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Blog Book Review

Book Review: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I just started listening to audiobooks – actually, this is the second book I’ve heard, but it’s my favorite. I think EVERYONE should listen, not read, but listen to Trevor Noah’s book because:

  1. He’s a comedian, so his voices for different people are amazing.
  2. The details of his stories are so good you can vividly see what is happening.
  3. He talks about growing up in South America, where he’s from, and you learn a lot about their culture, the racism blacks experienced, and the norms of their society

This book was fun to listen to. I laughed a lot, and it kept me entertained from start to end. A-line this mom said stood out to me. She said, “Learn from your past, and be better because of your past, but don’t cry about your past. Life is full of pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don’t hold on to it, don’t be bitter.” It stood out to me because sometimes I regret my past. My husband then reminds me that I had to go through what I went through to get to where I am today. But sometimes, I’m ashamed of some of the choices I made.

He ended the book by sharing his mom’s testimony. She survived a shot to the head because God protected her. Even the doctor said that’s it a miracle she was alive. After listening to how she was a victim of domestic violence and now a survivor, I can see why Trevor spoke out about Kim and Kanye’s situation. Too many women are in those dangerous predicaments, and when you’re on the outside looking in, you say, “why doesn’t she just leave” but it’s easier said than done. Also, when some women do try to leave, like his mom, the abusive partner may still try to harm them.

Have you read this book or listened to it? What were your thoughts?

With Love, Heidy

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Blog Book Review

Book Review: Just Mercy & Black Privilege

Just Mercy By Bryan Stevenson

Wow! When I finished reading Just Mercy and all I could say was wow – because I was truly mind-blown!

This book is about Attorney Bryan Stevenson’s work in trying to release wrongfully convicted prisoners from Death Row in Alabama. His work started in Alabama but eventually expanded to other states as he began to take cases of children who were sentenced as adults and were also placed on Death Row.

The stories were hard to read because of how heartbreaking they were, especially the children’s stories. So much so that I almost stopped reading the book, but I’m glad I finished.

The story of Charlie stood out to me. He was a 14-year-old boy who went to prison for shooting his mom’s abusive boyfriend after he punched his mom so hard that she went unconscious and started bleeding from the back of her head. Charlie was sent to an adult prison since he was charged with murder, and in prison, he was rapped and sexually abused daily. 🙁

Bryan’s job was hard; he was working against the abuse of power that was/is in the justice system, and there were threats made to his and his teams’ lives.

Most of his clients were innocent, but the evidence of innocence was not presented in the initial trials, and they were placed on Death Row immediately. It was like since lynching became illegal, the death penalty was the new way of lynching.

Reading this book, I learned about Confederate Memorial Day. This is a state holiday that honors the Confederate soldiers who died fighting in the Civil War. This holiday is still celebrated today in a few southern states.

I recommend this book to everyone. And if you haven’t seen the movie – read the book first and then watch the movie.

Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It by Charlamagne Tha God

I listen to the New York City morning radio show called “The Breakfast Club” and one of the co-hosts is Charlamagne Tha God, which is why I was interested in reading this book. He is unapologetically himself and he always speaks his mind, which sometimes causes me to question the things that comes out of his mouth, but he always stands by his words. I find him funny sometimes but other times I’m just like, “what did he just say?” And that makes an entertaining morning show.

 He has another book called, “Shook One: Anxiety Playing Tricks on Me. That is also on my reading list.

This book is about his upbringing and the eight principles by which he lives his life. He shares the life experiences that caused him to live by these principles.

While listening to this book, I like how he mentioned the hunger for reading was a motivation for him. This sparked a love for history, as so did hip-hop. His mom, being an English teacher, always encouraged him to read.

I can relate to him in that aspect; I love reading and history.

Reading books is so fundamental and good for us. We should all feed our brains with books.
Open your mind to the world of reading. It can take you places you would never imagine.

Another aspect in which we relate is we think the same about having our kids believe in Santa Clause, the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, etc. I’ve told my daughter they are not real because I don’t want my kids to be confused about God being real when the others are not.

Charla grew up Jehovah’s Witness, and they don’t celebrate any holidays, so he said to this day he’s not a fan of them (Santa Clause, the tooth fairy, etc.). In our home, we do celebrate holidays, just not Halloween.

He talks about working for free to get exposure, which I can relate to with my writing. I’m currently not making money from my blog, but I made it a goal to start bringing income from it this year.

After 13 years since his first internship at a radio station and after being fired four times, he landed his gig on the breakfast club. He continued to put in the work even after being fired so many times, and it worked off because he is a co-host on one of the most popular morning shows in the country.

I am motivated to continue blogging and writing because I know it will pay off. It is a hobby of mine, and I enjoy doing it, don’t get me wrong. But it would be nice if it lands me a published book or writing for a brand or magazine or something, you know.

There is a part of the book that I really liked – where he says to live your truths. If you live your truths, no one can use it against you. If you are vulnerable and honest with yourself and others, no one will be able to embarrass you for anything. I feel like I do that with my blog when I share my personal experiences. I share them to show how God has helped me in certain situations.

He mentioned that his grandmother said this, “Manners will take you where money won’t.”

Which he lives by to this day because he shared that he makes it a point when he walks into a room; he looks at everyone in the eye and introduces himself. He used the example of when he was talking to Jay-Z and Beyonce walked in and said hi to everyone, including him. He understood at that moment why she was so successful.

He finishes the book by saying that everyone has privilege and that God has a plan and purpose for everyone. You cannot let anyone stand in the way of what God has for you. And I completely agree.

Overall, I enjoyed listening to the book and learning about him growing up; although he definitely didn’t make the wisest decisions sometimes, but it’s got him to where he’s at today.

Have you read any of these books? If not, what is on your reading list? Let me know in the comments.

With Love, Heidy

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Blog Book Review

Two Book Reviews: A Promised Land & The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*%k.

It’s time for another book review. I realized that I only did two book reviews last year, but I was reading the same book the whole year, Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land.

To be honest, I stopped reading it for a while because I got so sick with my pregnancy, so it took me over a year to finish this book. It’s also a long book, 768-page count, and there are a ton of words for pages. If you’ve ever heard Barak Obama talk, you know he likes to talk. LOL

I enjoyed reading this book and learning insights into his presidency. There were a few things I didn’t care about because of the politics of it, but overall, it was good. Here is my take on A Promised Land.

He started by giving a little background of his upbringing, like his time in college and law school, when he and Michelle met, his time spent working in public relations, and finally, as State Senator.

I found it interesting how he campaigned for his presidency—traveling with Michelle, their two girls, and his team. It all sounded extremely exhausting. He went from state to state, town to town, talking to so many different people. Exhausting!

While campaigning, he quickly realized how careful he needed to be with his words. And even during his presidency, words were always being misinterpreted. (It still goes on today).

We know that he ended up winning in 2008, and he first talks about the mess of an economy he inherited from the previous administration. Then talks about international affairs, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the struggle his administration went through to get his Healthcare bill passed.

Towards the end of the book, he gives details of finding Osama Bin Laden, and they were fascinating, to say the least. As he explained the team he put together and the operation needed to find, capture, and then kill Bin Laden, it all sounded like a movie.

I was in high school when he was elected president, and I didn’t follow politics or the news like I do now, so I had not realized certain events he spoke about happened during his administration. I’m looking forward to reading part two of this book.

First time listening to an audible book, and a self-help book at that, it was Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*%k. Never had I heard the word f*%k so much in my life. LOL, but the book was humorous and kept me engaged.

Here is my takeaway from this book.

“If we are unwilling to fail, we are unwilling to succeed” – this quote stood out to me.

He tells us that we all care about things, but it’s often things that we shouldn’t care about or care too much about. We have to prioritize what we care about, what is truly important.

He brought up a good point in chapter 8. In western culture, people try so much to be liked and accepted that people sometimes try to change who they are depending on who they are with.

 Because of the pressure to be likable, people often reconfigure their entire personalities depending on who they are with.

I can relate to that, especially in my teenage years. I always wanted to be liked and never have issues with anyone that I would change depending on who I was with. I think it also stemmed from trying to find myself at that time.

The book ended with talking about death (I don’t want to give away too much), but it really got me thinking, what is your relationship with the word death? What do you think about when the word comes up? Do you get anxious thinking about when you’re going to die?

I sometimes do because we all have a fear of the unknown. Even as a believer, I still feel anxious because even though the Bible tells us that if you believe in Jesus, you’ll be saved and be with Him once you pass but we still don’t know exactly where that is.

I would recommend this book, and it’s opened the world of self-help books for me because I’m reading another self-help book, which was gifted to me last year.

Have you read any self-help books? If so, which ones?

With Love,

Heidy

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