Readalong – Brown Girl Reading

ReadSoulLit 2020

Black History month is nearing and I’m writing today to let you know about what I have planned to celebrate it literarily. Of course I’ll be hosting the 2020 #ReadSoulLit Photo Challenge over on Instagram. Get your books and picture ideas ready. This is one of the best moments to get book recommendations of black American authors. It’s a blast and it promises to be very Lit! Check out the monthly challenge below. If you don’t have Instagram don’t worry you can follow what I post over there here on the blog as well.

ReadSoulLit2020

Next I want to mention the ReadSoulLit 2020 Readalong. This February we’ll have the honor of reading The Last Thing I Surrender by Leonard Pitts, Jr. I can’t wait! I’ve wanted to check out a book by this author for a while now. It’s great giving attention to an author that seems to have been unnoticed by the book blogger community. Hopefully this read along will get people interested in Leonard Pitts, Jr’s backlist. If you’re interested in reading with us you can join the Goodreads reading group, under the rubric Community, called ReadSoulLit Readalong 2020 – The Last Thing You Surrender. You just have to request to join and I’ll confirm you.

There’s also another group you can join over on Goodreads called ReadSoulLit 2020. This group operates all year long where people can exchange over books from the diaspora. #ReadSoulLit focuses on black American authors in February, black British writers in October, and the entire diaspora the rest of the year.

Hopefully this February you’ll enjoy the videos, photo challenge, and discussions in the reading groups on books by African-American authors. There will surely be more surprises so I urge to follow me closely on here, on YouTube, and Instagram. Let’s have fun!

24 Books to Christmas – Day 10

baubles Today’s recommendation is one of our ReadSoulLit read along books from a few years ago called Some Sing, Some Cry. This epic multi-generational family saga written in tandem by two sisters Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza tells the story of an African- American family of women from Reconstruction to just before the beginning of the 21st century. Strong characters and great pacing, Some Sing, Some Cry is full of rich language and will keep readers engrossed. The Mayfield family sees it all. It’s very hard to put this book down. It’s just over 500 pages but really you won’t even notice its size. The only thing this book is missing is a family tree. Although I have a sneaky suspicion it was left out on purpose to maintain an element of surprise. It was also really cool having real life people being mixed into the story with made up characters. That added an excellent authentic touch and an excellent way to instruct readers who may not be familiar with them.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy reading multi-generational stories, stories that contain music, stories that contain amazing characters, and historical fiction.

Overview:

Opening dramatically at Sweet Tamarind, a rice and cotton plantation on an island off South Carolina’s coast, we watch as recently emancipated Bette Mayfield says her goodbyes before fleeing for the mainland. With her granddaughter, Eudora, in tow, she heads to Charleston. There, they carve out lives for themselves as fortune-teller and seamstress. Dora will marry, the Mayfield line will grow, and we will follow them on a journey through the watershed events of America’s troubled, vibrant history—from Reconstruction to both World Wars, from the Harlem Renaissance to Vietnam and the modern day.

Some Sing, Some Cry – Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Pages: 558

My rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

If you’d like to pick up a copy of any of my recommendations please consider clicking my affiliate link for The Book Depository. It would be much appreciated. It will help fund my incessant book buying, reading, and reviewing. Thank you!

http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=browngirlreading

24 Books to Christmas – Day 5

baubles This year I chose this next 24 Books to Christmas book for the February ReadSoulLit Readalong in honor of Black history Month – Unforgivable Love by Sophfronia Scott. Wow! This was such an interesting modern retelling of the 18th century French classic novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.

Scott did an excellent job by placing this modern day retelling in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance with all black characters. As the original classic is written in epistolary format, Scott chose to write it in prose/novel format. That was not an easy feat but she managed to develop all the characters well and to tell the story while choosing the most import scenes to highlight .

Most of the readers who participated in this readalong loved the messiness between the characters. It made us shake our heads, laugh out loud and gasp. Scott’s astute fashion writing dialogues was that fine line between humor and seriousness at times. The readers who didn’t like the book felt that the characters were being mean just to be mean and that wasn’t interesting to them. This being said it is a retelling so Scott can’t change the story. It just wasn’t for those few readers.

Overview:

“Heiress Mae Malveaux rules society with an angel’s smile and a heart of stone. She made up her mind long ago that nobody would decide her fate. To have the pleasure she Love craves, control is paramount, especially control of the men Mae attracts like moths to a flame.

Valiant Jackson always gets what he wants—and he’s wanted Mae for years. The door finally opens for him when Mae strikes a bargain: seduce her virginal young cousin, Cecily, who is engaged to Frank Washington. Frank values her innocence above all else. If successful, Val’s reward will be a night with Mae.

But Val secretly seeks another prize. Elizabeth Townsend is fiercely loyal to her church and her civil rights attorney husband. Certain there is something redeemable in Mr. Jackson. Little does she know that her most unforgivable mistake will be Val’s greatest triumph.” (Unforgivable Love, back cover)

I’m linking below the Unforgivable Love Live discussion for anyone who may have missed it but has read the book. this video is full of spoilers so if you’re concerned about that don’t watch until you’ve read the book. However don’t miss out on this discussion because it was very lively and full of a lot of insight. Moreover, Sophronia Scott joined in on the live where we had the pleasure of discussing the book, talking about creative writing, and Scott working on a black modern version of Jane Eyre. I can’t wait!