[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by Steeltrap
CrimsonTide4, I'm one of these people who ALWAYS skims at the bookstore before buying things.

No I meant the people who read the ENTIRE book @ the bookstore. There is nothing wrong with skimming. I was actually referring to a person of the male persuasion.

'Neways, I would like to get the new Benilde Little book (the name escapes me right now) and there's a non-fiction book called Having it All by Veronica Chambers. It's a look at black women and success.

I saw Benilde Little's newest one when I was hanging with Ideal08 @ the bookstore.



Reminiscent of the New Year's Eve scene in Waiting to Exhale, Jay announces to his wife, Ina, that he is leaving. His departure forces her to acknowledge that she has become the woman she thought was safe rather than the woman she wanted to be. Ina thinks through the choices and sacrifices she made to support her husband in his aspirations. Painfully, she accepts that in never questioning her wants, she has put everyone above her own happiness. So she seeks out her college sweetheart, David. Her desperate attempt to create good times from her past only refocuses her on the present and the choices she must make for herself and her children. The dreams of her youth are rekindled, and she is able to reclaim the vision she had for herself. Ina not only grows into the woman she needs to be for her own peace of mind but she is also able to rebuild a relationship with her husband; and in the process, the reader has enjoyed a heartfelt story. Lillian Lewis




From Publishers Weekly
In a series of interrelated essays, Chambers (Mama's Girl), explores the lives of middle- and upper-middle-class African-American women. Throughout, Chambers nicely weaves historical and literary anecdotes into her insightful narrative. While identifying this population as linchpins in the astronomical rise of a black middle class, she pursues such questions as how their "creative and indomitable spirit" translated into corporate reality while black men languish; why they no longer feel the need to choose allegiance between race and gender; what the image of Aunt Jemima declares about today's affluent African-American woman; and why they are more likely to be alone than any group of black women before them. Nonetheless, these women, Chambers says, have a strong sense of community and a renewed feeling of empowerment, which enables their transition into a predominantly white mainstream culture. Largely based on interviews of black women defying conventional perceptions, and written for those "who have crafted successful lives without role models or media coverage," the book lends a panoramic effect to such figures as former Whitney curator Thelma Golden, television host Star Jones, Barbara Bush's former press secretary Anna Perez, Anita Hill, and the growing population of African-American stay-at-home moms.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.