FREE (or low priced) African-American Books

Hi All-

Here's a link to some free or low-price African-American authors.  Make sure to check to make sure that they are free.

Enjoy!

http://afamhistoryexaminer.com/

What's Your Favorite Genre?

I love me a good ole romance novel.  The heroine out on the plain saved by the rugged, dusty ranch hand...love it!

My grandmother had a "book center" that encompassed an entire wall and was double-rowed.  A majority of the books were historical romance, theology books, Bibles, and reference books.  In high school, my mom and two aunts rotated bags of black romance books.  The 90s saw a BOOM in African American romance literature; thanks in part, I believe to BETs Arabesque books.  Remember them?  They even came out with a few movies.  Masquerade is my favorite!  Anyone know where I can cop that for the low-low on DVD??  Thankee!

Reading Circle: what are some of your favorite reading genres?

January - Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

The first book for Pretty Bookmarks will be Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones.  From Amazon,

With the opening line of Silver Sparrow, “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,” author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man’s deception, a family’s complicity, and two teenage girls caught in the middle.
Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich yet flawed characters—the father, the two mothers, the grandmother, and the uncle—she also reveals the joy, as well as the destruction, they brought to one another’s lives.
At the heart of it all are the two lives at stake, and like the best writers—think Toni Morrison with The Bluest Eye—Jones portrays the fragility of these young girls with raw authenticity as they seek love, demand attention, and try to imagine themselves as women, just not as their mothers.

Click here to purchase the book, check your local library or bookstore...and see you in the Reading Circle!

Cute Handmade Bookmarks

Do you have some stray paper clips and gift wrapping ribbon?  Well, here's a cute idea to reuse those little items.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

I pray that your Christmas is full and bright.  The spirit of Jesus'  birth on this day should be a remembrance to us that the impossible is possible with just a little faith.

~jacquie~

Why Pretty Bookmarks?

When I was a little girl, I loved collecting stationary.  Pencils, crayons, markers, stickers, punch-out scissors, construction paper, yeah, alla that.  When I wasn't practicing my plie and rond de jambe, my nose was in the book.  There was nothing worse then sticking a gum wrapper or receipt or tenting the book on top of the table that had a watermark so then the words were smeared and you cou-- sorry...flashback!  Ha!  I remember my bookmark of the month was tucked in the back of the book so it can be easily accessible when having to be disturbed from my reverie!  For shame!

So with nostalgic thoughts of those fanciful strips of paper with the ribbon at the top, I present thee...Pretty Bookmarks! 

You Read, I Read...We All Read for Ice Cream!

Or whatever it is that you like!

Welcome to Pretty Bookmarks, A Virtuoso Reading Circle and Lounge!  I'm so glad that you have decided to come in join me in our apparent love of books.  I love books.  I love reading.  I enjoy getting lost in the creativity and imagery of a good book.  The storytelling.

The purpose of this blog is to be a virtual book club (reading circle -- isn't that sooo 1950s??) and resource (lounge) for those looking for that next good read.  Books will be chosen across ethnic, genre, and age differences.  There will be a calendar for the year on scheduled circle readings, but at any time recommendations are encouraged to the goodness of the order.  I know that I used to be a die-hard African-American author (particularly romance) reader with the occasional John.Grisham or is it James.Patterson, who I KNOW is black in there somewhere... Moving on.  But over the past year or so, I have stumbled across some really great book blogs and authors who blog that have really pressed my boundaries.  I have come across some goooood books!

So I'm super excited about some good reading in 2012...and that you'll be doing it to.  So mosey on over to the right side there and follow the blog or "bookmark" us!

Happy Reading!