From books to audiobooks, I have been trying to get my groove back when it comes to reading. Growing up, I was not a “for real” reader unless it was Sweet Valley High or The Baby-Sitters Club. I did not like to read to be honest. Perhaps it was due to the fact that my Mom was an elementary school teacher, or it could have been from her making me read books to win an award in 2nd grade. The award was for who could read the most books for B.E.A.R. (Be Excited About Reading), where I ended up taking the first place trophy for reading 856 books. IN THE SECOND GRADE! Who does that? Clearly, Sarah’s baby did. I know it sounds insane, but I really did. They were short books, long books…just books. Any books. Child-appropriate of course. It is crazy thinking about it.
I still have the trophy.
I worked for a bookstore my senior year in high school. This is where I got a taste of E. Lynn Harris and other black authors. Over the course of two days, I read The Invisible Life from start to finish during my work shift. After that, I was hooked on novels and novellas, especially stories by black authors. As I got older, if it wasn’t a juicy read or semi on the trashy side (ex. Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans), I wasn’t interested. Don’t judge me. Judge ya auntie! I was young, in my mid 20’s, so perhaps that was why.
Back in 2012, I was introduced to Kimberla Lawson Roby by my friend/soror, La’Shara. We even attended her Book Tour here in Birmingham. I read her “Reverend Curtis Black Series” along with quite a few Carl Weber books, and a few others on and off up until the beginning of 2016. Then I stopped reading. Training for half marathons and my first full marathon took a front seat while reading took the back.
I have to be in the mood to read books. If I’m not feeling it, I’ll put it down and try something else. My line sister, Tam, always puts me on to new books too. That’s when I decided to actively get back on Goodreads. Plus I wanted to see what everyone else was reading in hopes of getting a little motivation to start back. I prayed and asked God to give me the desire to read more. I thought this would be a great distraction from all of the craziness of what’s going on in the world. Shortly after, one of my small group leaders blessed me with No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending by Esther Fleece. I’ll share more about that later. I guess that was my sign. Then another friend suggested audiobooks, which I never really even considered before. Until, well…now.
Then I got to thinking. THE LIBRARY! I bought all of these books and totally forgot that I can check books out from the library. I also discovered this awesome app called Libby! I ended up checking out Tiffany Haddish’s audiobook, The Black Unicorn. If you don’t know who she is, she is in the movie Girls Trip! HAAA-LARIOUS! You must get the audiobook because there’s nothing like the book read in her voice, especially with her Cali accent! “SHE READY!”
[Tweet “Find I what I’ve been reading lately! #whatimreading”]
I have completed a few books over the past few months:
- No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending by Esther Fleece, as mentioned
- Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo (also on DVD)
- The Black Unicorn – Tiffany Haddish
- Best Friends Forever by Kimberla Lawson Roby
- Hunger by Roxane Gay
Currently Reading and What’s Next:
- The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah’s Book Club Summer 2018 Selection) by Anthony Ray Hinton – Currently Reading
- Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope, and Repair by Anne Lamott
- We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True by Gabrielle Union
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- Fervent by Priscilla Shirer
Let’s see if I can finish strong by reading 20 books before the end of the year! What are you reading? Feel free to connect with me on Goodreads!
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