Anyone seeking to work in a brothel should seek this book. Anyone who seeks to greater understand the sort of men who pursue prostitutes and why this career is not for the faint-hearted needs to read this book. Before I started reading hooker memoirs, I thought prostitution could be fun aside from maintaining a distance from the police. I assumed there were many happy hookers. Miss S details her work in the UK for this book. Maybe in the second book, I'll learn of her American escapades.
I read this memoir at a wonderful time! I have elected to heal and help others to deepen my healing. She's done so much living and I admire her honesty. She's aware of her grandiosity and flair for drama. She's willing to tell you that her theatrics were followed by despair for much of her life. One of my adolescent relatives is having a difficult time in her feelings about her mother. Her mother and I both have been diagnosed with a mental condition. She was aware of her mother's issue but I decided to disclose mine to draw more understanding of the perils of mental imbalance. We had that discussion last night. I had not discussed my condition with any of my cousins before last night. The cousin in question is young enough to be my child. I am surprised at myself. So that's a step.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Our healing doesn't exceed anyone else's until we have all been healed.
If the description on the lapel hadn't included "loosely inspired by Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd", I wouldn't have known that Posy Simmonds didn't originate the plot. It feels fresh. But greatness builds upon other greatness, so it's not gravely shocking.
No spoilers but my introduction to Posy Simmonds has been swell.
** spoiler alert ** Piecing Me Together was released two weeks before The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It definitely got overshadowed by the latter. I hadn't become aware of Piecing Me Together until reading multiple entries on a forum I frequent. This book is sweet and presents a protagonist who has an agreeable nature. (The rage stirred by Black Lives Matter no doubt pulled more readers towards The Hate U Give.) No one dies in this book. I think many people, at the time both books were released, wanted something heavy-hitting.
I enjoyed Piecing Me Together. I am grateful that the author presents change occurring in a peaceful manner. It's a gentle story. I need a story like that sometimes.
A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am so relieved and delighted for Cupcake!!! I first became aware of Cupcake from an article in the Oprah Magazine in the early 2000s. I started this book knowing she would overcome. It deepens my faith knowing that God watches over people like Cupcake used to be. It lets me know that my situation is not helpless and that I can be victorious.
All praise aside, I am grateful that I didn't meet Cupcake during her drug years. Too much!! People did love her and they were unyielding with patience. She was blessed in the midst of her turmoil.
It illuminates me to my compulsions and bad habits. No need to hit rock bottom. Preventive measures saves many lives and proves just as or even moreso valuable.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Mikita Brottman doesn't dispute the potential to receive enrichment by reading. Rather, she pushes the reader to consider that reading may have less influence over the masses than the power we give to it. I would have considered this author to be a kindred spirit until I learned that she loves the macabre. I shun those topics. Also, her love of books exceeded to the point where she didn't want to explore the gorgeous outdoors. In her adolescence, she frequented a local cemetery. Gratefully, I didn't lose my yearning to venture brightly outside. Anyone who loves to read books about books ought to read this book.
Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs at the Turn of the Millennium by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe, and Sabin Streeter
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
** spoiler alert ** My favorite profile: Dane Andrews, orthopedic surgeon. A black man who graduated from Yale, this brother made me laugh. I appreciate the entire book but his interview was the cream!! I would read someone read this for pleasure. Candor is pleasure.
Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America by Charisse Jones and Kumea Shorter-Gooden, Ph.D.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book chose me at an appropriate time. I am preparing to propel a career. I empathize with what behaviours black women elect for survival. I prefer to behave similarly regardless of the company. If someone doesn't accept me, I don't associate with that person. Shifting leads to confusion and despair. You're not allowing yourself to live freely.
It pays to understand the plight of my people.
A Love Supreme: Real Life Stories of Black Love by TaRessa & Calvin Stovall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A keeper!! I think several members of our community will feel included because not everyone professes Christianity. I appreciate the African principles featured in each chapter. The principle of Sankofa moved me deeply. Sankofa stands as "the symbol of the wisdom of learning from the past to build for the future. Sankofa is a constant reminder that past experience must be a guide for the future, to learn from or build on the past (Stovall 13)."
On a somber note, I am aware that two of the couples have since divorced: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Sandra Stevens, followed by Ayedemi Bandele and Iyanla Vanzant. If these people choose to re-enter marriage, I pray that they choose a devoted mate with clarity, respect, fidelity and the mutual bonds of love, joy, and peace.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In childhood and adulthood, Frida maintained a friendship with her sister Cristina. I think Cristina should have been mentioned far earlier in this book.(Frida painted Cristina in 1928.) Although the affair between Cristina and Diego tarnished Frida's psyche, Stahr wrote as if Matilde ( her mother and her elder sister shared the name) and Frida had a deeper relationship.
I wish more photographs and paintings from Frida and Diego had been included. Many people will read this book who aren't overly familiar with Frida. There can never be too many photographs.
I am a Frida lover. Still delighted I read this book.
Flat Broke With Children: Women In The Age Of Welfare Reform by Sharon Hays
The No Spend Year: How I spent less and lived more by Michelle Mcgagh
Giants of Jazz by Studs Terkel
How I Tried to Be a Good Person by Ulli Lust
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
Frida Kahlo: 'I Paint My Reality' by Christina Burrus
$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin
The 7 Habits of Rich, Powerful and Famous Bible Women by Rhonda, Burns Lofton
At Home in the Street: Street Children of Northeast Brazil by Tobias Hecht
Never Sit If You Can Dance: Lessons from My Mother by Jo Giese
Billie Holiday: Wishing On The Moon by Donald Clarke
Baby Girl by Lenora Adams
Sex After . . .: Women Share How Intimacy Changes as Life Changes by Iris Krasnow
No Shame in My Game: the Working Poor in the Inner City by Katherine S. Newman
Inside Out by Demi Moore
Women in Art: 50 Fearless Creatives Who Inspired the World by Rachel Ignotofsky
Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth by John Szwed
The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis
Conversate Is Not a Word: Getting Away from Ghetto by Jam Donaldson
Sincerely, Harriet by Sarah Winifred Searle
Midlife Mavericks: Women Reinventing Their Lives in Mexico by Karen Blue
