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Kate’s 2¢: “Acting Out” by Benilde Little
“Acting Out” by Benilde Little
I think the take-away from this story is that, if doesn’t matter your ethnicity, age, or race, Human frailties abound.
Gail Nelson did a good job of reading this story for us.
www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Benilde-Little/9450
Benilde Little is the bestselling author of the novels Good Hair (selected as one of the ten best books of 1996 by the Los Angeles Times), The Itch, Acting Out, and Who Does She Think She Is? A former reporter for People and senior editor at Essence, she lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband.
Benilde Little, a former journalist, achieved success as a novelist with her sharp observations of class distinctions among African Americans. When her first novel, Good Hair , was published in 1996, critics described her as part of a literary wave of black female novelists forsaking tales of slavery and poverty to write about the black middle class and upper class. When that same wave of writers began to be pigeonholed as “black chick lit” in the 2000s, Little, in her mid-40s, expanded her range, combining the usual “chick lit” preoccupation with men and dating with a portrayal of generational differences in African-American families.
Little was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Her parents were an auto worker and a nurse’s aide, placing the family on the cusp between the working class and the middle class, but her parents tried hard to elevate their children into middle-class life through education and a stable home. In one interview, Little described watching her Newark neighborhood change as white families left and poorer black families moved in. The new kids at her school, less well-off than her, disdained her middle-class wardrobe and home.
That made Little conscious from an early age of how class differences can divide African Americans, an idea that was cemented in her mind when she attended the historically black Howard University, which has long educated much of America’s black elite. Fellow students would ask her what her father and grandfather did for a living or what car her father drove. “I don’t come from a really rich background or anything, ” she told Etelka Lehoczky of the Chicago Tribune. “I went to college and saw people who had a lot of stuff, and was kind of like, ‘Oh, my God.’ I thought we were privileged, and then I got to college and it was like, ‘No, we’re not.'”
Little attended graduate school at Northwestern University and worked as a newspaper reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Newark Star-Ledger.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Acting out: a novel DB64289
Little, Benilde. Reading time: 7 hours, 14 minutes.
Read by Gail Nelson.
Family
Psychological Fiction
When African American Ina Robinson’s wealthy husband leaves her and their three kids for another woman, Ina tries to reconnect with her past self. Ina looks up her college boyfriend, returns to taking photographs, and begins to make her own decisions. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2003.
Downloaded: September 9, 2023
Download Acting out: a novel
Kate’s 2¢: “Alter Ego” by Brian Freeman
“Alter Ego” by Brian Freeman
I enjoyed this story. I didn’t figure out the perp until the author wanted me to know who did the dasterly deeds.
–A lot of us have bad childhoods. At some point, you have to decide for yourself who you really are. If you let it make you evil, that’s on you.
–It takes a while to recognize special; especially, in yourself.
–Every journey has its failures and set-backs…all you can do is to try harder and do better at whatever comes next.
Joe Barrett did a good job of narrating this story for us.
Brian Freeman (born March 28, 1963) is an author of psychological suspense novels featuring Jonathan Stride and Serena Dial, and series featuring Cab Bolton and Frost Easton. He has also written novels in the Jason Bourne series after Robert Ludlum and Eric Van Lustbader. Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Carleton College where he graduated in 1984 with magna cum laude in English. Before becoming an author, Brian Freeman was a director of marketing and public relations.
New York Times Bestselling Author
Brian Freeman writes psychological thrillers that have been sold in 46 countries and 22 languages. His novel SPILLED BLOOD won the award for Best Hardcover Novel in the annual Thriller Awards, and his novel THE BURYING PLACE was a finalist for the same award. His novel THE DEEP, DEEP SNOW was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.
He has also been named by Putnam and the Robert Ludlum estate as the official author to continue Ludlum’s famous Jason Bourne franchise. Brian’s first Bourne novel THE BOURNE EVOLUTION was named one of the Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2020 by Kirkus.
“My goal is to write books with haunting characters and a lightning-fast pace,” Brian says. “My stories are about the hidden intimate motives that draw people across some dark lines. The twists and turns keep you turning the pages, and each piece in the puzzle gives you new insight into the heroes, victims, and villains.”
“I don’t like books where the characters are all good or all bad,” he adds. “I want them to live in the real world, where morality means tough choices and a lot of shades of gray. I hope that’s why readers relate so intensely to the people in my books.”
He is particularly known for the “you are there” sense of place in his novels, from dead-of-winter Minnesota to the tropical storms of Florida. He scouts real-life locales for all of his books and brings to life dramatic settings such as Duluth, San Francisco, Tampa, Las Vegas, and Door County, Wisconsin. “Nobody writes weather like Brian Freeman,” says one reviewer.
Brian has lived in Minnesota for more than 35 years with his wife, Marcia, who is his partner in life and in the book business. They both stay closely connected to Brian’s readers.
“This guy can tell a story.”
Michael Connelly
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author
©2022 Brian Freeman. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Notice.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Alter ego DB92174
Freeman, Brian. Reading time: 10 hours, 27 minutes.
Read by Joe Barrett.
Suspense Fiction
Mystery and Detective Stories
Psychological Fiction
When a freak accident kills a driver on a remote road outside Duluth, Jonathan Stride discovers the victim has a false identity and no evidence to suggest who he really was. What’s worse, the man has a recently fired gun in the trunk. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Downloaded: September 27, 2023
Download Alter ego