September 2011

Almost all of us have heard of He-La in a science class or someplace… However few of us know where the letter’s come from or WHO they stand for. Meet Henrietta Lacks…

She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance.

The Immortal Life is a New York Times bestseller which takes readers on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers filled with HeLa cells, from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia, to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.

May 2011

I’ve read many books since the last time I’ve posted here which is sad since it’s been over a year. Nonetheless, the book of the month page is now the book of the season page! For Spring 2011 the book is THE ALCHEMIST!

My mentor and friend HM suggested that I read this book immediately after graduating law school and prior to preparing for the bar exam. I read it in one day! The Alchemist is by Paulo Coelho. Check it out, I promise you’ll be glad you did!

April 2010

Spring has SPRUNG… The weather is beautiful and love is in the air. Author Corey J. Barnes debut book What Is This Love Thing All About is an awesome “Springtime Read” about dating and loving.

By Corey J. Barnes

About The Book:
Meet Rick Jenkins, who has everything that most would love to have in life. Great job, great looks, well educated, money, he has it all, except for one thing – a woman to share it with. A single and eligible bachelor, Rick can’t seem to even find a good woman to go on a date with, much less to think about take it to the next level. Rick is content to take life as it is until one night at a sorority fund raising function, he runs into Aphrodite Morrison and his fate changes forever.
Aphrodite is a mysterious, yet angelic woman who Rick is lost for from the first minute he talks to her. A partner in one of the top advertising companies in the Greater Atlanta area, she does not have a want for anything. There is another side to Aphrodite that looms under the surface. When she thinks she has met the perfect man, her past threatens everything that she thinks may be meant for her and happending with Rick.

Fate collides with destiny and creates doubt, does anyone really know What Is This Love Thing All About

About The Author:
Corey J. Barnes is a native of Lakeland, Florida. Currently he resides there with his son Corey Jr. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education, a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership, and is currently working on his PhD in Instructional Leadership and Adult Education. Becoming an author and also establishing the publishing company CJ Publishing has fulfilled a lifelong dream for Corey as he attempts to bring true romance and integrity back to urban fiction, from a male perspective, hence his moniker, “The Renaissance Man of Romance”.

In his debut novel What Is This Love Thing All About? Corey displays that chivalry is not dead and the thrill of the chase is still present in today’s world. Presently, Corey is working on his second novel. In addition to his work as a middle school administrator, Corey also coaches high school boys basketball and his son’s little league football team. When he is not writing, he enjoys spending time with his son and working out.

March 2010
With it being Womens History Month, I deem it only appropriate to feature my all time favorite book written by a pretty cool Southern Girl like myself. An Alabama born, Florida raised anthropologist, novelist, poet and activist, Zora Neale Hurston’s THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD is the Southern Socialite’s Book of the month!

Written in 1937, this story hasn’t lost its relevance in the literary world! For nearly twenty years I have read this novel and each time is more beautiful than the last.

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.”

Pick up a copy of this book today!