Friday, September 08, 2006

Friday Bookish Tag

Good morning! I was tagged by Michael J. West. That’s cool because he wants me to talk about my favorite subject, books! Thanks Michael. So, like da here it go!

1. Book that changed your life: That book would definitely be After Hours, by Edwin Torres. It was 1986 and I was in the Navy. We had been out at sea for more than 3 weeks when I picked up this book in the ship’s library. This was the first book I read that was not assigned by a teacher. I was 19. I’ve been intrigued ever since.

Honorable mention:
How Can Man Die Better?: The Life of Robert Sobukwe, by Benjamin Pogrun. This book is the reason that I met my wife. That’s another blog.

2. Book you've read more than once: I write what I like, by Stephen Biko. I first tried to read this book as a freshman (1990) in college. I put it down out of frustration because of all the grand words and ideas concerning Apartheid. I revisited the book in 1996 and I actually thought that it was changed because I understood so well. I guess that I learned something in college.

3. Book you'd take to a desert island: The Bible. That’s why Gilligan and the crew never got off that Island. They didn’t have the Bible. I am a preacher's son and besides, the Father might be reading this.

4. Book that made you laugh: I can think of funny moments in books, but never one that made me laugh all the way through. I guess that I need to read something funny?

5. Book that made you cry: Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye, by David Ritz. I love to read about my favorite entertainers. Also, Where The Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls. I remember reading this book in middle school. A boy and his puppy is enough to make anyone cry.

6. Book you wish you had written: Cane, by Jean Toomer.

7. Book you wish had never been written: I can’t think of one in particular, but any literature that spreads a message of hate towards any group.

8. Book you're currently reading: Caribbean Race Relations: A Study of Two Variants by H. Hoetink (1967) It has a textbook feel to it, but a really interesting read that takes a close look at race in the Caribbean and southern United States.

9. Book you've been meaning to read: Half the books on my bookshelf and others that I haven’t bought yet.

Top of my list:

I am looking forward to reading Geoffrey Philp’s books, Benjamin, my son and Uncle Obadiah and the Alien.
Michelle Buckley’s books, Bullet Proof Soul and Trippin’.

Stephen Earley Jordan ll book, Beyond Bougie (http://www.sejordan.net/)


10. I hope that you enjoyed this. Please feel free to tag yourself if you’d like to share with us your favorite books. Also, please let me know so that I can read yours. I know that I’m going against the tag rules, but hey…
Anyway, have a great weekend and be safe. Peace~

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah...I'm doing this tag on my blog!!

I love reading, so I'm going to look up some of these books that you have mentioned here. I remember reading "Where the red fern grows" but I don't quite remember what it was about. I love reading the Bible, not only for learning and knowing scripture, but its HISTORY!! And I love history.

I recently purchased a slew of books and I'm having a hard time trying to figure out which one I want to read first. I just finished "Teach me how to love you" by Thomas Weeks III, (which I would recommend that you read since you're married! It's a GREAT book!!). I'm currently reading, "A piece of cake" by Cupcake Brown. And I have to say, I don't particularly like this book, I'm about half way through it, but I'm curious to see how it ends.

Anyway...I could go on and on and on...so I'll stop here and you'll have to read the rest of my ramblings about books on my blog!

Peace!

~UB

Stephen A. Bess said...

ub-
Thanks for the recommendations. :) I'm looking forward to reading your answers. I'll be checking. Peace!

MJW said...

Excellent choices. :-) Well, the ones I've heard of, anyway. Is "Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye" the one by Michael Eric Dyson?

Stephen A. Bess said...

mjw-
Thanks! Divided Soul was by David Ritz. I've never read anything by Eric Dyson.

Geoffrey Philp said...

Dear Stephen,

Thanks for the mention. I'm doing my meme on Wednesday of next week.

Have a great weekend!

Stephen A. Bess said...

geoffrey-
my pleasure. I'll be looking for yours next week. Enjoy your weekend as well.

Blessings~

Michelle said...

I'm honored to be on your 'books to read' list. Thanks sir! I'm gonna have to tag myself and do this one. Have a blessed, no stress weekend.

Stephen A. Bess said...

michelle-
you're welcome and I will. I'll be looking for your answers. Peace~

to touch a unicorn said...

Very interesting reading Stephen, I'll have to look those books up later. Glad I'm not the only one with a TBR mountain. :P
Enjoy your weekend.:-)

NML/Natalie said...

That's a pretty interesting book list you have there. One day when I get past my backlog of books, I'll check some out. Have a good weekend :-)

black feline said...

interesting choices...except the Bible..to be honest...the rest is totally new to me...will check out the rest!

Stephen A. Bess said...

heimdallr-
I know. I have to just stop buying until I read what I have.

nml-
What's up! I hope that your weekend is going well. Enjoy!

blkfeline-
It's always nice when I can see something new or read something new. I hope that something on my list will be of some benefit.

Msg to all:
One of my favorite writers of all time is Richard Wright. I really loved Black Boy, The Outsider, and The Long Dream. They are my favorites among his classic, Native Son.

Anonymous said...

I just purchased "Native Son" today. I've never read anything by Richard Wright. I know...shame on me!! I just recently started reading books by Black authors...so all this is very new to me.

I'm looking forward to reading Native Son. I saw Black Boy in the store but I think I'll wait on that. I also purchased Toni Morrison's "Love". Looking forward to reading that too!

Oh yeah...and I started reading Colin Channer's "Satisfy my soul" on Friday. Almost finished with the book. Its definitely a page turner! Wow...I'm so impressed with his writing.

Ok...thats enough for now! LOL. I could go on forever.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! Peace!!

~UB

Professor Zero said...

This book is the reason that I met my wife.

How intriguing! This will be a fascinating blog...

Stephen A. Bess said...

ub-
You're worse than me with buying books. :)I hope that you enjoy them. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about Richard Wright.

profzero-
I'll have to type something up about that. I can put something together about Sobukwe and go from there.

Anonymous said...

Stephen-
You have NO idea!! LOL. Most women have a shoe fetish...I have a book fetish!! It's so hard for me to go into a book store and not buy a book. Wait...I don't even have to go into a book store. I can go in the book section of Target and be so tempted to buy a book!! I guess its a good thing but man...books will drain your wallet! =)

JD richey said...

Hi Steve,

havent been here for a long long time, finally i have finished my thesis on rousseau, though there is still some troublesome cocnerning my submission. (i am "partially" released)

and thanks very much to have put my blog in your link, though i guess i am the only one here who write in chinese.

and may i add "book that you dont want to read anymore" and "book that you dont want anyone to know that you have read or are reading"?

regards,
kaho

Stephen A. Bess said...

kaho-
Hello! Good to see you. Yes, you are my only connection with China. :) I can add to the list as you suggested:

Book that you dont want to read anymore:
We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin
I couldn't deal with the the portrayal of the black character. Perhaps I can pick it up later.

Book that you dont want anyone to know that you have read or are reading:
Long White Con, by Iceberg Slim. This guy was/is a Pimp. I don't condone prostitution or pimping so I probably should be ashamed. However, his books are considered classics among some of us from the innercity and beyond.

Stephen A. Bess said...

kaho-
By the way, congrats on finishing your thesis on Rousseau!

Best~

Stephen

Anonymous said...

Hey Stephen,

I did the list on my blog as well. Thanks for passing teh word.

Peace and Love,

Xavier
(http://LoversA.blogspot.com)

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