Steeps On the Go – Traveling with Tea

My personal travel Tea kit plus a review of the portable Electric Kettle I purchased

Vera – Review

Lucy's father has died unexpectedly; she's still processing this new circumstance that her father, who she loves and had been her companion for many years is no more. As Lucy looks out on the vast sea, she notices a man who approaches. Everard Wemyss, confides in Lucy that he's lonely and has lost his wife.

Daniel Deronda – Review

"It hurts me now to think of your grief. You must not grieve any more for me. It is better - it shall be better with me because I have known you." To say I was excited by the prospect of reading another book by George Eliot seems an understatement. Middlemarch and Silas Marner are

Island Queen – Book Review

Thank you to the publisher William Morrow for this gifted book. “And don't you ever take abuse or dim your light because of a fool. You're remarkable. The rest of us are trying to catch up.” “You have to love yourself for more than a moment, 'cause moments pass.”—Island Queen, Vanessa Riley What book(s) have

Kyusu (Teapot) Review: Lessons During Tea Time

Steep time with new teaware! Thank you Umi Tea Sets for the gifted teapot! SERIOUSLY Tea Those who know me are well aware I take my tea very seriously. Before pandemic life, if traveling, I pack my own loose tea. If it's dust in a bag, I'll kindly pass. #teamlooseleaf everyday. As my tea journey

Anne of Green Gables- Review

"Even although we meet as strangers now I still love her with an inextinguishable love. It makes me very sad at times to think about her. But really, Marilla, one can’t stay sad very long in such an interesting world, can one?” Now I finally know how Anne came to live with Marilla and Matthew. 

Memorial Drive

Thank you to the publisher, Ecco Books, for the review book. “Perhaps this division is a metaphor [sleep paralysis] for the way I've lived all these years: the conscious mind struggling to move on, but the body resistant. The mind forgetting, the body retaining the memory of trauma in its cells.”Memorial Drive, Natasha Tretheway When

Silver Sparrow

“Women on television have friends they can count on. My mother’s favorite TV show was The Golden Girls, about these four old ladies that live together...solving each other’s problems, being each other’s bridge over troubled water. With my Grandma Bunny a year in the ground, my mama didn’t have anybody but me.” Silver Sparrow, Tayari

Steeped in Books and Tea 8.7.2020

What I've steeped (tea) and books read this week

Steeped in Shenanigans 7.23.2020

The best of intentions get lost in massive stacks of books and large pots of tea. So here goes, I will embrace the concept of a somewhat spontaneous planned weekly post. What's going on with me? The last time I wrote a conversation post was back in April during the early weeks of shelter in

It’s Not All Downhill from Here

Thank you Random House #randomhousepartner for the review book. “Would you like some hot tea or does that make you feel like an old lady?”— It's Not All Downhill from Here, Terry McMillan First off, great Auntie Lo (Loretha), I implore you and Jalecia STOP MAKING TEA USING THE MICROWAVE and dunking tea bags in

Lady Audley’s Secret

“Surely a pretty woman never looks prettier than when making tea. The most feminine and most domestic of all occupations imparts a magic harmony to her every movement, a witchery to her every glance. The floating mists from the boiling liquid in which she infuses the soothing herbs; whose secrets are known to her alone,

The Girl With the Louding Voice

“My cry is a soft wail, both a whipping and healing to my heart... until someone calls my name from afar, a sound that stops the wail so sudden, as if something snap off a rushing stream from the source of it.”The Girl With the Louding Voice My Dearest Adunni,Finding the words to capture the

Miracle Creek – Review

“We all have thoughts that shame us.”Miracle Creek, Angie Kim Miracle Creek This simple statement reveals a truth about human nature. None of us are perfect and those moments of frustration, anger, fear, loneliness—the list is long—can spark a chain reaction of events we never expected. Are we so consumed by our own lives and

Ask Again, Yes – Review

“We repeat what we don't repair.” — Ask Again, Yes, Mary Beth KeaneThank you to the publisher, Scribner Books, Dart Frogg Company and the author for a complimentary copy of this book. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane What do you think? Are we bound to make the same mistakes, further compounding them, when

Villette -Review

Villette by Charlotte Brontë with matching Fossil Handbag and Tea Set “Lucy, I wonder if anybody will ever comprehend you altogether.” Dear Charlotte, I thought it would be a good idea to write a letter to you about Lucy Snow, the heroine in your book Villette. To say Jane Eyre and Lucy Snow are completely

My Cousin Rachel – Review

“That was the infuriating thing about a woman. Always the last word. Leaving one to grapple with ill-temper, and she herself serene. A woman, it seemed, was never in the wrong. Or if she was, she twisted the fault to her advantage, making it seem otherwise.” When Philip's best friend and older cousin Ambrose, delays

The Yellow House – Review

“Remembering is a chair that it is hard to sit still in.” The Yellow House by Sarah Broom with Chocolate Hazelnut Tea Latte from Plum Deluxe Tea Last year, I had the opportunity to attend The Decatur Book Festival with the final session of the day, being one where Sarah Broom was discussing her book,

Books By the Cup Café – Lakewood Book Tour

Welcome to Books By the Cup Café (BBTCC). Thank you Amistad Books (publisher) for the free review book. Thank you Amoda Tea for today's featured tea. Lakewood by Megan Giddings Book: Lakewood by Megan Giddings (MG) available today, March 24, 2020, in the USFeatured Tea: Mint Green Chai, sencha green tea beautifully balanced with cardamom,

Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston

A woman robbed of her love is more terrible than an army with banners. Reflecting on Hurston's recently published collection, I needed to steep, sip and reflect on my thoughts on a few of my favorite stories. In John Redding Goes to Sea, I could feel a tumult of emotions, especially for John, wanting to

Steeped in Short Stories #SteepedInShortStories

It's been a while since I've had a chat outside of posted reviews. I'm getting my blog rhythm back slowly but surely. But I needed some time to think about what I wanted reading to look like this year. I shared my 2020 Reading Ambitions with one specific way I wanted to steep my reading.

Quicksand – Review

“But just what did she want? Barring a desire for material security, gracious ways of living, a profusion of lovely clothes, and a goodly share of envious admiration, Helga Crane didn't know, couldn't tell. But there was, she knew, something else. Happiness, she supposed. Whatever that might be. What, exactly, she wondered, was happiness. Very

Invisible Man – Review

“Perhaps, I thought, the two things are involved with each other. When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Even though it's been weeks since I finished this book, I believe it's one I would continue to see in my reading, interactions and observations, looking at the past and

The Gilded Years – Review

"I need to keep up the act that I have been keeping up successfully for three years. You are allowed to have your own identity. I have to create mine." -The Gilded Years, Karin Tanabe The moment you realize the book you're reading has your mind spinning, your heart racing with the gravity of a

2019 Reading Recap & 2020 Ambitions

Life has been busy, so it’s taken most of January 2020 to wrap up my Best of 2019. I’ll link them here ICYMI. Best ClassicsBest FictionBest Nonfiction Best Audiobooks Now that’s finished, I can recap and reflect on my 2019 reading year. 2019 Reading Stats GoodReads goal read 52 books. Total books read 111 My

JORD Suberhide Wallet at Books by the Cup Café

A few years ago, I had the pleasure to work with JORD (pronounced YODE) to try one of their wood watches, the Frankie in Ebony and Gold (on left wrist). I liked the watch so much, I ordered the CASSIA watch shortly thereafter.  I have what some might call a healthy (heavy) appreciation for beautiful

Best of 2019- Audiobooks

Audiobooks have changed my reading life for the better especially when commuting and running errands, doing things around the house. I'm planning to use them in 2020 to get more active. If anyone can recommend affordable wireless ear buds, I'm all ears. Speaking of ears, here's some of my favorite audiobooks of 2019. Narrated by

Best of 2019 – Nonfiction

The best of 2019 continues, I am trying not to take the whole of January 2020 to share everything but I also don't want to spam anyone. Lesson learned, I will plan better to have these done in December but sometimes that's hard when you're trying to finish just one more book. STAND BY YOUR

Black No More – Review

Thank you to Penguin Classics for gifting this book to feature and review. "What, indeed, was fifty, sixty or seventy dollars when one was leaving behind insult, ostracism, segregation and discrimination?" There is much to discuss in the pages of this satire and I'm not sure if I'm ready.  But I want to give it

Best of 2019 – Fiction

I'm back with the next installment for my best of 2019, I wanted to wait a few days to share my favorite fiction reads including short stories and historical fiction. Three of the books on this list were published this year. UNMARRIAGEABLE by Soniah Kamal “Jane Austen is ruthless when it comes to drawing-room hypocrisy.

Best of 2019 – Classics

As 2019 ends (ended) and we're 3 days into 2020, I have been busy writing to share the books the fall into the best of the year. Reading 111 books isn't bad, but makes it somewhat of a challenge to narrow down my favorites into just one post, like I did last year. But when

The Nickel Boys – Review

"Elwood never ceased to marvel how you could walk around and get used to seeing only a fraction of the world.  Not knowing you only saw a sliver of the real thing." I don't often, matter of fact, I don't think I've ever, pre-ordered a book. But I promptly and without hesitation pre-ordered Colson Whitehead’s

The Count of Monte Cristo – Review

"There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness." Why hello there Dantès! I thought it would be nice to reach out to you, telling you about the epic

The Black Tulip- Review

"You don’t know, sir, what I suffer. You don’t know the struggle going on in my heart and mind." - The Black Tulip, Alexandre Dumas Tulips are a BIG deal in the Netherlands.  I discovered that when I visited a few months ago.  So when I started reading this book, I felt like I'd been

The Wake of the Wind – Review

"And the wind never will blow all life away, you just got to find a way to live in the wake of that wind.  Cause it leaves a wake,  full of trash flying around everywhere." There are few who can craft and create as J. California Cooper does.  Her work should be savored while you

An American Marriage – Review

Hello blog buddies! I'm back with an unpopular opinion on a book I recently attempted to read but stopped and DNF (did not finish). Let's jump right into things. "Marriage is between two people. There is no studio audience." As black people in America, our histories are complex, our present and future, bright and hopeful,

My week in books and tea 11.10.19

Last week's post was a few days late (Friday) and I hope you don't mind this one is too (Tuesday). I'm reducing my screen time on the weekend, especially Sunday afternoons and evenings. We've been inviting friends over playing (board) games and it's turned into a hybrid game-tea time shenanigans. Last week's blooming tea was

I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying: Essays – Review

Thank you to the publisher, Harper Perennial, for gifting this book. "The rocket of pain was already exploding in my head.  I couldn't be responsible for creating new worries.  I was the oldest, it was my responsibility to be easy.  I couldn't tell them anything else.  I was told not to write on my tests

Diamond Doris – Review

"Under no circumstances did I want a 'normal' life--a normal, regular, everyday Black life. No way. Being humiliated at work. Paycheck to paycheck. Church on Sundays. Regular clothes. Routine relationships that don't go nowhere. Absolutely not. Not Miss Doris Payne. I wanted more than that. I wanted nice things. I wanted to travel the world.

Where are the books and tea? – an update

It's been over a month since I've shared something on the blog. I've missed sharing content and chatting, but being honest, I've just been tired. I've also fallen into a bit of a rut. I've been questioning my content--is it too predictable, is this too much? I've over analyzed reviews which means I have many

My week in books and tea 8.11.19

This week's editon is different for a few reasons. I've been out of town and read very little while away. I'm still a bit jet lagged so trying to formulate complete thoughts could potentially go awry. As I thought about jumping back into the weekly post routine, I wanted to try this instead. Since I've

Seasons by the Book: Q&A with Martha Hall Kelly

Seasons by the Book (SBTB), our seasonal book club, has enjoyed a wonderful start with our first book, Lilac Girls; our discussion and giveaway on Instagram were just a few highlights. To conclude our spring book selection, Cate and I, are happy to share this bonus Q&A with author, Martha Hall Kelly (MHK). We are

Our African-American Reads #ourafricanamericanreads

Thank you to publishers, Penguin Classics and Harper Perennial for providing books in support of this reading initiative. As a lover of the classics, there are books by or about African-American people, I've read and enjoyed, but still there are many I haven't. Pictured below is one I'm currently reading and the other 2, I'm

Battle of the Hazelnut Teas

I have raved endlessly about a wonderful hazelnut tea from a local tea shop called ZenTea. From the first time I smelled these tea leaves I knew I'd found a favorite. When I steeped my first cup I thought my goodness, have you had something so wonderful in your life? As my friends often tell