Category: Book Club

Red Lip Theology | Book Review by Sam

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About:

Red Lip Theology is a journey into how Candice Marie Benbow found a God she could believe in and be in relationship with. The book is part memoir, part tribute to her mother, part religious text. Ms. Benbow is a theologian with degrees from Tennessee State University, North Carolina Central University, and Duke Divinity School. Ms. Benbow clearly has not only the knowledge but the background to write on this topic, but what really makes the book come alive is her lived experiences that she can speak and teach through. This book is for every Black millenial girl who grew up in church or wants to believe in God, but hasn’t been able to reconcile their beliefs with their experiences in the world.

Review:

Candice Marie Benbow starts Red Lip Theology by providing the context for how she came up with this particular theology. She also gives us her life story and the definition (“Red Lip Theology is the space in which young, Black church women can sit with the parts of ourselves and be honest about all of them. Within these borders, there are boundless possibilities for who we can become and how we can life into our faith.”) she finally lands on after years of experience. Ms. Benbow is vulnerable right from the beginning of the text and details how the structure of her book was born out of her process of getting ready. Her daily routine of getting ready became a ritual that was part of her affirmations as well, it came at a time when she was depressed but her friends saw fit to let her know that she should get ready for the world despite what was going on in her life. Her best friend Sheleda made her promise to do so and told Benbow “it was time to get back to [herself]”.

The scene of the Black church being a place of contradictions seems all too familiar. It is where a lot of Southern Black girls were raised and nurtured, however it is also a place that can be filled with judgment and abuse. Finding God in that can be difficult. 

Her time in college and learning about Womanist Theology also mirrored my experience. I was learning about Feminism and womanism and questioning how all of these ideals could fit in with my faith. I actually wrote my senior thesis in college on Womanist Theology. In this book Benbow expands on Womanist Theology and creates something new for Black women millennials grappling with the world around them as well as the faith they grew up with and still hold dear. 

What I found profound about Benbow’s revelation is when she writes “if all of creation is holy, then Black girls and women are holy, too” and she details just how we remain holy even when we are in the depths of despair and even when we think that God is not there. Even in our hot mess, God is there. Benbow reminds us that we are doing the best that we can and where we fall short – God’s grace, God’s love covers us. 

Read this book if you’re a Black girl wondering how to piece together your faith with your life in today’s times. You will feel comforted and less alone by the end of the book. I truly believe it’s a must read for every Black woman and get ready to highlight!

 

People Person | Book Review by Felicia

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Ranking: 4 Stars, This book was quite a page turner. The drama! The Thrills! The Family! I did not expect anything that happened but I was happy to keep on reading. 

About: People Person is about the children of Cyril Pennington and how they grow and learn to deal with life with a deadbeat father. The majority of the story comes from Dimples pov. Dimple is the middle child who brings all the siblings back together when her life begins to unravel out of control. 

Review:  I came in expecting to read a low stake family fiction novel. Instead, this novel included a fast pace low key thriller element to it. The family dynamics from distant to close knit was terrific to read. We had the chance to read about each sibling and see a more in depth view on where they are coming from. I personally got a bit tired of Dimple, the main character, being taken advantage of over and over again. But, I am glad you get to see the rest of the siblings come in to defend or help her out. This book covers some intense topics  but it also has wholesome moments that don’t make it real issues overbearing. I highly suggest you pick this novel up and read it. 

S2 Episode 3 Show Notes: Red Lip Theology

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 For Season 2 Episode 3 we read Candice Marie Benbow’s Red Lip Theology

About the Author

Candice Marie Benbow is a well known Black womanist theologian with degrees from Tennessee State University, North Carolina Central University and Duke Divinity School who makes a living as a writer.

Book Look

The cover stands out as a profile picture of Candice Benbow with popping Red Lipstick as an ode to her book title. Candice rightfully stands out and shines bright as the face of her new book/memoir.

Bookmark

  • “ If all of creation is holy, then Black girls and women are holy, too” pg 18
  • “Red lip theology is the space in which young, Black churchwomen can sit with the parts of yourself and be honest about all of them. Within these borders, there are boundless possibilities for who we can become and how we can love into our faith. Red lip theology introduced me to a God much more kind, gracious, and loving than the one I’d been given in my youth and young adulthood.” pg 22

POV

Sam and Felicia had a great bit to discuss and go over in this book. Favorite characters didn’t exactly apply to this kind of book but it is safe to say that Candice Benbow has an incredible story to tell about her life and faith journey.

Deep Dive

Red Lip Theology is about Candice’s journey to Jesus and helping other Black women heal from the constraints of religion. Felicia and Sam thoroughly discuss the definition of Red Lip Theology and what it means to them. Candice experiences racism, sexism, and other trauma and uses her book to redefine her own identity. We are excited for any future work or projects Candice has coming next.

S2 Episode 2 Show Notes: People Person

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 For Season 2 Episode 2 we read Candice Carty William’s People Person

About the Author

Candice Carty Williams is a British writer and People Person is her second novel. When she isn’t writing she is still very much involved in publishing as a book marketer. As a university student she was told she wasn’t “clever” enough to do English and yet found success in the publishing world at just 23.

Bookmark

  • “I’m not saying you need to toughen up, but you need to know who you are, and take accountability for who that person is. That’s when you’ll stop apologizing for everything.” p. 300

  • “I think that you’re a people person in the way that you get people. You see people. And, like, properly see people. You see us, you see who we all are, in our own way. And you don’t judge us for it. You don’t ask people to be who they aren’t. And I don’t think many people are like that, so, yeah. I rate it.” p. 305

POV

Sam and Felicia found the novel to be funny despite the dark themes. Although the book never gives it a name, the sisters found the overarching theme of the book seemed to be generational trauma and curses.  How much can the siblings really find closeness after years and years apart? Will the life altering event really be the catalyst to bring them together and change their relationships for the better?

Deep Dive

People Person is told majority from the perspective of Dimple, the middle daughter of what can only be described as a deadbeat father (Cyril Pennington). The story follows the 7 children of Cyril as they find themselves coming together to help Dimple after an altercation with her ex-boyfriend that becomes a life-altering event for them all. The story exposes the family trauma that can come out of being abandoned by a parent (and/or partner) as well as coming from an immigrant family. It’s also about accepting who you are as a person and being true to yourself despite the ways the world may try to harden you. Overall, the story gives a true perspective into how siblings can come together for good or bad, despite their parents’ mistakes and what path they may be on as individuals.

S2 Episode 1 Show Notes: A Black Girl in Paris

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 For Season 2 Episode 1 we read Shay Youngblood’s Black Girl in Paris

About the Author

Shay Youngblood is a Georgia native indie writer with an MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University.

Book Look

Black Girl in Paris is about a young Georgia girl following in her heroes footsteps to the Black artist Mecca, Paris, we follow the young girl as she struggles to survive in Paris and hopes to make it as a writer.

Bookmark

  • “I admire the dedication of the artist, but nothing is certain for you. I am not so brave.” pg. 16 
  • “You can’t stop living your life. Everybody is scared, but you can’t let fear rule your life” pg. 53
  • “Art is just as important food, ‘cause if your soul ain’t nourished, you one empty mutherf*ker” pg. 184

POV

Felicia didn’t have any strong ties to characters this time around. Sam’s favorite character was Delphine, who is a young sophisticated Black French girl who helps Eden survive her first couple of days and every now and then pops into the story to help with something. The least favorite character was Indigo, a manipulative man who seems to be taking Eden under his wing but really he is only out for himself.

Deep Dive

Sam and Felicia both felt that this was a darker read to start the new year off with. It was a short read but it wasn’t easy to get through. The topics and stories mentioned in this novel were really tough to read through. Eden is just a young girl who wants to live a life where benign black doesn’t hold her back. But, even though she gets a chance to move to France, Eden finds out that life is still difficult.

Black Girl in Paris | Book Review by Sam

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About:

Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood is a coming of age novel. After reading about the author’s life this novel felt like perhaps a dramatized version of her life. The main character (Eden), like the author, is a writer, who moves to Paris to follow her creative dreams and like the author takes on odd jobs to make a living until she can hopefully make it big as a writer. We follow as Eden goes through the harsh realities of being in what’s supposed to be the Black creative mecca.

Review:

The backdrop of Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood is Paris in the mid-1980s. When we are introduced to Eden, she seems like a naive but hopeful 20-something year old. She moves to Paris because all the great Black artists of the Harlem Renaissance that she looks up to moved there to thrive creatively. However, she moves to Paris with no money at all. A young Black Parisian girl takes her under her wing and she is saved momentarily.

From there Eden becomes a nanny and then engages in a few other questionable activities to make money. You can feel her desperation to live and eat and simply take care of herself through the pages. Eden meets several interesting characters throughout her time in Paris – and not all of them mean her well. She will not always navigate being introduced to these characters in the smartest way but she does always learn a lesson and shares it with us. You may read and want Eden to win as a fellow creative, you may want to see a dream realized. But internally you may also be screaming at her “Girl, does this make sense?” 

In true artist form you will read about Eden seemingly to fall in love multiple times for different reasons with men, women, and I would go so far as to say queer persons although the author does not specifically identify them as such. The author highlights love in several forms, the romantic sense as well as the community sense. The importance of having a home away from home – in a place, a person, a community is evident. It is often the life force that helps you keep going. In the variety of characters that we learn about you may find someone that is familiar to you – I know this was true for me as someone who lived abroad and lived in 3 different cities throughout my 20s.  

The author made stylistic choices to continue to bring to the forefront that this is Paris in the 80s and racism and terrorism is very much alive – no matter what the James Baldwins and the Josephine Bakers want you to believe about Paris, it is not perfect. In the end the harder Eden tries the more she seems to be set back, it is not until she finally lets go of all expectations that her dreams seem to come together. 

Read this story to get a healthy dose of what it means to be an artist with a mix of reality and romance.

 

A Song Below Water | Book Review by Felicia

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About:

This book is all about Black Girl Magic. Two really close friends are living in a world that despises and discriminates against Sirens. As young black girls growing up one must discover a way to find her voice and the other needs to discover who is her authentic self. Along the way they must deal with the traumatic current events that tell black girls they do not matter.

Review:

A Song Below Water  Review: 

Ranking: 2 Stars for this one. It was rough to get through this book. I almost didn’t want to finish it at all. The concept of the book is wonderful. It involves the essence of Black girl magic mixed with social justice. But, the execution fell through. In the end, the book felt like it was doing too much. 

This was a short and impactful read. The best aspect of the book was the main characters’ love and support for each other. I love to see young Black girls who are unified and well connected. I was rooting for the main characters to discover their confidence and find a way to be their true selves. However, that is all the only thing I  loved about this book. There were too many elements to this book that made the writing and story go all over the place which caused me to not enjoy reading this novel. As a fantasy novel I felt very overwhelmed and confused by the magic system in this world. I am left with many questions but without any desire to discover the answers. I felt tired and over the concept of the book by the end. Unfortunately, I was not enthralled by the overall storyline or writing. 

Podcast 13 Show Notes

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 For episode 13 we read Bethany Morrow’s A Song Below Water

About the Author

Bethan C. Morrow is a California native, she graduated from University of California with a Bachelor’s in Sociology. Morrow is an accomplished writer with several other books, and the sequel to A Song Below has been released, and is titled A Chorus Rises. 

Book Look

A beautiful and eye-catching book cover. The book cover played into the fantastical and fun theme the sisters were looking to read around Halloween.

Bookmark

  • “My voice is power. Awaken” p. 277
  • “I’m talking about things like illumination and warmth – things that help me see more clearly and feel more comfortable in my own skin and he’d talk about how those are things that bring “growth” p. 30

POV

Sam and Felicia enjoyed the overarching theme of Black women as magic in A Song Below. Although a fantasy novel, there are common themes that an everyday Black girl would identify with such as natural hair and sisterhood.

Deep Dive

In A Song Below Water, mythical creatures are known to the human world. However, sirens are considered dangerous and they are exclusively Black women. There is something mysterious going on in the lives of Tavia and Effie. Tavia is realizing her true power as a Siren. Effie is learning about the truth of her mythical powers. Even in a mythical world racism is alive and well and the girls will have to learn who is truly on their side and recognize they can accomplish far more than they think.   Ultimately the sisters felt like something was missing and there wasn’t enough for them to go off of to really fall in love with the story. 

Podcast 12 Show Notes

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 For episode 12 we read Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate

About the Author

Laura Esquivel is a Mexican novelist, politician, and screenwriter.  Laura has a passion for children which is why she trained to be a teacher, founded a children’s theater workshop, and has written/produced many dramas for children. After Laura’s father’s death she was inspired to write. Like Water for Chocolate was her first novel and it became a best seller in Mexico and the U.S.

Book Look

This book was a work of art from the inside out. Uniquely this is a story presented as a cookbook and family history.  At its core this novel was a historical fiction filled with magical realism. The cover immediately draws you in with the colors and women cooking.

Bookmark

  • “My grandmother had a very interesting theory; she said that each of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can’t strike them all by ourselves; just as in the experiment, we need oxygen and a candle to help. In this case, the oxygen, for example, would come from the breath of the person you love; the candle could be any kind of food, music, caress, word, or sound that engenders the explosion that lights one of the matches. For a moment we are dazzled by an intense emotion. A pleasant warmth grows within us, fading slowly as time goes by, until a new explosion comes along to revive it. Each person has to discover what will set off those explosions in order to live, since the combustion that occurs when one of them is ignited is what nourishes the soul. That fire, in short, is its food. If one doesn’t find out in time what will set off these explosions, the box of matches dampens, and not a single match will ever be lighted.” pg 115

POV

Sam and Felicia both enjoyed the character ,Nacha, who was the family cook and the real mother figure the main character could connect to. In addition, Sam loved John, a doctor who was uniquely kind to Tita, the main character and was always there to support Tita. Without a doubt the least favorite character was Mama Elena who was the source of abuse and trauma in Tita’s life. Sam also was not a fan of any other characters whose motives seemed a bit unsupportive and undesirable.

Deep Dive

Like Water for Chocolate was a fantastical folk tale that incorporated family, food, love and life into a book. Sam and Felicia discuss how the magic realism in the book kept things intriguing. The story was filled with ghosts and a few other unknown elements that keep a reader engaged. The novel also includes great Latina representation in the characters, history, and writing style. The words on each page flowed in a beautiful and unique way. Sam and Felicia also go over the darker elements in the book and how it takes a bit of strength to finish the novel but it is worth it in the end.

Like Water for Chocolate | Book Review by Sam

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About:

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel is a Mexican magical realism novel that follows the life of Tita and her powers through cooking. Each chapter opens with a recipe and then we learn why the meal was so impactful in Tita’s story. Like Water for Chocolate is an intricately woven story of love, family, and betrayal.

Review:

This Mexican story details the life of Tita who is the youngest daughter of a traditional Mexican family. The way in which we are introduced to Tita should warn us that her story will be tragic. She comes into the world crying in the kitchen. This will be significant throughout the novel as we realize that Tita’s emotions are imparted into the meals she makes and Impacts the emotions of the other characters when they eat it. The characters become overcome with anger or lust.

This novel is full of romance, drama, food, and magic. As the youngest daughter, we learn that it will be Tita’s responsibility to take care of her mother. That means that Tita will not be permitted to marry until her mother dies. This is the first major problem as it becomes evident that Tita has already fallen in love with Pedro. Let me just say that Pedro is a menace. When he cannot marry Tita he marries her sister, Rosaura, under the guise that at least he will be able to stay close to Tita. How heartbreaking. One sister has to watch her love be with someone else and the other sister has to live with knowing she will never be loved fully by her husband. 

As the chef of the family, Tita is tasked with making food for the wedding, including the cake. The strong emotions that Tita has and her cooking skills are interwoven throughout the story. Esquivel has given Tita a great gift, but ultimately it is used to influence everyone’s emotions but it does not ever lead to where I would like. I would have loved for Tita to realize she is too good for the world on the ranch (specifically Pedro and her Mama Elena) and move on from them. 

Not all of the characters were likable, but you know a story is intriguing when you haven’t necessarily fallen in love with the characters, yet you just have to know what happens – so you continue reading. There are moments that give us a peek into what freedom or love could be like. In the end we get not a perfect story but what I would call a human story on what it would be like if we gave into our every desire or emotion. 

Overall the novel was magnificently engaging. Sometimes, I don’t enjoy magical realism because I’d just like the author to choose to have a fantasy story or not. However, this story kept me captivated from beginning to end and I finished it within two days. Tita’s story is tragic (to me), but absolutely worth the read.