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.

"Dear Morocha, If you're reading this letter, then you're probably: 

     a) thinking about visiting Buenos Aires.

     b) curious about what it would be like for you, since there aren't many black folks there."

~ Hola, Morocha!: A Black Woman's Adventures in Buenos Aires: Culture Shock by Jennifer Poe

Spoiler Alert

When you're browsing through hashtags of the book you're currently reading and see a spoiler...

Experience. Ruined.

How do you handle spoilers?

Of Mess and Moxie

"Fangirl your friends." ~ pg. 212

I have been reading Jen Hatmaker ever since her first book (of which she admits to cringe at now). I find her words are for the average modern woman. I always feel like I'm having chips and salsa with neighbors on the screened-in porch. I especially like how she shares without shame triumphs, tragedies and oopsies (like driving to the wrong city for a field trip). Her paraphrased scriptures are hilar: It is how God created us: He said, "Let there be moxie!" and it was good.  She ain't subtle either; there is no having to read between the lines with her.

So I make a point to add Jen Hatmaker's books to my personal library. I may not read them right away, but know when it's time to pluck it off the shelf. For instance, I knew it was time to read this new release, Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life, when my therapist asked me to describe my life in one word. I answered: unaccomplished. And thought, I have a book to help me through this! It was time for Jen Hatmaker to offer me uplifting insight to a joyful way of living.

"But if we absorb the full counsel of Scripture and acknowledge that God sincerely loves us and gave us a whole world of gifts and joys, we discover many secular things we love are actually sacred." ~ pg. 23

Don't roll your eyes! This is not a preachy book. I repeat: this is NOT a preachy book by an uppity know-it-all Christian. Okay, continue on...

Surely I am not the only woman in these streets that feel overwhelmed and stuck in circumstances. I get anxious just writing a daily to-do list. Like, how am I supposed to juggle and complete all of this?! Well it seems this is normal behavior. This is what moxie is all about. Jen Hatmaker shares how to have fun, be responsible, clean, pray and still have time for a nap. She writes how possible it is to fall in love with the lives we have now as opposed to the lie of "someday."

Of Mess and Moxie is for us all! The 20-somethings bursting into adulthood. The 30-year-olds in the thick of stretch marks and halfway through life. The 50s and up women who raised kids, has many achievements and still look good. Jen Hatmaker reminds that we got this together!

I am not a big reader of nonfiction so when I do read it...pay attention! I don't write these reviews for nothing. There must be a valuable lesson I am looking to learn or information I am eager to receive and thus share. However, nonfiction books have sections that are not relevant to my current level in life so I simply skip it. Yup, I admit it! So in full disclosure, I skipped all chapters and references to motherhood, children and athletics. 🤷🏽‍♀️  Though I, Literary Moxie Marie, can recommend everything else in Of Mess and Moxie!

But for the record, I still feel unaccomplished. More on that in a blogmoir post coming soon.

Title: Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life
Author: Jen Hatmaker
Published: August 2017
Pages: 266
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤

 

US vs. UK

The UK is my hometown glory but I live in the US. The US vs. UK bookish meme compares book covers published in the two countries. It has been a mighty long while since I had fun with this meme. Enjoy the battle of all the book covers below, bookhearts!

US (top) ~ UK (bottom)

• The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat ~ Much as I like the homely feel of the US cover with green landscape surrounding a small downtown diner, the UK cover is so much better featuring the brown legs of the three (3) main characters I just wanted to reach out and hug. UK wins!
• One of Us Is Lying ~ Even though the UK cover shows four people in a line-up stance, the US cover fits the story better of four (4) high school students questioned about a murder that happened in detention. Plus the font in the US cover resembles handwriting on the lined paper covering the characters' faces. US wins!
• The Hate U Give ~ Hmmm, these covers are almost opposites; black and white pun intended? The US cover has a white background featuring a young black girl holding a sign. The UK cover has a black background with a side profile of a young black girl. I have to go with the cover that best represents the novel. The main character stood for a message she believed in. And she is sporting a cute afro. US wins!
• The Stolen Marriage ~ The US cover seems so sad with a young lady looking out of a window on a heavy rain day. Actually, the UK cover could seem sad too with the a lady passenger traveling solo. I would be more likely to pick up the latter. UK wins!
• But Then I Came Back ~ Oh, this is too easy. Beautiful 3D flowers with pink font or chunky yellow cursive font with two measly white flowers? C'mon now. US wins! 

Total: US 36; UK 36

If the book covers pique your interest, click the title for my review. Stay tuned for another US vs. UK meme soon to break this tie! In the meantime, which covers do you favour?

 

Series Sunday: The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat

(The Supremes #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.

"Not knowing any better, I listened to what I was being told about myself and grew up convinced I was a little brown warrior." ~ 4%

My Series Sunday pick is The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, the first book in The Supremes series by Edward Kelsey Moore. Don't let the old school title or homely cover fool you. This is not a book about the Motown divas, Supremes. It is not about a small town diner. Dubbed the "Supremes" by high school friends in the summer of 1967, three black women have leaned on each other for four decades through best and worst times. But this year is a true test of their friendship and faith. Clarice is humiliated by a cheating husband. Barbara Jean is rocked by a youthful love affair. And Odette engages in the most terrifying battle of her life.

"We overlooked each other's flaws and treated each other well, even when we didn't deserve it." ~  12%

One thing is certain in their lives. Every Sunday, The Supremes are guaranteed to meet at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, the first black-owned business in downtown Plainview opened in the mid-1950s, for delicious food, juicy gossip, realistic banter and sometimes tears. These are funny, strong women with real shit happening. They are sassy with a bite of truth serum in their dialogue.

"We found out about Mama seeing ghosts at a Thanksgiving supper back in the 1970s." ~ 2%

Ghosts are mentioned very early on in the book. This was almost a deterrent for me. Something about ghosts and spirits doesn't bode well in my mind so I block them. I know they are real. I know they speak to some people. But if I think too long about ghosts, my head will hurt. However, I was not too bothered by the Mama ghost and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt ghost—who was good at picking out who was about to die. I don't think this story could've been told as well without their presence.

Book Clubs: you have to add this to your monthly selection. It will make for serious yet funny discussions. You are guaranteed to recognize yourself or a close friend in the lives of the Supremes.

Thanks to my Chickadee for recommending this feel-good-down-home novel!

Title: The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat
Author: Edward Kelsey Moore
Published: March 2013
Pages: 322
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.

"Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down."

~ Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng 

 

Hidden Women

"There were no parades for Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Miriam Mann, Mary Jackson, Annie Easley, Christine Darden, or any of the other human computers." ~ pg. 74

It would be impossible to go into space without mathematicians. Like Katherine Johnson in 1962, we [black women] are used to being essential but unseen. In 1958, Miriam Mann became NASA's first black female engineer. Before that in 1949, Dorothy Vaughn became the first black manager there. These women literally made it possible for U.S. rockets and astronauts to go into space. This is no small feat. Add in the daily struggles of being a colored woman in a segregated world and the resistance experienced. The amazing result and work of these women is an important part of history that I am glad is being told.

"It was another thing entirely to ask for a black woman to do the job." ~ pg. 7

I recommend Hidden Women for young readers. This is an easy-to-follow history story perfect for Black History Month. It includes a timeline of events, glossary, further reading list, critical thinking questions and sources. There are pictures of Apollo 1, Centaur, astronauts and of course, the women. For my bookhearts with young children or in education, I highly suggest this book. Not only does it spotlight the three (3) women we have grown to appreciate but other less-known, second generation of black women who worked behind-the-scenes at NASA. They used their expertise to help the United States. We can all excel in math and science. We can also literally reach for the moon. Show young people that we are crucial to success.

Happy Early Pub Day, Rebecca Rissman. Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race will be available February 1, 2018.

Disclaimer: This book was received directly from the publisher for review purposes only. In no way does it influence my review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

Title: Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race
Author: Rebeca Rissman
Published: February 2018
Pages: 114
Edition: Galley
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤