What? You didn’t think I spent ALL my time shopping and gallivanting, did you? I haven’t been able to read for enjoyment the way I did before graduate school, and am just getting back to it. These are all great reads, whether your tastes run to highbrow, lowbrow…or somewhere in between.

Get INformation: Becoming Beyonce, by J. Randy Tarraborelli. Three stars and a bottle of hot sauce for this juicy read. Does it lay out what happened in that elevator in 2013? You’ll have to read it yourself.

Real Housewife of Barnes and Noble: American Housewife, by Helen Ellis. Four stars. Witty, strange and definitely funny. Ellis and her characters are women I’d love to have a cocktail with. Fun facts: Ellis is an accomplished poker player and was reared in Tuscaloosa.

HERstory: My Time with the Kings: A Reporter’s Recollection of Martin, Coretta and the Civil Rights Movement, by Kathryn Johnson. Three and three quarter stars. Johnson became an AP reporter covering the civil rights movement and the King family during a turbulent time in history. She had a front row seat to many things, including Dr. King’s funeral, and was even allowed  into the King family’s intimate spaces. She was present for the  University of Alabama’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, and her recollections on that alone make this a read. Her resourcefulness, quick thinking and gumption gave her access many could not have gotten.

And one to grow on: I Had a Favorite Dress, by Boni Ashburn. This was a pick for my niece, who loves to be read to! (And also so she doesn’t become a semi-hoarder like her aunt.) The illustrations and story are lovely.

All images via Amazon