Zahara

  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this novel. Diamond Doris details the life and jewel heists of Doris Payne a notorious jewel thief. I'm still waiting for the motion picture of her story to be brought to life. Moreover, it was fascinating to read about her upbringing, and how she was able to get away with stealing things for decades.  I highly recommend this book Doris Payne is an interesting individual that should be read about. 

  I first came across this book through a Publisher's Weekly newsletter in my e-mail. The premise to me seemed interesting a modern take on the classic Romeo and Juliet story except in the form of a hip hopera. However, I was disappointed because the novel failed to live up to my expectations and squandered its promising potential.  Instalove stories are a hard sell and Jherzie the main heroine of the book falls for Zeppelin her love interest way too fast. The novel also suffers from too many cliches. Cinny the main villain of the story is a petty jealous girl. Lastly, it was a waste to only show the events leading up to the hip hopera.  Readers didn't get the chance to actually experience the polished finalized version of the show all the way through; just mainly only the rehearsals.  Aside from the book's cover being pretty I can't say that I would necessarily recommend this novel to anyone. However, if you enjoy musical theater, mushy instalove, and mystery then y...

There will be certain people who will have a profound effect or influence on you and Nichelle Nichols did for many people. I must say that Nichelle is a phenomenal woman and it was a pleasure to read her autobiography.  I learned many things such as the prosperous black town of Robbins, Illinois where she grew up, and how she could have starred in the television series Mannix as the secretary Peggy Fair but it was blocked by Gene Roddenberry from happening. She also opened up about her romantic relationship with Gene and the microaggressions she faced on the Star Trek set during the 1960s. I was saddened at the lack of opportunities for her to show off her dancing and singing talents. However, she revealed that she did do a lot of stage plays and theatre work which I found fascinating.  I found her career and life journey to be inspiring. I also enjoyed learning about her work with NASA as well. I believe that Nichelle Nichols accomplished many great things in her lifetime and...

  Years ago, I first read these novels when they recently were released and I remember having fond memories of the series and enjoying them for what they were. I was also a young teenager back then when I read them. However, in light of the new tv show adaptation, I decided to revisit the novels reexperiencing them through a different method this time the audiobook versions, and I'll just say that there are multiple things that didn't age too well in retrospect.  6. Vampire Academy You have to start somewhere and since this is the first novel in the series it had to set up the world, characters, and plot. However, not much really happens in this novel. It revolves around typical high school drama and clique cliches. Not to mention all of the slut-shaming Rose experienced and the fetishization of Rose's "exotic dessert princess features". About halfway through the novel, I found myself getting bored and it was a chore to get through the rest of the book. Rose Hatha...

  This was a book that I wanted to read for quite some time and I recently just finished it. I must say that it was a fun wild ride. The book jumps back and forth between two time periods the 1920s, or more specifically 1925, and the present-day 2015.  The main heroine taking centerstage during the 1925 portion set during the Jazz Age in Chicago is Honoree Dalcour a chorus girl who works at Ms. Hatties a black-and-tan jazz club. This historical fiction novel was a thrill to read. The cast of characters in the novel are full of personality and distinguishable characteristics. Even the twists and turns presented in the novel were interesting, entertaining, and an overall welcomed surprise. I highly recommend this novel.

  Well, it was a long time coming but starting this year, I've finally decided to stop consuming K-pop music altogether after nearly 11 years. I honestly never thought that this day would come and that I'd just soldier on, but the writings were on the wall and I knew it was time to finally move on.  My earliest memory of exposure to K-pop is from 2009 when one of my acquaintances at school introduced Super Junior & the subunit Super-M to me. At the time, I feigned interest and played along I was more into Japanese entertainment and was just going with the flow. However, fast-forward to March 2012 when a friend of mine showed me a video of the K-pop group SHINee's Sherlock (Clue+Note) music video. I was entranced by Taemin who had long hair, the slick choreography, and the song's catchy chorus "I'm so curious yeah!" She also gave me a website where I could go to keep up with the latest K-pop news and I was hooked.  What drew me to K-pop was the music vi...

  It's time to face the music the Golden Era of music is the following: 1960s - Early 2000s. The music was memorable and there were multiple artists who produced good music in the mainstream. This current era of mainstream artists will never be able to reach those heights again due to a multitude of factors. Everything is just so lackluster these days. The music industry has already reached its peak/zenith. Heck, old(older) music is outselling the new music that's released nowadays.