Y’all missed a great book review last month!  I finally got around to reading the Zora Neale Hurston classic that has graced my shelf for years and TJ joined me.

Here is our discussion:

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Barnes & Noble synopsis:
Catherine Sanderson seems to have it all: a fulfilling career helping immigrant women find jobs, a lovely home, and a beautiful, intelligent daughter on her way to Smith College. What Catherine doesn’t have: a father for her child- and she’s spent many years dodging her daughter’s questions about it. Now Phoebe is old enough to start poking around on her own. It doesn’t help matters that the mystery man, B.J. Johnson-the only man Catherine has ever loved-doesn’t even know about Phoebe. He’s been living in Africa.

Now B.J., a renowned newspaper correspondent, is back in town and needs Catherine’s help cracking a story about a female slavery ring operating right on the streets of Atlanta. Catherine is eager to help B.J., despite her heart’s uncertainty over meeting him again after so long, and confessing the truth to him-and their daughter.

Meanwhile, Catherine’s hands are more than full since she’s taken on a new client. Atlanta’s legendary Miss Mandeville-a housekeeper turned tycoon-is eager to have Catherine staff her housekeeping business. But why are the steely Miss Mandeville and her all-too-slick sidekick Sam so interested in Catherine’s connection to B.J.? What transpires is an explosive story that takes her world-not to mention the entire city of Atlanta-by storm.

From the New York Times bestselling author of What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day . . . comes another fast-paced and emotionally resonant novel, by turns warm and funny, serious and raw. Pearl Cleage’s ability to create a gripping story centered on strong, spirited black women and the important issues they face remains unrivaled.

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Good morning world!

This month TJ, Thoughts of a Southern Gal, and I are reading a fabulous novel by Pearl Cleage titled Babylon Sisters.  We are going to be having our very own online discussion in two weeks.

Here is some information about Babylon Sisters via Amazon.com

Catherine “Cat” Sanderson has a pretty nice life: she likes her consulting business (Babylon Sisters) and her neighborhood (Atlanta’s West End), and she’s got lovely friends and an absolute peach of a daughter (Phoebe). But said nice life gets complicated when Phoebe takes dramatic steps to find out the identity of her father, which Cat has been lying about for years. Also causing headaches: the sudden, unrelated reappearance of Phoebe’s actual father, B.J. (who never knew Phoebe existed and who was, for Cat, “the only operatic moment in my otherwise pretty routine life”), and Cat’s new contract with African-American entrepreneur and battle-axe Ezola Mandeville, who runs an eponymous maid service that’s highly praised for its generous support of its workers. Of course Sam Hall, Ezola’s sexy right-hand man, confides, “We’re not really here to… uplift the race. We’re really here to make money.” And how they’re making that money is a lot worse than one would think.

I started reading the novel on the train yesterday morning and it was so enthralling that I finished it last night before retiring to bed.  I even bookmarked pages along the way as a reminder to bring them up in our discussion.  I am inviting anyone who is interested to join us.  The book can be purchased at Borders, Barnes & Noble, or online at Amazon.  We’re going to set aside some time in the evening on the 23rd to talk about it.  I am so excited!!!!

If you have any questions, hit me up via the comments or the “All About Original Diva” page……remarks left there go straight to my inbox.

I will never forget the moment I realized that my literature likings must be in the minority.  I was in the African American Interest section of a bookstore and every book on the shelves was about thug life, drug life, ho life, prison life.  I could not find any books that targeted me or anyone like me.   At that moment I appreciated the fact that people want to read books that relate to them.  They want to see characters that are familiar to them and this new wave of “Urban Fiction” is reaching out to an audience that had never been extended such a courtesy before.  Hopefully this wave would get more black people reading.  But as I looked at the shelf I wanted to know why does it have to be one or the other.  Why must we we pull the books by Bebe Moore Campbell and Yolanda Joe to make room for Thug Luv?  I want the same thing.  I want to read books with characters that remind me of myself……educated black women that have careers.  I don’t want to read about drugs, guns, and jail.
 
My point is, looking for literature became harder.
 
A few months ago I logged into Black Expressions and the entire front page was filled with books that even Original Diva would be ashamed to be seen with.  And again I wondered, where are the books for me?  The answer is that you have to LOOK HARDER 
 
 
I started relying on the recommendations of reviews and friends I have that read as much as I do.  Then I would go out and seek the books, sometimes ordering them online.
 
 
Well maybe (talking out loud) other intelligent black men and women are having the same problem that I am.  Maybe they want to know about more than what is most readily available at this point.  So at that moment I decided to share. 
 
 
What we have created is a normal, every day blog that features books written by Black authors and reviews by us.  The most fabulous thing about us is that we aren’t authors, publicists, or agents.  We are normal, cream of the crop people who read for fun and want to share the wealth.
 
 
So Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you……..
 

Beyond the Cover. 

 
Please visit it often as it will continue to grow and serve as a very informative website to those looking for black literature.

Question……where do you go to review or learn about new books by black authors?