My Year in Blogmoir & Books

Blogmoir: 

04.05.2023 But You Don't Look Sick

05.04.2023 Moment of Clarity

2023 Goodreads Challenge: Read 101 of 84 books (120% to goal)

2023 Page Count Challenge: Read 30,467 of 29,000 pages (105% to goal)

2023 Average Book Length: 301 pages (shortest 37 pages ~ largest 597 pages)

2023 Average Book Rating: 3.5 out of 5 

2023 Amount Saved Using Public #Lieberry: $486.03

Perpetual Jack Reacher Challenge: Read new release in series ~ #28

Keeping Up with Patterson Challenge: Read new releases in each series ~ Alex Cross #31 & #32, Women's Murder Club #23 & #23 1/2 and Michael Bennett #15

Lit to TV/Movie Review: The Color Purple, Lincoln Lawyer, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Live Read: The Tipping Point

Lit Tidbits: Click here for all Pithy Pick reviews in 2023.

First Lines Friday: Click here for all FLF posts in 2023.

Series Sunday: Click here for all SS posts in 2023.

Many Merry Blessings in the New Year❣️

Top 7 Nonfiction of 2023

1. Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back by Alicia Cook

2. Bet on Black: The Good News about Being Black in America Today by Eboni K. Williams

3. Share My Life: A Journey of Love, Faith and Redemption by Kem with David Ritz

4. Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography by Staci Robinson

5. Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby  

6. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson 

7. Why Fathers Cry at Night by Kwame Alexander

Top 7 Fiction of 2023

1. Hold My Girl by Charlene Carr 

2. Me Without You by Kelly Rimmer

3. Every Summer After by Carley Fortune 

4. I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

5. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume 

6. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

7. The Better Half by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans

2024 Releases Already a Top Read: 

Holmes, Marple & Poe to be released 01.08.2024

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde to be released 02.06.2024 

Lit to Movie Review: The Color Purple

"All my life I had to fight."

Where were you on Christmas Day at 11:30 a.m.? Well, Chickadee and I were nicely settled into our VIP private heated reclining seats in a movie theater, sipping Pepsi and a cherry slushie, dipping warm pretzels in cheese, waiting for the opening credits to start and the lighting to dim so we can be entertained. We bought our tickets in advance for Christmas Day. It is time to watch the bold new take on the beloved Pulitzer Prize classic: The Color Purple.

Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie hold each other in their hearts across time, distance and silence. The novel is told through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God then the sisters to each other. But the letters in the movie play a different role. Celie is not living an easy life; she's simply surviving. Then her husband's lover, Shug Avery, comes into town and encourages Celie to ask for more love, laughter, independence and loyalty.

The entire cast has chemistry. Fantasia took the role of adult Celie and made it even more memorable. Her emotions were felt through the big screen. Taraji P. Henson owned Shug Avery, honey. What an entertainer! My favorite character was Sofia played by Danielle Brooks. She commanded attention and comedic relief in her scenes. 

And the music...THE MUSIC! I normally do not like musicals but I was prepared for this one. Each actress/actor sang their fancy pants off. The dance choreography and harmony was clap-worthy. I am happy that classic quotes from the movie remained and were sprinkled in between songs. We left the theater and started listening to the soundtrack. Yes, that good!

Bookhearts, make time to rewatch the classic and support this Black cast in the theaters this holiday season. The Color Purple is so worth your time!

Title: The Color Purple

Author: Alice Walker
Director: Blitz Bazawule

Producers: Steven Spielberg, Oprah and Quincy Jones

Cast: Fantasia Barrino (adult Celie); Phylicia Pearl Mpasi (young Celie); Halle Bailey (young Nettie); Ciara (adult Nettie); Taraji P. Henson (Shug Avery); Danielle Brooks (Sofia); Colman Domingo (Mister); Louis Gossett Jr. (Ol' Mister); Corey Hawkins (Harpo); H.E.R. (Squeak/Mary Agnes)
Book Published: June 1982

Movie Released: December 2023

Pages: 302
Movie Time: 2 Hours, 21 Min

Genre: Musical Drama
Edition: eBook
Book Rating: DNF 
Movie Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 

Top 5 Series of 2023

1. Things We Left Behind (Knockemout #3) by Lucy Score

2. Cross Down (Alex Cross #31) by James Patterson 

3. A Christmas to Remember (Blessings #11) by Beverly Jenkins 

4. Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder (Baker Street #1) by Valerie Burns 

5. A Blended Family Christmas (Eugeena Patterson #3.5) by Tyora Moody 

Top 7 First Lines of 2023

1.  "Maybe this year will be my year. Maybe I'll start going to bed before midnight. I'll stop sleeping through alarms and commit to a morning routine. Maybe I'll start texting people back more and RSVPing YES less reluctantly." ~ The Music Was Just Getting Good by Alicia Cook

2. "All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there." ~ The Essential Rumi by Rumi w/translators

3. "I tell you I feel tired and you say, 'But you slept for twelve hours,' and I knew you didn't get it." ~ Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back by Alicia Cook

4. "I have a lot of opinions and I come by them honestly. From an early age, I watched my mother confidently expressing her opinions with wit and intellect. She always stood her ground and was unapologetic about her beliefs." ~ Opinions by Roxane Gay

5. "It's been a long time, shouldn'ta left you...but I had to, because life was life-ing, dawg!" ~ Hey, Lover by D.L. White

6. "I am in a deep love affair with my Blackness." ~ Bet on Black by Eboni K. Williams

7. "My beloved, I understand that forgiveness may not be possible. Some deeds cannot be undone. I took someone essential from you that last tragic evening—the blood, so much blood." ~ The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

DNF & NRN of 2023

Bookhearts, you are familiar with my 50-Page Rule. The purpose of this annual DNF (did not finish) and NRN (not right now) post is to share my reason(s) in an effort to help books find its intended audience. May these books find a new home where they will be finished and enjoyed.

1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker ~ Rather watch the movie remake.
2. Oye by Melissa Mogollon ~ Who is talking to whom and how?!
3. The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok ~ Genetic peculiarities and other things hard to follow.
4. The Love You Save by Goldie Taylor ~ Too heavy for the season.
5. Mothers Vol. 1 by Ben Burgess Jr. ~ Supposedly emotional but doesn't quite reach that point.
6. The Spirit of the City by Janna Jones ~ Content not what I expected.
7. Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen ~ A miss. Too slow-paced.
8. Come and Get It by Kiley Reid ~ This was SLOW slow.
9. Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera ~ Dragging and missing the dark humor.
10. The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner ~ Lacks the unputdownable factor.
11. At the End of It All by Rae Lyse ~ Cannot get past the dialect.
12. What Never Happened by Rachel Howzell Hall ~ Just not gripping enough.
13. Triptych (Will Trent #1) by Karen Slaughter ~ Show is much better.
14. You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza ~ Wordy like the description.
15. Diana, William, and Harry by James Patterson ~ Too long to be this general.
16. Queen of Exiles by Vanessa Riley ~ Just not interesting enough.
17. The Postcard by Anne Berest ~ Could already tell this will drag to the very end.
18. Redwood Court by DeLana R.A. Dameron ~ Difficult to follow multiple POVs in each chapter.
19. The Starfish Sisters by Barbara O'Neal ~ Seemingly unnecessary details and dialogue.
20. For Worse by L.K. Bowen ~ Time jumps and every other word is a character's name.
21. The Only Black Girl in the Room ~ Literally the same word begins almost every paragraph.
22. The Light on Halsey Street by Vanessa Miller ~ Overtelling. "And then. And then."