Even though Sewing Annie Coats and her son, Gabriel, have managed to buy their freedom, their lives are still marked by constant struggle and sacrifice. Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood, where the Coatses operate a tailor’s shop and laundry, is supposed to be a “promised land” for former slaves but is effectively a frontier town, gritty and dangerous, with no laws protecting black people.

Today’s MUSING is just going to be a simple one on reading…
WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?–Seen It All and Done the Rest by Pearl Cleage
WHY ARE YOU READING WHAT YOU’RE READING? PLEASURE? FOR REVIEW? SOMETHING ELSE?–This is a pleasure read and I’m also catching up because it was an APOOO book club read back [...]

Hey APOOO family and friends and welcome to another week of Sunday Salon.  Last week was actually a good reading week for me.  I read and finished Run by Ann Patchett.  Yippee Me.  Let me rewind for a minute.  I started this book a year ago…but for some reason I couldn’t get pass the prologue.  [...]

While summer has some baggage, for me it’s very small compared to all of the pluses, which make me want to hold on to summer for as long as I can and impossible for me to let go easily. For many of us summer ends when the kids head back to school…and/or Labor Day is upon us…I am still not ready to put away my summer clothes, my LIGHT COLORED SHOES…heck not even my sandals…lol.

It appears that Sweetsmoke by David Fuller is a big hit for APOOO members who have read it. Although it sounds like other books, such as Song Yet Sung by James McBride and Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke, might also be worthy of the accolades and recognition that Sweetsmoke is receiving.

This title is well researched and recommended for literary, historical fiction fans or those interested in the challenges of African Americans in the antebellum period.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
July 25, 2008