as a hair dresser. Instead, she became the first Black woman to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court, the first of ten she would eventually argue. The only Black woman member in the legal team at the NAACP's Inc. Fund at the time, she defended Martin Luther King, Jr. in Birmingham, helped to argue Brown vs. The Board of Education, and played a critical role in vanquishing Jim Crow laws throughout the South. She was the first Black woman elected to the state Senate in New York, the first woman elected Manhattan Borough President, and the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary.

Civil Rights Queen captures the story of a remarkable American life, a figure who remade law and inspired the imaginations of African Americans across the country. Building on an extraordinary wealth of research, Tomiko Brown-Nagin, an award-winning, esteemed civil rights and legal historian and dean of the Radcliffe Institute, compels us to ponder some of our most timeless and urgent questions. How do the historically marginalized access the corridors of power? What is the price of the ticket? How does access to power shape individuals committed to social justice?

In Civil Rights Queen, she dramatically fills out the picture of some of the most profound judicial and societal change made in 20-century America.

QUICK REVIEWS PT. III

 Hello my lovely readers! So many reviews, so little time! Let's get into them!

Gatekeepers of Black Culture: Black-Owned Book Publishing in the United States, 1817-1981 by Donald Franklin Joyce

There wasn't a synopsis on this. It was pretty much, what  you see is what you get. 

*Good book on the black-owned publishing and how it produced a lot of the notable Black works of our time. It didn't really have a stance on the state of Black book publishing until near the end, but still a useful book to have. 4 out of 5 stars

The Ascent by Alison Buccola

A former and only surviving cult member comes face to face with someone from her past who claims she's her sister. Now she must determine if she can trust this person despite everyone from the cult disappearing 20 years ago.

*This sounded promising and it hooked me in the beginning. But then it took a complete U-turn into domestic thriller land. Sooooo disappointing and lame. 2.5 out of 5 stars