Vocal Expressions

Ember Casey’s sexy book cover and the title pulled me right in and I wanted to know what the wicked games were. When the story opens, we meet Lily, who runs the Frazer Center for the Arts with her father, David. They desperately need the funds that the late Wentworth Cunningham, one of their biggest donors pledged to them before he passed. Unfortunately, Calder, Wentworth’s son refuses to honor the pledge. So, Lily drives over to the Cunningham’s estate in an effort to change Calder’s mind. She trespasses onto the property and then gets tackled by Calder.  She is stuck with him for a few days due to a rainstorm which makes it impossible for her to drive home. He then offers her his sister’s clothes to wear, invites her to join him for succulent meals prepared by his chef, and to engage in playing some sexual cat and mouse games in an effort to change his mind. Lily falls right into his trap, with nothing to show except her lust for him. Things get further complicated when her emo...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you playwright, poet, and novelist, Ntozake Shange. She was born Paulette Linda Williams but changed her name in 1971. In Zulu, Ntozake means “she who comes with her own things” and Shange means “who walks like a lion.” Most of her work centered around issues relating to race and Black power. She is best known for her 1976 Broadway produced play, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf . This 20-part choreopoem (a term she coined) chronicled the lives of women of color and is a combination of poetry, dance, music, and song that won various awards (Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and the AUDELCO Award) . This was the second play to reach Broadway written by a Black woman (preceded by Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun in 1959). It was adapted as a book in 1977, a 1982 television film and a 2010 movie, For Colored Girls , directed by Tyler Perry. It wil...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, Chilean-American novelist, memoirist, journalist, and children’s writer, Isabel Allende. She has written over 20 books that have sold over 67 million copies in over 35 languages. Her novels are known to contain elements of magical realism: The House of the Spirits ( La Casa de Los Esp íritus, 1982) and City of the Beasts ( La Ciudad de Las Bestias, 2002). Her other works include memoirs: Paula 1994, My Invented County (Mi Pa ís Inventado, 2003) , The Sum of Our Days (La Suma de Los D ías, 2007), children’s books and a collection of articles.  She has received numerous international awards including the prestigious National Prize for Literature (Chile, 2010). In 2014, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Check out her quote about friendships. #womenshistorymonth #isabelallende #novelist #memoirist #nonfictionwriter #journalist #childrenswriter #nationalprizeforliterature #pre...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you romance and mystery writer, Janet Evanovich. She began writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall. After writing her twelfth romance novel, she realized she wanted to write mystery novels which included humor, romance and adventure. She then started writing under her own name and went on to publish several romantic adventure/mystery novels.  The first book in her mystery series, One for the Money , featured the protagonist Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter who was a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey. This book was named a New York Times notable book, Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1994 and a USA Today Best Bet. It was adapted into a 2012 movie directed by Julie Anne Robinson. Fast forward many years later and the latest Stephanie Plum novel, Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty Nine is scheduled to be released November 1, 2022.  Evanovich h...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, English short story author, essayist, and novelist, Zadie Smith. In 2000, she published her debut novel, White Teeth which instantly became a best-seller and won a number of awards, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Betty Trask Award. It was also adapted for television in 2002 (United Kingdom) and 2003 (United States on PBS, Masterpiece Theatre). Her other works include: a collection of short stories, Grand Union (2019), six essays in a collection entitled, Intimations (2020) and her first play, The Wife of Willesden (2021).  I will definitely have to pick up a copy of Smith's first novel. Check out her quote about the myth of the past and the future. #womenshistorymonth #zadiesmith #shortstoryauthor #essayist #novelist #whiteteeth #grandunion #intimations #thewifeofwillesden #jamestaitblackmemorialprize #bettytraskaward #vocalexpressions

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you novelist, non-fiction writer, and children’s writer, Amy Tan. While working as a business writer, she began writing her first novel, The Joy Luck Club , and then joined a writers’ workshop, the Squaw Valley Program to refine her draft. The Joy Luck Club subsequently won various awards and was adapted into the 1993 film of the same name directed by Wayne Wang. It was also adapted into a play in 1993.  She has written several other novels including The Kitchen God’s Wife , The Hundred Secret Senses , The Bonesetter’s Daughter (adapted into an opera in 2008), Saving Fish from Drowning , and The Valley of Amazement . In 2017, she published her memoir entitled Where the Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir . She has also written two children’s books: The Moon Lady (1992) and Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (1994) which was turned into an animated series that aired on PBS (2001 – 2004). This animated ...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History  Month, I would like to present to you, novelist and screenwriter, Gillian Flynn. She was a former television critic for Entertainment Weekly. She has written three novels, Sharp Objects, Dark Places and Gone Girl that have all been adapted for film and television . Flynn wrote the adaptions for the 2014 Gone Girl film and the HBO limited series Sharp Objects and was the co-screenwriter of the 2018 heist thriller Widows.   I have seen the movies and the HBO series and enjoyed them all. Check out her quote about the simple magic phrase of being in a relationship. #womenshistorymonth #gillianflynn #novelist #sharpobjects #darkplaces #gonegirl #screenwriter #film #HBOlimitedseries #heistthriller #murderthriller #mystery #widows #vocalexpressions

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you playwright, writer, and activist, Lorraine Hansberry. In 1959, at age 29, she became the first African American dramatist and the youngest playwright to win the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for her Broadway play, A Raisin in the Sun which featured the struggles of African Americans living under racial segregation in Chicago. The title of the play was taken from the poem, “Harlem” by Langston Hughes: “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore—and then run?” In Hanberry’s early years in New York, she worked at the Pan-African newspaper Freedom , with intellectuals such as Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois. During this time, as an activist, she participated in civil rights demonstrations and she fought against the oppression of women, race discrimination, poverty, and class.  She became close friends with James Baldwin and Nina Si...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, novelist, short story writer, and essayist, Nilanjana Sudeshna “Jhumpa” Lahiri. In 1999, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway for her debut collection of short-stories, Interpreter of Maladies. Her first novel, The Namesake , was a New York Times Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. This book was subsequently adapted into a 2006 major motion picture of the same name directed by Mira Nair. Check out Lahiri’s quote about traveling without moving your feet. #womenshistorymonth #jhumpalahiri #novelist #shortstorywriter #essayist #interpreterofmaladies #thenamesake #pulitzerprizewinner #NYTnotablebook #LATimesbookprizefinalist #vocalexpressions

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you author (science fiction, mystery, horror) and educator, Tananarive Due. She’s a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and the University of Leeds. In 1995, while working as a journalist and columnist for the Miami Herald she wrote her first novel, The Between .  She has also written The Black Rose , a historical fiction about Madam C.J. Walker and Freedom in the Family , a non-fiction work about the civil rights struggle. She is one of the contributors to the humor novel Naked Came the Manatee (mystery/thriller parody). Additionally, she has authored the African Immortals and the Tennyson Hardwick novel series. I love the Tennyson Hardwick novels which she collaborated with Steven Barnes (her husband) and Blair Underwood. I really wish they would write another installment of this mystery novel. Furthermore, as an educator, she developed and taught a cour...

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist, Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker. In 1982, she became the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her bestselling novel, The Color Purple. This book was subsequently adapted into the critically acclaimed 1985 movie directed by Steven Spielberg. Check out her quote about who a friend shouldn’t be. #womenshistorymonth #novelist #shortstorywriter #poet #socialactivist #thecolorpurple #pulitzerprizewinner #alicewalker #vocalexpressions