Dickey Announces Next Book

New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey has announced his next novel. Sleeping with Strangers is slated to be released in April 2007. I'll keep you updated when I hear something!

On another note, Dickey was recently honored at the 2nd Annual African-American Literary Award Show for being the Male Author of the Year and winning the Best Contemporary Fiction award for Chasing Destiny.

What They Want

A couple of weeks ago I was at this new club downtown called The Office. I’m sitting there chillin’ on the couch next to the dance floor and I see this guy that looks really familiar. I wasn’t exactly sure where I knew him from but my best guess was that he attended college with me. But, I still wasn’t sure. The next week I went to Barnes & Noble to pick up a book for the book club that I’m in, and I decided to browse the summer reading section. I’m glad that I did this because there was just about one book from every author that I frequently read that had recently been released. But the bad news was that I didn’t even know these books existed. I used to be so on top of those things! Zane, Pearl Cleage, Mary B. Morrison and Benilde Little all have new books out.

Then I saw that Omar Tyree had a new book entitled What They Want, and then everything clicked… The guy that I saw in the club was Omar Tyree!!! It had just been a while since I had read his last New York Times Bestseller book, Boss Lady, that I wasn’t able to match the face with the name that night. Is that crazy or what?

Anyway, so I knew that his new novel was going to be the next on my “to read” list. What They Want is about a 33 year-old male model named Terrence Mitchell. Despite his age and expectations from society, he is living it up as the ultimate playboy hooking up with different women across the country while he’s traveling for work. But a few "shocking" incidents at the end of the story snap him into reality and make him re-evaluate his life.

Boring!!! This book was unnecessarily long and drawn out, especially considering how predictable it was. There was nothing surprising and nothing that had me trying to flip through each page to see what was going to happen next. And I feel like most of it was written like a bad porno & poorly written soap opera all rolled into one. I was tempted to give up half way through because I felt like it was a waste of time. But I told myself “No, it has to pick up and get more interesting.” Well, I was wrong.

Tyree is one of the few authors that I pride myself on having read all of his novels. And I hate to say it, but What They Want was a big disappointment for me. I’m not totally giving up on the brotha, but I hope he brings his A-game next time.

Black Like Me

This was the last book that was discussed in my book club. I had been meaning to read it for a long time but had never gotten around to it. This book, written in 1960, chronicles the journey of a white man who lived as a black man for 6 weeks. One of the first things that shocked me was the physical transformation that John Howard Griffin went through to do his experiment. Previously when I had heard about the book, I just assumed that he put on some makeup everyday and went on about his business. But he was actually taking medication to aid in the change of his skin pigmentation. On the other hand, trying to live as someone of another racial background is so much more than changing your skin color.

Overall, I was not impressed with this book. I think it was in part because I had such high expectations based on its reputation as an international bestseller that is still being discussed in classrooms today. I understand its significance at the time of publishing, but I feel it has much less of an impact today. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that racism isn’t still an existing issue, but this country has come a long way in the past 40+ years. (We still have a long way to go, but we’re definitely making progress in the right direction.)

There was nothing profound about John’s experiences, at least from my point of view. Most of the time I was just nodding my head in agreement that something like that happened all the time back then. Although he did experience discrimination during his experiment, I don’t feel that he completely immersed himself. Even though he was living as John Howard Griffin the black man, he still had so many advantages over the average black male. Due in much part to the repression of the race, many young black men were uneducated and struggled financially day to day. Griffin was an educated man who basically had an endless supply of funds for this project.

Surprisingly, there was nothing particularly profound about his writing. Even though it was basically a journal, I expected his literary style to explain his experiences in much more depth. Although I think this man was crazy for jeopardizing his life like that while he had a wife and kids at home, I know this novel has made a huge impact in our world. And for that, he definitely deserves the kudos he’s received.

Memoirs of a Geisha

This novel is absolutely fantastic. It’s one of those stories that you get totally immersed in and don’t want to put the book down. Not only do you get caught up in this coming-of-age story of the main character, Sayuri, but you learn so much about another culture and the lifestyle of geisha. I also found the language style that was used to be so amazing and thoughtfully descriptive. And the crazy thing is that you get so caught up in this story of a Japanese geisha that you forget that the author is really an American man!

I saw the film when it first came out in movie theaters and watched it again after I read the book. You may be asking which one is better. Well, both of them were excellent. However, as is most often the case with movies based on novels, you get much more depth and detail in the book. I think this especially applies to Memoirs of a Geisha because there are so many intricate details and nuances that are in the geisha world. So if you read the book first and then watch the movie, you will pick up on so many more little visual and implied details when you watch the movie. So, I highly recommend reading the book and watching the movie. (And I have to give the DVD extras 5 stars, too!)

Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings

As I’m sure you’ve already figured out, I use my library card almost as much as I use my debit card. But this time I actually went out and purchased this book. It was getting so much buzz that I just couldn’t wait for the library to get it. And besides, I’m happy to continue my financial support of Tyler Perry’s projects. (Not that he really needs it with that $5 million mansion that we saw in Diary of a Mad Black Woman.)

I must say that this book is not only humorous but also a very easy read. It also provides us some background on Madea’s life. Yes, you’re taken back to her younger days when she used to drop it like it’s hot. LoL.

This book cleverly weaves in Madea’s “tell it like it is” humor with tips on life. There is actually some good advice in there. For example: Ladies, don’t go throwin’ your Frisbees to these dogs out there. And keep in mind that there is a difference between a short skirt and a ho skirt. Ho skirts show your Frisbee.

What I really appreciate is that Madea’s advice includes some flat out common sense things that you feel everyone should know and understand but they don’t. (I really feel the need to reiterate this point… Just because someone has book smarts does not mean that they have common sense.)

Based on the reviews and its #1 debut on NY Times Bestsellers list, I expected to be rolling on the floor laughing with every page turn. To my disappointment I wasn’t. Maybe it was my high expectations for this book, but I have to give it 2 ½ stars. Don’t get me wrong. It was funny. But I realize now more than ever that most of Tyler Perry’s/Madea’s humor is 90% delivery. So I’m sure that the book on tape would have gotten all 5 stars!

The Wonders of the Library

Do you not read because books are so darn expensive? Have you gotten a library card but you hate walking up and down the aisles looking for books or they never have what you’re looking for? Are you sick of spending your whole paycheck on downloading songs from iTunes or renting movies from Blockbuster? Well, believe it or not, the Harris County Public Library has the answer to all of your problems!

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can “shop” for books, movies and CDs that are available at the library online. It can’t get any easier than this! You can query a specific item or just browse genre or author/actor/artist. And yes, I said movies and CDs too. They have a ton of stuff from Mary Poppins to Wedding Crashers, from Ashlee Simpson to Eminem. (And it won’t cost you anything to borrow a CD from the library and download it to your iPod!)

Once you find the item you’re looking for, you put in a request for that item. There’s no need to worry that they don’t have that item at the branch closest to you. If it’s at another branch, they will transport it to the one closest to you at no cost.

The only drawback is that if you request something that is very popular, like a hit movie that just came out on DVD or a book on the NY Times bestseller list, there will probably be a very long waiting list. But, if you’re in no hurry, you can just sit back and relax. They will let you know when it’s your turn to have the item and it’s been delivered to your ‘home’ branch.

*Now, I’m only speaking about the Harris County Public Library System because that was the closest branch to me for most of my life, but I’m sure that the Houston Library System or the system wherever you live has something similar!

The Da Vinci Code

Just in case you have been living on another planet for the past 2 years… A movie based on Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code will be released in theaters on May 19th. I for one will definitely be in line that day to check it out.

I’m not going to do a review on this book because the book has been on the NY Times Bestseller List for over 160 weeks and I’m sure you’ll be going to see the movie soon if you haven't already read the book.

Now, I do feel that I need to give my 2 cents about some of the controversy that has been surrounding this book. Some people have said that this novel is anti-Christian. That’s a bunch of crap. People have totally lost sight of the fact that this is a work of fiction. Artwork, landmarks and documents in the novel all exist but this book is fiction. The Da Vinci Code does, however act as a catalyst for people to explore their faith or find out how strong it is (which I personally think is a good thing).

For those of you who haven’t read it yet… Either you’ve been under a rock, lost your library card, or have been waiting for it to come out in paperback. Well, get to it! J This is a SERIOUS page turner and it’s so easy to read. Short chapters and you just want to keep going to find out what’s going to happen. This is a great book and I’m sure it’ll be a great movie!!!