A revealing assortment of short stories written by a Kentucky author.  The stories are slices of life and tell of the plight of black folks in Kentucky.  Well written and interesting, the stories seem to draw the reader in to the culture and history.

A great read.  Jubie, the 13 year old narrator, lives in Charlotte, NC, and can see the changes brought by "Brown vs. the Board of Education" case.  It does not bother her a bit, nor is her family very concerned.  The family seems ahead of its time in the area of race relations.  Mary, their black maid, is almost a part of the family and Jubie sees her as a friend and confidant.  When the family decides to go on vacation, Mary goes with them, while the father stays home.  The further south they travel, the worse the treatment is for Mary.  She endures "Separate but Equal" with a quiet dignity.

When the family stops at Pawley Island, a tragedy occurs.  Jubie's sister,  Stell Ann, wants to go to a black revival and Mary takes her and Jubie along.  On the walk back, the three take a short cut through a white neigborhood, where they are accosted and Mary is kidnapped, raped and murdered.  The family is heartbroken, but it is worse for Jubie since Mary and she have a bond.  Jubie steals the family car and drives back to Charlotte for Mary's funeral. 

This was a happy and sad book.  There are several subplots included in the novel.

The Way I See It was written by Melissa Anderson of the Little House Series.  I learned a lot about the film industry from this book.  Although it is not the most well-written book I have ever read, I learned a few terms I did not know the meaning of.  For example, "gaffer" or the technician responsible for lighting the set.  I also learned that "Ma" and "Pa" Ingalls really did not get along after the filming was over, in fact they barely spoke!  Michael Landon wore lifts in his shoes to make him as tall as Caroline.  Melissa Anderson enjoyed her job for the nearly eight years she was on the series.  The Little House cast was an amicable cast.  Her career took her to many other films.  Melissa Anderson was a child star that grew up relatively unscathed. 

Layla and her rich boyfriend, Hunter, want a simple wedding on the beach, but Didi, the future mother in law, wants an elaborate garden wedding to impress her rich friends.  Layla and Toni, her caterer friend, have already planned the wedding and reception but when the mother of the groom takes over, nothing goes as planned.  Layla thinks she would like to cancel the whole thing because none of the plans are what she wants.  Simple becomes extravagant. Easy becomes difficult.  It takes a catastrophic event and all of Toni's and Layla's friends to make Layla's dream come true.

What happens and who causes it will make your jaw drop!

I have always liked Betty White and the way she says something serious and makes it funny.  In this book, drawing from a lifetime of lessons learned, Betty tackles topic like friendship, romantic love, aging, television, fans, love for animals, and the new world of celebrity.  She tells humorous stories about her seven decades career in Hollywood.  One time she had a crush on Robert Redford.  Betty's beauty regimen is, I have no idea what color my hair is and I never intend to find out.  She discusses the Facebook campaign that helped persuade her to host Saturday Night Live despite declining the host job three times.  Betty touches on her childhood, her funny parents, early days in show business, as well as her present popularity.  She wanted to be a park ranger or writer when she grew up, but I think acting fits much better.  Betty still finds time to be an advocate for animals and has visited many times with Koko the signing gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo.  Betty says, "I stay in show business to pay for all my animal work."

I plan to keep watching her latest television show "Hot in Cleveland".  It's is so funny and Betty makes aging not look so bad.  This book is funny, sweet, and to the point-just like Betty White.

This was a very well written book.  It is the story of two one parent families, Claire's family, which includes a son and a daughter, and Tim's which includes a daughter, Ursula.  When Tim and Claire fall in love, they try to blend their families without success.  Claire's children, especially her son, act out; so does Ursula.  The children oppose blending the families so much that it never occurs.  This was not a story with a happy ending.

Late, Late at Night by Rick Springfield is the story of the entertainer’s life.  What makes his story different from other performers is his dealings with depression.  From his teen years on he has struggled with depression.  At the beginning of the book he writes of his attempt at suicide when he was 17 and tried to hang himself, but the knot didn’t hold.   He decides that the rope must have broken because there is something better in store for him.  He has a hit in the 70’s, but then his career wanes.  He concentrates more on acting because he is unable to get anything going with his music.  He decides to get back into music because he has a passion for it, and he writes a song called, “Jessie’s Girl.”  He has phenomenal success with that song and several from the album.  Depression dogs him even when he’s successful   He finally goes to a therapist, and that helps him.  I think it is an interesting book.  I thought it was good that a man wrote about dealing with depression since men tend to be reluctant to talk about their feelings.