Review - Commune of Women by Suzan Still - Pump Up Your Book Tour - September 12, 2011

About the Book:

What happens when ordinary citizens, going about their daily plans, suddenly encounter their worst nightmare? That is a question the women of Commune of Women are about to answer.

On an ordinary Los Angeles morning, seven women converge upon LAX for various purposes. Suddenly, in the midst of the crowded terminal, disaster strikes. Each woman spies her only chance at survival and races into the tiny staff room that is to be her home for the next four days. By the first night, they have rudimentary knowledge of one another: Sophia is a powerful, 60-ish woman who is unaccountably adept at the arts of survival; Pearl, an ancient bag lady, part-Black, part-Choctaw, is resourceful and unafraid; Erika , a top executive, has had her business trip cut short by a bullet in the shoulder; Heddi, a Jungian analyst already stressed by marital problems, knows she must use her psychological skills to help the others; Betty, an overweight, histrionic, 50-ish housewife, can’t stand the sight of blood or the thought of how she’s driven her entire family away; and Ondine, a sylph-like, 40ish artist, wealthy, unhappy and neurotic, has inherited a home in France. For four days, united by their common will to survive, the women learn to cooperate and to both entertain and sustain themselves by telling their life stories, which grow darker and more intimate as the days pass.

Meanwhile, Najat, the sole female among her group, the Brothers, has been abandoned by her male companions in a control room with a bank of monitors giving a view of the entire terminal and of televised rescue efforts, where she struggles between her own conscience and the dictates of her group.

My Review:

One seemingly normal day at the airport turns into a not so normal event.  Chaos and gunfire at the airport causes six women to run for cover to the breakroom of the LAX airport.  Two of the women are wounded.   The women all come together and end up telling stories of their lives in the midst of all of the things going on.

I liked that Suzan Still defined each character by putting their name as a header while they tell their story.  You will go from one character to the next as you listen to their stories.  The writing is very detailed.   I loved the whole idea of the story.  You just never know, one day you could be doing something ordinary like going to the airport and you could be put with a bunch of women that you don't even know and end up telling more to them about your life than you would even expect.

At first I had trouble getting into the book and trying to remember who was who.  What have been really cool would be to have a picture of each woman maybe at the beginning of the book just so you could connected a face with the character.  I know when you read you are supposed to form each character in your mind, but it just would have been helpful.  I could really see this book being made into a movie!

My Rating :  

Commune of Women
Author:  Suzan Still
Published July 16th 2011 by Fiction Std
ISBN: 1936558165 (ISBN13: 9781936558162)
Number of pages: 350

About Suzan Still:

Suzan Still holds a masters in art and writing and a doctorate in depth psychology. A retired university professor, she also taught creative writing in a men’s prison, where she became increasingly concerned with issues of social disenfranchisement. She lives in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains with her husband and an assortment of rescued fur children.

You can visit Suzan at http://suzanstillcommune.blogspot.com



Disclaimer:Thank you to Tracee at  Pump Up Your Book Tours for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MYexperience while reading this novel.

© 2011, Cheryl of Black Diamond’s Book Reviews. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than Black Diamond's Book Reviews, Urban Image Magazine, or Cheryl’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Book Review - The House On Blackstone Moor by Carole Gill (Nurture Virtual Book Tourz) - August 12, 2011

Book Summary:

This is a tale of vampirism, madness, obsession and devil worship as Rose Baines, only survivor of her family’s carnage, tells her story.

Fragile, damaged by the tragedy, fate sends her to a desolate house on the haunted moors where demons dwell.

The house and the moors have hideous secrets, yet there is love too; deep, abiding, eternal, but it comes with a price, her soul.

Book Review - Sensuous Dragon by Deep Rivers - August 3, 2011

Sensuous Dragon

by Deep Rivers

Erotic Poetry to stimulate the mind, body and soul.

Paperback, 210 pages

Published October 13th 2010 by Lulu.com

 (book 6 of 13 - 3rd Quarter 2K11 Reading/Reviewing Challenge)

My Review:

Sensuous Dragon was written by my Facebook friend Deep Rivers!  I don't normally read a lot of poetry.  Since this is erotic poetry, I decided to give it a try!

Deep Rivers really did an  excellent job with the rhyme of her poems.  It must have taken her a while to write this and think of all those rhyming words!  Not only did she write poems in this book, but there are some short erotic stories as well.  My favorite of all the poems was Treasure.   I can see that she just lets her imagination go and writes from her heart.

This book could be improved with a little editing.  There were some words that have two spellings that were spelled wrong and some punctuation errors that took away from the flow of the book.

I read this book within a pretty short period of time, but it would also be a good one to read a poem here or there as you have time also.

 My Rating:

 3/5 diamonds

Disclaimer:  My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel.

 © 2011, Cheryl of Black Diamond’s Book Reviews. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than blackdiamondsbookrev.fatcow.com, Urban Image Magazine, or Cheryl’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Book Review - Snowflake Obsidian by The Hippie

Book Details

Title: Snowflake Obsidian 

Author: The Hippie

Publisher:   iUniverse.com

Release Date: December 15th 2010 

Source: pumpupyourbook.com (I received an autographed copy from the author)

About The Hippie

The Hippie received a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Utah and worked briefly as a licensed mental health therapist before leaving her job to pursue writing. She prefers ice cream in the winter, beanies in the summer, and only plays sports when properly guilt-tripped. She currently lives with her husband and two dogs in Salt Lake City, Utah. Visit her atwww.thehippiewriter.com.

About Snowflake Obsidian

Willow is nineteen, naïve, and Mormon. She genuinely sucks at having relationships with the opposite sex, thanks to her daddy issues—as in she has a dad and wishes she didn’t. Her only perfect relationship is with her best friend, Jo. But when Willow and Jo fall for the same guy, Willow finds herself friendless and falling in love with a drug addict. Feeling confused, guilty, and alone, she turns to cutting herself as a way to cope.

Snowflake Obsidian is a memoir about one girl’s transformation from being naïve due to living in a protected religious culture, to understanding the many faces of love in this paradoxical journey. As Willow steps into the world outside her religious ideals she finds herself in situations she’d never imagined: getting a body piercing at a parlor full of sex-toys; purchasingthe morning after pill for a friend who had been raped; attending a support group for co-dependents; putting all her faith in a snowflake obsidian stone when she can’t cope with her depression; and living with her boyfriend while trying to remain abstinent on this journey that ultimately illuminates Willow’s dark side which fully allows her to know the light. Her intelligent and humorous voice bluntly shares her story with the perfect blend of nostalgic observance and cynical optimism in this witty memoir about life, love and learning.

Book Trailer:


My Review:

Snowflake Obsidian really deals with a tough issue:  depression and cutting.  I think that is why it was a little hard for me at times to read this book. It did take courage for her though to write about her life and tell the world and I give her a lot of credit for that.

Willow doesn't have the perfect life. Her father yells at her so much. He was in the Vietnam war, so maybe that is why he is so disconnected with her.  It seems like the only thing he loves is the TV.  She tries to tell him that she loves him, and he thinks that she just wants money.  Willow really is neglected by her parents.  She even calls them by their first names.  At least she has quite a few very good friends though.  One of them is Jo. Jo seems to end up liking every one of Willow's boyfriends and taking them away from her.  She finally talks to River and finds out they have so much in common.

Depression is a horrible thing, but I just don't know what it is like to feel so depressed that I would want to cut myself.  The Hippie really brought you into her world to see what she was going through to bring her to that point.  I was surprised at how her and her friends were always in her bed and spooning each other.  I felt sad for her that her parents paid her no attention.  I can't imagine parents that would just let this go on!

Since this was a memoir, I think The Hippie did a great job recalling the events of her life.  I just really didn't feel a connection with this book like I was hoping that I would. 

This review is only my opinion, and I recommend that you visit Bookshipper's blog to read her review of this book.  She gave it 4/5 stars and said "Addiction and recovery is a subject that is very close to my heart. Because of this, I have read my share of books on just about every subject, including cutting and Snowflake Obsidian was one of the most raw and real books I have read in a long time."

Quote (p.112):

My eyes happened to glance down at the orange handled scissors that lay on the counter.   With out much thought I picked them up with my right hand, brought my leg to the counter, resting my foot on the edge of Beloved I rolled up my pant leg.  I softly opened the scissors in my right hand thinking for a moment of sawing them into my leg.  It only took a moment for my thought to turn to action as the dull blade of the scissors viciously rubbed against my ivory skin.  

I stopped only once I saw blood.  The blood somehow startled me.  As if that wasn't the result I was looking for.

My Rating:
3/5 Diamonds - It Was Okay

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel.

 © 2011, Cheryl of Black Diamond's Book Reviews. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Black Diamond's Book Reviews, Urban Image Magazine, or Cheryl's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Book Review - Draw 2 by J-Real

Book Details

Title: Draw 2

Author: J-Real

Publisher:  Real Ink Publishing

Release Date: February 22nd 2011

Source: Won from author

Read for the Oosa 2K11 Reading Challenge (book 5 out of 13)

About the Book:

The streets have their way of crowing the next Kingpin. Combine the history of the hood, and status is delegated accordingly. But it takes a cold heart, a ruthless make up, and there can be no room for love. How far will loyalty carry? Or is it even necessary? Serious' rise to power ended with his arrest and five years in the penitentiary. It was there where he found out it was all a lie. Now he wants the truth and he will stop at nothing to get it. Now a father, a successful club owner, and an exile from a dangerous underworld, Serious only option is to walk away from everything he'd built, to hand it over to his comrade and original partner, Tipsy. But Tip wants more than serious is willing to give. And when the stakes are high, betrayal is always written in blood. And the deeper it gets the more evident is the truth that loyalty and love play no part in the streets. All that's left is vengeance, and the players in this arena are certified killers. And in the end it all comes down to the first to Draw will be the last to stand. Draw 2 is a gritty pathway into the Yonkers underworld on levels where kingpins and Drug Lords roam and claim the streets by all means necessary. Where the same blood-shed that bonds is what justifies. Where you find out that your enemies and your friends are one in the same. A thrilling conclusion to the illest cinematic street epic.

My Review:

I read Draw, so I was very happy when I found out I won Draw 2 from J-Real!

Serious got a strike against him from me when he decided to see Laura upon his release from lock-up.  He should have gone to visit Candy and his daughter first. She was so disappointed that her daddy didn't come to see her first thing.  If he is going to go and have a child, she should be his first priority. 

Draw 2 was an okay book for me.   I get that this is an urban fiction book, but it was a little hard to read at times because of grammatical issues.  I had to go back and re-read sentences because they didn't have proper punctuation.  Because of this, I couldn't get into the story because I was paying attention to the way the book was written and not what was being said.  Hopefully for Draw 3 this won't be an issue because I am not giving up on J-Real!  I have to say though that J-Real really aced the steamy scenes in this book!  I would like to see a more erotic fiction book written by J-Real!

  My Rating: 3/5 diamonds - It was okay

Find out More about J-Real

http://joeypinkney.com/african-american-author/5-minutes-5-questions-with-j-real-author-of-draw-part-2.php

Author's Website:  http://realinkpublishing.com/
Facebook http://facebook.com/ search: J-Real Author

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel.

 © 2011, Cheryl of Black Diamond's Book Reviews. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Black Diamond's Book Reviews, Urban Image Magazine, or Cheryl's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Book Review - Deed So by Katharine Russell

About the Book: (from pumpupyourbook.com)

Welcome to 1962, one year before the world would witness President John F. Kennedy assassinated, and a time before civil rights, women’s rights, and the Vietnam War changed everything. Deed So by Katharine Russell chronicles the coming-of-age of brainy twelve-year-old Haddie Bashford, a sensitive young girl who wants nothing more than to leave the close-minded world of her home in Wicomico Corners. When Haddie witnesses the killing of a black teen by a down-on-his-luck white farmer, her family becomes embroiled in a web of hatred that threatens to engulf the whole town. Tempers flare and prejudice heats to a boiling point, even as Haddie struggles to fully comprehend what is going on, especially the dark consequences within her own family. When the murder case goes to trial, neighbor is pitted against neighbor, and the violence escalates to a dangerous level. As the case drags on, arson erupts, paralyzing the community. Can the town—and Haddie—survive?

Intertwining the major themes of struggle, equality, loyalty, and love that defined a generation, Deed So is a provocative snapshot of a tense time in history. Filled with larger-than-life characters, pitch perfect dialogue, and a wonderful sense of history, Deed So is as moving as it is thrilling. Haunting, edgy, and thought-provoking, this is a perfect read for fans of To Kill a Mockingbird or Nicholas Sparks.

Click HERE to read Chapter 1

Book Trailer:

My Thoughts:

This book was told by 12 year old Haddie Bashford and takes place in 1962.  Haddie lives in a small town in Maryland where everyone knows everybody's business.  It reminds me a lot of the town where I live.  Haddie just wants to get out of the small town and move to the big city!

Haddie was raised in a home where African Americans were considered friends.  She didn't view them as any different than anyone else.  When things started happening in her town, she really experienced the fact that racism existed.  Katharine Russell does a good job in this book of describing the segregation that existed in this time period. 

I wanted to read this book because I loved Katharine's book "A Pointed Death" and gave it 5/5 diamonds.  I thought Deed So was an okay book. I really am not big on historical fiction, but I wanted to read more of Katharine's work.  I just felt like this book is a little slow moving for me, and I didn't really get into it as much as A Pointed Death.  

I just have to say that I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the Pointed Death series!

I will be interviewing Katharine Russell tomorrow, so check back!

Book Details
Title: Deed So

Author: Katharine Russell
Publisher:  CreateSpace

Release Date: November 18, 2010
Source: Received from the Pump Up Your Book Tour

My Rating:  3/5 diamonds

Here are some more reviews of Deed So that you might like to look at:

Tales Of A Book Addict
Ms. Martin Teaches Media

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel.

 © 2011, Cheryl of Black Diamond's Book Reviews.

Book Review - The Betrayal by Sheila Hendrix

After being led to a cave by a vision, two brothers find out the vision is a nightmare. When a demon asked, "How far will you go to save your brother," Zachariah McCannon answers, "As far as I have to."

From Goodreads


Cover Inspection:
This book looks kind of creepy.  I can't figure out what the person/thing is on the front going into the cave.    It looks part human and part monster, but it looks like whatever it is has a mini skirt on!

First Thoughts:
Alanya must be the character that is pictured on the front cover.

My Review:
I get e-mails from Pump Up Your Book Tour with books that they have upcoming for review.  I saw this book and thought I would enjoy reading it since I do enjoy paranormal type books. 

Zack and Matt Cannon were abandoned by their parents when they were young, so Zack started caring for his little brother Matt.   They did live with their grandmother but she was sick.  After they graduated from high school, Zack decided they should leave so Matt wouldn't be taken away from him by social services. 

Matt has some special powers and has visions and dreams that come true.  They became hunters of evil forces, and and they always seemed to have things following them around.   Matt can also move things with his mind when he gets mad.

Matt has a dream about a cave, and they hunt it out.  When they get to the cave, Matt found out that it was a trap.  The force behind his dream is Alanya, which means The Destroyer.  Alanya is out to destroy the brothers. 

This book was a pretty quick read for me. I was scared for Matt and his brother Zack.  I didn't know what this demon was going to do to them and  I was suprised at the twist toward the end.

I would have liked to get to know Matt and Zack a little bit more.  I didn't really feel like I connected with the characters like I could have.

2/19/11
I just found out from the author that this is a series.  I do plan on reading the next book in the series to see how she helps to get us to know the characters better.

3/5 diamonds

A good one to check out from the library!

Book Details:
Title:  The Betrayal
Author: Sheila Hendrix
Publisher: lulu.com
Pages: Paperback; 220 pages
Source: Pump Up Your Book Virtual Tour

 

Disclaimer: I received this book from the Pump Up Your Book Virtual Tour.  I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel.

© 2011, Cheryl of Black Diamond's Book Reviews. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Black Diamond's Book Reviews, Urban Image Magazine, or Cheryl's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.