Thursday, February 28, 2013

Review: One Week Girlfriend (Drew + Fable #1) by Monica Murphy

One Week Girlfriend (Drew + Fable #1)
by Monica Murphy
Published: 1/11/13
Self-published
New Adult/Contemporary Romance

Temporary. That one single word best describes my life these last few years. I’m working at a temporary job until I can finally break free. I’m my little brother’s temporary mother since our mom doesn’t give a crap about either of us. And I’m that temporary girl all the guys want to get with because I give it up so easily. According to the rumors, at least.
But now I’m the temporary girlfriend of Drew Callahan, college football legend and all around golden guy. He’s beautiful, sweet—and he’s hiding way more secrets than I am. He’s brought me into this fake life where everyone seems to hate me. And everyone seems to want something from him. The only thing he seems to want though is…
Me.
I don’t know what to believe anymore. All I know is, I think Drew needs me. And I want to be there for him.


My Rating: 4 1/2 Coffee Cups!!


I don't know what exactly I expected going into this, but man-oh-man this story wasn't it (and I mean this in the BEST possible way of course). I think I went into this for some reason thinking it would be one of those light and breezy HEA romances. Nope, not even close. Got a swift kick to the gut, my heart stomped on, teary eyed and (as with any good book) I had the insane urge to go through my kindle and either a) physically assault or b) squeeze and kiss and love a fictional character or two.

Ok, on with the review. Fable Maguire (love the name btw) is not a whore. That's what the town thinks of her. That's what the local college football team thinks of her. And, if we're being honest, that's what college quarterback Drew Callahan thinks of her, which is why she is the only one he can ask to do what he needs. She has her fun (like any woman should be allowed to) but she in all reality, doesn't even have the time to be the whore that everyone makes her out to be. She is essentially a mother to her 13 year old brother- considering their actual mother IS a whore and a drunk and has no desire to take care of her responsibilities. This leaves Fable to grow up a heck of a lot faster than she should. She works constantly as a waitress at a bar, cooks, cleans and is a full time parent. Which is why Drew's offer is so appealing to her. $3000 to pretend to be his girlfriend for Thanksgiving break. Nothing more. A little hand holding, some chaste kisses, a few fake stories to appease the parents. For her brother's sake there is no way she could turn down that kind of money. Sounds like an easy enough trade off. That is until she actually meets the family. To say that they are royally f&*ked up would be an understatement and it takes all of one handshake for Fable to figure this out. She can see that Drew is more than what he seems. He has more going on than any one can possibly see and she's drawn to it. 

"He might be more trouble than he’s worth but I don’t think so. This man came into my life for some reason. Just as I came into his. Maybe we’re supposed to help each other cope. Or give each other hope"

From this point on, it is a "the two of them against the world" mentality. Fable doesn't know what exactly is going on with his parents, but she can see there is something entirely wrong about the relationship and she is bound and determined to unravel the mystery. Some you can see a mile away, and some takes you a tiny bit longer to catch on to. Even though you know what's about to happen, doesn't make the fallout any less of a WTF! heartbreaking moment. I can't say much more really without giving it all away or tipping you all off, so let me end with two things. First- MARSHMALLOW! MARSHMALLOW MARSHMALLOW! (basically what I was screaming at the end. When you read it you will know what I'm talking about). Second- Seriously this book is 99 cents. And in my opinion worth far more, so you have no excuse to not go and pick this up. 

    

Review: The Forever Girl (Forever Girl #1) by Rebecca Hamilton

The Forever Girl (Forever Girl #1)
by Rebecca Hamilton
Published: 1/26/13
Published by: Immortal Ink Publishing
Urban Paranormal Fantasy (Adult)

"Whatever you do, fight."
Sophia's family has skeletons, but they aren't in their graves.
At twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, a pariah after a string of unsolved murders with only one thing in common: her.
Sophia can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she'd settle for just getting rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers are dangerous.
One of them is a man named Charles, who Sophia falls for despite her better judgment. He has connections that might help her unveil the mystery surrounding her ancestor's hanging, but she gets more than she bargains for when she finally decides to trust him. 
Survival in his world, she learns, means not asking questions and staying out of the immortal council's way. It's a line she crossed long ago. If Sophia wants to survive the council and save the people she loves, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.


Rating: 4 Coffee Cups


I will be totally honest, this book and how good it actually was came completely out of left field for me. For whatever reason I didn't really expect to like it as much as I did. First off, ignore (and I mean completely scrub from your brain) the cover. It misrepresents this story completely in my opinion. The main character Sophia even goes as far as to state that she is by no means Emo or Goth like. I don't know, it's a trivial thing but it gave me a completely different impression as to how exactly this story was going to go and actually put me off from reading it for a little while. But anywho, great book, awesome story, fresh take and different twists on things that have been done a million times before.

Sophia Parsons has had death surround her pretty much her entire life and a curse that won't let up. Her dad died when she was 6 years old, her mom died when she was 19 (during an exorcism of all things!) and she watched her neighbor die a couple of years after that. After her mother died while being put thru an exorcism- because the uber religious lady in town believed Lithium was the devil-Sophia began hearing a mixture of voices and static in her head that she couldn't block out. The fact that she has been nearby when all of the deaths have occurred made her an outcast in her little "Mulberry" type town. Throw on the fact that she's a practicing Wiccan and the poor girl might as well be walking around with a scarlet "O" on her chest (for outcast, get it? bad analogy huh? oh well moving on). And because of her curse she keeps very much to herself. She has very few friends and when one of her two said friends from college, Ivory, comes home and drags her out to a club, her life is forever changed. Little does she realize that the club (Flesh- umm red flag right there!) is a club for Elementals. And this is where the cool and fresh take on the usually overdone lore comes in. The five elements are represented by different supernatural beings: Earth, Water, Air (Vampires and Shapeshifters - or Cruros and Striogi, respectively, in this story), Fire and Spirit (Witches). It's not just the different names that set them apart, it's their abilities and characteristics as well. For example, a Striogi (Shapeshifter) has the choice whether or not to be immortal. There is so much more well-thought out detail as far as this is concerned, and things that if I explain will spoil the story- so I won't. Needless to say, Sophia is thrown on her ass, headfirst into a world she had no clue actually existed. She learns from Ivory and two Elementals she meets at the club, Adrian and Charles (we will be getting to him in just a bit) about the danger she is now in being in the know. 

Completely aside from the Elementals, Sophia is still dealing with the noises in her head and the possible discovery that a descendant of hers was a witch hanged in the 1600s and wondering if the two are somehow connected. She keeps the secret of the voices and then the seeing of dead people to herself for fear it would make her look utterly bonkers. That was one of my gripes with the story. She just had this whole supernatural world thrown at her, completely changing everything she thought was true and she's too afraid that hearing voices would make her seem crazy?! She just had a guy admit to her that he drinks blood and can influence people, hearing things doesn't seem that far-fetched. Just sayin'. 

Ok, so onto Charles. Sophia met him in Flesh and there was an instant connection. Not insta-love, but definitely a chemistry. After they realize how much danger Sophia is in, he makes it his mission to protect her. He moves her in with him and they become close. But they keep each other at arms length. He because he's not ready to give her his heart and believes he will only bring more bad into her life. Her because she can't handle his immortality and because she didn't feel it was fair because of her secrets. But (after six freaking months of living together!!) they finally succumb and give into their feelings. He believes in her, confides in her and trusts her implicitly. They are pretty great together, I've gotta say. 

I can't go much more into details but let's just say there's witches and councils and evil queens and surprise turns- oh my! Just go read the book already! :)
      



Wednesday, February 27, 2013

"Waiting On" Wednesday



"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
 
This week's choice is:


The Clockwork Princess (Internal Devices #3) 
by Cassandra Clare
Release Date: 3/19/13

Danger intensifies for the Shadowhunters as the New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy comes to a close.

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy.

Umm, yes please, preferably NOW. These books are amazing. I can honestly say this is slightly (very, very slightly) better than The Mortal Instruments. Will or Jem or Jem or Will... Gahhh who the eff knows?! There's no way for me to possibly choose in this! I am on Team Happy Ending and whatever that may mean for who Tessa chooses, I haven't a clue. I'm not typically a humungous fan of the contrived love triangle, but this is a triangle in the truest sense. I read someone else say it awhile ago (I can't remember who, so I can't give them credit for it- but I can say it wasn't an original thought by me) that this is a triangle where all the lines connect. Jem and Will love eachother as brothers, Will loves Tessa, Jem loves Tessa and Tessa loves them both. I cannot wait for this! 

Oh and if you are feening like me take a look over at The Official Shadowhunters Page for a sneak peek of the first chapter!!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Happy Birthday To... ME!!




So in honor of my birthday- yeah I'm advertising it dammit!- I figured I'd do something a little different for a random Tuesday. I can't get thru my birthday without a little bit of reminiscing. And the older I get, the more I reminisce. So, I went down memory lane and made a list up of my favorite books growing up. Now, even then, I read all genres and many classics, but I narrowed this down to my favorite "contemporary" (meaning, mostly in my age range at the time). And let me just say after looking up the covers on Goodreads all I have to say is why dear God of 80s and 90s fashion, why?! Ok, now to drag you all down memory lane with me... For those of you that remember did I miss anything??

The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin
 Seriously, I WANTED to be Claudia so badly!

Welcome to Dead House (Goosebumps #1) by RL Stein
 This one and the one with the Dummy on the front were my faves.

Double Love (Sweet Valley High #1) by Francine Pascal
Remember the show? Wasn't nearly as good.

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
Still, to this day, think this is such a strange and beautiful story.

The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike
I massacred my copy of this from reading it so much!

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
I'll admit it, this book used to scare the beejeezus out of me.

 The Betrayal (The Fear Street Saga #1) by RL Stein
This was for when I graduated from Goosebumps

 Welcome to Junior High (Girl Talk #1) by LE Blair
Remember the board game!?

 Remember Me (Remember Me #1) by Christopher Pike
BEFORE they revamped and released this series ;)

Monday, February 25, 2013

UPDATE: Waiting on Wednesday: The Redemption of Callie and Kayden

So I noticed a CRAPTON of people viewed my Waiting on Wednesday post about the Redemption of Callie and Kayden, so I really had to post an update on it. It's definitely not being released when I originally hoped (this Thursday). Jessica Sorenson's Blog has no release date posted as of yet, but there are rumors swirling that it won't be until February of next year. Normally, I wouldn't really make a whole new post about it, but so many people checked this out that I really wanted to make sure I wasn't getting people's hopes up. Below is the original post. Thanks and sorry you guys!!


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's choice is:

The Redemption of Callie and Kayden (The Coincidence #2) 
by Jessica Sorenson
Release Date: 2/28/13

***UPDATE UPDATE***  NOW THE RELEASE DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO TBD!!

(There's no cover yet, so I'm using a banner pic from the first book)


 Here's a teaser Jessica Sorenson posted on her Blog:

I want to breathe.

I want to feel alive again.

I don’t want to feel the pain.

I want it all back, but it’s gone.

I hear every sound, every laugh, every cry. People move around me frantically, but I can’t take my eyes off the sliding glass doors. There’s a violent storm outside and rain is hammering down against the concrete, dirt, and dry leaves. Sirens flash as ambulances roll up under the port.

My stomach is empty, my heart is hurting, and I can’t move.

“Callie,” Seth says. “Callie, look at me.”

I blink my gaze off the door and stare into his brown eyes filled with worry.

He takes my hand in his, his skin warm and comforting. “He’s going to be okay.”

I stare at him, trying not to cry, because I know I’m stronger than that. “Okay.”

He lets out a slow sigh and pats my hand.  “You know what, I’m going to go see if he can have visitors yet.” He gets up from the chair and walks across the packed waiting room to the receptionist desk.

He’ll be alright.

He has to be.
Deep down, I know that’s not true. His wounds and breaks may heal on the outside and cover with scars. On the inside the healing will take longer and I wonder what Kayden will be like when I see him again—who he’ll be. 

Cover Reveal! Ghost Light by E.J. Stevens


And without further ado....


Ghost Light (Ivy Granger #2) 
by E.J. Stevens
Release Date: 7/9/13

Ivy Granger, psychic detective, thought she'd seen it all...until now.
With a vengeful lamia that only she can see on the city streets, reports of specters walking Harborsmouth cemeteries, and an angry mob of faerie clients at her office door, it's bound to be a long night. Add in an offense against the faerie courts and a few foolish bargains and one thing is clear--Ivy Granger is in some seriously deep trouble.
Ivy Granger is back, gathering clues in the darkest shadows of downtown Harborsmouth. With the lives of multiple clients on the line, she's in a race against time. Ivy finally has a lead to the whereabouts of the one person who can help her control her wisp abilities, but will she put the needs of her clients above her own?
If Ivy doesn't find a solution soon, she could wind up a ghost herself.

GHOST LIGHT is the second novel in the bestselling Ivy Granger urban fantasy series by E.J. Stevens.

And in celebration of this AWESOME cover reveal (come on guys, ya can't say this isn't pretty) there's a giveaway going on for a pretty nifty private eye necklace (check the pick out below). It will be running until March 11th!




  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, February 22, 2013

TGIF: Freebie Friday #5

Free on Amazon Today!! (Grab It!)


Soul Walker (A Touched Girl Series, #1) by Robyn Jones

"I need to get you to the hospital." He was taking responsibility for me. Only my parents had that job. I stretched my hand out in protest, but the lack of depth perception had my trembling fingers grazing his overheated neck. I swore his whole body shook.

When five-year-old Anna Pierce is offered a chance to have nightmare-free nights for the small price of her voice, she jumps at it. Silence has to be better than all-consuming dreams about blood and death and fangy monsters. The bargain she strikes comes with a secondary benefit, visions of a person's future potential. The combination of visions and silence changes her very nature and soon she's diagnosed with autism. Twelve years of living in her head comes to a screeching halt the moment Peter Davis pulls her out of an icy river. 

Her new life has her twirling, tiptoeing, and crashing through unfamiliar territory, one filled with a cranky grandma, a knocked up cousin, an unpleasant cousin, a bunch of mostly good vampires, and the boy who rescued her. 

 To top it all off, the deal she made at five is no more. Anna is expected to talk, to figure out her resurfacing nightmares, and to control her ever-growing powers. And she'd better get it done soon because if the good vamps want a piece of a living, breathing Touched girl, the evil ones simply want. They'll take Anna for their very own.

Just finished reading this and it's so good! (and FYI don't judge this book by it's cover) It's actually been awhile since I read a vampire book, but this one had a completely different take on it and it was great!! It can be a little bit confusing in the beginning, but stay with it, it's worth it. Can't wait to read the next one! 


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Review: If You Stay (Beautifully Broken #1)


If You Stay (Beautifully Broken #1)
by Courtney Cole
Published: 2/5/13
Published by: Lakehouse Press
New Adult/Contemporary Romance

24-year old Pax Tate is an asshole.
Seriously. 

He’s a tattooed, rock-hard bad-boy with a bad attitude to match. 
But he’s got his reasons. 
His mother died when Pax was seven, leaving a hole in his heart filled with guilt although he doesn’t understand why. What he does know is that he and his dad are left alone and with more issues than they can count. 
As Pax grew up, he tried to be the kid his father always wanted; the perfect golden boy, but it didn’t work. His dad couldn’t overcome his grief long enough to notice and Pax couldn’t keep up the impossible perfect façade.
So he slipped far, far from it. 

Now, he uses drugs and women to cope with the ugliness, the black void that he doesn’t want to deal with. If he pretends that the emptiness isn’t there, then it isn’t, right?
Wrong. 

And it’s never more apparent than when he meets Mila.
Sweet, beautiful Mila Hill is the fresh air to his hardened frown, the beauty to his ugly heart. He doesn’t know how to not hurt her, but he quickly realizes that he’s got to figure it out because he needs her to breathe.

When memories of his mother’s death resurface from where he’s repressed them for so long, Mila is there to catch him when the guilt starts making sense. Mila is the one…the one who can save him from his broken troubled heart; from his issues, from the emptiness. 
But only if he can stop being an asshole long enough to allow it. 
He knows that. And he’s working on it. 
But is that enough to make her stay?

My Rating: 5 GINORMOUS Coffee Cups!

This was one of those books that left an impression. It had you thinking about it long after you finished reading it, while you are in the middle of reading another book. This book grabs you from the start and just doesn't let go. At all. 

The book's opening chapter, hell it's opening couple of sentences kinda left me with my mouth wide open in a sort of disbelief. I think it went something to the effect of "Wow, he really just went there". Pax Tate is an asshole. It's not just a line to hook you, or a gimmick to keep you reading. That opening chapter leaves you with no doubt, or hope that he is anything but. Pax has an effed up past. There's no denying that there was definitely something incredibly major and incredibly awful that made him into the man he was. His mother died when he was younger and he was left to be raised by his father, who basically checked out of life at around the same time. The cause of her death was fuzzy at best. He uses drugs, alcohol and women (and more often than not uses the three of those at the same time) to keep himself blissfully numb. He doesn't want to think, he doesn't want to feel, he just wants an escape.
Enter Mila Hill. Literally. Essentially the guy's total opposite. She is sweet and kind and selfless. She actually stumbles upon him in the throes of an overdose. She ensures he doesn't choke on his own vomit and calls an ambulance. When it's all said and done, she is the only reason he lived that night. And this people is the way in which this beautiful, devastating, heartbreaking story begins.

They fall for eachother and they fall hard. The analogy Pax uses for the two of them couldn't be more perfect- Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. That is exactly the kind of couple they seem to be at first glance. Mila is dealing with the death of her parents. They had died two years prior and her life sort of just stalled. She didn't feel often, and when she did she painted. When Pax walked into her life her brain and logic and common sense (because come on, he is the bad boy of all bad boys) and her fricken big sister (who's getting her own book and man I can't wait- but I digress) told her STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THAT ONE, but her heart, well her heart started beating again. And for whatever reason, Mila touches a part of Pax he's either ignored or didn't know existed. She has an artist's soul and she believes and sees the best in him and he finds that he wants to be better for her. Now, this isn't without bumps in the road. Pax is trying to be a reformed asshole after all, and assholes slip up. 

“I roll my eyes. 'Are you trying to find some sort of reason that I've become such an asshole? The reason is... I'm an asshole. There are some things in life that can't be explained. Period. Assholes are assholes. Rainbows are pretty. Kittens are cute. Chic flicks are sad. It's the way of things, no explanations.” 
 
Also, (as Oedipal as this may sound) Mila reminds him of his mother. Not in a creepy way, but in the way that she is gentle and caring towards him and his mother was the last person to show that kind of affection. But with this brings nightmares that shake him to his very core. The star of the nightmares is Mila and it scares the everliving crap out of him. And with that he agrees to see the therapist Mila had asked him to give a chance to. This sets off a series of events that make you want to cry, hug a teddy bear (and pretend it's Pax), scream and punch something. Yeah, you find out out the major that happened to him, but it's nothing like what you think. It's so much worse. It actually hurt my heart to read it. Once the window to it opened you knew where it was going and you knew it was going to stay with you. And Pax's way to handle? Like an asshole, he pushes Mila away. 

I really can't review much more because you really just need to read it for yourself. It is hands down my favorite read for 2013 so far.    

"Waiting On" Wednesday #4



"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
 
This week's choice is:
 

Never Too Far (Too Far #2) 
by Abbi Glines
Release Date: 2/26/13
 
He had held a secret that destroyed her world.

Everything she had known was no longer true.

Blaire couldn’t stop loving him but she knew she could never forgive him.
Now, she was back home and learning to live again. Moving on with life… until something happened to send her world spinning once again.
What do you do when the one person you can never trust again is the one that you need to trust so desperately?

You lie, hide, avoid, and pray that your sins never find you out.
 
So I freakin LOVED the first book Fallen Too Far. Seriously, I've been stalking Abbi Glines to get any scrap of anything about this upcoming one. And heck, it falls on my birthday, so I can blame her too for actually wishing for my birthday to get here sooner! WANT IT NOW!! Ok, that's all. 

 

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Celebrating Black History Month

So everyone remembers studying Black History Month in school, me included. I was lucky to in middle school have a female, black English teacher (Thank you Mrs. Neely!) who exposed me to more of the less traditional fare for February's requisite African American reads. I was shown more than histories on Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and MLK -don't get me wrong, they were amazing leaders and role models- but being I was a booknerd even at that tender age I needed more. I took from her class pride in my roots. So, although I don't read as much African American literature now as I once did, below is a a handful of my favorite reads written by black authors both contemporary and historical. Some deep, some just fun.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.


 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

A phenomenal #1 bestseller that has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly three years, this memoir traces Maya Angelou's childhood in a small, rural community during the 1930s. Filled with images and recollections that point to the dignity and courage of black men and women, Angelou paints a sometimes disquieting, but always affecting picture of the people—and the times—that touched her life.







 Friends and Lovers by Eric Jerome Dickey

"Recommended....Dickey uses humor, poignancy and a fresh, creative writing style....The reader is hooked from the first sentence." --USA Today In this sexy, soulful tale of love, betrayal, and friendship set in modern-day Los Angeles, the lives of four young African Americans--two men and two women--are chronicled through the love and the laughter, as well as the heartache and pain of not-so-everyday life. A witty, honest portrait of contemporary mores and humanity in which the gender gap isn't merely investigated but celebrated.



 Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan

Waiting to Exhale is a story about four African-American women — Savannah, Robin, Bernie, and Gloria — who go through different stages of love and life. Savannah "Vannah" Jackson is a successful television producer who holds on to the belief that one day her married lover will leave his wife for her. Bernadine "Bernie" Harris, abandons her own career dreams and desire of having a catering business to raise a family, and support her husband, who leaves her for a white woman. Robin Stokes is a high-powered executive and the long-time mistress of married Russell, who has problems finding a decent man of her own after dumping him. Gloria "Glo" Matthews is a beauty salon owner and single mother. After years alone, and finding out that her ex-husband who is also the father of her son, has come out of the closet as gay, she falls in love with a new neighbor, Marvin King. The four friends get together to provide support, listen to each other vent about life and love, and have fun, as they go through life's trials and tribulations.


The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to “Mister,” a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister’s letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self.



The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

Once the home of poor Irish and Italian immigrants, Brewster Place, a rotting tenement on a dead-end street, now shelters black families. This novel portrays the courage, the fear, and the anguish of some of the women there who hold their families together, trying to make a home. Among them are: Mattie Michael, the matriarch who loses her son to prison; Etta Mae Johnson who tries to trade the 'high life' for marriage with a local preacher; Kiswana Browne who leaves her middle-class family to organize a tenant's union.



The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah

In a stunning first novel, renowned hip-hop artist, writer, and activist Sister Souljah brings the streets of New York to life with a powerful and utterly unforgettable tale.
Ghetto-born, Winter is the young, wealthy daughter of a prominent Brooklyn drug-dealing family. Quick-witted, sexy, businessminded, and fashionable, Winter knows no restrictions. No one can control her. She's nobody's victim. And her Pops lets her know she deserves the best.
Winter knows the Brooklyn streets like she knows the curves of her own body. She maneuvers skillfully, applying all she has learned to come out on top, no matter how dramatically the scenes change. But a cold Winter wind is about to blow her life in a direction she could never have expected.
Unwilling to give up her ghetto celebrity status, her friends and her lovers, Winter sets off on a series of wild adventures to reclaim her role as princess of the alleyways. But when her schemes begin to unravel, Winter is on her own, figuring out a whole new way to survive.
The Coldest Winter Ever marks the debut of a gifted storyteller. Sister Souljah explores a young urban woman's innermost state of mind in a voice as bold as it is bracingly honest. Provocative and thoroughly entertaining, this is a daring novel of passion, loss, courage - and of the sometimes terrible tolls exacted from us just to stay alive. You will never forget this Winter's tale.




for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange


From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and on Broadway, the Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited, inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange's words reveal what it is to be of color and female in the twentieth century. Here is the complete text, with stage directions, of a groundbreaking dramatic prose poem written in vivid and powerful language that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to the world.




Your Blues Ain't Like Mine by Bebe Moore Campbell


Now, in her first novel, repercussions are felt for decades in a dozen lives after a racist beating turns to cold-blooded murder in a small 1950s Mississippi town.
Chicago-born Amrstrong Tood is fifteen, black, and unused to the ways of the segregated Deep South, when his mother sends him to spend the summer with relatives in rural Mississippi. For speaking a few innocuous words in French to a white woman, Armstrong is killed. And the precariously balanced world and its determined people--white and black--are changed, then and forever, by the horror of poverty, the legacy of justice, and the singular gift of love's power to heal.




Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston


One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston’s beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston’s masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published—perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.