Sister Souljah Livestream Interview w/ Jada Pinkett Smith

Watch live streaming video from atria at livestream.com

Welcome, bookhearts! Thanks for tuning in. I'm very excited to partner with Atria Literary Salon Series for this livestream event. We will be selecting questions from the comments section here, my Facebook, and from Twitter. Tweet @LDotMarie or @AtriaBooks with questions using the hashtags #atrialive and #SisterSouljah.


ABOUT SISTER SOULJAH & ATRIA LITERARY SALON SERIES
The New York Times bestselling author of The Coldest Winter Ever and Midnight: A Gangster Love Story appears live in an exclusive Livestream interview. The interview, moderated by actress Jada Pinkett Smith, is part of the Los Angeles Times Book Festival held in Los Angeles on the LA Times Stage, to celebrate the release of Souljah's latest novel Midnight and the Meaning of Love. 


This is the fourth installment of the Atria Literary Salon Series, launched to bring together authors, editors and media for an evening of stimulating conversation and literary style. Visit Atria Books on Facebook and Twitter.


Check out my reviews of Midnight: The Gangster Love Story and Midnight and The Meaning of Love. Click here to purchase exclusive autographed copies of the new release. Enjoy!

Sister Souljah Interviewed by Jada Pinkett Smith Live TODAY

Atria Literary Salon Series and Precision Reviews partnered up. Jada Pinkett Smith interviews Sister Souljah via livestream TONIGHT. You can watch here. We will be selecting questions from the comments section here, my Facebook, and from Twitter using the hashtags #atrialive and #SisterSouljah.

What is your favorite Sister Soujah book? Who is your favorite character from her novels? What Sister Souljah book has impacted you the most? Do you have any questions for the literary hero of hip-hop?

Check out my reviews of Midnight: The Gangster Love Story and Midnight and The Meaning of Love. Click here to purchase exclusive autographed copies of the new release.

Next, tell your friends. Gather your snacks, questions, comments and see you back here at 7:50 p.m. EST

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a new bookish meme hosted by yours truly, Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. 

• Grab your current read.
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author so that other FLF participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

"Beneath the surface of any problem, if you scrabble a bit, you'll find a secret."

~ The Bird House: A Novel by Kelly Simmons

The Right to Die

Do you believe in the right to die? Would you prefer a quick, painless death or to wither away? If a loved one is suffering, would you assist their suicide? The recent Vogue featured book Imperfect Endings is a daughter's story of love, loss, and letting go. It poses such questions and more.


Zoe's mother, Margaret, has congestive heart failure, asthma, chronic pulmonary disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, low blood pressure, occasional bouts of passing out, signs of dementia, and Parkinson's disease. Margaret didn't want to suffer. She wanted to end her life...with her daughters help. Writing Imperfect Endings is Zoe's attempt to find peace with how her mother died. It goes into detail of the fine line between legal and moral repercussions. 


First-time memoirist Zoe FitzGerald Carter couldn't have explained it better. She incorporates dark humor and raw sympathy while raising difficult questions. With each chapter, we read the emotions that Zoe, her sisters, and her mother goes through. This touching memoir is a great book club pick. Despite the depressing topic, it is sure to spark a heated discussion about morals and the right to die. I'm so touched by the author's candid decisions that I plan to write her a personal e-mail. This story and its sensitive subject will stick with me. I couldn't help but be reminded of the controversial Dr. Jack Kevorkian. If you haven't seen the HBO film You Don't Know Jack, then check out the trailer below. It was very good!

My only pet peeve - of no fault to the author - is the binding. Every single page of the paperback detached from the book's binding. It wasn't from wear because it only took me a few days to finish reading it. It actually arrived in the mail with the first thirty or so pages loose. As I read and turned each page, it fell apart. Very distracting!


Title: Imperfect Endings
Author: Zoe FitzGerald Carter
Published: March 2011
Pages: 272
Edition: Paperback
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♡

The Write to Freedom

The Freedom Writers are students led by 23-year-old English teacher Erin Gruwell who chose to do something memorable after reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo. The students were inspired to write their own diary, chronicling their growth and fighting stereotypes. It is powerful. 


It all began in Room 203 at Wilson High School. I love how it glorifies the power of journaling. It begins with a diary entry of Ms. Gruwell. It is freshman year fall 1994 and her journey as an English teacher begins. Wilson High School is made up of majority African American, Latino, and Asian students. Contrary to the stereotype of Long Beach, or LBC as rapper Snoop Dogg calls the area, the school is actually located in a safe neighborhood by the ocean. 


Each freshman developed their own diary entry and contributed to reading, editing and encouraging one another. Their life experiences are blunt, open, and shared fully. It's important to note Ms. Gruwell's class was full of teens considered to be "at risk" with little to no ability to read and write.


Through the anonymous diary entries, we can see the students' growth. We can see their confidence boost and earned trust toward Ms. Gruwell. If you've seen the movie, then you understand The Freedom Writers journey. If not, where have you been?! Watch the movie trailer below starring Hilary Swank. 

Title: The Freedom Writers Diary : How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them
Author: The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell
Published: October 1999
Pages: 292
Edition: Paperback
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

The Myth of Yllis

Polish-American Dick Slepy and his family lives in Danish Landing, Michigan. They have four daughters, each two years apart and named after Virgin Mary: Mary Grace (the pretty one), Mary Catherine (the obedient one), Mary Tessa (the troublemaker) and Amaryllis (the emotional synesthete). Under the counsel of the local priest, Dick packs up his family and moves to West Africa for an aid organization. The culture clash causes a whirlwind of events such as unplanned pregnancies, affairs, accusations, and murder.


It was a complex read, but interesting. With the exception of the final chapter, the story is told from the viewpoint of four daughters, their mother Seena, father Dick, and neighbor Clara. The mother is emotionally distant. Blueberry-eyed Yllis, the youngest daughter, is an emotional synesthete and easily detects the sensations of others. "For synesthetes like me, the world is a layer cake of emotion, and we are its consumers," Yllis states on page 90. Shifting from past to present, we read the events that lead up to the mother on trial for murdering her husband. Sound familiar? It is very similar to The Poisonwood Bible and The Secret Life of Bees. 


African myths, Greek myths, and Catholic faiths are woven into the perspectives of each character. In particular, the Greek myth of Amaryllis and Pandora's Box are explained. Although it is not a Christian-based novel, religion plays a key role. Other themes include justice, obsession, and self-perception. Christina Meldrum's writing style draws you in from the opening paragraph with dramatic scenes. Don't miss this engrossing read.


Title: Amaryllis in Blueberry
Author: Christina Meldrum
Published: February 2011
Pages: 365
Edition: Paperback
Rating: ♥♥♥♡

News You Can Use

Hi bookhearts!

Here's a few tidbits of news you can use. First, Amazon just launched a new series today that features author interviews, essays and reviews. Readers may submit questions for future interviews and suggest authors to be interviewed. Visit The Backstory for more info.

I love living la vida NOOKColor. An update (1.2.0) was announced and rolled out yesterday for the NOOKColor. There are new apps including an e-mail client, Flash support, and an app store. Every registered device will automatically receive the update. If you're anxious, you can download it yourself directly from B&N's site. My poor man's iPad is really paying off!

**drumroll** Stay tuned for a BIG event here this Saturday evening. Save the date. More deets coming soon.

US vs. UK

Everyone knows I'm completely obsessed with the UK. "US vs. UK" was created by Jenny from Wondrous Reads and it compares covers from books released in the two countries. 

US

UK

Today's comparison is Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel by Candace Bushnell. I'm so torn! Both covers are pretty in pink, and all things girly. The US cover has more of a designer clutch look. It reminds me of Chanel. The UK cover makes me think of the HBO series, Sex and The City and The Big Apple. This is the sequel to Carrie Diaries where Carrie meets Samantha and Miranda in New York. Again, I'm so torn! The deciding factor is Samantha Jones's Top Ten Tips for City Girls (on possibly the back cover of the US version). Isn't it fab? Don't forget to pick up your copy. It hits stores today!

Which cover do you favor? 

Total: US 3, UK 2

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I stood over Ellie a long time, making certain she was fast asleep before I stepped forward and snipped a locket of her golden hair. It was only when I stood above her with my sharpest scissors that I realized the import of what I was doing."

~ p. 9, The Bird House: A Novel by Kelly Simmons

Series Sunday

Series Sunday is a new bookish meme hosted by yours truly, Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. 

• Read an installment of a series.
• Post a review/recommendation on your blog, FB, Twitter, Goodreads, or Shelfari pages.
• Share your review/recommendation by posting the link in the comments section below.
• Include the title, author, and name of the series so that other Series Sunday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

My Series Sunday pick is Abby Cooper: Psychic Eye, the first book in the Psychic Eye series by Victoria Laurie. Abby Cooper is a Royal Oak, Michigan based P.I. (psychic intuitive). It starts off with the main character explaining her abilities and why she left the boring banking business to start her own business as a P.I. The psychic readings were entertaining in the beginning. Then Abby got the side-eye when her insight didn't pick up on the death of a client, or that her blind date is the lead detective on the murder case. I questioned the 60+ five star reviews on Amazon when Abby was watching the news of a kidnapped little boy, visualized he was dead and the mother was to blame, but didn't consider going to the police. Instead, she dismissed it and continued getting dressed for a blind date. Really?! While Victoria Laurie's writing style is good, I just couldn't connect with the main character or the story within the first fifty (50) pages, which is my own personal limit.

I predict that I will not finish this book in the near future or the rest of the series. Chickadee, however, feels otherwise. She enjoyed it and claims the story got better. If you've read it, please persuade me otherwise or share your thoughts.

Title: Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 1)
Author: Victoria Laurie
Published: December 2004
Pages: 295
Edition: Paperback
Rating: ♥

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a new bookish meme hosted by yours truly, Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. 

• Grab your current read.
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author so that other FLF participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

"I don't have to answer the phone. On my knees in the bathroom, daughters just settled into the tub, I have the perfect excuse to ignore it."

~ Imperfect Endings: A Daughter's Tale of Life and Death by Zoe Fitzgerald Carter

No Settling

Susannah is nearing 40 years old. She's been in a relationship with Doug for the past nine years, acting stepmother to his three ungrateful children. After an argument with Doug, she dis-invites him to her brother's wedding. Even though his absence will be questioned, she doesn't care. At the wedding, she runs into her first boyfriend Rob. Old feelings surface. Susie's feelings increase when fantasies of rekindling that first love become reality.

Through flashbacks, we learn about Rob and Susie's history, their current commitments, and willingness to be together. Meanwhile, Susie's best friend has cancer. Now the main character is faced with making difficult decisions while trying to balance life.

Upon first glance at the cover, When You Were Mine seemed like the average chick lit novel. About 60 pages in, I knew it was much more. The characters are well developed and the story is more complex than the average fluff. Although the story was a good read perfect for a rainy weekend, I couldn't connect with Doug and Susie. Perhaps because there wasn't an element of surprise. Their decisions (and the ending) was predictable.

Overall, it will spark a conversation about morals, loss, decision-making and friendship in a book club.


Title: When You Were Mine: A Novel
Author: Elizabeth Noble
Published: March 2011
Pages: 331
Edition: Paperback
Rating: ♥♥♥

Versatile Blogger Award

I won my second blog award! 

Thanks to Sidne of Reading Rendevous Reviewz who passed this award on to me. Check out her blog for lyrical and reading indulgence.

**shimmies to the stage and taps the mic**

• I am very thankful for Chickadee who passed on the love of reading and all things bookish.
• I'm a bibliophile.
• I have a blogmoir that chronicles the fuckery in this thing called life.
• I'm a member of Motown Writers Network.  
• I was Valedictorian, but my BBA has nothing to do with my passion.
• I love to live tweet reality television shows.
• One day I'll get the courage to audition for my fave reality show.

I shall now pass this award on to the following:

• Vasilly of 1330v
• Toni of Sew Transformed
• Vern, The Prissy Book Snob
• Cassandra of Transitioning to Me
• Shellabelle of Shellabelle Reads
• J.D.M. of Hungry Garden Chronicles
• Larie of My Heart Speaks

Rules of acceptance:

• Thank me!
• Tell us seven things about yourself.
• Award other recently discovered bloggers.
• Contact these bloggers to advise of their award.