5 books you need to read:

In no particular order:

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
It's blowing up for a reason. Although i may be cheating by putting a trilogy as number one, the books are so good that you will breeze through them all. don't miss the bandwagon.

2. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire
"Black Women, Rape and Resistance- a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power". 'Nuff said. Actually, that's not enough. This book reinvents our preconceived and distorted perceptions of the civil rights movement. Who knew Rosa Parks was a secret investigator for the NAACP ? Read this book.

3. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Sometimes, you have to read books in order to think critically. Although it is a lengthy read, it is an important novel that contextualizes the concept of "The Old South". Before you read the book, keep in mind that many southerners teach this racist, problematic, FICTIONAL novel as history in high schools.

4. Awkward Family Photos by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack
Maybe you do not like reading? lol. Well, this book is hilarious. It is filled with the cheesiest, corniest, most uncomfortable family portraits. I stumbled upon this book at Urban Outfitters and it might provide a good laugh. Google search the cover, it's funny in itself.

5.  The Giver by Lois Lowry
Although the book is often called a children's novel, it is VERY intense. There are a lot of DEEP implications in the novel and it's definitely worth reading. It's a classic. 

i met someone else. [short short stories]

“He sat across from me, broken. Yes. He sat across from me, just as broken as his bloodied hand. I rose from the cushioned stools my mother gave me and walked to the freezer for ice. I pulled the handle on the freezer door, stopped, considered the chilly state of things …and then preceded back to the marble counter- my man, my shit storm.”

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"She came back from the freezer door lookin’ all gentle-like.  She looked like the first time I met her – soft and tender like love oughta look. But I aint fallin’ for that shit again. Oh no, with time I have learned to call out a snake wrapped in diamon’ ribbons when I see one. Yeah, she love ta’ slither and be pretty all right. She’ll strike ya’ when ya back turned. Mmm hmm, that’s a snake alrigh’."

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"I told him that it wasn’t intentional, that I just found something worth holding onto. My mind was battling for my attention. On one hand, I wrapped my million dollar- ivy league words around his head like a python preparing prey. On the other, I wondered who would pay for the destructive hole in my periwinkle walls. He iced his hand and I told him about the man I was leaving him for.  Yes, that night ... I helped ice his hand and his heart."

lice .

he wants to do the best by me . i wanna let him . but everything he says is worth half a penny to me . its bland, its tense, its like an arranged marriage . he still has man shoes to grow into . size 10 to be approximate . i only gave half of me buht it seemed to be enough to reel him into my disillusionment. i wanna appologize, but he's not even man enough to understand . poor thing, chewed his shit up with hot sauce & spit it out .

hmm, he's been around for years . he fed me the best of bullshit . i stayed in the kitchen while he baked it . i couldnt smell it . i guess enough sugar-coating can hide any wretched smell . ill admit i made some mistakes, but when crunch time came, he crunched me & chose her . i wanted to keep things safe, but as much as i tried to fasten my lifevest, he poked holes which caused me to drown in a puddle of drama . now things cant be the same .

whats the price for happiness? is the ex doo mama drama worth the feeling that this one gives ? he makes me smile like happiest memory. if i could fly us away to some foreign land & start a new ... life would be exceedingly amazing . nevertheless, we are held captive by community stigma, hating & doubt . girls raiding my caralibro trying to find evidentiary evidence to prosecute a man who has done nothing wrong in any capacity. im the helpless spouse crying in the courtroom .

whats a girl to do ?