Cardyn Brooks's Blog, page 22

April 29, 2019

Black Women Energy at Goucher College Sunday, April 28, 2019







Many thanks to J. for organizing a dynamic and engaging Black Women Energy event at Goucher College yesterday with a variety of  workshops, vendors, artisans, and performers. It was a fun, enlightening occasion that deserves to become an annual event. [hint, hint:-]

More thanks to everyone who stopped by my table to chat, to play quick rounds of Tic Tac Trope, and to try their luck at the hourly raffles.

My book geeky hand-decorated kicks made their debut, but no one could see them hidden under the table. It still made me happy just to wear them.


Happy reading, writing, creating, healing!

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Published on April 29, 2019 17:03

April 14, 2019

Howl At the Moon, Give Yourself a Break & Get Your Freak On




Forever Wolf by Maria Vale Sourcebooks Casablanca  March 2019
While comparisons to Patricia Briggs and Kelley Armstrong are appropriate, Maria Vale establishes a distinctive depth and range of storytelling excellence in her Legend of All Wolves series that is unique in its artistry. As the third entry, Forever Wolf continues the pattern of transcending the boundaries of the paranormal shape-shifting genre by creating more poignant character sketches of compelling individuals who embody a variety of multifaceted points of view about how to survive. That shared intention is just one of many ways in which Forever Wolf exudes its primal energy.
Varya and Eyulf’s story progresses like a heartrending blend of ballad, dirge, and warriors’ battle cries.

Seraphina Does Everything by Melissa Gratias; Sue Cornelison, illus. National Center for Youth Issues  April 2019
At a time when privileged kids are over-scheduled and internalizing society’s constant, demanding pressure to excel in all endeavors all the time, Seraphina Does Everything encourages readers to consider the value in down time and unstructured play. An obsession with the fear of missing out competes with a focus on the importance of the quality of experiences rather than the quantity of them.
Featuring Seraphina’s relationship with her dad offers a refreshing example of normalizing the representation of a man as emotionally engaged with his children. Practical critical thinking and problem solving situations anchor this thoughtful story told mostly in an abcb rhyme scheme.
Faces and figures rendered with the details of dynamic portraiture command readers’ attention with bold, saturated colors.
Tips for educators and parents in addition to links to other resources for managing time and expectations are also included.
https://ncyi.org

Make Me Need by Katee Robert Harlequin Dare  July 2019
Last year at the Baltimore Book Fest there was a discussion panel called “Where Are All the Asian Beach Reads?” It could have easily substituted BM/WW interracial for Asian and been just as relevant. While the pairing of black men with white women is frequently included in urban fiction, that combination is much rarer in mainstream romance—and usually the socioeconomic differences assign poverty to the black man and wealth to the white woman. Katee Robert cleverly rejects those conventions and more in Make Me Need.
Trish Livingston is a twenty-four-year-old college grad who’s struggling to establish her professional career and ends up working for her older brother Aaron’s cybersecurity company. She starts while he’s on paternity leave.
Aaron had hired her to redesign the office space, liaise with incoming clients and provide general support to him and Cameron. [page 10]
Easy, right? Wrong.
Cameron O’Clery, Aaron’s business partner, is the opposite of Trish’s bubbly, charming personality. Their collision course in the workplace generates a series of madcap slapstick encounters that create opportunities for deeper emotional intimacy, which Trish and Cameron explore. Their connection sparks a smoking hot sexual chemistry that singes readers’ senses in only the most satisfying ways.  
It would have been a pleasure to see at least a portion of the model’s face in the cover art to reinforce the idea that a black man is much more than just his body.
[Observation: liberal usage of the f-word and other profanity]
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Published on April 14, 2019 12:46

April 6, 2019

Upcoming April 2019 Events



It's Poetry Month!

Check out the scheduled events at your local library branch, favorite bookstore or community gathering place.

Come listen to talented wordsmiths - or perform your own work, then play Tic Tac Poe(try) for a chance to win an "I <3 Books" t-shirt at these free events in gorgeous Prince George's County.
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Published on April 06, 2019 11:59

March 16, 2019

Beauty & Avengers




Khatt: Egypt’s Calligraphic Landscape Noha Zayed, photographer; Basma Hamdy, editor; various contributors Saqi February 2019 Contemporary non-fiction

From prehistoric paintings on rocks and cave walls to the hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt to present-day graffiti, humans have felt compelled to decorate their environment with a durable record of their experiences, ideas, and beliefs. These symbols document the evolution of human history. Khatt’s specific focus on the progression of Arabic lettering calligraphy of Egypt is declared on page 4 in the foreword:
During the Pharaonic times, writing was considered the language of the gods, and writing in the Middle East still retains this spiritual connection to the invisible and divine world beyond… this book attempts to examine and underline the social and symbolic power of Arabic lettering… its integral role in the construction of contemporary Egyptian visual culture.
Captivating in arrangement, composition, scale, and texture, these images invite viewers’ eyes to linger. Contrasts in colors and textures, proportions and dimension project from each frame with the vibrancy of a diorama suspended in time; that motion might resume in one blink.
Each of the four sections begins with a word wall of phrases to introduce the context for the next area of study. Thoughtful exchanges with artists Eleiwa, eL Seed, and others add intellectual depth to a book that completely engrosses with its images alone. Passages about the science and art of written words as symbolic and interpretive in conveying meaning encourages readers to observe their surroundings with more deliberate attention.
Khatt: Egypt’s Calligraphic Landscape offers a gorgeous map legend that unlocks some of the mysteries in “the science of the secrets of letters” mentioned on page 120.  


Vagrant Queen Magdalene Visaggio; Jason Smith, illus.; Harry Saxon, color; Zakk Saam, letter Vault Comics February 2019

In a recent string of tweets about the evolution of artistic ethos the Vagrant Queen creator says, “My goal is always… to toss the reader into the deep end and get on with the story. It worked for Star Trek, it worked for Star Wars, and that’s good enough for me.” This deep space adventure saga about idolatry, betrayal, and searching for home starts with a vessel named Lucy Maxson and an unnamed pilot. The complicated entanglements between the titular Vagrant Queen of Arriopa Elida Al-Feyr and the pilot unwind for readers in a timeline that slides forward and backward like the shuttle loom on a weaving machine until the full tapestry of their involvement is revealed. Dynamic illustrations rendered in a combination of backgrounds that resemble technically elevated crayon etching in contrast with structures and figures drawn in a mix of gray/green/blue scale and primary colors with some pastel accents clearly convey the narrative arc, almost making the crisp, succinct lettering obsolete. Switching backgrounds from black to white to indicate planetary shifts also aids comprehension and enjoyment.
Subtle spins on references to east of Eden in the Christian Bible, a truly reprehensible villain, threads about oligarchy, nepotism, and abuse of power, plus a snarky tit-for-tat repartee between unlikely cohorts create a reading experience consistent with Vault’s “it’s safe to be different” space. Looking forward to many more intergalactic adventures with Elida.   


Ambush (Sydney Parnell #3) by Barbara Nickless March 19, 2019 Thomas & Mercer Contemporary mystery

Semper Fi. Always loyal. To what? To whom?
Retired U.S. Marine, now Colorado railroad officer Sydney Parnell is being haunted. “Three years earlier, something terrible had happened in Iraq. Something outside even the so-called normal atrocities of war.” [page 17]
That declaration combined with the ominous foreshadowing of the prologue, which vibrates with menace that essentially generates its own minor-key crescendo, warns readers that Ambush will bombard all their senses. It incorporates themes found in The Good Soldier, the Jason Bourne series, The Sixth Sense, and other complicated modern morality tales with a collision of painfully intimate character studies of the complex personalities of people who choose to serve and to protect others, especially in the ethical quagmire of war and its aftermath.
Messy soul-searching, macabre humor, multifaceted villains, tarnished heroes, a high body count, lots of violence that’s organic to the dire circumstances, and a surprisingly low frequency of profanity are only a few of the elements that make Ambush a one-sitting read. It’s the third installment of a series, but is coherent and entertains as a stand-alone. 
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Published on March 16, 2019 09:37

February 25, 2019

B. Lit Black Literature Festival Saturday, February 23, 2019


B. Lit Doesn’t Quit
Neither rain nor darkness nor insufficient signage nor inconveniently located (for easy transport of one’s event materials) kept the B. Lit Black Literature Festival organizers, participants, supporters or vendors from being inspired, entertained, and enlightened at Goucher College last Saturday night! A spirit of openheartedness and camaraderie permeated the venue and that inviting feeling deepened throughout the night as talented poets and musicians performed with compelling artistry and emotional gravitas.
Vendors Paparazzi, and a blinged-out accessories artisan (whose sister saved me from a daunting hike from the visitors’ parking area to the venue), Olivia L. Baylor of Before “I Do” counseling resources, the Jesus Gang (who also rapped like superstars), and Urban Unicorn all offered an irresistible variety of merchandise along with encouragement and networking opportunities.
Thank you to the American University grad student who interviewed everyone and recorded (most of?) this B. Lit event.
Much love and gratitude to Kenneth, the event founder and organizer whose vision and tenacity have generated an essential platform for artistic expression, exposure, amplification, recognition, and appreciation for the multifaceted complexity of Black Culture. Kenneth said that the challenging circumstances on Saturday night reminded him about inheriting from our enslaved and discriminated against ancestors the legacy of overcoming obstacles in order to thrive. He said being reminded of that inheritance during an event held in honor of Black History Month seemed appropriate. Agreed.
Thank you to Goucher College for providing the venue on their charming campus.
Special thanks to the students who played Tic Tac Trope, then invited me to participate in their upcoming event on Sunday, April 28, 2019. (More details to come.) So generous!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! To everyone who played a round or two of Tic Tac Trope, you made the game more fun!
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Published on February 25, 2019 12:22

February 21, 2019

Strahan & Sara Show is a Party - On and Off Camera!





#StrahanandSara #GMA #AmericanSoul
In a complete 180-degree serendipity flip from Monday’s travel frustrations, Tuesday’s commute into NYC from the ‘burbs went smoothly, leading to an early arrival for priority check-in to see Strahan & Sara. Fabulous new line friends were interesting and charming and so funny! One of them had the inside scoop on behind-the-scenes tidbits about The Wendy Williams Show, Kelly and Ryan, and Rachel Ray. Jui-cy.
Sara Haines and Michael Strahan were even more entertaining in-person than they appear to be on television. (Seems impossible, yet it’s true!) Michael was headed over the Sara’s home after the show to babysit her two kids. Looking forward to seeing video from that experience.
1iota priority ticketholders received fab swag! Thanks, Grande Cosmetics, Flora.py, and Amazing Cosmetics! My lashes will be lush. My skin will be primed, toned, and glowing thanks to your generosity.
The audience wranglers were hilarious as they herded us from place to place. There was a cheerful exchange with Ginger Zee and the camera operators for her news update.
Sat next to a stunning woman (in red) who’s a high school math teacher. She and Michael shared a touching moment during a commercial break. There was a strong teachers-gone-wild vibe running through the audience.
My childhood dream of being a Soul Train dancer came true! (Bell-bottoms weren't part of my outfit, but my 21st-century afro gave appropriate hair attitude.) Getting to dance in an homage to the Soul Train line when the cast of American Soul walked out was a personal highlight along with seeing Sara, who’s been a family favorite since she was an intern on another network’s morning show. Admiring her shoes game was a fashion bonus.
#AGoodTimeWasHadByAll
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Published on February 21, 2019 14:51

The Third Bus Is the (Sort of) Charm




Plan A for Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 18, 2019: ·         Take an early a.m. Greyhound bus from Maryland to NYC with an ETA of 10:45 a.m. into the Port Authority. ·         Visit @StrandBookstore, @BookCulture, @SistersUptown, @WordUpBooks to scout locations for future bookish events and to browse titles in preparation for a #bookhaul on Indie Bookstore Day 2019 on Saturday, April 27. ·         Surprise loved ones with a late-evening appearance.
Please notice that getting on 3 different rickety buses (pics above), taking 2 hours to travel 20 miles round trip to nowhere, and arriving more than 5(!) hours late was not on my agenda.
To recap: Once loaded and en route, the 7 a.m. bus from B’more City to NYC started overheating about 10 miles away from the terminal. The driver pulled onto the shoulder, waited a few minutes, then proceeded to backtrack to the terminal. After pulling over the second or third time to let the engine cool, the driver called the terminal to report that he needed them to drive a new bus out to our location because he could drive only a mile before the engine overheated.
Do they respond with, “We’ll get a bus out to you ASAP!”  No. No, they do not. They claim that they have another bus, but there’s no driver available to bring it to our location. He just needs to baby it back to the terminal.
So the next time the engine overheats we’re on an elevated exit ramp without an actual shoulder. The view from the side windows shows a straight drop down into the cold, murky water. Fastening my seatbelt seemed prudent.
Many thanks to the B’more police officer who stopped to tell us that the bus was leaking a trail of fluid. He also parked behind us with his lights flashing to reduce the odds of our being rear-ended and launched into the Patapsco River. The driving-overheating-stopping along with complaints and curses of escalating frequency and growing volume continued until the bus essentially coasted back to the terminal on a wave of fumes around 9 a.m.
Two hours. For a 20-mile roundtrip that started and ended at the bus terminal.
More shouted complaints and curses as we trudged off the bus. Some passengers got refunds, then boarded the Peter Pan express to NYC. (For less money!) One gorgeous couple (The woman’s natural hair was healthy, long, and lush, and her sophisticated casual style was runway-worthy.) rented a car, while the rest of us settled into seats to wait.
Sidebar: So if not having an extra driver was the reason Greyhound couldn’t bring a new bus out to the road, that means the new bus should be ready for us to board once our bags are transferred from the old bus, then we should depart again within a few minutes. Right?
Wrong.
Now the story (after we’ve been waiting for several minutes) is that the vendor is sending another bus. An hour later the claim is that maintenance is “working on” a bus. At around 10:50 a.m. passengers from the “broken down 7 a.m. bus to NYC” are asked to line up at Gate A, where we stand until 11:15 a.m. At which point it feels like the beginning of a horror movie when the audience starts thinking, “Don’t get on that bus!”
We finally get onto a bus (#7927?) that smells musty and looks disreputable (pic of ripped seat, which unfortunately represents the condition of at least half of the seats). Once loaded and on our way, the driver goes one block during which the breaks squeal and the seats bounce like mini trampolines before he returns to park at the terminal. (It’s like the movie Groundhog Day, only we keep coming back to this B’more bus terminal. Or that Eagles song where “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”)
The driver says, “I’m sorry folks. I’m not driving this coach to New York.” He gets off the bus. (And quits?)
With much grumbling, profanity, and creative insults (no comments from me, just silent commiseration), we trudge off the bus and get directed to board the neighboring bus, which is already more than half full. The seats aren’t torn and it doesn’t smell musty, but it doesn’t smell good AND it’s filthy (interior ceiling pics). The floor was so sticky that the bottoms of my shoes made a squelching sound every time my feet moved. Dirt encrusted everywhere, except the seat cushions, which APPEARED clean. (Remember the bus if the first Speed movie? Alternate buses 2 and 3 were a few model years newer, but nowhere near as clean.)
At just after 12 noon this third bus (which I think was originally scheduled to leave at 10 a.m.) departed B’more and arrived in NYC around 4 p.m.
Glass half-full: No one was injured or killed (which was a miracle considering how hot tempers were flaring). It’s possible that the delays saved us from something even more unpleasant (like locusts).
Questions: What’s the NTSB policy about stranded mass transit vehicles? What would Greyhound have done if the first bus had been totally inoperable? Left us on the side of the road? Made us arrange for our own pickup by taxi or rideshare service?
Also, mechanics certified to work on the buses aren’t authorized to drive them (at least when they’re empty of passengers)?
In fairness, my previous 4 or 5 M.D. /N.Y. roundtrips on Greyhound during the past 12 months went smoothly with punctual departures and arrivals, new buses that looked and smelled clean, and courteous, effectively knowledgeable Greyhound staff. Maybe odds and the vagaries of fate decided it was my turn to suffer some travelling inconveniences. The gross-out factor made this experience feel much worse than the time I missed my connecting flight from Germany to the U.S. and had to spend the night in Frankfurt. Danke. 

(Of course, the delay gave me plenty of time to read On Beauty by Zadie Smith. Time to read is always a perk.)
#customerservicefail
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Published on February 21, 2019 14:33

February 16, 2019

Homesickness and Journeys of Self-Discovery




German Calendar No December by Sylvia Ofili, Birgit Weyhe, illustrator
Cassava Republic 
November 2018 international, May 2019 U.S.A.
YA contemporary graphic novel


In German Calendar No December, Sylvia Ofili tells the coming-of-age story of Olivia Nneka Evezi whose father is Nigerian and mother is German. It’s no coincidence that her initials spell O.N.E. as each stage of her development into young adulthood taps into universal themes of the onerous search for one’s true self and welcoming communities beyond biological family. Olivia, her classmates, and later, her coworkers navigate challenging situations where one’s designated status as insider or outsider, powerful or powerless dictates the direction of a person’s life and their safety in this memoir about immigration, otherness, and assimilation.

References to popular music, movies, and television shows from the 1950s through the 1990s explore the global reach of entertainment media. Catch phrases from one of Nigeria’s longest running sitcoms, “The New Masquerade” provide the title, which reinforces the dominant theme of what gets lost in translation or redefined over time, between social classes, generations, nationalities, and cultures. Although not directly mentioned, the causes and consequences of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, infuse the narrative with Olivia’s identity as an Igbo person with an oyinbo/oyimbo/oyibo (of European descent or not culturally African) mother.

Birgit Weyhe’s use of a palette in which green and white dominate with other colors as highlights creates appealing contrasts between matte saturation and the assertive lines of her illustrations.

German Calendar No December combines some thematic elements from William Golding’s Lord of the Flies with the sense of a perpetual slumber party gone wrong and a treatise on the causes and effects of nationalism. It sparks a desire to delve deeper into these topics.



The Greek Persuasion by Kimberly K. Robeson
She Writes Press
April 2019
Contemporary women’s fiction


Spanning three generations of one family of women from 1942 to 2006, The Greek Persuasion proclaims its adoration for the country and culture of Greece and her people. Similar to the ways in which early civilizations used mythological stories to explain the origins of the universe, nature, and humanity, the prologue offers one source point of thirty-one-year-old Greek American Thair’s jumbled ideas about love.

Constantly disappointed by romantic love in various circumstances that reject typical male-bashing clichés, Thair’s journey of self-discovery starts with her grandmother, Aphrodite, who is called Dita. This familial relationship anchors the story geographically and emotionally. Thair’s relationship with her mom, Phaedra, is more volatile, reflecting a dynamic found in many families where grandparents and grandchildren interact with less friction than parents and adult offspring. Kimberly K. Robeson establishes three distinctively authentic voices that convey the women’s similarities and differences as shaped by their individual experiences and generational filters. 

“What am I?” is the question that bubbles beneath the surface of The Greek Persuasion, and the running thread about tomatoes (Is it a fruit or a vegetable?) reinforces that debate. Thair’s socioeconomic privilege in having the luxury of going away to focus on herself is the most obvious advantage, which she acknowledges along with the perks of being heterosexual. Thair often seems aimless with a tone that’s frequently maudlin and self-indulgent. As the main narrator Thair’s voice isn’t as compelling as the older women’s. Frequent usage of clichés (not related to male-bashing), archaic gender role references, and Thair’s immaturity create a philosophical whiplash effect that simultaneously makes her seem much older and much younger than her thirties. Maybe that’s intentional.

When Thair asks in the year 2000 on page 40, “What is it about America that makes some people say it in such a distasteful way?” it reads like the perfect setup for her to have some later substantial thoughts about the 9/11 terror attacks in the U.S., but Thair never mentions them as the story moves into 2001 and forward into the mid-2000s, which seems odd unless that omission is intended to highlight how self-involved she is. 

Constructed in three parts, The Greek Persuasion offers readers a novel of nuanced stories within multilayered stories about individuals, one family, one country, and the world over the course of three generations.

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Published on February 16, 2019 11:02

January 31, 2019