Tag: Book Review

Writing It Gently, Babies

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A Book Review

Let Me Write This Gently, My Baby by Lisa Marie Lovett. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

Lately, I’ve been reading books that are seeping into my soul, spreading throughout my body, and settling into my marrow. There is nothing like reading a damn good book that strengthens you throughout the read, and begs you to sit with it for a while longer than you initially planned to. Let Me Write This Gently, My Baby by Lisa Marrie Lovett (Seasoned Dialogue on all platforms) does exactly that.

A spoken word poet, speaker, and influencer (amongst other things), Lisa lures the reader in with her gentle sayings that come wrapped in love, but with Mama’s sternness, and lets you know she means exactly what is being said to you. In every word shared within these pages, there is love, kindness, encouragement, testimonies, and a subtle bite to remind the reader that the author can get feisty if she has to. I appreciated everything this book has to offer, and I am blessed to have had a friend gift it to me a couple of months ago.

Below is the review of it that I shared on Amazon and Goodreads:

I Sat With This Book As If It Were My North Star

And that isn’t to say that it steered me along the right path every single time I opened it up, no I am saying this because the journey was a much-needed one. It came at the right time, and as a gift, too.

Sometimes, we need wisdom to glide to us in other forms, and when it is laced as poetry and literary art, for the written word creative, that is a blessing.

To connect with another human being’s words when you’re hungry for peace is soulspeak on an entirely different level.

Lisa Marie Lovett is in fact, “Seasoned Dialogue”, everything about this book screams teacher, poet, writer, experienced, a work in progress, blessed, and willing to learn. “Knowledge is infinite”, and within these pages, there is plenty of it shared with the reader.

I intend to read this book many more times, especially when life becomes far too heavy to carry or is cloaked in evil that I cannot fight alone.

Let Me Write This Gently, My Baby is a testimony that will continue to confess for many years to come.

If you’re a lover of poetry and looking for a book full of spoken word and poems that will nestle up next to you and spend a few nights in your head, this book is for you. The flow is smooth, succinct, flawless, and seamless, without a single hiccup. I appreciate the literary artistry on every page, and I am sure you will do the same.

Have you gotten your copy of Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction at Lulu in E-Book & Paperback versions, or Amazon in Paperback (only) yet?

I am on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about recent events with a previous place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination, growth from the transition after resigning from that company, and life’s foibles and overall experiences. I welcome your visit.

Flowing Like Water

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A Book Review

Watering Words by Bidgette Kay. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

Every so often, I come across a book that rattles me to my core and shifts me in ways I am not usually shifted. And when it’s a book of fictional work, too, that makes it even more special! Watering Words: 52 Short Stories by Bridgette Kay is a book of this caliber. Every story tapped into my spirit, tuned me in completely, and held my attention until the very end.

I savored this book, finishing it in just under a month. I wanted to sit with her words and allow every story to connect with me in some way. I am glad I allowed myself to do this. As an admirer and writer of fiction myself, I understand the importance of creating characters that readers can understand, love, and believe. Bridgette does this flawlessly.

Below you will find the review I shared on both Amazon and Goodreads:

A Work of True Literary Art

I began reading this book knowing I would enjoy every page. Bridgette Kay doesn’t disappoint with Watering Words.

Every story is an in-depth look into the lives of characters that morph into their very own pieces of beauty, beast, friend, and foe. I took my time reading this one, savoring it for close to a month.

I wanted to become one with the words, and I did.

I appreciated several things I recognized reoccurring in different stories as symbols or perhaps themes: the name “Theo,” the number thirteen, and familial struggles brought about from the mother/matriarch of the family.

You will find tales focusing on love, loss, and grief with hints of magic, witchcraft, and religion sprinkled in. To say that many of the stories had me on the edge of my seat is a crippling understatement.

Beginning the book with Waiting for the Bus and ending it with Rainy Day Recruit is pure unadulterated genius. Most, if not all of these stories are extremely powerful, they can stand perfectly on their own, but these two stories are placed exactly where they should be, and I believe they entice the reader to come back for additional reads.

I know I will.

I had no doubt that when I purchased Watering Words, I would enjoy it. And I did. Hands down, the BEST collection of fictional stories I have had the pleasure of reading in an extremely long time. If you’re looking for bold tales centered around love, loss, growth, pain, and the absurdities of life, this collection of stories should be yours.

I guarantee that you’ll be singing its praises, too.

Have you gotten your copy of Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction at Lulu in E-Book & Paperback versions, or Amazon in Paperback (only) yet?

I am on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about recent events with a previous place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination, growth from the transition after resigning from that company, and life’s foibles and overall experiences. I welcome your visit.

The Sweet Reminder of Dog Heaven

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A Book Review

Dog Heaven by Cynthia Ryfant. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

A writing buddy had the above book delivered to me on Saturday, September 13, 2025. I’d viewed my camera/doorbell’s activity while I was visiting with my mother and noticed someone leaving a package. I hadn’t ordered anything, so my mind began racing about what it could be. Shortly after, I recalled a lovely and talented writing friend of mine requesting my mailing address; confirming it, really, and a lightbulb flickered.

Part of me wanted to get home to see what it could possibly be, and the other part of me wanted to remain right where I was with my mom, so as to not shed any more tears for the weekend.

I was happy to see the above book. Although I would mark the age range for this book for children, ages 4-12, anyone can benefit from reading Dog Heaven. It gave me all the feels and lifted me up during my deepest moments of sorrow.

Below is the review I left for it on Amazon and Goodreads.

I needed this book! 

After recently losing my sweet Little Monster of 17 years, I came home from visiting my mom and found this book at my door.

A writing buddy of mine had it sent to me. Knowing my connection and love for my dog, she thought it would be the perfect gesture. Someone she knows had the same book delivered to her shortly after she dealt with the loss of her dog.

Dog Heaven not only made me smile, but it calmed my heart. It allowed me to shed a few tears while reflecting on the best memories I have of my time spent with my little one. It made me believe my purpose was fulfilled with my dog.

Chock full of happy feelings, sweet illustrations, and a loving storyline for everyone to enjoy, Dog Heaven is a great book to gift to someone grieving and dealing with a fresh loss of their pet.

It’s a tiny glimmer of hope, sprinkled with joy, and wrapped in love.

Grief is going to continue to come in waves. Mourning will only be as beautiful and self-serving as I will allow it, but this book… this book helped me immediately after the change in my life felt like real change.

If you know anyone dealing with the loss of their pet, I recommend this book. It is truly near and dear to my heart now, and I could not have asked for anything better.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with a previous place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination, growth from the transition after resigning from that company, and life’s foibles and overall experiences. I welcome your visit.

What If We Could Haiku the Pain Away?

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A Book Review

Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku

I am trying my best to fill my life with positive images, words, and people. Given our current situation, my heart needs it more than I thought it would. I do not want to come undone.

Enter, Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku, edited by Gabriela Marie Milton and published by her team at Literary Revelations, is a book that is lifting me to higher places.

I’ve recommended this anthology before as an informative post, and to share that I, too, have five haiku published in it.

Here’s the review, shared on Amazon and Goodreads:

“An Anthology of Creativity, Expressiveness, and Tranquility

Before I purchased this anthology, I knew it would be a work of art. There are over 230 writers and connoisseurs of haiku included, and with every turn of the page, a land of wonder awaits the reader.

Edited by Gabriela Marie Milton and published by Literary Revelations, the team has produced a book that is sure to stand the test of time.

It is an outstanding follow-up to Petals of Haiku: An Anthology, and is now placed alongside it on one of my bookshelves.

I appreciate and have an affinity for the form of haiku as it pertains to micropoetry, and every contributor shared their five haiku in creative and vividly expressed ways.

I have no doubt this book will be one I turn to when I need a place of calm as my personal retreat.

If you want to experience creativity at its highest, timely serenity, and be engulfed by the expressiveness throughout the anthology, then, I suggest this book for your collection.

We all could use a bit of tranquility.”

An overwhelming sense of calm would enter my body every time I picked up this book to read it. It’s as though every writer were in sync with one another.

We all understood the assignment. And I hope you’ll take the time and care to share with your heart a plethora of haiku that’ll definitely do it some good.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

The Beauty of Love and Creativity

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A Book Review

The most important items at that moment. Intersections by Jack Herlocker is my favorite, though.

There’s nothing quite like reading a book that makes you laugh, reflect, wonder about what it’s like to find the VERY person with whom you connect on a level no one else gets, and sink into poetic goodness, too! Intersections: Stories, Chats, Truths, and Verses, by Jack Herlocker, has all of this and more! Jack and I met on Medium (maybe 9 or 10 years ago?), where we dove right into each other’s work.

He’s always been such a cool cat who doted on his wife, shared stories about his life in the military, being married and then divorced, and married again, and also about his career in IT and as a technical writer, etc.

When I found out he had published a book by familiarizing myself with his Substack bio, I jumped at the opportunity to get it, and I was not disappointed. I knew I wouldn’t be. There’s something in this book for everyone.

The review for it on Amazon is below:

“A Quick Read That Has Lasting Effects

I had not been surprised when I beamed with elation and excitement upon the first few pages of Jack’s book. It’s classic Jack with a bit of humor, sadness, truth, and peace sprinkled throughout each page.

You’ll laugh out loud (I did so many times) from the section, “Chats with Deb”, be inspired by his short fiction, moved by his poetry, and locked in while reading the creative non-fiction. Jack is, as God would have it, a Jack of All Trades.

He doesn’t skimp on creativity, metaphorical blends, easy-to-digest scenarios, and entertainment. Reading this book made me remember how much I loved interacting with his work on Medium, and now, I get to do so again on Substack.

If you’re looking for a fun-filled quick read that will put you in a good mood, “Intersections” is truly the book you’ll want to get. It did not disappoint, and I knew it would not.”

For light-hearted reading with a splash of humor and reflection, this is the book for you. I know one day soon, I will pick it up again, and I’m certain I’ll find something new upon the next reading of it. It’s the kind of book one would never tire of reading, especially during these God-forsaken times in which we currently live.

We Should Probably Heed the Family Warning

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A Book Review

Too Much and Never Enough. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

Recently, I finished Mary L. Trump’s book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, which I believe everyone in the United States should read. I sat with this book for a few weeks, savoring it. I did not want to rush through it, so I did not. I took everything in, digested all of it as best as I could, and I am happy that I spent as much time with it as I did.

I reviewed it both on Amazon and Goodreads, and the review is as follows:

“Every Family Has a Bit of Dysfunction

But the Trump Family, as it’s told by Mary L. Trump, Donald J. Trump’s niece, is on a whole other level of shadiness, greed, carelessness, and self-fulfilling tactics.

Mary, a Clinical Psychologist, posits that her uncle’s behavior didn’t simply evolve on its own, he had help. The culprit? Her grandfather, Fred Trump.

Donald was a puppet, a means to an end for her grandfather; someone he wanted to abide by his rules and show that he could carry on the family business in the most vindictive ways possible.

If Donald couldn’t satisfy his father’s requirements, his father’s love would be harder to obtain. Imagine knowing your entire life is a circus; that your performance is monitored and calculated, and if you don’t perform well, you mean nothing. You are nothing.

Reading this book gave me a better understanding of the current sitting president’s mental health, and a deeper look into his overall background as a member of the Trump Family.

I remembered his brother Freddy (Mary’s father) and tales of his demise before reading the book, and was recounting the story to my mother a couple months ago.

To thumb through every page pertaining to his involvement in his father’s business and how it brought about his dive into alcoholism and a slow rotting depression, made my heart ache.

If you’re an empath, you’ll read this book and walk away more knowledgeable about people-pleasing and the need to feed our parents’ curiosity into who they want their children to become. You’ll be left with the pain of this world because of the carelessness of a few.

Donald will never seek help from what his past has done to his present self. “Donald today is much as he is at three years old: incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his response, or take in and synthesize information.”

And with this, we have a human being in the highest seat of the land (once again), performing theatrics and skirting around important issues because he is still living to please a person who is no longer alive; his father.

We are all at the mercy of a person who does not care about the American people and never will. The end goal for him is complete and utter power and the ultimate hierarchy status. Dictatorship. Kingship.

“If he can in any way, profit from your death, he’ll facilitate it, and then he’ll ignore the fact that you died.”

For a deeper understanding of the person America wanted as president yet again, I recommend this book. Learn about the mistake we made. Engross yourself in the damage you may have caused if he was your choice during this past presidential election.

Take a look at the baby trapped in an elderly man’s body whose sole purpose is to obliterate anything that stands in his way of getting everything he wants.

Did you make the right choice? I am certain Mary L. Trump, the author of this book and niece of Donald J. Trump, would say, “No, you did not.”‘

I do not say any of the above with a silver spoon tied to my mouth. I am a hard-working, low-level middle-class, Black, bisexual woman who lives in the South. Basically, I am everything Trump hates. My bones are completely and utterly tired of the drama seeping into my marrow from the daily antics of a man who “doesn’t know any better.” Donald is still operating as a child would; a teenager who will tantrum it out if he or she doesn’t get their way. This is what we’ve been gifted with Trump 2.0.

If you can sleep well at night knowing everything that has occurred since January 20, 2025, has your name stamped all over it, then you and I would not be kissing cousins or good buddies offline. It is telling of the type of person you are with regards to what you want for the American people, what you want for our allies, and any other human being living and breathing on this planet. That shit is contagious, and I don’t want it around me.

As for the book, I plan to read it again and maybe again after that. To know a niece could tell the world all about her uncle while he’s still alive, lets me know his past is his present, and he has no way of differentiating between the two, and we are all going to suffer because of it. We probably should have heeded her warning.