Sunday, September 28, 2014

"What's Done In The Dark" by Reshonda Tate Billingsley

"What's Done In The Dark"

Author, Reshonda Tate Billingsley

How many times have you heard someone say, "What's Done In the Dark, Will Surely Come to Light?"

It's one of those clichés that most of us African Americans have heard all our lives.

But, imagine being the one who was caught in the dark and exposed for all to see.

This was my book club's selection this month.  My pick.  And true to Reshonda Tate Billingsley form, she has written another novel that will leave a sister girl with the expression "SMH."

I'm still shaking my head and I finished this book two weeks ago.  

From Reshonda Tate Billingsley:
"Felise is not the kind of woman to cheat on her husband—especially with her best friend’s man. But after one perfect storm of a night, it happened…and she can hardly believe it herself. To top it off, when she woke up in the morning, she found that the man to whom she guiltily made passionate love died of a heart attack overnight. Felise, who is a nurse and a good citizen at that, leaves the hotel room without reporting his death.

When her best friend, Paula, finds out about her husband’s sudden death a day later, Felise is overcome with guilt and grief. She must be there for her friend and her family, but when her husband repeatedly tries to apologize for his absentminded behavior and Paula starts investigating who Stephen was with the night he died, Felise finds it hard to hold herself together. Should she come clean and tell everyone what she did? Or should she just let it go and move past the
mistake on her own?"


This pick certainly evoked a lively discussion among my book club members, along with some mixed feelings about "Should you tell or shouldn't you?"




Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Heaven Is Just a Bit Jazzier Right Now - Rest In Peace, Joe Sample

Joseph "Joe" Sample 
(February 1, 1939 – 
September 12, 2014)

When I heard the news two nights ago that Joe Sample passed away at age 75, I was at first saddened, then nostalgic and then embarrassed that I had not thought about all the contributions that Joe Sample made not only to the Crusaders ("Street Life" was my jam!) but to music as a whole.

I realized that while, thankfully, I've gotten older, unfortunately, my radio these days is crowded with so much "noise" that I don't spend nearly enough time enjoying real music.

"Creole Joe" as his twitter handle implies was even a zydeco master.  He did it all.  With style.

I won't reiterate his accomplishments here, as the newspapers have done that.  However, I will pass along the announcement his family posted on his Facebook page.

Services for Joe Sample: Friday, September 19, 2014, 6:00pm-9:00pm, wake and viewing open to the general public, My Mother of Mercy Church, 4000 Sumpter St., Houston, TX, 77020. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, etc., the family asks to make donations to the Joe Sample Youth Organization, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit. Contributions can be made via paypal/credit card using the following link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=QV5AUC3H6AGQL or via check to the following address: Joe Sample Youth Organization, P.O. Box 590254, Houston, TX 77259.

As for me, I'm heading to the "record shop" this weekend to pick up some of his classics.  Because there's something about the music store experience that online shopping just can't satisfy.