Lit Tidbits: Pithy Picks VII

Hands on my Nook, flipping pages, on my book shit! These end-of-year pithy reviews feature ten (10) books with the lowest of low and highest of high ratings. 

🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤

Title: The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
Author: Marianne Cronin
Published: June 2021
Pithy Review: Rebel-hearted 83-year-old Margot and brave 17-year-old Lenni meet in the terminal ward bonding immediately. Through art and memories of the past, they celebrate a shared century and develop an extraordinary friendship. This novel reminds us that life is short so live in the moment!
Quote: "My body doesn't need any breaks. It's my mind that needs the break." ~ pg. 251
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
Author: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Published: August 2021
Pithy Review: 800+ pages of beautiful prose, a family's past, shocking tales of generations and a tribute to the deep South. This fiction debut chronicles one Black American family from the slave trade days to our era through the eyes of Ailey Pearl Garfield. It is a rich, multi-layered long ass read with many themes. A novel that deserves all of the literary awards! 
Quote: "Communing with the ancestors was hungry work." ~ pg. 214
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Paper Doll Lina
Author: Robyn Lucas
Published: September 2021
Pithy Review: How far would one go to protect a seemingly perfect life? To the outside world, the Henry family is perfect. Behind closed doors, it is a controlling and abusive marriage. Lina likens herself to a paper doll: dress up, smile and look pretty. But all it takes is one rip to expose the truth. What a debut with elements of illusion, romance, plot twists and independence. A top read of 2021!
Quote: "Please let this peace last." ~ pg. 77
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Take Me With You When You Go
Author: David Levithan & Jennifer Niven
Published: August 2021
Pithy Review: Two bestselling authors co-write a story of finding home in the people who matter the most? Yes please! Bea runs away alone to a new city, chasing someone who might not want to be found. Her younger brother Ezra is left behind with an abusive stepfather and neglectful mother. The past is confronted. Hearts are broken. But trust and love between siblings conquer all.
Quote: "Nothing left of either of me." ~ pg. 261
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Blackout
Author: Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon
Published: June 2021
Pithy Review: Six YA authors bring interlinked stories featuring Black teens. They all take place during a summer heatwave blackout in New York City. Six couples spark a different kind of electricity when the lights go out but I expected more from such critically acclaimed authors. They did not meet the assignment.
Quote: "Rather everyday than not at all." ~ 70%
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️

Title: The President's Daughter
Author: Bill Clinton and James Patterson
Published: June 2021
Pithy Review: Clinton and Patterson is my current favorite author duo. They've developed a formula that works! The President novels are long (600 pages each) but so full of suspense, plot angles and political thrills. In this latest novel, a former POTUS is on the hit list of an international assassin and threatens the President's daughter. I flipped these hardcover pages nonstop until finished! 
Quote: "One does not succeed or get promoted by showing emotion." ~ pg. 14
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Instructions for Dancing
Author: Nicola Yoon
Published: June 2021
Pithy Review: Evie has a gift of seeing other people's romantic fates. When she witnesses a kiss, she gets a vision of how the couple's romance begins and how it will end. As a result, she doesn't believe in love anymore. Until she falls for a boy named X while learning how to waltz, foxtrot and tango. Is it worth falling in love if it ends with a broken heart? Another hard cover page-turner!
Quote: "Come hither." ~ pg. 152
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Perfect Marriage
Author: Jeneva Rose
Published: July 2020
Pithy Review: You don't need my glowing highest recommendation to read this book. Just take my word for it. Where else can you find a page-turning suspense about a lawyer defending her husband who is accused of murdering his mistress? Yes, you read that right. Now go buy or borrow this mystery (and ignore the unnecessary cursing sprinkled throughout the dialogue)!
Quote: "You fucking reek of suspicion." ~ pg. 278
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Other Black Girl
Author: Zakiya Dalila Harris
Published: June 2021
Pithy Review: The first sentence grabbed me then it was downhill in slow motion from there. Nella is no longer the only Black employee when Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They share IKYK glances, exchange hair care regimens and more until sinister events begin to happen. I could relate being the only meatball in the rice at work but this fell frustratingly flat. Like, WTF?!
Quote: "The first sign was the smell of cocoa butter." ~ 4%
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️

Title: Have We Met?
Author: Camille Baker
Published: July 2021
Pithy Review: I agree that contrary to popular belief, there isn't a match for everyone. But a dating app called Met may prove otherwise. It is an invitation for Corinne to reconnect with four missed men from her past; one of them being her soul mate. It's cute, hopeful and has a cover that screams, "Read Me!"
Quote: "A single success story doesn't help an entire family, let alone a community." ~ pg. 124
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Series Sunday: Fear No Evil

(Alex Cross #29) 

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

• Read an installment of a series.
• Share your review/recommendation below.
• Include the title, author and series name.

My Series Sunday pick is Fear No Evil, the 29th book in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. Dr. Alex Cross is an investigative consultant to the Metro PD and FBI. Throughout the series, there has been an unidentified criminal named "M" that operated on the periphery of their investigations. He's sent messages, clues and has taken false credit for crimes over the years. "M" keeps up with their personal lives and randomly questions their investigative skills. But finally he may be caught!

"Alex says he's a brilliant psychopath. We believe he's been involved in mass murders, multiple kidnappings, and high-stakes rip-offs, among other crimes." ~ pg. 87

Alex, Sampson and Mahoney make such a formidable team. In Fear No Evil, they take on the cartel, a group of vigilantes that are kidnapping U.S. law enforcement agents and forcing confessions before executing them and the taunting "M." It is a lot! 

It's been a hot minute since I've rated an Alex Cross thriller all five hearts. When a series gets to this many books (damn near 30), the characters get old and the plots start to slip. The hype fades. The thrillers aren't so thrilling. But in the case of Fear No Evil, Patterson—without a co-author—brought all of the action early on and kept up the pace. It is suspense from Chapter 2 to 105.

I don't know what rabbit hole of concentration that Patterson went into to write this latest installment of the Alex Cross series but well done, sir! You understood the assignment and delivered! 

Title: Fear No Evil

Author: Alex Cross

Published: November 2021

Pages: 340

Edition: eBook

Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤

First Lines Friday

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

• Grab your current read(s).
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author.

"You see it all the time on television. There's a knock at the front door. And, on the other side, someone is waiting to tell you the news that changes everything."

~ The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Brown Girls

"We don't look like anybody in these books. And nobody looks like us." ~ 22%

Honestly I just wanted to read this book for the title and pretty in pink cover. It didn't matter what it was about. I just KNEW it was something I should read. So I powered up the Kindle and got to reading the advance copy. Oh, what a joy!

The setting is in the drags of Queens, New York. Where airplanes fly low. Where the streets are crowded. Where subways rumble above dollar stores. Where little girls grow dizzy from the advice of parents. Where neighborhoods are our own hoods and you have to downplay smarts. Yeah, I know the feeling when you're smart and the only girl on the block that goes to a school different from the neighborhood kids.

"Our brown girls. Strong enough for life itself." ~ 93%

This book is oh so relatable to girls of color that grew up in a major city. All eight (8) parts of this book are strong enough to be its own short story. It is written in beautiful prose and covers themes of immigration, community, childhood, race, class and the depiction of brown girls. It is less like a novel and more like poetry to a reader's eye.

Happy Early Pub Day, Daphne Palasi Andreades! Brown Girls will be available Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

Title: Brown Girls
Author: Daphne Palasi Andreades
Published: January 2022
Pages: 224
Edition: Galley
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤

On a Night Like This

"These respectful, conscious uncouplings are the worst." ~ 90%

The Crystal Ball is the most exciting party, most exclusive gathering and most sought-after invitation. Fran Cooper is among a select few to attend as the acting assistant to a famous singer. There she bumps into the clichéd tall, dark and handsome Evan. He promises her one unforgettable night without even exchanging last names.

 

I was first introduced to Lindsey Kelk with her I Love series. Classic chick lit. Fun and light-hearted. Although, I stopped reading the series a few books ago because it started to get a bit silly. When I saw this new release, On a Night Like This, written by a familiar name, I figured I would try the author's work again.

Am I officially over this genre? Because I didn't fully enjoy On a Night Like This. It was way too predictable. While I liked Fran, it was the same 'ole Cinderella story. A girl can only read about so many glass slippers in a lifetime. I would've liked it to be more original and a lot more mature. 

Happy Early Pub Day, Lindsey Kelk! On a Night Like This will be available Tuesday, January 18, 2022.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

Title: On a Night Like This
Author: Lindsey Kelk
Published: January 2022
Pages: 384
Edition: Galley
Rating: 🖤🖤

Lit to Movie Review: Passing

"To pass successfully is to perform so seamlessly that nobody appreciates your craft." ~ pg. 12

Picture this: New York City in the 1920s. Hot summer day. A refined woman seeks breezy refuge in the grand tearoom of Drayton Hotel. Across the room, a blond woman stares her down. A bold re-introduction and a unique laugh reunite the women. 

Childhood friends Irene and Clare are both light-skinned Black women. One of them has chosen to cross the color line while the other woman is passing. Irene lives as an upper-middle class Black woman with her husband and dark children in Harlem. She is very active in the community and embraces her culture. While Clare is married to a racist white man who has no idea of her Black heritage. In fact, he jokingly calls her "Nig." Oh, if he only knew!

The story in Passing is moreso about the women forced to re-examine their relationships: with each other, with their respective husbands, with fear and with the truth. Nella Larsen penned a novel that earned her a place in the Harlem Renaissance. And nearly a century later, the story and its themes are so relevant that it is now a major Netflix movie. 

How appropriate that the Passing movie is filmed in black and white. It was a constant reminder of the stark contrasts among the characters and their state of mind. Images of the beautiful modern actresses Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, oh-so-handsome actors Alexander Skarsgård and André Holland, and the striking backdrop of New York City draw your interest to the screen. 

Although we live in a time when passing is a thing of the past, it is still a touchy subject to read about and discuss. The effects of passing and a light complexion weigh heavily on the Black community and continue to fool whites' perception. Passing isn't just about skin tone either. It's about seeing clearly and, well...you'll have to read/watch to learn more. Both the book and movie carry a sad tone that leads to a shocking "what just happened" ending.

What a timeless novel and wonderfully shot film! Needless to say, I recommend both to all Bookhearts. Then watch the very first episode of But Have You Read the Book? featuring host Uzo Aduba to see how this story went from book to screen.

Title: Passing
Author: Nella Larsen
Director: Rebecca Hall
Cast: Tessa Thompson (Irene); Ruth Negga (Clare); Alexander Skarsgård (John); André Holland (Brian)
Book Published: April 1929

Movie Released: November 2021
Pages: 121
Movie Time: 1 Hour, 38 Min
Edition: eBook
Book Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤
Movie Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 

Series Sunday: Under Color of Law

(Trevor Finnegan #1) 

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

• Read an installment of a series.
• Share your review/recommendation below.
• Include the title, author and series name.

"I make being a police officer sound storybook—the sanctified knight gallivanting through the countryside, facing down the dire and dark. It's some potent panty-peeler, but it couldn't be further from the truth." ~ 5%

My Series Sunday pick is Under Color of Law, the first book in the Trevor Finnegan series by Aaron Philip Clark. This new main character is a good cop but hasn't been a good man in a long while. He doesn't show emotion. He knows the department has a diversity problem. Yet he somehow climbed the ladder fairly quickly. And why is that?

Black rookie cop Trevor "Finn" Finnegan wants to become the top-ranking officer in the LAPD. His goal is to fix the broken department. So his fast-track promotion to detective in the coveted Robbery-Homicide division puts him closer to achieving his goal. 

The city of Los Angeles calls for police accountability. In the midst of racial justice protests and senseless killings by cops, the body of a Black police academy recruit is found. Of course, Finn is tasked to investigate the murder. The suspenseful story spins into a web of corruption, violence, race and cover-ups.

"The only thing that separates a cop and a convict is getting caught." ~ 69%

First of all, I fell in like with Finn when he drank his second cup of Earl Grey. Now this is a character that knows his tea! I liked him even more when he realized the burden of knowledge is crushing. Do you know how long it takes people IRL to figure this out? Yet we have a fictional man of color that is in tune with his intellect and faults. Hello, Under Color of Law and the Trevor Finnegan series!

Aaron Philip Clark, I am your new fan. Your description of a warm night's air is so detailed that I could feel the summer energy through my Kindle. Your creation of a strong Black character is solid. And most of all, your depiction of cops and police departments is what most of us are thinking but not saying aloud. Thank you for not making this first book in series the end of Finn's career or life. We need him in the book series world.

Under Color of Law is so. damn. good! I am looking forward to Blue Like Me late in the new year.

Title: Under Color of Law

Author: Aaron Philip Clark

Published: October 2021

Pages: 298

Edition: eBook

Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤