With Love from Harlem by ReShonda Tate

Hello my lovely readers!

I was hesitant to read this at first, since I'm not typically a fan of biography novels. But I'm glad I gave this one a shot. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS
Harlem, 1943. At just twenty-three, Hazel Scott is a woman on fire. A jazz prodigy, a glamorous film star, and a fierce advocate for civil rights, she's breaking barriers and refusing to play by the rules. Then Adam Clayton Powell Jr. walks into her life. Harlem's most electrifying preacher-turned-politician, Adam is as bold and unyielding as Hazel--charismatic, powerful...and married.

This kicks off a decades-long relationship that propels them into the center of a political and cultural revolution. As Hazel's star rises, Adam takes the national stage in Congress and the couple becomes the toast of the country. But when their affair turns into a marriage, behind the glamorous façade is a battlefield of ego, ambition, and sacrifice. Forced to choose between her music and her family, Hazel must decide what she's willing to lose--and what she refuses to give up.

Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood by Jill Watts

Hello my lovely readers!

Another day, another book. Let's get into it.

SYNOPSIS 
Hattie McDaniel is best known for her performance as Mammy, the sassy foil to Scarlett O’Hara in the movie classic Gone with the Wind. Her powerful performance won her an Oscar® and bolstered the hopes of black Hollywood that the entertainment industry was finally ready to write more multidimensional, fully-realized roles for blacks.

But despite this victory, and pleas by organizations such as the NAACP and SAG, roles for blacks continued to denigrate the African American experience. So Hattie McDaniel continued to play servants. “I’d rather play a maid then be a maid,” Hattie McDaniel answered her critics, but her flip response belied a woman who was emotionally conflicted. Here, in an exhaustively detailed and incisive text by a talented historian, is the story of a valiant woman who defied the racism of her time.

The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker

 

Hello my lovely readers!

Did you know that The Color Purple  is a trilogy? This is the second book in the series. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS
Filled with the author's unique combination of magic and reality, this book is a sweeping yet intimate novel about people who are tormented by the world's contradictions--black vs. white, man vs. woman, sexual freedom vs. sexual slavery, and past vs. present.

QUICK REVIEWS pt. VII

Hello my lovely readers! I'm just blowing through these books this month. Let's get into it with more quick reviews!

Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Yardena Schwartz
In 1929, in the sacred city of Hebron--then governed by the British Mandate of Palestine--there was no occupation, state of Israel, or settlers. Jews and Muslims lived peacefully near the burial place of Abraham, patriarch of the Jewish and Arab nations, until one Saturday morning when nearly 70 Jewish men, women, and children were slaughtered by their Arab neighbors. The Hebron massacre was a seminal event in the Arab-Israeli conflict, key to understanding its complexities.

*Another great addition to books about the ongoing, long-fueled conflict between the Arabs and Israelis. A humbling read.

Searching for Savanna: The Murder of One Native American Woman and the Violence Against the Many by Mona Gable
In the summer of 2017, twenty-two-year-old Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind vanished. A week after she disappeared, police arrested the white couple who lived upstairs from Savanna and emerged from their apartment carrying an infant girl. The baby was Savanna’s, but her body would not be found for days.

*This was an important topic, especially for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, but it was poorly written and extremely convoluted. It's unfortunate, because ultimately it's the family of Savanna that suffers even more. 2.5 out of 5 stars

A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang by Lee Onhwa

Hello my lovely readers!

I needed a break from all the nonfiction I've been reading recently and this was a delightful read! Let's get into it.

SYNOPSIS
Twenty-seven-year-old Yeon-hwa has inherited a neighborhood bakery from her grandmother. Curiously, her grandmother’s will spells out two conditions: Yeon-hwa must keep the shop going for at least another month and only open it to customers from 10 PM until midnight. Yeon-hwa is hesitant at first; her grandmother was always distant, raising Yeon-hwa after her parents died in a car accident. But she agrees to the terms, hoping that running the bakery will help her to finally understand her grandmother after all these years.

Yeon-hwa soon learns that the Hwawoldang—the name means “flower moon temple” —is not an ordinary dessert shop. The customers who arrive late at night are spirits, there to attend to unfinished business before being reincarnated. The sweets they crave hold some deep significance in their earthly lives, and they expect Yeon-hwa to meet their requests, as her grandmother did.

With each customer who arrives, Yeon-hwa learns which special desserts live in their memories and will help them on their way. Aided by the shop’s resident black cat, Yeon-hwa learns how to find closure for her customers—and begins to unravel her own family’s secrets as well.

Diary of Anne Frank: Critical Edition by Anne Frank

 

Hello my lovely readers!

This was technically a re-read, but it's my first time reading this version of Anne Frank's diary. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS
The only complete collection of writings by Anne Frank, this impressive volume contains three of the extant versions of her Diary (including pages that came to light in 1998), Tales from the Secret Annex (he lesser known short stories, fables, and personal reminiscences), and Cady's Life (her unfinished novel), along with the latest, most definitive scholarly research into Frank's life.

Anne Frank's diary has become a modern classic. It stands alone as the moving testimony of a young girl whose world collapsed around her in the nightmare of Hitler's Final Solution. Published in the United States in 1952, Anne Frank: A Diary of a Young Girl has been translated from the Dutch into nearly seventy languages, and millions of people the world over continue to respond to her extraordinary voice. The Diary of Anne Frank: The Revised Critical Edition presents the most fascinating, comprehensive study of that diary in existence.

Prepared by the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation, this monumental work allows the reader to compare the three versions of the diary itself: Anne's original entries; the diary as she herself edited it in the hiding place of the "Secret Annex"; and the version most popularly known, as edited by Anne's father, Otto Frank, and a Dutch publishing house after World War II, when they removed certain family and sexual references. Every aspect of the diary--including Anne's handwriting and the paper used--is meticulously examined, providing compelling proof and historical of its poignant testament. Absorbing biographical information on the Frank family enhances Anne's personal perceptions, and a summary of critical events during and after the family's arrest--including how the Nazi authorities learned about the Franks and their secret hiding places--adds a new dimension to this tragic, still resonant story.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2026 Book Goals

 HAPPY NEW YEAR MY LOVELY READERS!

It seems like it's a tradition, that every year around this time, something goes askew in my life.

2024: I was pregnant, in pain and my reading went down the drain.

2025: Sickness, housing issues, traveling...shenanigans!

2026: MORE SICKNESS!

We all caught a terrible stomach virus over Christmas, starting with Charlotte and were LAID OUT.  We had to push Christmas back by a few days as well as the New Year, because apparently,  germs like to stay with me long-term. I was sick on New Year's Eve and New Year Day. I'm just now beginning to feel like myself.

Last year, I read the most books I've ever read at 91 books! I think it helped that I didn't set a reading goal for 2025. I also CRUSHED my 2025 reading goals which were to read more, visit the library more and consume books in all forms. Done, done and done.

So, what are my goals for this year?

1. READ WHAT I OWN
   Girl, why are you shouting? Well, it's because I have roughly 500 books in my house and I've only read approximately 130 of them. Shameful. Also, out of the 91 books I read last year, probably less than 20 percent were books that I OWNED. SHAMEEEEE.
   
   Once I get through my backlog of library books, I'm prioritizing my shelves before anything else. Yes, I'll still check out library books, but I'm limiting it to only four per month (and they can be physical or on Libby). I've got to take control of my poor, poor shelves.
   
   
2. Participate in more book challenges 
   I've never been one to take  part in book challenges, except for the 10 Books 10 Decades Challenge (which I was two books shy of completing in 2025, waaah!). But this year I'd like to get out of my comfort zone and do more challenges. Here are the four I'm participating in for 2026:
• 10 Books 10 Decades Challenge-pretty self explanatory
• Hefty Tomes-read 10 books that are 500 pages or more
• Personal Five-read five books that have a personal connection to you (prompt-based)
• 12 Lives Challenge-read 12 biographies in 2026
  

An added bonus is that I'm ONLY reading books from my shelf for these challenges, so again, win-win!

I'm not putting any pressure on myself, but I'd like to reach these goals this year and I think I will. Happy New Year!