38. The Autobiography of Malcolm X - As Told to Alex Haley

Possibly one of the greatest books of all time.
Most people know the general story of Malcolm X - his upbringing in Michigan; his experiences as a young adult in Boston; the years he spent in prison where he first learned about Islam; his activism with the Nation of Islam; and, towards the end of his life, his travels to Mecca and Africa. But there is so much depth in the stories told and the lessons learned ... and certain passages (which I will discuss later) really affected me, given where I am in my life right now.
Alex Haley did an amazing job of really transporting the reader into Malcolm's thoughts and emotions. While there were hints of foreshadowing (i.e. when talking about Elijah Muhammad, he mentioned once "little did I know how things would change") ... I felt incredibly absorbed in and swept up by reading about each segment of Malcolm's life. I definitely had my emotional moments throughout the whole book, but it was the last chapter that really got to me. One of my favorite passages:

"I believe that it would be almost impossible to find anywhere in America a black man who has lived further down in the mud of human society than I have; or a black man who has been any more ignorant than I have; or a black man who has suffered more anguish during his life than I have. But it is only after the deepest darkness that the greatest joy can come; it is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come."

Given where I am in my life, it was incredibly humbling to read about when Malcolm was in 8th grade and told his teacher that he was thinking about becoming a lawyer.

"Mr. Ostrowski looked surprised, I remember, and leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head. He kind of half-smiled and said, 'Malcolm, one of life's first needs is for us to be realistic. Don't misunderstand me now. We all here like you, you know that. But you've got to be realistic about being a nigger. A lawyer - that's no realistic goal for a nigger.'"
Then later, after Malcolm returns from his trip to Mecca and Africa:

"My greatest lack has been, I believe, that I don’t have the kind of academic education I wish I had been able to get – to have been a lawyer, perhaps. I do believe that I might have made a good lawyer. I have always loved verbal battle, and challenge ... [and] I don't begin to be academically equipped for so many of the interests that I have. For instance, I love languages. I wish I were an accomplished linguist. I don't know anything more frustrating than to be around people talking something you can't understand."

Here I am, days away from achieving my childhood dream of becoming a lawyer; and trilingual. Words can't express how humbling it is to read about what Malcolm X dreamed of achieving, but never could. Reading this book really made me more aware of and appreciate the opportunities that have been afforded to me ... and reminded me that there is so much more that I could be doing to help others achieve their dreams.

Another interesting passage: "I'm speaking from personal experience when I say of any black man who conks today, or any white-wigged black woman, that if they gave the brains in their heads just half as much attention as they do their hair, they would be a thousand times better off."

Beyonce ... need I say more?? Wigs, weaves, relaxers ... Jihan recently told me that the chemical used in relaxers is the same chemical used in Drain-O (it's used to break the bonds in the hair, thus straightening it). Are we in a worse position than we were in 50 years ago, with commercials for "Urban Beauty" and "Virgin Remy Indian Hair" weave coming on prime time TV in Atlanta?!?!

I'm thrilled that I got to see the original of Malcolm X's diary at the America I Am exhibit ... what a remarkable piece of history. This book is a must-read for everyone.

The Miseducation of the Negro - Carter G. Woodson

This was a fascinating book to read more than 70 years after it was written. There were some passages that were sadly still so accurate ... yet others that I'd at least like to think are no longer true. For example, from the chapter entitled "Political Education Neglected":

"The undesirable aspect of the affair is that the Negro ... is never brought into the inner circle of the party with which he is affiliated. He is always kept on the outside and is used as a means to an end."

Tupac Shakur said something similar more than 60 years later when he recorded his song "Changes" - "And although it seems heaven sent, we ain't ready to see a black president ..." Has President Obama changed all this? Or, even if he's brought into the "inner circle" - is he still being used as a "means to an end"?

Another interesting passage from Woodson:

The New Negro in politics, moreover, must not be a politician. He must be a man. He must try to give the world something rather than extract something from it. The world, as he should see it, does not owe him anything[.]"

Is Barack Obama this "New Negro"? Woodson also talks a lot about how the "educated Negroes have been taught facts of history, but have never learned to think;" and how they have completely lost touch with the general black community ("After having this honor conferred upon them, these so-called scholars often rest on their oars.").

This was a fabulous (and very deep) book. It would have been great to read and discuss over coffee at Borders ... but since I'm already on to book #38, feel free to post a comment instead ...

The Awakening - Kate Chopin

This book, first published in 1899, is one of the first pieces of American feminist literature. The main character, Edna Pontellier, is a 28-year old wife and mother living with her family in New Orleans. Throughout the story, Edna struggles with the role that she is expected to play as a woman (at one point, her father tells her husband, "You are too lenient, too lenient by far, Leonce ... Authority, coercion are what is needed. Put your foot down good and hard; the only way to manage a wife. Take my word for it."). Although Edna does seem to care for her family, she also wants her freedom.

So while her husband is away on business and her kids go stay with his parents, Edna falls in love with another man, and she starts having an affair (with yet another man).

I won't spoil the ending ... but this was a good, quick, classic read. Apparently, the book was banned for many years because of Edna's pursuit of her emotional and sexual independence - at a time when women were supposed to be dedicated wives and mothers. Though I wouldn't say to run out and buy this book tomorrow, I'd recommend it because of its importance in American literature Chopin's beautiful writing style.

Legends of Our Time - Elie Wiesel

This is a memoir written by Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel. He shares his recollections - in the form of short stories - of watching Nazi Germany come in and change his way of life and the way it affected people around him. For example, in one chapter, a dinner guest at his father's home is talking angrily about how he felt that God had abandoned the Jews. In another chapter, Wiesel is on a bus in Tel Aviv and recognizes a man who was a barracks chief at Monovitz concentration camp.

"...you had jurisdiction over the life and death of hundreds of human beings who never dared watch as you ate the dishes prepared specifically for you. It was a sin, a crime of treason, to catch you unaware during one of your meals. And what about now? Tell me, do you eat well? With appetite?"

There was a lot of depth in this book - to be honest, I think some things might have been over my head (i.e. why Wiesel thought the dinner guest was the return of the prophet Elijah). But this book gave an interesting insight on the Holocaust - not with harsh and gory details, but by conveying the emotions that Wiesel must have endured.

The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan

This is a beautiful story about four mothers who emigrate from China to San Francisco and their four daughters who grow up here in the States. The mothers call themselves the "Joy Luck Club" and meet to eat, talk, invest in stocks, and play mahjong (a Chinese board game). The eight women's stories center around one woman's trip to China to meet her half-sisters, who her mother left on the side of a road in China while trying to escape the Japanese invasion during World War II.

It's hard to elaborate more on the plot because the stories are so complex and interwoven. But here's one passage I thought was so well-written and said so much, from the perspective of one of the mothers:

"It's my fault she is this way. I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it’s no lasting shame… If the roof crashes on your head, no need to cry over this bad luck. You can sue anybody- you do not have to sit like Buddha under a tree letting pigeons drop their dirty business on your head… In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you. She learned these things, but I couldn’t teach her about Chinese character. How to obey parents, and listen to your mothers mind. How not to show your own thoughts, to put your feelings behind your face so you can take advantage of hidden opportunities.. Why Chinese thinking is best.”

I know I'm not very familiar with Asian-American literature, but this book was very different from anything I've read ... and it definitely deserves all the praise it's received. The triumphs and tragedies that the mothers endured in China and in the States give a glimpse into Chinese culture; they are also beautiful stories about mother-daughter relationships.

33. 1984 - George Orwell

Written in 1949, this is Orwell's classic book about an oppressive, totalitarian regime ("the Party") in the year 1984. Part of the regime are the "Thought Police" who use constant surveillance to punish those who even think about challenging authority ("thoughtcrime"). There are constant reminders to citizens that "Big Brother is Watching" - though I couldn't figure out if Big Brother was an actual person or just a way to further the authority's propaganda. The main character, Winston Smith, is a government employee who has the job of falsifying historical records and newspaper articles so that it seems like the government is always right. It's fascinating to see how many phenomena Orwell seems to have "predicted":

"With the development of the television, and the technological advance which made it possible to receive and transmit simultaneously on the same instrument, private life came to an end. Every citizen ... could be kept for twenty-four hours a day under the eyes of the police and in the sound of official propaganda, with all other channels of communication closed." Wow! Cell phones; wiretaps, GPS ... not to mention how we put our "private lives" in the public sphere on Facebook, Twitter, etc.!

I decided to read this book after Chris and I discovered the Latitude application on our Blackberrys that allows us to track each others' exact real-time location. Forget "Big Brother is watching" - Chris Walker was watching me! There is a Star Trek: TNG episode that lifts a torture scene out of this book; also, the movie Minority Report has lots of "Orwellian" elements. I recommend this book not only because it's a great story - but because it's truly a part of cultural literacy.

32. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

This is an absolutely beautiful story that starts in Afghanistan in the 1970's. Amir, the son of a wealthy Afghani businessman, has a servant named Hassan. The two boys are inseparable, even though Hassan is a member of a lesser class and of the discriminated-against Hazara ethnic group, until something horrible happens to Hassan which changes their relationship forever. The event haunts Amir even years later after he and his father move to the United States. Part of what makes this work of fiction so beautiful, besides the great plot, is the way in which Hosseini shares his Afghani culture and weaves in stories of life in Afghanistan after the rise of the Taliban. The characters have such depth and the reader can identify with them and their struggles on so many levels. In one passage, Amir describes what he remembers after he goes back to Afghanistan and has a run-in with the Taliban:

"...Getting hurled against the wall. The knuckles shattering my jaw. Choking on my own teeth, swallowing them, thinking about all the countless hours I'd spent flossing and brushing. Getting hurled against the wall. Lying on the floor, blood from my split upper lip staining the mauve carpet, pain ripping through my belt, and wondering when I'd be able to breathe again."

Another quote I love is when Amir is meeting with a lawyer in Pakistan: "I grew up in the U.S., Amir. If America taught me anything, it's that quitting is right up there with pissing in the Girl Scouts' lemonade jar. But, as your lawyer, I have to give you the facts."

Thanks to Jade for recommending this beautiful book. I'd give it four and a half stars out of five - and I'm planning to see the movie and see how it holds up now that I've read the book.

31. Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture - Taylor Clark

This is a fascinating book about how former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz "took two cheap and simple ingredients, coffee and milk, and used them to spark a national craze, develop a powerful brand, [and] twist Wall Street around his little finger[.]" Though Clark does seem to have a slight anti-Starbucks bias, he does an excellent job of exploring Starbucks' marketing and employment strategies, its impact on globalization, and examining the actual coffee (which, I agree, is made from charred and overroasted beans - hence the very bitter taste and the nickname "Charbucks").

One thing Clark examines is how Starbucks became so trendy. Apparently, Starbucks' R&D now goes so far as to anticipate what colors will be hot in the fashion world the next season so that Frappuccino flavors will match the outfits of trendy customers. Starbucks is also now "a place with awesome potential for romance, an ideal environment in which to absentmindedly flaunt your battered copy of Ulysses while showing off your taste in the finer things."

A couple of other random interesting tidbits: some critics of Starbucks call it a "glorified McDonald's" due to the company's high volume and focus on efficiency. Clark talks a lot about this, but distinguishes Starbucks because its drinks are never discounted (Schultz wanted the customer to view Starbucks as "the epitome of opulence, and would you ever see a 'buy one, get one free' deal at a Jaguar dealership?"). Starbucks is also always coming out with new flavors that God never intended to see paired with coffee ("As of a decade ago, no coffee drinker in history had ever looked down at his mug and said to himself, ''You know what would make this so much better? Banana puree and coconut flakes!'").

**Sidenote: As a Minnesotan, I am a staunch supporter of my home-grown Caribou Coffee. I've even thought seriously about putting a "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Starbucks" bumper sticker on my car. Nonetheless, I had to go sit in Starbucks while I read this book. While reading the chapter explaining how Starbucks managed to get Americans to pay the same amount for a whole bunch of steamed milk with a bit of espresso as they do for an extra value meal, I glanced outside and saw a homeless man digging in a trash can. He pulled out three paper Starbucks cups, consolidated the leftover drops of coffee and whipped cream into one cup, and turned and walked down Peachtree in the rain, sipping his ... whatever drink he created for himself. Can we say "ironic"?!

This was a fantastic book - slightly biased, but very thorough, well-written, and absolutely hilarious!!!

30. How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else - Michael Gates Gill

Michael Gates Gill, the son of a well-known writer for The New Yorker, led a privileged childhood. When he told his parents that he wanted to take piano lessons, they bought him a Steinway grand piano that a crane had to lift into their 25-room mansion. After being educated at Yale, he was basically handed a job as a prosperous advertising executive. This job provided him with (lots of) financial security - even if it meant rarely spending time at home with his wife and four children. Then, three things happened: (1) he got fired, (2) he got another woman pregnant and his wife left him, and (3) he learned he had a brain tumor. He ended up getting a job at Starbucks - an experience that changed his life.
Gill is such a charismatic writer and I was surprised at - and admire - his candor in this book. His boss at Starbucks is a black woman, and he has to adjust to being the only white person working there. From one part:

"I had been a classic hypocritical member of an old boys' club, congratulating myself for believing in minority advancement in the abstract, while doing everything possible in the practical world of the workplace - which I controlled - to make such opportunity impossible."

Although my situation is certainly not as extreme as his was, I do see a lot of parallels in our lives - and I learned a lot from him and the way he approached his new job.

"My old job involved sitting as a customer in Starbucks unable to find customers of my own. What a relief to have customers eager to greet me rather than my calling for clients like I had done in my old business, and no one wanting to take my calls. I loved greeting these early morning Guests, and serving them. They probably had no idea what a gift it was simply to have them waiting eagerly in line to see me."

This was such a great, inspiring, genuine, and funny book. It almost made me want to give up my loyalty to Caribou Coffee and Borders and test the waters at Starbucks again ... almost :)

29. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino

Italo Calvino is a pretty well-known contemporary Italian author who has written many short stories and novels that have been translated into English. From what I read about him, he has a fascinating background. But I was so confused by chapter four that I had to cheat and look up the book online to figure out what was going on! You definitely have to be sharp to follow the story.
Chapter one introduces a "Reader" who is actually trying to read a book called If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. Every other chapter goes back to this scene (we'll call these the odd numbered chapters, although the chapters aren't numbered in succession). While reading, the Reader discovers that his copy of the book is defective and so he returns it to the bookstore. There, he meets another reader, Ludmilla. They discover that there are two books of the same name - one by an Italian author, and one by a Polish author. Both pick the Polish author, only to discover that the second copy is written by yet another writer - as is the next copy, and the next. What's interesting is that these odd numbered chapters are written in second person - as if you're the Reader.
Each even numbered chapter is the first chapter of different novels. Basically, the idea is that while the Reader is reading these even numbered chapters, he discovers something defective about the book - for example, the Reader discovers that the rest of the pages in the book are blank or the first chapter is repeated over and over.
To read this book, you almost have to step outside of yourself and follow the story of someone who's also reading it. I have never read anything like it! It's not a book you can just breeze through - you have to pay close attention to the chapter number and to what is going on. It was definitely a mental exercise! I'm not sure what types of books would be considered "intellectual thrillers," but that seems like an appropriate classification for this one.

28. The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference - Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval

Most of us are too busy to realize it: but paying attention to the smaller things in life can improve your effectiveness in professional and personal situations. That's the crux of this quick, simple read by two marketing businesswomen. They talk about how small things like face to face contact instead of emailing all the time can really do wonders for your professional and personal relationships. A New York Times journalist said that Facebook is like an "endless cocktail party where everybody shows up at a different time and slaps a yellow post-it note on the refrigerator." Thaler and Koval make the point that this type of internet and technology phenomenon is a huge reason why social phobia has become the third most common mental illness in the U.S.
They also mention something that psychiatrist Edward Hallowell calls ADT - "attention deficit trait." From some research, I found that ADT is different from ADD because it is the result of the modern workplace "where the constant and relentless chatter coming from our computers, phones and other high-tech devices is diluting our mental powers." [That is exactly what I was saying when I noticed my vocabulary decreasing after I got my Blackberry and got on Twitter. Yet another reason for this read-a-thon ... I have to counterbalance for my Generation Y addictions!] I need to find a book by this guy - but in the meantime, here's a great article about ADT: http://news.cnet.com/Why-cant-you-pay-attention-anymore/2008-1022_3-5637632.html
The authors make other great points like discussing the principles behind remembering to take a moment to thank someone for a job interview, taking baby steps in accomplishing your goals, and doing random acts of kindness like escorting an old man to a room he's looking for (I did that once last year - and the man turned out to be the judge in my final trial for trial practice!). Like Expect to Win, I didn't think this was a ground-breaking book ... but sometimes it's good to be reminded of these principles, and this book does so in a positive, articulate, and easily readable way.

27. Expect to Win: Proven Strategies for Success from a Wall Street Vet - Carla Harris

This was my first book from the "business" section of Borders - and I'd like to start frequenting that section more often. The author, Carla Harris, is a managing director at Morgan Stanley. She offers her "pearls" of guidance - lessons she learned from twenty years of experience on Wall Street that can help anyone (especially great advice for women) maneuver through challenges of the workplace. My favorite tidbits:

- In discussing self-presentation, Harris gives a formula that is great to keep in mind: "Your self-presentation + the baggage of the beholder = the perception about you in the marketplace."

- In creating a perception and conditioning people to think of you in the way that you want them to, ask yourself this question: "How do I want people to describe me when I'm not in the room?" Harris recommends that you identify at least three adjectives you would want people to use when they talk about you when you are not present. This is important, she says, because all of the major decisions about your career are made when you are not in the room and can't speak for yourself!

- The best chapter, in my opinion, was the one on finding a mentor. Harris identifies three categories of what most people generically call "mentors": (1) the adviser, (2) the mentor, and (3) the sponsor. The adviser is someone you turn to for discrete advice - someone preferably in your field and company. The mentor is the person you can talk to about the "good, the bad, and the ugly" of your career - and with whom you can share more of your personal business and goals. The sponsor is someone in your field - preferably a supervisor - who has clout in your company and can stick up for you.

Unfortunately, this book was a typical women's self-help book in a lot of ways: "know what you want," "know your goals and go after them," etc., and lots of cutesy anecdotes. I did notice a few typos ("roll model"? Really?) - I know I'm not a perfect writer, but I can't stand when I pay for something and there are typos in it! [Barbri ... take note of that!]

All in all, this was a good read as I'm coming out of school and getting ready to start work. Thanks to Kyle for the rec on this one. If anyone has recommendations of other books in this genre - please post a comment and let me know!

26. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

The author of this book, Randy Pausch, was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon. He was asked to give a talk entitled "The Last Lecture" - one in which he'd "be asked to consider his demise and ruminate on what mattered most to him." Most professors try to impart what they would want to share with their students if they knew it was their last chance. But Pausch didn't have to imagine it'd be his last lecture, because he had just been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer - so he already knew it'd be one of his last.

In his lecture, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his childhood dreams and about enabling the dreams of others. Two of my favorite lessons:

"Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

"A lot of people want a shortcut. And the best shortcut is the long way which is basically two words: work hard."

This was a great book, written in such a positive, touching, and humorous way - I was really rooting for Pausch and praying for him to beat his cancer, until I realized the book was published in April 2008 and he died that July. I felt really impacted by the pain he felt in knowing that he was going to leave his children without a father; and also by what his wife must have been going through. In one chapter, Pausch explained that he was scheduled to travel and give his lecture on the day of his wife's birthday. So when he finished the lecture, he had a birthday cake wheeled out and had the whole auditorium sing happy birthday to her. When she went up on stage to give him a hug, she held on tightly to him and whispered in his ear, "Please don't die ..." Even though I was reading in Borders, I definitely shed a few tears when I got to that part.

Pausch shares beautiful and touching life lessons in this book ... interwoven with his very real and tragic life experiences. Thanks to Dana for the recommendation :)

25. Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell

Three for three. I heart Malcolm Gladwell.

Now that he's brilliantly explained the three agents of change in The Tipping Point and the concept of thin slicing in Blink ... Gladwell tackles the question of what makes some people so successful, while so many others never reach their potential.

In the first part of the book, he argues that success arises out of the steady accumulation of advantages: "when and where you are born, what your parents did for a living, and what the circumstances of your upbringing were[.]" One example: why are a disproportionate number of hockey players born in the first three months of the year? Youth hockey leagues determine eligibility by calendar year, and so children born on January 1 of one year play in the same league as those born on December 31 ... and since adolescents born earlier in the year are going to be bigger and more mature than the younger players in the same league, they are often identified early on (maybe too early!) as better athletes, which means more encouragement, extra coaching, and a higher likelihood of being selected to participate in elite hockey leagues.

In the second part of the book, Gladwell argues that we can learn why people succeed and how to make people better at what they do looking at cultural legacies. He shares a fascinating case study on why Asians are better at math - it'll take up several pages if I try to explain it here, but the gist of it is the words for the actual numbers in many Asian languages. "The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten one. Twelve is ten two. Twenty-four is two ten four, and so on." Therefore: "Ask an English seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty two, in her head, and she has to convert the words to numbers (37 + 22). Only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is nine and 30 and 20 is 50, which makes 59. Ask an Asian child to add three-tens-seven and two tens-two, and then the necessary equation is right there, embedded in the sentence. No number translation is necessary: It's five-tens nine."

I've read some critics who have said that his ideas are not "new," but honestly - are any ideas "new" anymore? I think he makes many points that have not been expounded upon in such a way before ... and besides that, Gladwell's writing style is exquisite and engaging, and his case studies are fascinating. Screw the critics! Gladwell deserves every bit of the praise he's gotten for all three of his books - all of which happen to be #1 New York Times bestsellers. I give this book five stars out of five - and I'll be first in line whenever his next book comes out.

24. Song Yet Sung - James McBride

This was the first modern fiction slave narrative that I've read. It's about a runaway slave named Liz who can see the future in her dreams - from the civil rights movement to hiphop. The visions in her dreams help her and other slaves to escape - but not without a great plot. From one scene:

"Holding the pike between her front teeth, she drove her head into his beautiful neck full force, drilling the pike deep in, striking the Adam's apple from the side. His roar was muffled by the awful spurt of air and blood hissing out his exposed esophagus."

Isn't that intense?! Liz is chased by several brutal slave catchers, and is helped by an older woman who teaches runaway slaves about the "Code" which helps them to find friends on their path to freedom.

Sometimes this book was hard for me to follow because McBride follows the style of using a long dash to show the start of a quotation, rather than just quotation marks around the dialog. But this was a great story - an interesting twist on a fiction slave narrative with its interwoven commentaries on contemporary culture.

23. Never Make the Same Mistake Twice - Nene Leakes

Yes ... Nene Leakes. As in, Real Housewives of Atlanta. I know, I know - I was wary, too. The title didn't grab me by the throat ... and do you really need the quote on the back from Anderson Cooper that she's his "favorite housewife"?
But you know what? ... it was actually a great book!

There apparently is a lot more to Nene than what's on Bravo. As Jihan pointed out about Sheree (and why we dislike her so much on the show) - the editors of the show probably follow those women around for weeks - months? - and they are the ones who choose what we see or don't see. We all know about Nene's drama with finding out that Curtis wasn't really her father ... but did you know that her mom remarried while Nene was still young, and treated her and her husband's kids (Nene's stepdad) as her "real" kids and pretty much abandoned Nene and her brother? Or that Nene really was a stripper at a big Atlanta strip club ... and the juicy stories that go along with that? Or what Nene really thinks of Sheree and Kim?? (there's a whole chapter devoted to each!)

So, you ask ... does Nene think she's ghetto?

"People say I'm hood and ghetto and I'll take that because I do know how to get hood. I didn't grow up in any financially depressed household. Though my aunt and uncle weren't rich, we sure didn't want for anything and so I can't and won't claim the ghetto. But I do have ghetto tendencies. I know how to hold a meeting down and be professional, but if I'm riding in the car and I happen to be eating some chicken, I might just toss the bone out the window. [HA!] ... you might catch me getting a little loud and wrong while I'm drinking from a straw. I tend to slurp a little bit."

How can you not love that?! Another glimpse:

"...while what you saw of me on Real Housewives is real, it's only part of me that's real. It's my story, but it's not my complete story. There are many other facets to me. The truth of the matter is that drama sells. No matter how much people claimed they were embarrassed by my in-your-face personality, they love to hear about my drama. Big time. Nobody wants to see me going out and starting businesses, or having lunch with my kids, or cleaning the bathroom and cooking dinner. But I do these things. And anyone who says she cares to read about me doing those things is lying. Celebrities with no drama get no play and they don't last. Period.
I understand the game and I have no regrets about being on the show and how I was portrayed. Not one."

Interesting that the woman who co-authored this book with Nene is the same woman who co-authored Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man with Steve Harvey. There were some parts of the book that were a bit redundant ... but because it exceeded my expectations, I'd give it a generous four stars out of five. But wait for the paperback.

22. 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace - Dr. Wayne Dyer

You can never go wrong with Dr. Dyer! Although Borders always classifies these books as "self-help," I'm not a fan of that term. It sounds like something is wrong with you for going to that section - like you need "help." I prefer "self-improvement," or something of the sort.
Anyway, this book talks about ten great principles for "improving" your life. Instead of listing all of them, I'll just highlight my favorite three:

There are no justified resentments. Dr. Dyer is so right when he says that "anytime you're filled with resentment, you're turning the controls of your emotional life over to others to manipulate." It takes so much more energy to be angry at people - it burdens your soul even more than you probably realize. "At the root of virtually all spiritual practices is the notion of forgiveness. This was what came out of Jesus of Nazareth while he was being tortured on a cross by a Roman soldier throwing a spear into his side. It is perhaps the most healing thing that you can do to remove the low energies of revenge and resentment from your life completely." Even though many of us try to justify why we are angry at others for what they have done to us - it ends up causing us more harm. "Resentment is like venom that continues to pour through your system, doing its poisonous damage long after being bitten by the snake. It's not the bite that kills you; it's the venom. You can remove venom by making a decision to let go of resentments."
It's a tough lesson - but one that is so true.

Treat yourself as if you already are what you'd like to be. This principle helps to keep you inspired; and that inspiration (from the words "in" and "spirit") is what guides us to work for what we want out of life. "When you become inspired and act as if what you want is already here, you'll activate those dormant forces that will collaborate to make this your reality."
I also love what he says about synchronicity and inspiration - "There are no coincidences. Anything that coincides is said to fit together powerfully ... You'll think about a particular person and that individual will 'mysteriously' appear ... these so-called mysteries will soon be viewed by you as part of the synchronicity of the universe working with you and your highly energized thoughts." I used to doubt this - until I started realizing that this is really the idea behind prayer. When we ask God to help us with something, we are sending energy to Him and toward that particular desire.

Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you. Dr. Dyer explains that shame is the thought that makes people the weakest, followed by guilt, apathy, fear, and anger. We can switch from these low-vibration thoughts to higher-vibration thoughts (like love and forgiveness) by asking God to help us - "You'll be surprised by how quickly that higher energy of love will nullify and dissolve your fearful thoughts and empower you at the same time."

Like The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, this is a wonderful book to go to when you are going through a difficult time and you need to look at something for spiritual guidance. It's also a great gift idea!

21. Cover Girls - T.D. Jakes

I know a lot of people who have raved about T.D. Jakes books, but maybe I need to give a different one a try. I think this was his first book ... so I'm willing to give him a break. This was a so-so fiction novel about the lives of four women - Michelle, Tonya, Mrs. Judson, and Miz Ida - and the ways in which their lives are intertwined and the lessons they learn from each other. Michelle has an abusive past and is going through a rough period of separation from her husband. She also works for Tonya and hates how Tonya meddles in her life and her "holier than thou" mentality. Mrs. Judson is Michelle and Tonya's supervisor and doesn't have much patience for either woman until a traumatic experience in her own life forces her to listen; and Miz Ida is the older, wise woman who keeps Michelle in line.
The experiences that each woman goes through are very real, and the women do seem to learn some valuable lessons. It was overall a good story; just not one that I would rave about. Maybe three stars out of five.

20. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Tennessee Williams

This Pulitizer-Prize winning play is one of my favorites by Tennessee Williams. It's about an alcoholic former athlete named Brick, whose family has fathered for his father's ("Big Daddy") birthday party and to celebrate the news that Big Daddy is not really suffering from cancer, as was previously reported. But things go downhill when Maggie, Brick's wife, starts verbally attacking him over his alcoholism and his failure to get her pregnant, and Brick and Big Daddy have a confrontation when Big Daddy suspects that Brick is gay ... and when they find out that Big Daddy really does have cancer.
This is a great story that anyone with a family can likely relate to. Everyone in this story has their own issues but they all seem to have a lot of problems communicating about them. My favorite character was Maggie - I felt sorry for her, though I could see how annoying and nagging she was. I'd love to see this on stage.

19. Miracle at St. Anna - James McBride

I'm not a big one for war stories, but this was an enjoyable book. It's about soliders from the all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" division who get trapped in a remote village in Italy during World War II when one of the soldiers tries to save a little Italian boy. They're dealing with German soliders on one side ... and racist and disorganized American officers on the other. [sidenote - one of the black soliders talks about when they were back in the U.S., and the German POWs were allowed to eat a restaurant ... and the black soldiers were forced to eat outside. Wow.]
The soliders are taken in by a group of Italians who are resisting the Nazis; they (the soliders) eventually make contact with their superior officers and are ordered to capture a Nazi solider so they can interrogate him on an upcoming attack. The plot was complicated for me to follow, but it was a good story. Maybe watching the movie will help me sort it out?

One beautiful scene:

"He felt the little hands pulling at his head, the innocent young eyes searching his face, and shame washed over him like water. A white person had never touched his face before. Never reached out and stroked him with love, and the force of it, the force of the child's innocence, trust, and purity drew tears to his eyes. He expected to feel nothing when the boy touched him, but instead he felt mercy, he felt humanity, he felt love, harmony, longing, thirst for kindness, yearnings for peace - qualities he'd never known existed in the white man. The boy ran his hand over Train's face and held the big man's nose. His innocent eyes searched Train's, and as their eyes locked, Train could see inside him and saw not derision, or fear, or loathing, but hurt and searching and pain from a thousand indignities."

18. Phenomenal Woman: A Collection of Poems Celebrating Women - Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou's poetry is always inspiring. This collection of her poetry has classics that celebrate women, including one of my favorites - "Phenomenal Woman" - as well as "Still I Rise," "Weekend Glory," and "Our Grandmothers." The words in these poems can inspire any woman, regardless of race or age. A great gift idea!

"Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care.
'Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me."

17. The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey - Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali continuously amazes me. This was a great book - it was a combination of an autobiography and a book about spirituality. It's structured almost like a scrapbook (with complete paragraphs, of course), and has subchapters with his reflections, poetry, anecdotes, and various quotes.
In this book, Ali talks about his life and the lessons he learned along the way. It was so touching when he apologized to Joe Frazier for the things he said about him before Thrilla in Manila; and to Malcolm X for turning his back on him when Malcolm X wanted to part ways from Elijah Muhammad. [sidenote: it's interesting that he didn't apologize to his second wife, Belinda Ali, for publicly humiliating her by carrying on his affair with Veronica Porsche and bringing her to the Philippines and introducing her as his wife ... ] Ali also talks about his refusal to report for the draft during Vietnam; his nine (yes, nine) children; and his decision to become Muslim.
I liked this quote:

"The key to peace of heart and mind is approaching life not with a determination to gain wealth and fame for comfort and glory in this life, but rather with a goal of realizing spiritual development. If you keep a positive mind and an optimistic outlook on life, negativity loses its power to make you unhappy. God's love is universal. He is with us always. Let Him guide you and you will never be lost."

No matter which path we choose to worship God, some lessons are truly universal.