Plotitude

Author: Plotitude

  • Strewn About

    The Intruder

    By Freida McFadden

    I’ve been adjusting quite a bit over the last few months…and audiobooks have been my companion along the way. Between my last post and this one, I’ve listened to many a book, and thought about adding them here….but this one made me RUN to the blog, because, Frieda….WHY DID YOU PLAY IN MY FACE LIKE THIS!?

    Now Freida is always a good read…she doesn’t disappoint on the plot. I have not listened to one of her books that had me screaming and weeping near the end, until now.

    Why?!?

    Why did you do me this way honey?!? Whyyyy!!!!

    I may give out food today, but I won’t give up this plot. Get your hands on this book, read it, listen to it, and have some tissues handy.

  • Bitter, indeed

    The Bitter Truth

    By Shanora Williams

    There are no spoilers here (not really), so put the saran wrap and aluminum foil away. And if you are on a more health-conscious tip, put away the glass storage containers (generally me, but I do partake in the former). 

    I enjoyed the overall experience of this book. The ending, though a more than generous display of a happy ending, wasn’t my favorite. Sometimes people get below their just due, and sometimes people ‘get away with it’. Throughout the story, I wanted every evildoer and their enabler(s) to pay with interest, yesterday. 

    I will also say, take heed to the Prologue; every word is meant to prepare you for what you will read. If you proceed, don’t say Shanora didn’t warn you. 

    The friendship in this book was felt on a deep level; having people travel life’s often raggedy journey with you is a treasure, and I so appreciated how the author did it here. I saw two people show love-in-action, when the world was more cruel than kind to them (and sometimes, a real friend is the only thing that gets you through it). 

    Heed the prologue, and if you continue reading, I hope you enjoy the ride, because I did. 

    Version 1.0.0

  • S(he) who laughs last

    The Coworker

    By Freida McFadden

    Now, in my last post, I said I was on an ‘autobiography surge’…well the surge was shorter than a cheap sugar rush. Life got serious, and a lot of things changed quickly. I didn’t read anything for several weeks. I tried to complete a book for the sake of providing consistent blog updates, but nah, this blog will be updated when I finish a book that I’ve read while actually living…and if I don’t, it won’t (this also prevents plotitude from becoming ‘work’ , and keeps it as a hobby). Ok, back to my latest read.

    I should’ve known by now, especially after reading a couple of Freida’s books (pre-blog) how she gets down…she twists the story tighter than a stubborn HDMI cord.

    Natalie and Dawn played tug of war with my emotions. A good bit of the dialogue is over email, and some of the emails had me in tears. The pivot in the story took place in a raggedy motel carrying a sandwich in a brown paper bag…oooWEEEE! Any liquid I would’ve had in my mouth while reading it would have flown out because I screamed. 

    The book will piss you off, have you rooting for someone to get their due punishment, and sometimes, have you telling the ‘justice bringer’ to slow the hell down with the antics. 

    I recommend this book; don’t pick a side too early. 

  • Pulled up a throwback

    Living in Color: What’s Funny About Me

    By Tommy Davidson (with Tom Teicholz)

    So I’m on an autobiography surge right now, and the next few posts will reflect that. Ok, lets get up in other peoples’ business.

    This book has been on my list ever since I saw an interview with Tommy talking about his life. He played parts in many of the shows I grew up on, and to hear his life….oooh tell me more.

    Watching someone on television is funny…because, whether you set out to or not, you develop an ideal image of them in your mind….who they are, their likes and pet peeves, and how they move about in the world (the real world). I think this is why, when you hear some scandal or something about someone that doesn’t fit the image you’ve created, it’s devastating (I mean not really, but a little). I remembered this conundrum when things Tommy shared about himself and others that went against those ideals for me. Moments like that are good reminders to shatter images I have of others, appreciate different perspectives, and understand that as much as I may know about someone or something, there is just as much that I do not know (you know?)


    I loved how Tommy weaved in his history with his present, and how different characters in his life showed up for him (or lack thereof). I stopped reading some parts, not because they were too difficult, but because I remembered this character or that one, and I would go online and watch clips of the shows he was in (laughed out loud more than once!).

    Nostalgia is like a warm cup of tea, or an iced drink, depending on the season.

    I recommend you take a listen….but…you can do what you want to do.

  • Too close

    The Spare Room

    Andrea Bartz

    There are spoilers galore….continue reading if you’re nosey.

    This book was a mentally exhausting mess, and with the story being set during the pandemic, ooo wee. 

    Kelly, after a breakup, moves in with an old HS classmate Sabrina (whom Kelly’s been stalking on social media btw….red flag 1/1,000) and her husband Nathan. Kelly is blown away by their beautiful neighborhood and spacious home….think Park Place & Boardwalk. 

    Kelly spends her time navigating her breakup-ish after moving out of the home she and her ex-fiancé Mike shared, making sense of her new surroundings, all while managing her intuition (which she appropriately refers to as her ‘gremlin’).

    Soon enough 2+1 = 3….and they start getting it IN (because what else is there to do cooped up in the house?).

    Kelly’s gremlin gets whiffs of new information about the couple’s previous lover, and she starts digging all up in these folks business.

    Now the hot tub scene….this is where I figured I had it…The three of them are hugging and kissing, touching…all of a sudden Nathan takes bobbin for apples too seriously and starts drowning Kelly

    I tell Kelly:

    “This is your sign girl… go and find Dianne The Busy Body and ask her to get you the HELL up out of Park Place.”

    Does she listen to me?

    Then out of the BLUE little miss absent from class shows up, and now I have some serious questions. Maybe Sabrina and Nathan aren’t who I thought they were?

    Babygirl ends up dead….and I’m like, nah, they are….they definitely are. 

    After a quick session of ‘whodunit’, the trio decides to take a nap before going out at night to bury Beth like an easter egg.

    While Sabrina and Nathan sleep, Kelly’s gremlin rages relentless, and she soon finds the murder weapon….she gets caught….she and Nathan get into it, and Nathan…boom…is gone. 

    Sabrina and Kelly then make up some ish to tell the detectives, and after a lazy investigation, both walk free. They decide to start over and move out of Park Place, and Kelly decides to go visit Mike for one last goodbye (because when all your wounds have healed, re-opening one makes the most sense).

    This book also makes you realize that perspective is a helluva drug….because as previous parts of the story were being re-told I’m like ‘HOW DID THEY GET THIS FROM THAT!?

    I won’t completely spoil the ending, but I will say, everyone needs to be locked up…every last one of them. And the deceased? Lock them up posthumously. 

    Overall, this was a good listen…A quote from Kelly sums it up well

    “Whatever you watch for, you’ll find.”

    Version 1.0.0

  • The bad white noise

    Mister Magic

    By Kiersten White

    I was 14 out of 15 minutes into my decision to return this book without finishing it. The more I listened to it, the more drawn out the story became (it was hard for me to follow… like the paintbrush strokes felt too vast). It took a while for me to get adjusted to what was happening.

    Some of the early scenes reminded me of  Stephen King’s ‘IT’(1986) when the adults, after somewhat moving on with their lives, were drawn back into a terrifying character from their childhood.

    After some time, I was like, maybe there’s a spell on this book… like the same evil power that these kids in the book are fighting, one that’s making me listen to this longwinded book…the ‘magic’ is making me see it though. 

    It wasn’t until I got down to the last couple hours of the 10+ hour listen that I was HOOKED like a fish at Bass Pro shop; terrified yet fully invested (hmmm was it the magic again?).

    The story of Mister Magic is thick with honest and eerily difficult layers of toxic programming that intersect across as many areas of life as you allow it to touch. Several of the themes the author referenced resonated with both adult and childhood me. While this book is loosely about kids and play, it’s definitely not a game.

    And when the book shifted at the end from telling the story to TALKING TO ME! I lost it, and the side eye I gave to my surroundings would have you thinking I had a conspiratorial podcast on repeat.

    While I initially thought I was right in doing an ‘early return’, I’m glad I was wrong. Give it a listen.

    Thanks, Kiersten. And yes, Saturdays are fun.

  • A gentle reminder

    Tuesdays with Morrie

    By Mitch Albom

    Death, death, death…because none of us are getting out of this life alive, right? While I cannot say what this knowing means to you, my dear reader, I can share a little about what death means to me and what this book reminded me of. When I think about the pain that my loved ones will experience when I die….I ask myself,

    What will they have to comfort themselves with in my absence? 

    What do they know of me now, while I am here? 

    What can I do now, or be better at now, that will ensure my memories aren’t in vain? 

    Remembering that I won’t be here forever helps me to live with intention; I try to listen for understanding, work to release the pains that bind me, and forgive people who treat me wrong (even when I feel otherwise…cause you know, revenge). Remembering my final exit shifts my perspective, and I feel, as sure as the aging in my bones, that awareness of death helps me appreciate each day and all that comes with it. 

    I wonder…when we encounter someone with a terminal illness, and we hear them speak on the importance of the intangibles of life (relationships, family, forgiveness, compassion), how much of what we hear stays with us? Do we give ourselves a gold star, feeling a temporary sense of pride and purpose because ‘ahh, we now see’, then resume business as normal? Which seeds of acknowledgment of the essence of life grab ahold of us and change how we live? 

    Honestly, sometimes the way we live ‘ain’t it’ and it takes someone around us dying for us to wake up (yikes, but true).

    Frosty the Snowman dusted my neck of the woods while finishing this book, so I’m in the house as I type this (just enough snow for me to work from home 🙂). Was it a good idea to finish this book about death while there’s gloom overhead? Who knows. But, when my spirit and mind are gloomy, I remember that even when physically alone, I’m always with myself (so that makes two people, right), and I’m never truly alone alone (yes I typed it twice). I have a love for life and what I’ve received and shared that has carried me thus far, friends who have both gone before me (as in, died) and some that I’ve left behind (and vice versa), while others remain trekking beside me. 

    Ok ok, that’s enough. 

    I hope you don’t let your avoidance of the dreaded “D” word prevent you from listening to this book. I hope you check in with yourself, and with your life, and what it means to you. I hope you pause and evaluate your doings…and ask yourself if you are truly ‘being’. I enjoyed this book, and if you can, this one is worth the audiobook version (25th anniversary edition). This book is a gentle but genuine reminder that we will all leave here…one day…some today…some tomorrow….all eventually. 

    Tuesdays with Morrie was a quick listen, but worth its weight in meaning. I recommend. 

  • A long and colorful, powerful ride

    THIS GREAT HEMISPHERE

    By Mateo Askaripour

    I didn’t know this book would take me through what it did. I will share my thoughts, and leave the spoilers out (but don’t tempt me….and if you ask me about this book in person, I’m telling it all!).

    The prologue made me feel a type of way, and even then it barely scratched the surface of what Mateo did throughout this book. So many symbols, of which you don’t need me to tell you of, but you may need a second listen to grasp them all. While it initially gave me Avatar vibes, that feeling quickly dissolved…the words and imagery literally created a new space within my mind, one that I couldn’t wait to escape to, to find out what happens next. I don’t know if this type of imagery could be accurately depicted on film (but if they tried, I’d be there opening night). This world, this hemisphere (see what I did) was overwhelming to my senses, but in a way that drew me closer to it.

    Minks was one of my favorite places in the story, and it felt like a place that Mercutio (Harold Perrineau’s version, the best of course) would’ve felt right at home in. And the Rainbow girls…with all their…um…colors, were like the red pepper flakes on a pizza; spicy and may irritate your throat a bit, but you need them….they bring an element of flavor you would lack otherwise.

    Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

    “Chaos is convenient for those who can control it.”

    “I would turn this entire world into a garden for you…and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

    “She understood, because being here, in this room, with so much information, history, and solutions to their present problems, made her afraid. Afraid of what it would mean to learn and unlearn everything, from the beginning. Afraid of what she’d discover about herself, her people, her world. Afraid because once you obtained knowledge, you were forced to make a choice: act with courage, or remain a coward. And no one wanted to view themselves as a coward, including her.”

    “A lie is not a thing that survives on its own; like a sapling, it needs to be sustained and cultivated.”

    The last two hours of this book (around chapters 41-50, but DO NOT SKIP TO THEM, because if you don’t know the backstory, you won’t appreciate the full story) had me at the edge of my seat. This book is layered so heavy, it could’ve easily been split into two parts. But friend…..best friend…the last 20 minutes of this book, I was swinging my fists in the air, HOLLERING!

    You see how I wanted to tell you what happened, but didn’t?! Do you see how hard this is for me? 

    My feelings are all up in this book…there is so much to reflect on. I was sad, I felt resolve and a call to action, I was angry, I was…am…still processing. If you have the space in your life to sit and dwell, get the hard copy and curl up with it…if not, download it and get in on your device, and in your ear.

    Version 1.0.0

  • The one I had to tell you about

    Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System—and Pocketed $40 Million

    By Tanya Smith

    Whew, I enjoyed this book. When I’m picking something new to read (well—listen to), I usually skim the summary. If it grabs me in the first few seconds, I borrow the book and press play. And let’s be honest, this TITLE ALONE was enough to hook me. Another reason I don’t read full summaries? It makes the twists and turns even more surprising, which makes the ride even more fun.

    Before we go any further—SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read this book yet and don’t want spoilers, stop here. If spoilers make you feel sick—like EXPIRED EGGS sick (and we all know eggs are EXPENSIVE right now), go read it first. But if you love a deep dive and don’t mind details, press on.

    A Promising Start… and Then, a Plot Twist

    The book starts by painting a picture of Tanya’s family. Her parents were hard-working and honest, and her father was well-connected with influential people, exposing his children to a life of privilege and exclusivity that wasn’t common for African-American families at the time. So I’m thinking, Oh, okay, this is going to be about how she takes what her father taught her and levels up.

    Then—Tanya’s first big obsession was… MEETING MICHAEL JACKSON. And not just hoping to run into him—PLANNING every step to make it happen (and get married! I love a girl with goals). By the way she connected this call and that so she can meet her future husboo, it was easy to see early on that Tanya was WHIP-SMART and RELENTLESS. You couldn’t tell her no. She was going to make things happen. And instantly, I loved her. I loved little Tanya. I loved the bond she had with her twin sister. I was all in.

    From Helping People… to Hustling the System
    At first, Tanya’s early schemes were about helping people. she saw the economic barriers that kept people from meeting their basic needs and figured out ways to fix them. and honestly? I resonated with that. Yes, maybe she was going about it the wrong way, but the intent? I feel you, young Tanya.

    Then came her first major transaction—for her grandmother. And if you had a GOOD grandmother, you already know. She wanted to make her grandmother’s dream come true, and one thing led to another, and the transaction was a success. A LIGHT BULB WENT OFF.

    The Interrogation That Made Me MAD

    The first time the police questioned Tanya, they assumed she had to be working for someone else. Because she was a neegro, there was no way she could have masterminded something like this on her own.

    I was PISSED.

    How dare they question her BRILLIANCE?! Tanya’s response? Okay, bet. I’ll show y’all. And at that moment, I was ROOTING for her even harder.

    The Fall… and the Aftermath

    When Tanya finally got CAUGHT-CAUGHT and was sentenced to prison, I was crushed. (yes, crushed, because how dare they, lol.)

    And Jim’s family? LOW-DOWN. they were all low-down. Tanya was in prison, her sister was in prison, and everything was just… a mess. and yes, I know she committed a crime, but the way they treated her was so wrong.

    Through it all, Tanya kept her spirit strong (‘the epitome of you can knock me down, but you can’t keep me down’). and then—another twist—she found out she was pregnant. Twice.

    Final Thoughts: A Wild Ride

    This book was a PAGE-TURNER. (Can you say PAGE-TURNER if you listened to it? I think so.)

    Aside from Tanya’s SUPREME GENIUS and all the wild ways her life intersected with different people, the biggest thing that kept me hooked was the TWISTS. I’d think I knew what was coming—and then BOOM, completely different direction.

    And you know what, I didn’t even realize this was a TRUE STORY until I looked up the book after finishing it. I had to know what the author was doing with her life after writing such a story (similar to looking up actors after an amazing film) Finding out that Tanya Smith was chronicling her real life made me love it all over again.

    I HIGHLY recommend this listen. If you put it on while folding laundry, trust me—you’ll end up getting EVERY piece folded AND put away because you won’t want to stop.

    10 stars. Or five flowers. Or whatever rating system you subscribe to. But just know—it’s WORTH IT.