Shared Thoughts Book Club
********* Shared Thoughts Book Club 5 Star Rating *********
********* Shared Thoughts Book Club 5 Star Rating *********
* One Star - Would not recommend
** Two Stars - May recommend, with caution
*** Three Stars - Would recommend
**** Four Stars - Would Happily recommend
***** Five Stars - Would DEFINITELY recommend
April 2023 Book Club Selection
The Warmth of Other Suns
By Isabel Wilkerson
Hostess: Sabrina
STBC Overall Rating: 4.4 Stars
Synopsis of The House of Eve –
Isabel Wilkerson interviewed more than a thousand people for the study should did on migration. Though she details the effect racism had on people’s decision to leave their homes, she focuses on 3 main characters. Ida Mae Gladney – who moved from Mississippi to Chicago; George Swanson Starling – moved from Eustis Florida to NY & Robert Forster moved from Louisiana to California. She dove deep into their reasons for exiting the states in which they dwelled & talked about the racism they endured and how they overcame their situations.
March 2023 Book Club Selection
The House of Eve
By Sadequa Jphnson
Hostess: Larrie
STBC Overall Rating: 4.8 Stars
Synopsis of The House of Eve –
Story takes place in the 1950s. Ruby Pearsall wants to go to college & succeed in life despite having a mother who shows her no love and doesn’t protect her. Ruby falls hard for a Jewish boy which changes the trajectory of her life.
Eleanor Quarles attends Howard University and meets William Pride, from an elite rich Black family. They fall in love. Eleanor doesn’t feel like she fits in this family but when she becomes pregnant, she feels that a baby will help her feel more at home within William’s family. But unfortunate things happen, and Eleanor having babies isn’t easy. Eleanor and Ruby’s lives will be intertwined in a way they are unaware of.
February 2023 Book Club Selection
The Son of Mr. Sulemon
By Eric Jerome Dickey
Hostess: Andrea
STBC Overall Rating: 3.4 Stars
Synopsis of The Son of Mr. Sulemon –
Pi Suleman, a professor, has a lot going on. He is being blackmailed by a white professor who is sexually harassing him and threatens to tell people that he is the one harassing her. He meets Gemma, a woman from London, who he has a passionate connection with. His father, a famous writer, dies and Pi goes to Los Angeles to collect his inheritance and learn about the father he never knew. With all his trials & tribulations, Pi is discovering who he is.
January 2023 Book Club Selection
Our Gen
By Diane McKinney-Whetstone
Hostess: Monica
STBC Overall Rating: 2.6 Stars
Synopsis of Our Gen –
Tale about Cynthia, Lavia, Tish & Bloc who live in a 55+ community. They gather together to eat, smoke weed. Some characters can’t leave the problems of their past behind.
December 2022 Book Club Selection
Forget It! What's the point?
By Marguerite Orane
Hostess: Marilyn
STBC Overall Rating: 1.7 Stars
Synopsis of Forget It! What’s the Point? –
A self-help book with a twist. Instead of author telling you what to do to get more joy in your life, she uses a collection of stories telling the reader what she does to make herself happy.
November 2022 Book Club Selection
Diamond Doris
By Doris Payne
with Zelda Lockhart
Hostess: Shelly
STBC Overall Rating: 3.9
Synopsis of Diamond Doris –
Doris Payne grew up poor in Slab Fork, West Virginia. She watched her father abuse her mother & vowed to always protect her mother. Doris was not going to let racism or anything else hold her back. She dressed well & used her charm to steal. An international Black woman jewel thief, Doris details her many adventures in her memoir.
July 2022 Book Club Selection
Black Cake
By Charmaine Wilkerson
Hostess: Carla
STBC Overall Rating: 3.3
Synopsis of Black Cake –
Eleanor Bennett has died and she left behind a black cake made from a family recipe & a voice recording for her children Byron & Benny to listen too. The story that Eleanor tells is of her youth; when she left the island, being suspected of murder & having a long lost child. Byron & Benny discover that they truly did not know who their beloved mother was.
June 2022 Book Club Selection
Billy Porter
Unprotected {a Memoir}
By Billy Porter
Hostess: Tracey
STBC Overall Rating: 3.85
Synopsis of “Unprotected: A Memoir
by Billy Porter
Billy Porter tells us his life story in his own words. He was raised by a handicapped mother, sexually abused by his step-father, bullied in school, had doors slammed in his face, discriminated against but the multi-talented Billy never gave up. An inspirational story.
May 2022 Book Club Selection
The Darkest Child
By Delores Phillips
Hostess: Sabrina
STBC Overall Rating: TBD
September 2021 Book Club Selection
The Other Black Girl
By Zakiya Dalila Harris
Hostess: Tracey
STBC Overall Rating: TBD
August 2021 Book Club Selection
The Death of Vivek Oji
By Akwaeke Emezi
Hostess: Sabrina
STBC Overall Rating: 4.0
July 2021
How The One-Armed Sister
Sweeps Her House
Hosted by: Larrie
STBC Five Star Rating: 3.5 Stars
Synopsis of How the One-Armed Woman Sweeps Her House - Lala lives with her abusive husband, Adan, who is a criminal. One night, when arguing & tussling over their baby, the infant falls. Tone comes up with a wild scheme when the child doesn’t awake. Mira, who has lost her husband to a senseless tragedy, tries to go on. On the island of Barbados, lives are intertwined. Everyone is trying to cope with life the best way they know how.
July 2021
How The One-Armed Sister
Sweeps Her House
Hosted by: Larrie
STBC Five Star Rating: 3.5 Stars
Synopsis of How the One-Armed Woman Sweeps Her House - Lala lives with her abusive husband, Adan, who is a criminal. One night, when arguing & tussling over their baby, the infant falls. Tone comes up with a wild scheme when the child doesn’t awake. Mira, who has lost her husband to a senseless tragedy, tries to go on. On the island of Barbados, lives are intertwined. Everyone is trying to cope with life the best way they know how.
June 2021
It's Not All Downhill from Here
By Terry McMillan
Hosted by: Monica
STBC Five Star Rating: 3 Stars
Synopsis of It’s All Downhill From Here – Loretha Curry’s husband has just died, her daughter acts as though she doesn’t want to be bothered with her mother. Korynthia , Sadie, Lucky & Poochie are there to support their friend, though they have their own problems. Kornythia is trying to find love, Sadie dates a married man & then ends up with what she really likes, Lucky is married & her husband wants a divorce, Poochie has a sickly mother that she cares for & her own serious health issues. All the ladies are in their 60s & prove that It is Not All Downhill From Here.
June 2021
It's Not All Downhill from Here
By Terry McMillan
Hosted by: Monica
STBC Five Star Rating: 3 Stars
Synopsis of It’s All Downhill From Here – Loretha Curry’s husband has just died, her daughter acts as though she doesn’t want to be bothered with her mother. Korynthia , Sadie, Lucky & Poochie are there to support their friend, though they have their own problems. Kornythia is trying to find love, Sadie dates a married man & then ends up with what she really likes, Lucky is married & her husband wants a divorce, Poochie has a sickly mother that she cares for & her own serious health issues. All the ladies are in their 60s & prove that It is Not All Downhill From Here.
May 2021
The Final Revival of
Opal & Nev
By Dawnie Walton
Five Star Rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis: Final Revival of Opal & Nev – Sunny Shelton is a music journalist who wants to tell the story of Nev & Opal. Neville Charles discovers Opal at a bar’s amateur night. Opal, a Black woman, with a unique style all her own, always saw herself as a super star. It's the 1970s in New York City. A white band that is with Opal’s label, proudly displays a confederate flag at a concert. Opal protests & violence erupts, causing lives to be changed.
May 2021
The Final Revival of
Opal & Nev
By Dawnie Walton
Five Star Rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis: Final Revival of Opal & Nev – Sunny Shelton is a music journalist who wants to tell the story of Nev & Opal. Neville Charles discovers Opal at a bar’s amateur night. Opal, a Black woman, with a unique style all her own, always saw herself as a super star. It's the 1970s in New York City. A white band that is with Opal’s label, proudly displays a confederate flag at a concert. Opal protests & violence erupts, causing lives to be changed.
April 2021
A Knock at Midnight
by Brittany K. Barnett
Hosted by Marilyn
Five Star Rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis: A Knock At Midnight –
Memoir. Brittany Barnett’s mother becomes addicted to crack, her father also abuses drugs. However, with the love of her grandpar. ents and caring people around her, Brittany perseveres and becomes a successful lawyer and advocate for people being unfairly sentenced to harsh prison sentences.
April 2021
A Knock at Midnight
by Brittany K. Barnett
Hosted by Marilyn
Five Star Rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis: A Knock At Midnight –
Memoir. Brittany Barnett’s mother becomes addicted to crack, her father also abuses drugs. However, with the love of her grandpar. ents and caring people around her, Brittany perseveres and becomes a successful lawyer and advocate for people being unfairly sentenced to harsh prison sentences.
March's 2021 Book Club Selection
Confessions In B-Flat
By Donna Hill
Hostess: Alethea
STBC Overall ratings: 4.5 stars
Synopsis of Confessions in B-Flat:
It's the 1960's. Black people are fighting for their rights. Jason Tanner has relocated from Georgia to New York to spread Dr. Martin Luther Kings message of non-resistance to violence & recruit more people for the reverend' cause. Anita Hopkins is a die-hard Malcolm X follower and doesn't believe in turning the other cheek. When Jason & Anita meet, there is incredible chemistry. They fall in love, however, their ideologies interfere in their budding relationship. To come together, they have to realize that they are fighting for the same cause.
February's 2021 Book Club Selection
Patsy
Nicole Dennis-Benn
Hostess: Tami
STBC Overall Rating: 4.5
Synopsis of Patsy:
Patsy leaves Jamaica to come to the United States to be with the women she loves. She leaves her 5 year old daughter, Tru behind. Patsy has to work low paying jobs and as Nanny to make ends meet as an undocumented immigrant. Meanwhile in Jamaica, Tru struggles to understand why her mother left her.
January's 2021 Book Selection
Rose Series Book One
"INTENSITY"
by
EDEN FORTAE
Hostess: Shelly
STBC overall rating: 3 stars
Synopsis of Intensity: Kya Rich falls for Antonio Cortes, a criminal, whose main purpose in life is to ruin Kya's father& destroy Kya. However, Antonio's plans change, when he and Kya fall madly in love. The "Intensity" of their emotions have them longing for each other in ways they weren't prepared for.
December's book club selection
last stop from innocence.
takerra allen
Hostess: Carla
STBC Overall Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis of last stop from innocence: This story takes place in the 90's..
Amore Brown moved to Jersey City for the summer to live with her estranged dad, a man she barley knows. Coming from an affluent town, she is thrust into a world that is totally different from the sheltered world she used to dwell in.
While mourning the loss of her mother from stomach cancer, Amore reunites with a long lost cousin, falls in love for the first time with Guap, a handsome, sexy guy, who is a mentor of a gang. She experiences another great loss, gets involved in a murder conspiracy, and heads off to college.
The Last Stop on her way to college changes her life forever.
November's Book Club Selection
More Myself
a Journey
By Alicia Keys
Hostess: Tracey
STBC Overall Rating: 3 Stars
Synopsis of More Myself: A Journey
Alicia Key's story of being more than a musician and combining her love of music with her love of giving back through the many organizations she has that she funds.
Being raised by a Caucasian mother, having a complicated relationship with her father, grapping with industry oppression of females, her many awards, love for her family...she tells her story.
October's Book Club Selection
The Mothers
By Brit Bennett
Hostess: Sabrina
STBC Overall Rating: 3.2 Stars
STBC Overall Rating: 3.2 Stars
Synopsis:
Nadia Turner’s mother committed suicide. Her mother’s death weighs on her, while she lives in a house with a quiet father who never mentions what happened to her mom. Nadia becomes sexually involved with Luke, the pastor’s son. She becomes pregnant & aborts the baby.
Aubrey & Nadia become best friends. When Nadia finds out that Aubrey is dating Luke, she doesn’t tell her friend that she aborted Luke’s baby. Luke & Aubrey marry, and the mistakes of Nadia’s & Luke’s youth come back to visit them.
September's Book Club Selection
The Vanishing Half
By Brit Bennett
Hostess: Larrie
Overall Rating: 4.7 Stars
In the Vanishing Half, the Vigness twins, Desiree & Stella, ran away from their hometown of Mallard (where only light complexioned people live), to find a new life in New Orleans. Although these twins are inseparable, while in New Orleans Stella discovers that her light complexion would allow her to cross the color line, and when she did, she separated from Desiree.
Living as a white woman, Stella marries a white man and they have a daughter, Kennedy, and are enjoying their privileged “white” life.
Meanwhile, Desiree marries a very dark-complexioned man and they bore a daughter who took after her daddy and was “blue-black” as described by some of the people they encountered. Tired of her husbands’ abuse, Desiree takes their daughter Jude, and flee back to Mallard to live with her mother.
Jude and Kennedy meet, and to her surprise, Jude realizes Kennedy’s mother is her mother’s identical twin sister and she and Kennedy are cousins! Weaving together the sisters’ stories, complex issues arise.
August 2020 Book Club Selection
Bleeding Words
By Shared Thoughts Author
Tami Cleckley
Hostess: Monica
Star Rating: 4.5 Stars
Ramona Jackson dropped out of college when she became pregnant. Casting aside her aspirations of becoming a professor and traveling the world, she focuses her energy on raising her daughter, Jazz.
Jazz and Ramona have a close, but somewhat rocky relationship as Jazz observes her mom living a life she doesn't completely accept. Despite the conflicts and turmoil, Jazz decides she is not going to let anything stand in the way of her dreams.
But on the day of Jazz's graduation, a personal tragedy occurs. The tragedy is one of many obstacles thrown in Jazz's way, leaving it up to her to find the strength to fulfill her goals or follow in her mother's footsteps.
June 2020 Book Club Selection
Black Sunday, A Novel
Author: Tola Rotimi
STBC Start Rating: 2 stars
Synopsis of Children of Virtue & Vengeance – Zelie and Amari brought magic back to Orisha. The ritual, however, gave power to the maji and the nobles who possess magic in their blood too. The kingship and armed forces want to keep control of Orisha. Zelie fights to get Amari to her rightful place on the throne and to protect the maji from nobles, while trying to restore peace.
August Book 2019 Club Selection
The Mother of Black Hollywood
Author: Jennifer Lewis
Hostess: Monica
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis of Book:
Jennifer Lewis' memoir provides us with details of her childhood and how she knew she would be a star since the tender age of 5 years old. Jennifer describes lustful affairs, sex addition and discovering she is bi-polar. She delves in to going to therapy and talks about her love for Black people. Jennifer is a trained singer, broadway performer and film and television actress.
July's 2019 Book Club Selection
Black Girls Must Die
Exhausted
Author: Jayne Allen
Hostess: Andrea
Star Rating: 2 Stars
Book Synopsis:
Tabitha Walker is a Black woman with a thriving career, has money in the bank & is in a relationship with a man. However, she discovers that she might not be able to conceive, and this brings about a lot of stress, that affects every area of her life. Also, she has 2 friends, Laila and Alexis who have problems of their own.
June's 2019 Book Club Selection
and then there was me
Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Hostess: Marilyn
Star Rating: 3.6
BOOK SYNOPSIS:
As a favor to husband’s favorite cousin, Bea has agreed to be a surrogate, although she has an eating disorder that no one knows about, and against her husband’s wishes. Her husband, Lonnie, has cheated on her numerous times, and Bea suspects that he is continuing in his unfaithful pattern. Bea shares with her best friend only to learn of the worst betrayal she could imagine.
May 2019 Book Club Selection
Praise Song for the Butterflies
Author: Bernice L. McFadden
Hostess: Alethea
Star Rating: 4.5
BOOK SYNOPSIS:
While Praise Songs for the Butterflies is considered a fiction book, it focuses on key elements that are non-fiction in certain parts of Africa. This book was based in a fiction country, Port Masi, in Ukemby Africa. Ukemby is a nation which very little is known; and the Portuguese used Ukemby as a slave trading post for Europe and the Americas until 1807. The main characters in the book were a small family: Wasik (dad), Ismae (mom), Abeo (daughter), Serafine (sister of Ismae) and Grandmother (mother of Wasik). The immediate family was considered well off financially until they experienced a domino effect of setbacks that lead them into financial ruins which caused Wasik to make a decision that his wife, Ismae was totally against, taking Abeo to a shrine to become “Trokosi”.
April 2019 Book Club Selection
Rabbit:The Autobiography
of Ms. Pat
Author: Patricia Williams
Hostess: Tami
Star Rating: TBD
March 2019 Book Club Selection
Bookstore Chronicles
Books 1, 2 &3
Author: Zyla Turner
Hostess: Shelly
Star Rating: 4.0 Stars
Synopsis-
Book 1 – Dyna and Kane meet in a bookstore. Their attraction is magnetic. Dyna tries to escape Kane’s strong hold on her, but it appears to be impossible.
Book 2 – The saga of Dyna and Kane’s story continues. Their friends, Tyler and Melanie, become a part of the tale.
Book 3- Melanie & Tyler’s love story is highlighted
February 2019 Book Club Selection
Stalker
Author: Brenda Hampton
Hostess: Krishna
Synopsis: After a brutal divorce, Abigail Wilson vowed to never love again, but when Brent Carson crosses her path, she simply can’t resist his good-guy persona that exemplifies perfection. From A to Z, Brent appears to have it all. Abigail falls head over heels for him—until the unthinkable happens.
January 2019 Book Club Selection
Illusions
Author: Wanda B. Campbell
Hostess: Tracey
STBC Start Rating: 4.2 Stars
Synopsis: After three years of marriage, Denise Hightower discovers that her husband, Pastor Bryce Hightower, has a secret addiction that not only jeopardizes his marriage, but impairs his ability to effectively preach the gospel.
Yielding to pressure from her mother and her husband, Denise agrees to keep his addiction a secret, although her self-esteem plummets. Her life as the perfect First Lady is falling apart at the seams.
Self-centered and determined to uphold his pastoral image, Bryce is oblivious to his wife’s emotional state. He’s convinced that he can overcome his “little problem” on his own, so he rejects the spiritual help God sends him. But when his secret is discovered, will he be able to come clean with himself, God, and his congregation?
December 2018Book Club Selection
Better Left Unsaid
Author: Sabin Prentis
Hostess: Sabrina
STBC Overall Ratings: 3 Stars
Synopsis of Book:
Stokely Robeson had just been dumped by a married woman. Another woman quickly shows up, that has stolen his heart. Unbeknownst to Stokely, the two women he love, share something in common, creating quite a triangle.
November 2018
The Banks Sisters
Author: Kim Brooks
Hostess: Larrie
Shared Thoughts Overall Rating: 2.5
Synopsis of Book:
Simone, Bunny, Tallyha and Ginger’s grandmother dies, leaving the house & all her money to the church. The reverend wants them out of the residence immediately, unless they can come up with the money to purchase the house from him. The sisters develop a scheme to rob banks. The plan becomes more messy when their mother arrives on the scene & the pastor doesn’t want to give the house back to them. The Banks sisters have to band together to get what they want.
October 2018
She That Findeth
Author: Kim Brooks
Hostess: Desiree
Shared Thoughts Overall Rating: 3 Stars
Synopsis of Book:
4 friends, Shenita, Jackie, Danielle and Pippa are on a quest to find love while living Christian lifestyles. Faced with everyday challenges and past hurt, they show that true friendship is the bond that helps them though their loneness and pain.
September 2018
The Underground Railroad
Author: Colson Whitehead
Hostess: Monica
Shared Thoughts Overall Rating: 4 Stars
Synopsis of Book:
Story of Cora and Caesar, slaves who escaped their plantation in Georgia, using The Underground Railroad (a real railroad), with the assistance of traveling secret routes and getting help from abolitionists. After reaching freedom, the experiences that they went through will keep you in suspense.
August 2018
Children of Blood and Bone
Author: Tomi Adeyemi
Hostess: Andrea
Shared Thoughts Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars
Synopsis of Book:
Once upon a time in Orisha, born were the white haired babies who were called “Maji” and were gifted with different types of “magic”. When the king suspected the Orishans of killing his family, he ordered anyone with the power of “Maji”, to be killed. He allowed the babies to live since their “Maji” can only be birth after they turn 13 and will need the 3 special artifacts to bring the magic out, which he possessed one of, the MAP . This fairy tale follows the family of Zelie, who was left motherless after the “Raid”. Zelie was approached by the Kings daughter, Amarie, the Princess, after she stole the “MAP” from the palace and ventured off to bring magic back. Between Zelia, Amarie and Zelie’s brother, Tzaine, the scavenger hunt is one to find the other 2 artifacts to bring magic back to all of the Maji’s.
July 2018
Like a Fly on the Wall
Author: Simone Kelly
Hostess: Shelly
Overall Rating: 4 Stars
Synopsis of Book:
Jacques Berradi likes to call himself and "Intuitive Counselor", because he has the ability to communicate with spirits & pick up on people’s energy, and is making quite a good penny at it. However, Jacques’ skill doesn’t give him the answer as to why he is starting to have dark dreams about his father.
Kylie Collins and Jacques are brought together by accident. Seeking to find out more about her family, she visits Jacques, one night when a black-out occurs. She is unemployed, but that night, she becomes employed by Like A Fly On The Wall detective agency… Jacques intuition can help Kylie uncover the secrets of her parents, and Kylie’s detective skills can assist Jacque’s into discovering what happened to his father.