Slave Time: Midnight a novel by Howard Potts

Imagine my surprise when author and former colleague, Howard Potts, sent me my own autographed copy of his new book,  Slave Time. This book was inspired by real life slave stories as told to interviewers involved in the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Project Administration (WPA) in the 1930s.

I just started reading and am on page 55.  Tom Smart is the interviewer in the story, raised in the North, who is sent to Georgia and Alabama to interview former slaves. Tom thought his calling was to interview congressmen, senators, and presidents.  This was the depression period; Tom had to take this job interviewing elderly black people in the Deep South. Some of these former slaves were too old to remember life back then in great detail and some were suspicious of white interviewers from the North digging into their family history. Tom, however, hit the jackpot when he was directed to Old Sam Worthington who had a great memory, was known in the area as a storyteller and was willing to share his stories. Old Sam told his own first hand experiences plus the stories that were told to him as a child. For example, he was told that he was born into slavery on a day in 1833 when there was a Great Leonid Meteor and could relay this tidbit to Tom. He told the story of an African princess and her fellow villagers who were tricked into getting on a slave ship.

It's a fascinating book. It is very descriptive and would be of interest to history aficionados.

Jamaican Writer, Jamaican Setting: Jacks Hill

A new book by Jamaican writer, Jennifer Grahame, with Jamaican setting and some Jamaican patois, Jacks Hill, is on amazon. I heard about this book via a blog posted on Facebook. I skimmed the first few pages online and it seems interesting. What caught my attention was the amazon reader/reviewer who posted that this book is a "must read" for those of us who grew up in Kingston in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Three Pines Mystery series

I am hooked on the Three Pines Mystery series by Louise Penny set in the village of Three Pines in French-speaking Canada.  I have read Still Life (book club selection in October) and Fatal Grace and am waiting for the arrival of The Cruelest Month from a library.

In Fatal Grace, the author tells us in the very first sentence who was going to be murdered.  I believe the same thing happened in Still Life, I remember for sure that the reader knew who the victim was from the first page. The characters in the series are all quirky which I love.  Three older women were introduced in this novel; Bea, Em, and Kaye. Grumpy Ruth the poet, Clara and Peter the artists, and Myrna the black retired Psychologist who owns a book store seem to be constant characters.  There is some trouble stirring with Inspector Gamache and there seems to be a traitor in his entourage so I am continuing with the series to find out more.   I am eager to know if someone is going to die in Three Pines.  I don't think this little village can stand another murder in its midst.

On another genre, I just heard about this new Sci-Fi book  on kindle by first time author, Jennifer Fales.  I am not a big Sci-Fi fan but I did enjoy  The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. I started Oryx and Crake by the same writer but could not get into it.

Check these links

I've been getting some really interesting links from social networking: bloggers, and twitter and facebook friends.

For those of you who dream of writing a novel, today is 11/1/11 and it's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I found a list of book bloggers, on Joy's Book Blog, who will be participating by writing a 50,000 word novel

Here is a link I found on twitter: Infographics on reading habits, check it out. One in six readers use an e-reader or is likely to purchase one in the next 6 months. Interesting response to the question, What type of books have you read in the past year?

I got this very interesting TED Talk link from facebook featuring David Brooks, writer of The Social Animal:the Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement. Watch the video clip.

Marketing New Books

Take a look at the video trailers to market new books that I found on writer,  Stacy Eaton's blog.   The books are Come Back to Me, which will be available November 1st; My Blood Runs Blue, by Stacy Eaton herself; Sounds of Murder, In Leah's Wake, and Black: Beast: A Clan of MacAulay, all now available on amazon.

You may be interested in this book review of an authorized biography titled simply, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson which covers the good, the bad, and the ugly about Jobs.

Here is one more link that I found interesting.  It's a link to a new children's book, Island Princess, by Diane Browne, one of the best geography teachers I ever had in high school. (I remember her being short and dainty walking in her extremely high heeled shoes.)  I liked her insight about book covers to market children's books.  Her comments are true; most Jamaicans do have family who live abroad or know someone who has family abroad.  I have family members who emigrated to the United States in 1919.  I also liked the most recent post on book covers and Caribbean culture.

Meet Julie Garwood, Kansas City, August 9th

The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood will be released on August 9th. To celebrate the release, Rainy Day Books will host a book signing in Kansas City on August 9th. 

If you are in Kansas City find out how to get your tickets here.   If you are out of state or even out of the country and would like an autographed book, check out the Rainy Day Books website for  a signed copy.

International fans email  Mailbox@RainyDayBooks.com for a shipping quote.

You can follow the author on Twitter and Facebook.

Jamaican Poet and Novelist

Kei Miller, Jamaican poet and writer, was brought to my attention by friend on Facebook. Will certainly put this book, The Last Warner Woman, on my list of Must Read books.  I remember those "Warner Men and Women" on the JOS buses.  They warned that we should repent since the end was near. 

This Is What I Am Reading

I am reading Wench by Dolen Parkins-Valdez because I read somewhere, can't remember where exactly, that this book was like The Help . Well so far this book has little similarity to the Help. It is similar in that it is about a group of black friends who are all in a similar position. That is all to the similarity.

The four women in this story are slaves from the South. They holiday with their slave masters at Tawawa House in Ohio which is a free state. The slave masters are also the fathers of their children. There is a similar holiday resort for free blacks in Ohio. I am on page 56 and so far Mawu, the newcomer to Tawawa and the defiant one, wants to escape. She's been inside the resort for the free blacks. All her children, except one who is mentally challenged, have been sold so she does not feel like she has a strong tie to the plantation where she is enslaved. The other women have children in the south and are reluctant to leave. One of the slave women, Lizzie imagines that she is in love with her master and he loves her in return.

The Tawawa House, by the way, really existed. See what the writer says about the story behind the story.

Advice, How-To Bestsellers

On my Feb 24 post, I alluded to Ayanla Vanzant's book moving up to number 1 on a bestsellers list after her appearance on Oprah's show. I have a list before me of NY Times bestsellers in the category - Hardcover, Advice, how To and Miscellaneous - and there it is, Peace from Broken Pieces is number 1. Number 2 is prospective presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's book, A Simple Government. Janet Jackson's book, True You, is number 5 and Steve Harvey's second relationship book is number 6, Straight Talk, No Chaser. Veganist is holding on to the number 10 slot. The author, Kathy Freston, has had an appearance on the Oprah show as well.

Book Buzz March 2011

Oprah's website lists a new book by Jodie Picoult, Sing You Home, under the heading, 17 Books to look for in March 2011 . Also on the list are History of a Suicide: My Sister's Unfinished Life by Jill Bialosky and Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy.

Book Buzz: Tiger Mom's Memoirs

The memoirs of Amy Chua titled, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is the book buzz of the month. She is on so many talk shows these days explaining that her book is a memoir and not a "how to parent" book. See her interview on Oprah.com.

Is it time to write your own memoirs? Abigail Thomas on Oprah's website gives you some exercises to get you thinking and writing.

Straight from Julie Garwood's Mouth

Actually, it is straight from the author's email. I get mail from Julie Garwood from time to time. Her latest email was announcing that her new book title, Sizzle, would be in stores on Tuesday, January 25 in paperback. Julie wrote that in this story the protagonist, Lyra Prescott, is a film student who gets into big trouble after she inadvertently records a crime on her camera. With most people having cell phones with cameras, not me, this scenario could happen in real life.

Also, check back on her interactive website in a few weeks to learn more about her next novel, The Ideal Man, coming in August.

Oprah's book club pick: Freedom

I did not like Freedom. I couldn't waste any more time reading it. The characters were all dysfunctional; none was likeable. (What follows could have spoilers, if you are also reading this book.)

In the story, Patty is married to Walter and is in love with Walter's "friend", Richard. Walter is stable and husband material while Richard is a womanizer. Why would Patty fall for a character like Richard? Why would Walter be in love with Patty, a woman that was clearly stupid and naive? Patty made friends in college with Eliza, a manipulative and controlling person who established rules for their relationship. How could Patty not see right away that something was not quite right about Eliza?

Patty grew up feeling neglected by her parents yet she herself raises two children and repeats the pattern. She ignores one child, her daughter, and she overwhelms the other child, her son, with so much attention as if he were her best buddy. He grows up resenting her for burdening him with her issues. He gets his freedom by escaping and moving in with the family next door.

Walter and Patty move to Washington D.C. where Patty encourages Walter to have a relationship with his young Indian assistant who is actually in love with Walter. Patty and Walter are clearly unhappy with each other but not ready to end the marriage. Patty hooks up with Richard again.

I was intrigued with Patty's son and how his relationship with the clingy Connie was going to turn out. I skimmed the pages and saw that he actually marries her despite treating her so badly.

Yesterday, I moved on to read Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda. Only 213 pages so I finished in a day. It was a sad book about the bullying of a Chinese American boy in a predominantly white school. This is a mystery story where boys in his class start disappearing; in fact it is a good Halloween scary type story. There is no happy ending.

Book Your Lunch

I came across this site called Book Your Lunch while browsing the internet this morning. I love this idea of authors and readers getting together over a $25.00 lunch. This takes place in Greenville, South Carolina at The Lazy Goat and is sponsored by Fiction Addiction. Nice names.

Greenville novelist, Mindy Friddle, was there on May 26. Her second novel, SecretKeepers, deals with a dysfunctional southern family.

Georgia writer, Donna Ball, was there October 26. She is the writer of the bestselling Ladybug Farm series. Her third book, Love Letters from Ladybug Farm, was just released in October.

Coming up next on November 9 is the writer of My Only Sunshine, Lou Dischler. This is a story set in the 1960s about a rural Louisianna family.

Is it just me or is it nuts out there?

That's the attention grabbing title of Whoopi's lastest book. Take a look at the book cover on amazon.com I looked at a few pages on amazon and I could almost "hear" Whoopi's voice in my head as I read. This is a book about her pet peeves. Speaking of Whoopi, there was controversy on The View yesterday.

Whoopi walked off the set of The View in solidarity with Joy Behar. Both were annoyed with Bill O'Reilly's claim that "Muslims killed us" on 9/11 thus demeaning all Muslims, rather than saying specifically that Muslim extremists or terrorists or radicals murdered people on 9/11.

Bill was on the show promoting yet another book. This one was titled, Pinheads and Patriots.

Really, I should be asking, "Is it me or is it nuts out there in talk show land".

"Must-Read" List

My list of Must-Read books is getting longer and longer. I came across a blog today called Book Buddies. It mentioned an historical fiction titled, The Wives of Henry Oades. This debut novel is based on the fascinating story of a man, in the late nineteenth century, who ended up with two wives and their persecution by the Daughters of Decency.


Meet the writer Johanna Moran. After reading Moran's website, it appears that there is some uncertainty as to whether or not Mr. Oades polygamous situation really existed or if California journalists made it up to demonstrate a loophole in bigamy laws.

One Name Two Fates

That is the subtitle for the book, The Other Wes Moore. I saw one Wes Moore speaking about his book on Oprah about a week or two ago. Now he's promoting his book on radio on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. I predict this book will be a bestseller. Wes Moore, the writer, was a Rhodes Scholar and I read that he was an assistant to Condolezza Rice. The other Wes Moore is in prison for life. Both grew up in Baltimore with single mothers but their fates were different. Read the book to find out why.

Book suggestions for the month of May

Here are some really interesting titles, focusing on mothers, to read in May as suggested on oprah.com: Andrea Levy's lastest book, The Long Song, and Amy Tan's, The Bonesetter's Daughter.

Heard it on the Grapevine

Here is a new book with the unusual title, Cutting for Stone, based in Ethiopia and covering the period when His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie was in power. I heard about it on the grapevine. A friend of my Aunt recommended it to her. Although she has not read it, my Aunt was recommending it to me and I am now recommending it to you based on the reviews in amazon. The author is Ethiopian Indian Abraham Verghese.

Books by Reality Stars

We are never going to get rid of them. They are authors now. In print for ever. Just saw it in People magazine. Yes, one of my trusted sources of new books in print info. Here they are:

Alex McCord, Little Kids, Big City
Jil Zarin, Secrets of a Jewish Mother
Bethenny Frankel, The Skinnygirl Dish
Luann De Lesseps, Class with the Countess

By the way, I actually do enjoy the Real Housewives of New York every now and then. I find Alex odd but likeable and my favorite is the feisty Bethenny. Bethenny actually has another book out, Naturally Thin and a body sculpting DVD.