Cloudy Chai Precariousness: So Many Books...

Part of my book collection

I’ve always enjoyed reading. I remember when I was little reading and re-reading the different nursery rhymes in my favorite books my mother brought for me and my sister. She was a single mother so some things we just had to share. I also remember getting the weekly reader order form at school and rushing home to comb through the selection and pick all the books I wanted. Of course, these books weren’t free and with a single mother on a budget she made sure I knew I was not getting all those books. The ones I did get I would read through and cherish every moment. My sister loved Judy Blume’s Fudge series and would pass those down to me. In elementary and middle school, I became a huge fan of the Baby Sitters Club series. While some collected comic books I would collect those books and trade with my friends.

In high school and into my twenties, I went through my Afrocentric phase. My best friend and I would go to the local mall and make a bee line for the black book store, Karibu Books, and stock up on books. In the back of the store they would have their sale section and you could get books for under $10. I’d get autobiographies, historical, fiction by new and established authors. The best thing about Karibu, they would have book signings. I became almost obsessed with getting my favorite books signed. My most treasured signed books are by J. California Cooper and Maya Angelou. Phenomenal women and writers that left us with amazing works of art.

By my late twenties to early thirties, I slowed down my reading considerably. I guess I found other things more interesting. However, when my life began to darken I looked to reading as a way to escape my miserable reality. I was reading books fast and furious which prompted me to purchase a Kindle. I was reading one to two books a week which was getting mighty expensive so I had to find a way to watch my spending. That lead me to exploring the world of self-published writers in Amazon Kindle store. There I found authors like Colleen Hoover, Tarryn Fisher and Amy Bartol. They saw me through a lot of days and nights that I didn’t want to face. I was able to disappear in their worlds and resurface only when necessary aka going to work.

Since then, I’ve started writing my own books that I plan to post at least excepts of in the near future. My books are contemporary romance novels. This just makes sense since I’m such a romantic and figure if my soulmate isn’t going to find me this lifetime I can at least write about people finding theirs. Unfortunately, I haven’t written anything substantial in a long time but I am slowing getting back into it. That is one reason why I have started actively posting to this blog again. I figured writing here may help me get my creative juices flowing. So far it is working just not in the heavy or organized stream that I had before. While I navigate this new way of writing, I’m going to take this time to get some reading in.

I thought it would be nice to do a summer reading list. Yes, I know this is kind of late in the summer but better late than never. Besides, summer reading doesn't have to just happen in the summer. I read all year and during the chilly seasons are some of the best times to read. Think about it for sec. When its cold and rainy you can curl up on the sofa or favorite over sized chair with a nice hot cup of chai, a soft throw and a good book to transport you away.

These are the books on my list for this summer (in no particular order):