Book List 2008

Read any good books this year? Here’s my list:

Buddhism plain and simple by Steve Hagan (1999)
Rastafari: For the Healing of the Nations by Dennis Forsythe (1983; 1999)
Spirited Women “Lessons in Living” by Olayinka Ayoade (1988; 2003)
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (2006)
A New Earth: Awakening to your life’s purpose by Eckhart Tolle (2005)
Wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now by Maya Angelou (1995) (a re-read)
Understanding Dreams by Paul Roland (1999)
Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C.G. Jung (1995)
Journal to the Self: 22 Paths to Personal Growth by Kathleen Adams (1990)
Writing Life Stories: How to Make Memories into Memoirs, Ideas into Essays & Life into Literature by Bill Roorbach (1998)
Writing down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg (1986)
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984) (a re-read)
Creative Writing by Dianne Doubtfire (2003)
Dreams, Miracles and Jazz: New Adventures in African Writing, edited by Helon Habila & Kadija Sesay (2008)
Ntozake Shange Plays: 1 for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf / spell #7 / the love space demands (1992)
Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy by Tricia Rose (2003)
Shaking the Tree: A Collection of New Fiction and Memoir by Black Women, edited by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah (2003)
Broken Open: How difficult times can help us grow by Elizabeth Lesser (2004)
Killer Tune by Dreda Say Mitchell (2007)
Ten Steps to Publishing Children’s Books by Berthe Amoss & Eric Suben
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2003)
Remembered Rapture: The Writer at Work by bell hooks (1999) (a re-read)
The Monkey’s Typewriter by Willesden Green Writers’ Group (2005)
Lara by Bernadine Evaristo (1997) (a re-read)
HUSH by Jacqueline Woodson (2002)
DREADS by Francesco Mastalia & Alfonse Pagano, intro by Alice Walker (1999)
Hair Story: Untangling the roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana D. Byrd & Lori L. Tharps (1988)
Be Your Own Best Life Coach by Jackee Holder (2009)
A Mercy by Toni Morrison (2008)
A Creative Guide to Exploring Your Life by Graham Gordon Ramsay & Holly Barlow Sweet (2009)

Favourite novel of 2008: A Mercy by Toni Morrison

Other favourites include:
DREADS – for the insight and the spectacular photography
Hair Story – for the historical and cultural knowledge
Rastafari – for insight and extensive cultural knowledge
Shaking the Tree– a real treasure.
Writing Life Stories and Writing Down the Bones - for encouraging me to write!
The House on Mango Street – as a good read and reference to the vignette genre
A Creative Guide to Exploring Your Life – for revealing aspects of your life and for experimenting in the mixed media of art, photography and writing.

To end 2008, here is a quote:

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
(Bill Cosby)

See you in 2009!