Title: Gender & Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920
Author(s): Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore
Genre: Nonfiction – History
Finished: January 20, 2010
Rating: 4 Stars

Gender & Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920 by Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore approaches the postbellum disenfranchisement of African American men and the accompanying racism and violence through the lens of gender history. Though the title is misleading in that it speaks of women and their involvement with politics and white supremacy, it is not merely a work of women’s history. Gilmore actually encompasses more than just the stories and accounts of women in her study. In staying true to gender history, Gilmore constructs narratives that illustrate the changing social perceptions of femininity and masculinity in North Carolina following the Reconstruction, and then further divides gender by race lines. In doing so, she presents an illuminating image of how gender and race became linked, describing how it defined both whites and blacks, and how race came to define gender expectations and cultivated racial stereotypes. Finally, she describes how racist ideas became the backbone for an exclusionary policy that would remove political power and much upward mobility from blacks, ushering in the age of Jim Crow law. Gilmore’s study gives to historians a new way to look at the justifications of Jim Crow because it establishes an evolving social perception of what separated blacks from whites and how ideas of race were constructed to the disfavor of black Americans. Throughout, she links everything to women and how they were perceived, treated, and personally acted, which makes this book a good addition to women’s history, as well as to the wider scope of gender history.

The narrative in Gender & Jim Crow focuses on a prominent African American family, the Petteys. From humble origins, Charles and Sarah Pettey were icons of the promises of Reconstruction and freedom. Educated and bold proponents of black enfranchisement and rights, they encompassed the hopes of their generation that they too could obtain an equal standing with whites, and are representative of that overall optimism. One of the greatest strengths of Gender & Jim Crow is how Gilmore uses the Pettey family to illustrate just how divergent the social ideals of blacks and whites were at the time, and how Jim Crow stunted the progress of many deserving and intelligent blacks. Gilmore expresses perfectly the dynamics of how social ideas come from history and experience by stating that blacks shared a tradition of relative gender egalitarianism, which allowed black women to become more prominent than white women were allowed to be within the patriarchal restrictions of their separate society. In doing so, Gilmore is able to present a very telling picture of how both distinct groups defined their own identity, and just what elements made up those identities. While these concepts are by no means new, Gilmore is clear cut and yet unique in her gender and sexually based approach.

By paying enough attention to the workings of the Pettey family, their ups and their downs, the book is intimately presented and is a compelling and interesting read. The firsthand accounts within give life to the story rather than have it rendered through fact and theory alone. However, limiting the focus of a book to a small group can distort the scope of the facts and lead to misinterpretations of the general overall experience since not everyone shared in the same events, emotions, and fortunes. One person’s experiences are not common to all. Gilmore avoids that trap successfully by incorporating the firsthand accounts of other blacks and whites, so her book neither distorts the scope of her subject nor presents a severely limited picture too small in scale to be a major part of larger political and social happenings. There is a range of personalities, conflicting and coming together, to round out the Pettey family. Lower class African Americans are, however, severely unrepresented. So much less vocal, and often times unable to leave behind a documentary trail through writing, the volumes of information left behind by educated, higher class African Americans dim their voices. The hardships endured by the lower class, and the natural limitations of people without money or sufficient education, would make their stories much less dramatic, but they were still impacted by Jim Crow and certainly had something to say. After all, the title of the book does not say it is only about middle class blacks, and lower class whites are discussed in depth. Gilmore does the same by including details about the black experience throughout the Deep South, letting readers know that her focus remains in North Carolina, which was not representative of the entire south.

In working with people and their intimate experiences, there are other traps. One of these traps Gilmore succumbs to, but is largely able to justify doing so. When becoming close to a group of people in such a personal subject, there is a tendency to make assumptions about people’s feelings and motivations, which cannot be known unless explicitly stated and not confirmed because these people cannot be asked. For example, with a flair of psychohistory, Gilmore states that white supremacist Thomas Dixon Jr. focused so much on sexuality and the mixing of races because he could not come to terms with the sexuality of the pure white Southern woman, especially his mother. There is no way for Gilmore to know the inner insecurities of Dixon. In other cases of these assumed motivations and feelings, Gilmore is amply able to substantiate them with quotes and actions that illustrate how inner feelings were projected into outward action. For instance, Gilmore looks at the actions of more aggressive blacks and attempts to get into their heads to define the root of their anger and what they hoped to achieve. While Gilmore can never know their inner workings, she does validate her insights by using examples of how blacks defied the limitations placed on them and acted contrary to what was expected of them as an outlet and a show of their own freedom and rights, even if this meant walking on a sidewalk or jabbing with an umbrella.

Gender & Jim Crow is well documented with a vast collection of primary and secondary sources. Personal papers, interviews, and newspaper articles make up the bulk of primary sources, but there are also annual reports, directories, convention meeting minutes, legal documents, and official reports used. Primary sources make up the majority of her sources, which allows her analysis to be driven by original interpretation. Context is strengthened by the use of many secondary sources, and Gilmore makes good use of the scholarship available to corroborate her facts with setting. However, there is not a great deal of recent scholarship used, at least very little within the decade that had preceded the book’s publication. Gilmore neglects what recent scholars may have said on her subject and could have enriched her own study with more updated findings.

So many people assume that Jim Crow was an almost immediate after effect of the freeing of slaves. It is thought that a nearly instantaneous disenfranchisement stopped the possible progress of promising African Americans before they even had a chance to start. Gilmore’s study turns this understanding around and presents a different perspective: African Americans enjoyed a brief period of progress, albeit never entirely unrestricted or without negative feelings from whites. This insight is vital to understanding Jim Crow because it makes even more devastating just what was taken away from African Americans, and just how far they were marginalized. It shows what was truly denied them, and in doing so, it humanizes the subject. Gilmore is also adept at showing how African Americans created new political avenues to give to history an understanding of how blacks adapted to their surroundings and fought for influence such as black women did with Progressive community action. One of the greatest strengths of Gender & Jim Crow is that Gilmore really makes a reader feel the sadness, the frustrations, and the anger coming from both sides. It is not merely a history text, but a story full of unique people. This makes Gender & Jim Crow something that both a scholar and a casual reader can enjoy and understand.¹

__________
Disclaimer(s):

- More can be found in my Reviews section or on my Biblio page. If you would like to see my book list for 2009, go here.

- If you would like me to review your book, send an email to me at morbidromantic@gmail.com. Read my Book Review Policy for more information.

1. The following review was done as part of a graded assignment and was turned in accordingly. [↩]

Title: The Tudor Rose¹
Author(s): Margaret Campbell Barnes
Genre: Fiction – Historical
Finished: January 9, 2009
Rating: 4 Stars

Tudor Rose follows the tumultuous events of the life of Elizabeth of York, one of the Plantagenet and the rightful heir to the throne after her father dies and her uncle Richard has her two brothers murdered. Once a young girl with high hopes of being married off to French royalty, dreams that are never realized as the nature of political alliance complicates happiness, Elizabeth (Bess) is thrown into drama and intrigue when, just as her young brother Edward is to be crowned King, he is sent to the Tower of London. Not soon after, so too is her brother Richard. With both sons out of the way, presumed and then verified dead, her father’s brother, the noble Richard rises to the thrown.

She is caught in the middle of an uncle she fears is a murderer and may soon either murder or wish to marry her, and a political alliance with one of the Tudor family in exile. In a plot to rid herself of her uncle, she promises young Henry that she will marry him and give him the crown if he kills her uncle.

Yet it is no happily ever after for them as Elizabeth soon finds that their marriage will not be one of love. After a lifetime of disappointment and fear, she must now endure a husband who is not only ambitious, but entirely awkward at ways of love. His brand of affection is vexing for her indeed. Feeling unloved, Elizabeth must find reasons and things within her life to bring her pleasure. And, as she hopes, to make the husband she gave her crown and the power over all of England to love her finally. Amidst disappointment, fear, and grief, the two of them

I very much enjoyed Tudor Rose, as it is one of my first forays into the realm of Tudor fiction, which is apparently all the rage. Not knowing much about the time period or the family itself, I cannot attest to the historical accuracy of the novel besides saying that the author has taken great pains to bring life and complexity into each and every character. Whether the personalities are true to the people, I liked that each and every one was distinct and evolving, not superficial. Though of course the “everyone loves Bess, she’s perfect and no one can resist her charms and adores her” was a little bit annoying. It took it to that ‘romance novel’ level of perfect lead female characters that I just cannot stand. She was your typical tragic female character who is perfect despite all and suffers through misfortune that only makes her ever more adored by those around her.

Not my type of character.

I was also a bit put off by how quickly certain events moved. It seemed throughout the novel that the author was setting us up for something big and climactic, but then it would all come to an end in the beginning of the first chapter with a few sentences to explain it was taken care of. It felt rather disappointing to be set up for so much drama, only to not get to witness it being played out. This was more common in the beginning on the novel, which I suppose is understandable because to cover everything would have made the book of considerable length.

There was enough to fill up the pages, and not everything was brushed over anti-climactic. I read the book in its entirely in a hotel room in San Diego and very much enjoyed every moment of the experience. I even found myself looking forward to returning to the hotel room to finish the book.

__________
Disclaimer(s):

- More can be found in my Reviews section or on my Biblio page. If you would like to see my book list for 2009, go here.

- If you would like me to review your book, send an email to me at morbidromantic@gmail.com. Read my Book Review Policy for more information.

1. I received this book for free in exchange for a review [↩]

Title: 2012: Final Prayer¹
Author(s): R.M. Heske & Others
Genre: Graphic Novel – Horror
Finished: December 10, 2009
Rating: 5 Stars

After reading Heske Horror’s Bone Chillers: Tales of Suburban Murder & Malice, I became an avid fan. So when I picked up my copy of 2012: Final Prayer, I was in heaven. Now that we are nearing the year 2010, people are looking toward the fated year of 2012 with more concern and pessimism. Movies, televisions shows full of Mayan and Nostradamus predictions, and books are picking up on the mass fear and trend of the world possibly ending in 2012. In most cases, these forms of media are either some or all of three things: fear inducing, prophetic, and cliché, which by their very nature ride the tide of a popular concern that will see to it that sales are made. It is tiresome and cookie cutter.

Heske Horror does it right. 2012: Final Prayer is neither cookie cutter nor cliché. A collection of comic book style stories written and drawn by different people and teams, 2012 fills you with shock, awe, foreboding, disgust, and fear. And yes, despite it, you may even laugh once or twice. The art styles are so different from one story to the next that the comic book is a true work of masterful art. Some stories, such as Final Choices or Hollow Victory, are stark and busy, and so chaotic and pretty that they really highlight the intense apocalyptic moment intended for depiction. Yet other stories like Veils are simple and poignant, and certainly no less perfectly rendered.

There are times when you will connect with stories and characters and then feel oddly disjointed by the surreal path some of them take because you are there with them. The impending sense of doom will get to you, sink into you so much so that you’ll need air once you finish reading. Nightmares even may happen. And yet sometimes there are hints of hope and optimism that will confuse you as much as it sweetens you up and helps you accept the horrors all around and surely ahead. I think that is the way these stories should be instead of mere prophecies and warnings.

I love things that creep me out, but also make me go, “oh, that was just lovely.” 2012 did just that. Underneath all of it was such a level of art and beauty that it could not be denied that even the grossest of moments were completely exhilarating. The cover itself speaks volumes of the quality of what it inside: horses of the apocalypse charging over a city with a little boy gazing at it from the distance in utter shock. I wish that they had not changed the cover from the edition I got. The innocence, the realism, the happiness, the horror, the acceptance, it’s all there. The whole spectrum of how people deal, how they manage. It is all wonderfully rendered in black and white from cover to cover.

I remain a big fan and cannot wait to see what Heske Horror puts out next because I am going to be at the front of the line for a copy.

__________
Disclaimer(s):

- More can be found in my Reviews section or on my Biblio page. If you would like to see my book list for 2009, go here.

- If you would like me to review your book, send an email to me at morbidromantic@gmail.com. Read my Book Review Policy for more information.

1. I received my copy of this comic book in exchange for a review. All opinions expressed are my own. [↩]

About Deep Kiss of Winter

Comprised of two novels, Deep Kiss of Winter combines the talents of Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter in to a compelling, riveting two story novel full of romance and drama. In Cole’s Untouchable, Murdoch Wroth will stop at nothing to claim Daniela the Ice Maiden — the delicate Valkyrie who makes his heart beat for the first time in three hundred years. Yet the exquisite Danii is part ice fey, and her freezing skin can’t be touched by anyone but her own kind without inflicting pain beyond measure. Soon desperate for closeness, in an agony of frustration, Murdoch and Danii will do anything to have each other. Together, can they find the key that will finally allow them to slake the overwhelming desire burning between them? In Showalter’s Tempt Me Eternally, Aleaha Love can be anyone — literally. With only skin-to-skin contact, she can change her appearance, assume any identity. Her newest identity switch has made her an AIR (alien investigation and removal) agent and sends her on a mission to capture a group of otherworldly warriors. Only she becomes the captured. Breean, a golden-skinned commander known for his iron will who is at once dangerous and soul-shatteringly seductive, threatens her new life. Because for the first time, Aleaha only wants to be herself.

My Review of Deep Kiss of Winter

Genre: Fiction – Paranormal Romance
Finished: December 21, 2009
Rating: 3 Stars

Untouchable was my first experience with Kresley Cole. I am always a little hesitant, too, when authors add a lexicon or a glossary to their books when the book isn’t a series. Yet, I dove into Untouchable with an open mind and a significant amount of interest in this world Cole had created. I rather liked the idea of there being a ‘Lore’ full of strange creatures and magical beings. Though, I have to say that I wish the book were a fantasy series, and not paranormal romance. I think the world, the creatures, and the premise was excellent, but the overdone romance elements takes away from the pure fantasy creativity behind it. Or maybe that is just my biased dislike of romance in general talking. Let me not make it seem as if I did not like the story, because I did! I thought it was excellent. The characters were great, the plot was amazing, and I just fell in love with the world Cole created, which is why I totally plan to read more of the Immortals After Dark series that the book is a part of.

Cole’s world seems complicated, but it breaks down into a few easy things. You have the Lore, which are these creatures. Within it are creatures such as Valkyrie, Vampires, Demons, and Icere. Vampires are on an eternal search for a Bride (I guess there are no female vampires out there looking for Grooms?), who will once again make his heart beat and his passion boil. Once he meets his bride, he is blooded to her. His longing for her is almost unbearable. Well, Murdoch the Sexy becomes blooded to a half ice fey, half Valkyrie woman he cannot touch because touch burns her cold skin. They can’t do it, naturally, since his touching her would cause her a lot of pain and possible death. So, not only must they work together to overcome other preternatural creatures, but also learn how to surmount their difficult romance.

I admit, I did get a little annoyed with how the storyline just moved from one thing to the next. There was this great build up about wars and vampire rivalries and then, out of nowhere, the book just moves on past them and says, “oh well, everything was fixed” and introduces all new plots. It was very disappointing and made me wonder why all the build up for a resolution we don’t even get to experience?

Showalter’s story Tempt Me Eternally is part of her Alien Huntress series, though I have never read any of the other books in the series and walked in to it sort of clueless as to Showalter at all. I have heard the name before since a few of my friends are fans of her other series’, but I was a Showalter novice until this point. In the novel, Aleaha Love is a shapeshifter of sorts, but she cannot let anyone know for fear of her own life. This is romance, though, so a hot, hunky guy has to come in somewhere. And that guy is Breean, a Rakan, who imprisons Aleaha in the hope of using her for ransom in order to be allowed to live on Earth since they cannot return to their own home planet. It is only natural in the course of a romance plotline for the Rakan Breean and Aleaha to decide they like each other complete with the banter of two people who are opposites but eventually discover they are perfect for each other.

Okay, so the endings of romance novels are very predictable. How often do the couple decide not to be together? Or that their differences are too insurmountable? Or hey, someone dies? Not often, and only in a series when there is lots of time to work everything out by the end to wrap up a happy ending. I like happy endings, I do. Which is why books like Deep Kiss of Winter are so fulfilling. You get what you want! No anti-climactic endings to make you walk away numb and disappointed. Though, of course, the nature of predictability gives very little in surprises. Which is why, of course, authors have to ultimately make up for this shortfall by creating good plots, great characters, and amazing stories. Cole and Showalter did. Excellent book!

About A Blue and Gray Christmas

When a rusty old tin box is unearthed at the Covington Homestead, longtime housemates Grace, Amelia, and Hannah discover that it contains letters and diaries written by two Civil War soldiers, one Union and one Confederate. The friends are captivated by the drama revealed. The soldiers were found dying on a nearby battlefi eld by an old woman. She nursed them back to health, hiding them from bounty hunters seeking deserters. At the end of the war the men chose to stay in Covington, caring for their rescuer as she grew frail. But while their lives were rich, they still felt homesick and guilty for never contacting the families they’d left behind. Christmas is coming, and the letters inspire Amelia with a generous impulse. What if she and her friends were to fi nd the two soldiers’ descendants and invite them to Covington to meet? What better holiday gift could there be than the truth about these two heroic men and their dramatic shared fate? With little time left, the ladies spring into action to track down the men’s families in Connecticut and the Carolinas, and to make preparations in Covington for their most memorable, most historic Christmas yet.

My Review of A Blue and Gray Christmas

Genre: Fiction – Historical
Finished: December 15, 2009
Rating: 2 Stars

Three friends, Grace, Amelia, and Hannah, come across a box once buried full of the letters and diaries of two Civil War soliders: Tom from the South and John from the North. Both soldiers were injured during the war and ended up abandoning together, hiding deep in the Appalachian mountains that they made their home. Tom felt he had nothing to go back to and John chose to leave his wife and daughter to begin a new life. The letters the three women read and share with others express friendships, fears, loves, and the dramatic after effects of war. John is left with severe post traumatic stress, so he has to completely rebuild himself after the horrors of war he experienced.

When Tom and John decided to stay in the mountains, they took on a new last name to begin their lives anew. When Grace, Amelia, and Hannah find the letters and learn about the break up of families, they decide together that it would be the perfect Christmas treat to reunite the families and share with them the letters and diaries of their long lost ancestors, believed to have been killed in the war. It is not an easy thing for the women to do, and they search through records and graveyards to find and connect people together. A lucky break happens when they meet a relative of John’s, Milo, who came from the line descended from John’s second marriage. The threads start coming together for the women, and it seems all too soon that they are going to get the Christmas they want.

The best part of the book is the Civil War letters. Reading about the experiences and lives of Tom and John was very emotional for me. I chose to participate in the book’s blog tour because I am a student of history and absolutely love a good historical fiction novel. The Civil War is in itself a very emotional war, so being able to read about it in such a personal way was very tender, sometimes sweet, sometimes painful. I felt especially bad for John who had such a hard time forgetting everything he’d seen and done. The intimacy of the letters really made me feel like I had connected with the two men on some level.

Unfortunately, I felt that I connected very little with the story apart from the letters. While I enjoyed very much the progression of Tom and John’s lives, I found some other aspects of the novel quite not to my liking. The story line moves along in a way that is not only too quick, but entirely unbelievable. Everything just seems to fall into place and the initial roadblocks are obligatory. Something about the dialogue put me off, too. But what I disliked the most was that the book is full of unnecessary detail and lacks where there should be detail. We are given a paragraph about baking and the ingredients that go in and in what order, but the actual plot itself is rushed along. I would have liked a little less unnecessary dialogue and action and a little more that had actual substance or contributed to the plot.

Nevertheless, it is a very sweet book. One of those quick rainy or snowy day reads that will leave you feeling warm inside at the end of it all.

About Sins of the Flesh

Caterina Shaw’s days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment-a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body-and she’s been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run. Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he’s hunting down is far from the vicious killer he’s been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she’s a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.

Blogtalk Radio Program with Caridad Piñeiro:
Visit website: Caridad.com.

My Review of Sins of the Flesh

Genre: Fiction – Paranormal Romance
Finished: November 19, 2009
Rating: 3 Stars

Catarina (Cat) Shaw is a famous and talented musician, her love of the cello as much a part of her as her body. When she finds out that she has a brain tumor that will kill her, she elects to take part in a radical gene therapy treatment. The results are not what she has expected. Cat has found that she possesses strange powers such as to be able to chameleon herself against her surroundings. She is stronger, faster, quicker to heal, and also has iridescent blood. When she escapes the medical facility that she is being kept in, private detective forces are hot on her tail with the order to collect her for the violent murder of one of the lab’s doctors.

Enter Mick Carrera, who has been hired to find Cat and bring her back. At first, he is startled to find out that she is not quite human. However, he has a sense of decency that transcends the rather rough job he does. Mick finds himself taking care of her, always cautious, yet at the same time wondering if Cat is really capable of what she is accused of. There is no mistake, though, that Cat is in danger. And if she is not guilty of the murder, why would they be accusing her? What is their goal? What else may they be engineering? And who really did kill the doctor and why? So much mystery begins to swirl around the two that we are pushed into a complex and layered plotline that moves fast and hard, with the action intense, the mystery solid, and the characters defined.

Naturally, as a romance novel, this book has its fair share of hot and botheredness. I am always a bit annoyed when characters come to attraction so early. While I don’t mean to negate the idea of love at sight, but I prefer that romance and passion come as part of a long running evolution of emotion rather than, “is this her in the picture? Hot. I want her intensely and with all of my being.” See what I mean? So, I was kind of put off by that when it happened in this book, yet the author slowed it down from there and let it happen in due time. There was no rush. The romance was redeemed! And, naturally, as soon as the romance began, it was good. The scenes are smoking hot, guys, I mean it.

This was my first taste of the paranormal of this brand. Usually the paranormal is about vampires or witches or some other sort of were/shifting creature. While Cat is part animal(s) and human, she is no shifter. This book is therefore more scientific, sort of ‘man playing God and this is what we get.’ I really enjoyed that this book had a scientific lean while not being too science fiction based, as that is not a genre I particularly like. All in all: good book, hot romance, non-standard characters that actually seem real and with depth, and an all around great mystery with tons of adventure.

Giveaway!!

closed

I have been given the amazing opportunity by Hachette Book Group to give out 5 copies of Sins of the Flesh by Caridad Piñeiro. There are a number of ways you can win this book, each good for one entry each. For each entry, leave me a separate comment. Also, make sure that you leave me a way to contact you if you win.

1.) Leave a comment below telling me that you’d like to win.
2.) Blog about this contest and leave a comment with the links.
3.) Add me on twitter (@morbidromantic) and Tweet this contest then comment with a link to the Tweet or your username.
4.) Stumble this giveaway or my main site and comment with your StumbleUpon username.
5.) Rate my blog at Blogged. Click here or find the graphic on the sidebar under ‘ranks.’
6.) Add my RSS reader here and leave me a comment telling me that you subscribe to my feed.
7.) Comment on and rate (rating is found in the header of the post) any of my previous book reviews and leave me a comment telling me that you have.
8.) Add me to your Technorati favorites: .
9.) Add me on LibraryThing, Good Reads, Shelfari, Book Blogs, or BookBlips and leave a comment telling me where you’ve added me and (if you can), your username/name.
10.) Answer this question: if you were sick and about to die, would you accept a dramatic gene treatment that might alter you forever just to stay alive?

If you do all of the above, you will get ten entries. That’s ten chances to win.

Winners will be selected on 11:59pm EST on December 4th. I will be using Random.org to select the winner. When you win, I will send you an email asking for your physically mailing address, which you have 3 days to respond to before new winners are selected. No PO Boxes. This contest is open to the US and Canada only.

Participating Sites:

http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com
http://www.mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com
http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com
http://bridget3420.blogspot.com
http://abookbloggersdiary.blogspot.com
http://reesspace.blogspot.com
http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com
http://www.mindingspot.blogspot.com
http://froggaritavillesbookcase.blogspot.com
http://parajunkee.blogspot.com
http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com
http://www.jmomfinds.amoores.com
http://razloversbookblog.blogspot.com
http://confessionsofaromancebookaddict.wordpress.com
http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.cheekyreads.com
http://myfoolishwisdom.blogspot.com
http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com
http://mandablogsabout.blogspot.com
http://myoverstuffedbookshelf.blogspot.com
http://juniperrbreeeze.blogspot.com