The Rose Petal Beach by Dorothy Koomson

Hello my lovely readers!

This was a re-read for me. I've always loved Dorothy Koomson and I hadn't read this in almost a decade, so I thought it'd be good to re-read and determine if I should keep or toss it. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS
Tamia Challey is horrified when her husband, Scott, is accused of something terrible – but when she discovers who his accuser is, everything goes into freefall. Backed into a corner and unsure what to think, Tamia is forced to choose who she instinctively believes. But this choice has dire consequences for all concerned, especially when matters take a tragic turn.

Then a stranger arrives in town to sprinkle rose petals in the sea in memory of her lost loved one. This stranger carries with her shocking truths that will change the lives of everyone she meets, and will once again force Tamia to make some devastating choices.

My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar

Hello my lovely readers!

It took me a LONG time to finish this book (again, blame the pregnancy), but I finished it a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fun fact: I'm a HUGE Anne Frank fan. Weird, I know, but I discovered her in 2001 when I was 12. 

Anne Frank: The Whole Story aired on ABC over two nights and 12-year-old Naomi was shook! I related to Anne in feeling that no one truly understood me and that I always wore a façade with my friends and family. As a diarist myself, starting when I was 6-years-old, my diary was and still is the only place I can let my freak flag fly freely without judgement.

The house that I lived in at the time, had a huge attic that had a spiral staircase and twin bed (I dragged it up there) where I practically lived in eighth grade year. I was the Black Anne Frank as far as I was concerned.

I say all that to say, that after watching the movie and reading The Diary of a Young Girl,  I became obsessed and bought all books related to Anne Frank and became slightly obsessed with the Holocaust. Needless to say, I know all the players in her story and have read all the books about her and the people within her circle. When I found out her friend Hannah Pick-Goslar was writing her official memoir on her life, the Holocaust and Anne Frank, I was stoked. Let's get into it!

The Raptures by Jan Carson

 

Hello my lovely readers!

I bought this book when I was in Ireland last year and I started reading in July. It took me a YEAR to finish it. I blame the pregnancy!

BACKGROUND

 Before we get into the review, here are a few pictures from Ireland! This was my first time returning to Ireland in 13 YEARS. I had first visited in 2010 for three weeks as part of a study abroad program with my university. Ireland is one of my favorite countries and this time I got to see it with my husband! We only spent three days, this time around, but we definitely will be back.

We spent most of our time in Dublin, but we did travel to the Cliffs of Moher and had a quick stop in Galway.

As always, I made sure to find a local bookstore, but it turns out Chapters is a bookstore chain. I didn't learn this until after the fact and was a bit disappointed, but what matters is that I FINALLY bought a book by an Irish author in Ireland.  The employees at Chapters helped me decide which book to buy and it ended up being The Raptures by Jan Carson.

BOOKISH/LIFE UPDATES

Hello my lovely readers!

I've been gone for a MINUTE!

Let's just get into it....

1. I'M A MAMA NOW
My last post was right before my baby shower in February and a few months before I gave birth. On April 13th, I gave birth to my beautiful, bouncing baby girl Charlotte. It was a relatively easy birth, except for the fact that she and I both had fevers at birth and she had low blood sugar so we had to stay a few extra days in the hospital.

It's been a whirlwind transitioning into mommy life, but I love it. I do miss my solitude, but the fact that I have a daughter makes up for it (when she's not pooping on me lol)

2. MATERNITY LEAVE

I had this idea in my head that I'd devour books in my library while on maternity leave, but that was wishful thinking. I finished....maybe two or three books while on leave and they were books that I'd been reading ALL YEAR. It's embarrassing, but that's the life of a first-time mom, right?

I'm three books behind on my reading goal for the year. My goal was to read 15 books and I still think I'll meet that goal. I just have to prioritize reading when I'm "nap-trapped" by Charlotte since I still can't put her down in her crib yet (she only falls asleep if she's on someone, except at bedtime).

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

 

Hello my lovely readers!

SYNOPSIS

Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.―and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. 

In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father, and fellow activists. King reveals a minister wrestling with his own human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government, and a man determined to fight for justice even if it proved to be a fight to the death. As he follows MLK from the classroom to the pulpit to the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Memphis, Eig dramatically re-creates the journey of a man who recast American race relations and became our only modern-day founding father―as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr.

In this landmark biography, Eig gives us an MLK for our a deep thinker, a brilliant strategist, and a committed radical who led one of history’s greatest movements, and whose demands for racial and economic justice remain as urgent today as they were in his lifetime.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Book Goals for 2024

Hello my lovely readers!

Happy New Year!

It's no surprise that I haven't been as active on here due to my pregnancy and all the shenanigans that have been taking place with it. However, with us being in the year 2024, I do want to give ya'll my book goals for this year!

Last year, I was EXTREMELY ambitious in my reading goal of 100 books for the year and reviewing EVERY SINGLE BOOK. Not only did reading start to feel like a chore with that goal, but by the time I found out I was pregnant, I was completely burnt out. I don't think I'll ever commit to reading 100 books in a year EVER again.

So here are my reading goals for 2024!

• Read 15 books. --Yes, this is a super low number, but I'm giving birth this year and I want to be realistic.
• Read what I own--Last year, I tried (and failed) to put myself on a book buying ban. With saving our money to buy a house, having a baby and daycare costs, there's not going to be a lot of money leftover for book spending (which is a blessing and a curse.) Plus, I have SO many books on my shelves that I need to get to, so win win?
• Re-read my favorites--Toward the end of 2023, I found myself re-reading a lot of books that I hadn't read in years and I want to keep that up this year. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the books I read in high school (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Awakening and Their Eyes Were Watching God to name a few) and I want to continue that trend. There are so many books on my shelves that are say are my ALL TIME FAVORITE, but I haven't read in years. Let's change that in 2024!

Three goals. Pretty simple. No pressure. Happy New Year!

I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings by Maya Angelou

 

Hello my lovely readers! This was another re-read for me. I've been unintentionally re-reading a lot of books from my youth and a lot of them still hold up!

This book was no different. I first read this when I was 16 and spending the summer with my grandparents in Florida. Ah, the memories. This was such a beautifully written memoir and I'm so thankful to have read it again as a grown woman.

SYNOPSIS

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is the beginning in a string of autobiographies about her life. 

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. 

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and racial prejudice.  At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. 

Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors  will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.