Books and Beignets (BAB)
Book Club

Whew! What a crazy couple of weeks!

1. Michelle, by Liz Mundy

2. A Letter to My Sisters and Looking thru the Fence, by Voncele Savage (support a new author!!)

3. Life is Short, But Wide, by J. California Cooper

4. Something Like Beautiful, by Asha Bandele

5. The Devils No Friend of Mine, by J. D. Mason

6. What Doesn?t Kill You, by authors DeBerry and Grant

7. Red Light, Green Light, by Margaret Hodge-Johnson

8. Lets Talk about Pep, by Sandy Denton

9. Pay Back, by Solomon Jones

10. A Mercy, by Toni Morrison

11. Color Me Butterfly, by L. Y. Marlow (May Book Club Selection)

12. Lyon?s Den, by Kendra Norman-Bellamy

13. Sins of the Father, by Angela Benson

I am so behind with reading! So far, I have finished #1, #2, and #11 on my list. Here goes:

Michelle - it was okay.  I did not like the flow of the book. I don?t know what I expected, but it did not grab my attention and you know what we will do, we will pick it up, put it down again, pick it up. I finally finished and although I know more about our beautiful and classy First Lady, I do know if I would recommend this for a book club read.

A Letter to My Sisters and Looking thru the Fence were both by new author Voncele Savage. Great quotes throughout the book. Again, both books were not what I thought, but they were both very uplifting.

Okay - Color Me Butterfly - wonderful book! I cried, I laughed, I was angry, I was sad, I could truly relate so it was very emotional for me- what a wonderful journey. I had a problem with the entire Isaac thing even until the end (I will not go into detail). I cannot wait for our book club discussion next month. Sorry I have been MIA lately. It has been crazy the last couple of weeks. A few more weeks to go and this semester will be over! Gotta love higher ed....

On Sunday, April 5, 2009, I visited Jackson, Mississippi to attend my friend and sistah and spirit, Kendra Norman-Bellamy's book signing!  My book club member, Sherrie, traveled with me to Jackson, MS and I was thankful for her company!  Thanks Sherrie for the love and support!   Aren't you excited about our book club!  I am! 

This event was sponsored and hosted by Q.U.E.E.N.S. Book Club of Mississippi.  The Prez, Adrienne and her book club sistahs showed up and showed out!!  It was a wonderful event!  There were about four (4) other local Jackson book clubs present:

Circle of Color Book Club

Savvy Book Club

Southern Girls Book Club

Natural Essence Book Club

Jackson, MS -- you all showed out!  So many wonderful book club sistahs there and they were willing to share information, do's and don'ts with me about their book club journey.  I sat next to Margaret from Circle of Color Book Club.  Margaret has a wonderful spirit and I enjoyed her company!  Her book club business cards are beautiful!  It is a wonderful reflection of her book club -- full of color!  I learned so much from Margaret.  One word of advice she gave me about book clubs -- "Find dedicated and avid readers -- if they are not dedicated, they will not be consistent and stay; you will end up weeding out those who are not dedicated."  Thanks so much for the love and advice Margaret! 

It was so good seeing Kendra after all these years.  She still looks the same!   If you have never met Kendra in person, she has the most beautiful spirit of anyone that I know and after all these years, and 13 bestsselling books later, she has not changed and she still has a wonderful positive spirit (and she is still hilarious -- she has some of the funniest one -liners ever and I can look at her across the room and start laughing). 

Author Dwan Abrams, a very close friend of Kendra's, traveled with Kendra to support and show love.  Mrs. Abrams recently got married (CONGRATULATIONS!) and she was still GLOWING.    She has a beautiful spirit too.  Please check out my "Author/Book showcase page -- I feature Kendra and Dwan!

Overall -- EXCELLENT event!   Who said a group of women can't come together, get along, support, fellowship, exchange information and show love? 

Peace!

Sonya Ward

Prez

I recently received an email from www.apooobooks.com and they are beginning their Second Quarter 2009 Reading Challenge.  Here's how it works -- as an avid reader, you commit to reading 13 books from April 1 - June 30th.  I am excited!  Here's my list:

1.  Michelle, by Liz Mundy

2.  A Letter to My Sisters and Looking thru the Fence, by Voncele Savage (support a new author!!)

3.  Life is Short, But Wide, by J. California Cooper

4.  Something Like Beautiful, by Asha Bandele

5.  The Devils No Friend of Mine, by J. D. Mason

6.  What Doesn't Kill You, by authors DeBerry and Grant

7.  Red Light, Green Light, by Margaret Hodge-Johnson

8.  Lets Talk about Pep, by Sandy Denton

9. Pay Back, by Solomon Jones

10.  A Mercy, by Toni Morrison

11.  Color Me Butterfly, by L. Y. Marlow

12.  Lyon's Den, by Kendra Norman-Bellamy

13.  Sins of the Father, by Angela Benson

Can't wait!  Apooo Books does it again! 

Okay -- no one said starting a book club will be easy.  I am excited and scared at the same time.

The good thing is - I have so many friends who have have many years of book club experience.  They are my mentors, friends and my sistahs.  We all have a bond. 

I used to be a member of Circle of Friends II (COFII).  COFII is by far, the baddest best book clubs (yep - I said it -- it is!).  They have it going on.  There are so many memories I have as a member of COFII.  We were like family.  So many authors emerged out of that book club.  A literacy magazine emerged from COFII, a book on how to start a book club emerged from this book club.  This same book club have been guests on the Oprah Winfrey Show! 

Many authors visited our book club!  Many of them were just starting out as authors and are now famous.  The cool thing is this -- in our heart, those same authors were famous to us -- regardless of whether or not they had a bestselling book or not.  We appreciated their work and their accomplishments and we showed them love (and still do). 

Most of my close friends -- I made through this book club.  We laughed, we cried and we shared some wonderful experiences!  I bet you are wondering  -- what is the point here?  My point is -- book club membership is something that you will never forget.  It is a sisterhood that will remain with you the rest of your life -- regardless of whether you are no longer a member, move out of state or simply take a break.  

I will never forget what I learned in COFII and my friends.   I hope I will do them all proud with my own book club.

Love you and miss you -- my COFII book club sistahs!

- Sonya