Day 2: The day’s prompt was Outside. I was so happy to see all the beautiful pics of books in the snow or with snowy backgrounds. Absolutely beautiful! I decided to take a picture of The Living is Easy by Dorothy West in my garden in front of the only beautiful thing left.  This was her debut novel and was reprinted last year in November with this beautiful cover. It was originally published in 1948. The Living is Easy is definitely on my TBR list of books to get to this year and I hope to follow it up with The Wedding, which seems to be the title that most people seem to be familiar with. So what’s it about:

“The Living Is Easy tells the story of Cleo Judson, daughter of Southern sharecroppers, determined to integrate into Boston’s black elite. Married to the “Black Banana King” Bart Judson, Cleo maneuvers her three sisters and their children—but not their husbands—into living with her, attempting to recreate her original family in a Bostonian mansion.” (The Living is Easy, the cover)

Day 3:  Shelfie was the prompt today and the pictures I’ve seen on Instagram have been inspirational. Inspirational in me trying to make my own reading room, but first I have to finish organizing my shelves.  I took  a picture of one of my favorite shelves (one of the most organized) and that’s the one which contains Bernice McFadden and J. California Cooper books.  I decided to use Dr. Morayo Da Silva as an example from the Cassava Republic published novel Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun. The main character, Dr. Dasilva arranges her books together if she thinks they could be friends. So some of my shelves are organized in this fashion.

I feel like J. California Cooper is an author that isn’t spoken about enough and that’s mostly because backlist books aren’t really popular. You can’t get better short story collections than hers. I recommend you start with Homemade Love and Family which is a novella, an uplifting story you won’t forget. Of course, Bernice McFadden is another author that you should read if you haven’t. Some of my favorites from her are Gathering of Waters, Nowhere is a Place, and The Book of Harlan.  Literally everything she writes is excellent.  You can’t go wrong no matter whatever you decide to read.