best books and cd's

[Tafadhali]

5 books 5 cd’s
What’s your favorite five cd’s and five books that changed the way you think and inspired you.

I have more than five bear with me ;)

1 oh the places we’ll go by dr. suess
(great graduation gift- light hearted and funny- the first book I read to my guy)

2 capitalism and slavery by dr. eric williams

3confessions of an economic hit man by john perkins
eye opening this turned me onto a eric toussaint’s the tyranny of global finance-( if I ever have the time to read all 400 pages of it its very intimidating- this time of year)

4.Message to the people by tony martin
Every black person should own this book!Im a “garveyite” because of this book- (They give him such a negative perception-mental slavery at it best the man was great and this was back in the 1920’s!)

5. our kind of people by lawrence graham-
the dynamics of black America is saddening

6. any iceberg slim book-
this is trash for the most part but it’s well written start with black mama widow- its so sad

Honourable mention(s) :
Malcolm gladwell- blink and the tipping point fast reads for me
John Grisham novels- he always intertwine the black experience in his works
Cane River by lalita Tademy I fell in love with Louisiana culture
the feast of all saints by anne Rice- who knew? is all I have to say


CD's
1 Nina simone best of –
she’s that great and her music is still relevant today powerful performer!
2Cannonball Adderly and nancy Wilson –
oh man this is the best- you can feel the music
3 Shirley Bassey- any cd I reccommend live
the power of the voice she’s is a class act stunning performance.
4 anita baker- rapture
(she sounds even better live!)
5 UGK- Ridin dirty
this album is “super tight” country rap tunes
Sunday worshipers beware this isn’t g rated music


6 Any KB cd
ya gattie love Bahamian music

7 Barrington levy- the best of (I just love him!)

8Tenor Saw- FEVER angelic voice- gone too soon.


Honourable mention :

Jill scott- who is…(the girl can sing!)

teedra moses complex simplicity (she’s gangsta!)

Hugh Masekela- still grazing best of

Willie Bobo- his finest hour I love him!

PRINCESS NUBIANS – THESE GIRLS ARE BAD I UNDERSTAND NOT A SINGLE
WORD BUT THE PRODUCTION IS AMAZING

Verve Remixed- Vol 1 (too funky)

Jeff Bradshaw- Soul Saxophonist- Bone Deep (move over Najee)

[k.o.o.l.b.o.n.z.e]

books:
pretty much anything penned by Mumia abu jamal, and edgar allen poe (even though i dont like the vocabulary he uses at times)

music:
1. Immortal technique - Revolutionary Vol. 2 (vol. 1 was good too) (political)
2. Canibus - Mic Club: The Curriculum (academic)
3. Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes (....wierd)
4. jedi mind tricks - Violent by design (the name says it all)
5. Ras kass - Soul on ice (kind of a mixture of the above)

special mention:
pretty much everything by slayer and suicidal tendancies affect my way of thinking by not letting me go to sleep that night

[Rory]

books - have no need to read

music - the sound of my own voice

:friday:

[Abiskan Moon-Angel]

Books:
1. How Israel Lost/Richard Ben Cramer - Interesting insight into the Middle East Crisis. More interesting because the author has an amazing sense of humor and the ability to look at the conflict for what it is, unobstructed by the fact that he is actually a Jew.
2. Lovely Bones/Alice Sebold - a 'different' type of novel. About a dead girl who tells her story from heaven. Pretty amazing. She starts from the day she was raped and murdered by her neighbour when she was 14 years old. The book is about how she sees everything from heaven...the desperation of her family to find her killer, the strain her murder takes on her family - which eventually tears them apart, how her classmate starts going out with the boy she was in love with...the hints she gives to her father to lead him to the killer...pretty interesting book. there's even a section where she is allowed to return from heaven and fall into a friend's body (possessing her) for a few minutes...good stuff, but quite sad.
3. Walking through the fire/Nawal el Saadawi - excellent book by egyptian 'feminist' growing up in a male dominated society. Describes her life as a medical doctor in Egypt, but her overwhelming desire to be a writer. She also talks about her serious of failed marriages, abortion and what its like for those who 'think outside the box' in 1960s Egypt. Her novels eventually lead her to a life in exile in the USA.
4. Life on the Colour Line/Gregory Williams - really can't recommend this book enough! its excellent! all about a 'white' boy growing up in 60s segregated America. After his mum takes off with his 2 youngest sibling, he and his little brother are left with their dad. It transpires quite early in the book that these 'white boys' are actually a quarter 'coloured' and their father, (who they though was 'dark' cause he was 'italian'), turn out to be actually 'half coloured'. The kids end up moving to an Indiana ghetto to live with their dad (and his mum) both of whom are alcoholics. The story takes off from there, after they are placed in an inner city school, describing the racism they must deal with from both whites and blacks...beware - tear-jerking tendency (4/5)
5. The Bookseller of Kabul/Åsne Seierstad - currently reading this and cant put it down! Written by a Norwegian woman who is spending time in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. She is friendly with a bookseller in Kabul, who allows her to move in with the family and write about his life. not too far in the book, but so far, she has gone into some details of how the family moved to Pakistan during the bombing campaign as refugees. she goes back and forth about afghan culture which is very intersting, yet repressive. discusses at length arranged marriages and how the 'choice' to say 'no', is not much of a choice. very good, but still reading it!
CDS (Sorry five is NOT enough!)
1. Zero 7 - When it Falls: Really laid back and chilled. electronic trip-hop is how i would classify it!
2. Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy: Pretty old album, but she really is one of my fave artists, and this album in particular is one i NEVER get tired of listening too. I think it has alot to do with where I was in my life at that point.
3. Gorillaz - Demon Days: especially 'dirty harry' - funk cyan done! good album!
4. Massive Attack - well...im a bit biased when it comes to MA - love ALL their music and have most of their albums, but fave songs: Protection (of course), Unfinished Sympathy, Teardrop, A Prayer for England.
5. PJ Harvey - Is this Desire?: pretty amazing album...along the Alanis Morrisette lines (also good), but less of that 'im a screaming-PMSing-feminist'...good for those candlelit-chill-out-and-drink-loads-of-shiraz-with-your-close-friends-evenings.
6. Coldplay X&Yohhhh just SO good...the best of british pop! lovely for winter, when its cold and grey outside!
7. Madonna - Confessions on the Dance Floor: ok, another one Im biased about...but I promise, for anyone who (like me) grew up in that Madaonna era - you will *L O V E* it. Very dancy, but she samples loads of huge tunes, which means you cant help but love the songs. I think she's made this album to target two groups of people (1) gay men and (2)...her early fans, who would have gone through that disco/dance/trance/90s era...she combines them all, and throws it back at us....making us feel youthful and 17 yrs old again! (at least me)! NB: the lyrics are a bit lame, but you get past that with the amazing beats.
8. Morcheeba - Who Can You Trust - again very chilled and groovy, can listen anytime.
9. Hooverphonic - Blue Wonder Power Milk - Another of my fave groups. Belgium don't produce that much, but this group is really really good, and this album is DA BOMB...again, its a bit electronic/ambient...if you like zero 7 and massive attack - this is for you.
10. Bob Marley - Legend - save the best for last, no collection is complete without it. its the only thing you can put on at a party and guarantee everyone will like...and end up singing drunk at the top of their lungs! indeed a classic!

[CG]

"The Masks of God." By Joseph Campbell.
There are four books in the collection, but lets count them as one. They deal with Mythology (Religion:) Creative, Primitive, Occidental and Oriental. These books shook me to the core! Campbell "opened my eyes" to the larger world of myth and religion, a world I never knew was there.

"Lost Christianity" By Jacob Needleman.
As it says on the cover "...(Jacob Needleman's) personal account of his quest for "the lost religion of love." Here is a quote. "Father Johnson is a Jesuit who has lived in Japan for thirty years and whose experience with Zen Buddhism has made him....one of the few committed Christians who have long believed that Christianity must show itself to be an expression of the same truth as the great Eastern teachings......" You can see why I like the book!

"Something of Value." By Robert Ruark.
It was about Kenya during the Mau-Mau uprising. They made a movie out of it which starred Rock Hudson, Dana Winter, and Sidney Poiter. The book was better. The first time I read it (1955) I was struck by man's inhumanity to man but I also remember a line from the book, "If a man does away with his traditional way of living and throws away his good customs, he had better first make certain that he has something of value to replace them." Something we all should remember, for our nation and ourselves.

There is one that sounds strange. "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations." What is good about it is that is a great resource or just reading for the fun of it. Also, they come out with a new addition from time to time. Great fun!

"The World's Religions." By Huston Smith. It was written in 1958 but it is still the best, non-judgmental book on Religions. Smith just gives the facts! I have used that book a thousand times in my Religion classes.

I am not a big fan of music. I only have a few CD's The Eagles, the Beatles, stuff like that. So you can see I am firmly stuck in the past!

[Tafadhali]

books:
pretty much anything penned by Mumia abu jamal, and edgar allen poe (even though i dont like the vocabulary he uses at times)

music:
1. Immortal technique - Revolutionary Vol. 2 (vol. 1 was good too) (political)
2. Canibus - Mic Club: The Curriculum (academic)
3. Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes (....wierd)
4. jedi mind tricks - Violent by design (the name says it all)
5. Ras kass - Soul on ice (kind of a mixture of the above)

special mention:
pretty much everything by slayer and suicidal tendancies affect my way of thinking by not letting me go to sleep that night

its rather coincidental that you say ras kass ;he's rather an obscure rapper from cally (you know his mom is a lawyer?) too much jail hasnt allowed his career to come to fruition and he has twins by Teedra!

[Tafadhali]

Books:
1. How Israel Lost/Richard Ben Cramer - Interesting insight into the Middle East Crisis. More interesting because the author has an amazing sense of humor and the ability to look at the conflict for what it is, unobstructed by the fact that he is actually a Jew.
2. Lovely Bones/Alice Sebold - a 'different' type of novel. About a dead girl who tells her story from heaven. Pretty amazing. She starts from the day she was raped and murdered by her neighbour when she was 14 years old. The book is about how she sees everything from heaven...the desperation of her family to find her killer, the strain her murder takes on her family - which eventually tears them apart, how her classmate starts going out with the boy she was in love with...the hints she gives to her father to lead him to the killer...pretty interesting book. there's even a section where she is allowed to return from heaven and fall into a friend's body (possessing her) for a few minutes...good stuff, but quite sad.
3. Walking through the fire/Nawal el Saadawi - excellent book by egyptian 'feminist' growing up in a male dominated society. Describes her life as a medical doctor in Egypt, but her overwhelming desire to be a writer. She also talks about her serious of failed marriages, abortion and what its like for those who 'think outside the box' in 1960s Egypt. Her novels eventually lead her to a life in exile in the USA.
4. Life on the Colour Line/Gregory Williams - really can't recommend this book enough! its excellent! all about a 'white' boy growing up in 60s segregated America. After his mum takes off with his 2 youngest sibling, he and his little brother are left with their dad. It transpires quite early in the book that these 'white boys' are actually a quarter 'coloured' and their father, (who they though was 'dark' cause he was 'italian'), turn out to be actually 'half coloured'. The kids end up moving to an Indiana ghetto to live with their dad (and his mum) both of whom are alcoholics. The story takes off from there, after they are placed in an inner city school, describing the racism they must deal with from both whites and blacks...beware - tear-jerking tendency (4/5)
5. The Bookseller of Kabul/Åsne Seierstad - currently reading this and cant put it down! Written by a Norwegian woman who is spending time in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. She is friendly with a bookseller in Kabul, who allows her to move in with the family and write about his life. not too far in the book, but so far, she has gone into some details of how the family moved to Pakistan during the bombing campaign as refugees. she goes back and forth about afghan culture which is very intersting, yet repressive. discusses at length arranged marriages and how the 'choice' to say 'no', is not much of a choice. very good, but still reading it!
CDS (Sorry five is NOT enough!)
1. Zero 7 - When it Falls: Really laid back and chilled. electronic trip-hop is how i would classify it!
2. Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy: Pretty old album, but she really is one of my fave artists, and this album in particular is one i NEVER get tired of listening too. I think it has alot to do with where I was in my life at that point.
3. Gorillaz - Demon Days: especially 'dirty harry' - funk cyan done! good album!
4. Massive Attack - well...im a bit biased when it comes to MA - love ALL their music and have most of their albums, but fave songs: Protection (of course), Unfinished Sympathy, Teardrop, A Prayer for England.
5. PJ Harvey - Is this Desire?: pretty amazing album...along the Alanis Morrisette lines (also good), but less of that 'im a screaming-PMSing-feminist'...good for those candlelit-chill-out-and-drink-loads-of-shiraz-with-your-close-friends-evenings.
6. Coldplay X&Yohhhh just SO good...the best of british pop! lovely for winter, when its cold and grey outside!
7. Madonna - Confessions on the Dance Floor: ok, another one Im biased about...but I promise, for anyone who (like me) grew up in that Madaonna era - you will *L O V E* it. Very dancy, but she samples loads of huge tunes, which means you cant help but love the songs. I think she's made this album to target two groups of people (1) gay men and (2)...her early fans, who would have gone through that disco/dance/trance/90s era...she combines them all, and throws it back at us....making us feel youthful and 17 yrs old again! (at least me)! NB: the lyrics are a bit lame, but you get past that with the amazing beats.
8. Morcheeba - Who Can You Trust - again very chilled and groovy, can listen anytime.
9. Hooverphonic - Blue Wonder Power Milk - Another of my fave groups. Belgium don't produce that much, but this group is really really good, and this album is DA BOMB...again, its a bit electronic/ambient...if you like zero 7 and massive attack - this is for you.
10. Bob Marley - Legend - save the best for last, no collection is complete without it. its the only thing you can put on at a party and guarantee everyone will like...and end up singing drunk at the top of their lungs! indeed a classic!

girl do you listen to black music at all?

[Rory]

girl do you listen to black music at all?


what exactly is black music ??
is that like black magic, voodoo?

[Tafadhali]

what exactly is black music ??
is that like black magic, voodoo?

I take offense to that. you figure it out smarty.:cool:

[Rory]

I take offense to that. you figure it out smarty.:cool:


:cry: :cry:

[Tafadhali]

:cry: :cry:

yes shame on you now try again.

[Rory]

yes shame on you now try again.

:fly: :dancer:

[RockWell]

:fly: :dancer:
:D

[Teniel]

The best books I have read so far:

Small Island-Andrea Levy
Fruit of the Lemon-Andrea Levy
The Green Mile- Steven King
The Midwife- Courter Gay


I plan to expand my literary horizons with some biographies and philosophical books.

CD's I really like:

Songs about Jane- Maroon Five
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill- Lauryn Hill
Roberta Flack- Greatest Hits- Roberta Flack
The Best of Chicago-Chicago

[Teniel]

girl do you listen to black music at all?



Music has no colour. You meant to say music made by black artists I am sure.