https://black-opal-books.myshopify.com/products/last-gasp   Last Gasp by Howard Levine contemporary (ca. 2010) adult thriller Black Opal Books* September 2018 In Last Gasp , what has become the pervasive threat of mass casualty events due to the intentions of terrorists sets the stage for a thriller with a tale of two brothers at its core. Spinning out from the hub of Vietnam War veteran Frank Tedeschi’s personal and professional relationships, each connection moves the investigation into the conspiracy theory forward, while incorporating momentum from past events. The blending of the present-day events in 2010 with Frank’s experiences in the 1970s highlights the similarities between two generations of debate about patriotism. Zealotry of all kinds is portrayed and challenged, as in this passage on page 24: Both factions justified their positions with quotes from the Koran, which was seemingly every bit as malleable as the Bible. Last Gasp combines social com

Always Another Country, A Memoir of Exile and Home by Sisonke Msimang  World Editions 4 September 2018 non-fiction feminist literature An individual’s memoir always includes other people, families, and communities. Context matters. In Always Another Country , generations of the author’s family embark upon a nomadic sojourn from South Africa to Russia, Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, Canada, and Ethiopia, then back to Zambia in an overlapping circuitous route across continents and decades that ultimately returns them to South Africa with excursions into the United States soon after the election of Nelson Mandela as president of S.A. The integrity of their family connections between each other and their nation or origin gets challenged and changed by their experiences in each temporary homestead. While “Families are nothing without the stories they tell,” is proclaimed on page 111, this idea of personal history as collaborative narration is visually established with a pers

image from 123RF.com  Always Another Country by Sisonke Msimang https://mediadiversified.org/2018/09/02/always-another-country-by-sisonke-msimang-cardyn-brooks-reviews/

  This is your brain.   This is your brain on books.  (An artistic interpretation of firing synapses)   Questions?  Read a book to discover the answers.  Happy Reading!

A later than planned departure from home kept me from making it to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s session, but that allowed me to attend all of Tayari Jones’s talk, which was awesome. Tayari Jones Highlights: ·          She’s a strong advocate for supporting the National Endowment for the Arts. ·          Her ultimate message today remains the same as it was 7 years ago: Follow your dreams with the expectation that the universe will rise to meet you. ·          Glowing remarks about a mentor who has helped her in countless ways. That mentor was also being featured at #NatBookFest, possibly speaking at the same time in a different ballroom. ·          Her thoughts on being raised in a society where girls were either good or not good. T.J. read a lot and spent substantial time in the library, making her a good girl because “no one gets pregnant in the library.” Librarians told her that’s not true. (Hank-panky in the stacks? Oh, my.) ·          T.J.