Category: Book Review

Never underestimate yourself.

You can carry the weight of ten worlds on your shoulders, and still have time to do your

job. You can lift spirits, move mountains, and haul out in a hot minute. You have more

power deep inside you than you realize – but, as in the new novel, “Only the Strong” by

Jabari Asim, you still have weaknesses.

The animals look a little restless.

Maybe they’re hungry, bored, or tired of being watched. They seem angry. Observing

these creatures caged, it’s easy to believe that wild animals shouldn’t be penned like this

– and in the new book “Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga” by Pamela

Newkirk, neither should humans.

The path to something important is never straight.

You may take that first step forward… then backward, decide one way, then another,

changing your mind like you change clothes. Knowing your desires will eventually get

you there, yes, but you might flirt with the idea awhile before you take the leap.

For author Bert Ashe, a new look on his head sat in his head for years.

The job you were hired to do and the job you do today sure are different.

The Old You, in fact, would only barely recognize the way things are done in the modern

workplace: you’ve welcomed revolving competition, new technology, and alternate

methods as they’ve arrived. For Allan Abbott & Gregory Abbott, that’s especially true

but in their new book, “Pardon My Hearse,” they offer snapshots of the ways we’ve

departed.

Last years’ swimsuit is way too small for you now.

You’ve outgrown most of your summer clothes, in fact, and you’ve given them away;

you can’t wear them anymore, so someone else may as well use them. But clothing isn’t

the only thing you can hand-me-down. In the new book “The Red Bicycle” by Jude

Isabella, illustrated by Simone Shin, one boy’s outgrown bike becomes another child’s

treasure.

Your last family reunion was a big one. It was fun, too, and eye-opening. You hadn’t really stopped to think about how many people are related to you until you saw aunts you hadn’t seen in decades and met cousins you didn’t even know you had.

In “Becoming Richard Pryor,” author Scott Saul chronicles the birth, rebirth, ascension, downfall, and death of a glorified screw up.
Tediously-researched and skillfully written, the book concludes with Pryor’s body engulfed in flames.

Sometimes, you feel like a boiling pot.

That’s because you’ve been cooking a story up and it bubbles and rolls just below the

surface of your mind, waiting to burst forth into a bestseller for an eager audience. It’s

always been your dream to be a famous author – and that could happen, but there’s work

to do first. “Infinite Words” by Zane can get you started.

Screenwriter/director Quentin Tarantino has during the past 25 years provided to moviegoers a number of films that at best elicit responses of shock and surprise, and at worst hearken to the base racial characterizations seen prominently in the “Blaxploitation” genre of the early 1970s. Adilifu Nama’s new book, “Race on the Q.T.” (2015 The University of Texas Press, $22.95), provides a thorough albeit academic review of the prominent filmmaker’s most popular films ranging from “Reservoir Dogs” to “Django Unchained.”