#FindingMe – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – January Recap—Hello February!

January fooled us with mild temps right until the last week or so when we experienced the frigid northern blast. It was to be expected, not necessarily appreciated.

I wrote last month about the storm that reached alarming -0 temps. I worried about Frosty and her little ears and feet and supplied a handkerchief for her ears and booties for her paws. Unfortunately, she contracted pneumonia and we lost her on her 17^th birthday, breaking my heart. While I know it was a virus and not the temps, it’s still very difficult to reconcile and will take a while to ease the crush on my heart.

So it was a challenge to keep to a schedule and my reading and posting took a hit. Between us, we managed a total of twelve reviews, a mix of NetGalley reads, audiobooks, award-winning authors as well as Indie authors.

Born and Bred Texan by Jinx Schwartz
The Huntress by Kate Quinn (audiobook – 5 stars)
Breakneck by Marc Cameron (CE review-5 stars)
When Irish Eyes Are Lying by Jean Grainger
Finding Me by Viola Davis
My Love Nikola Tesla by Ana Atanasković
The Devil’s Own by Maria McDonald (my 5 stars)
The Girl Across the Sea by Noëlle Harrison
Implied Consent by Keenan Powell (CE review)
Wish You Were Here by Kay Bratt
The Pact by Roberta Kagan
Sea Castle by Andrew Mayne (CE unputdownable 5 stars)

January Favorite

It can be tricky to discern which of the CEs books would make the January favorites as he continues to read without my often critical eye. Of the books read in January, two really stood out: Sea Castle and The Huntress. In his case, once he started reading the Sea Castle, he couldn’t put it down. A tie in the January slot?Yes and No. I’d have to give the coveted January slot to the one noted above. Could you guess from the graphic?

January Blogger Post

Freeing up my time a bit to do some blog hopping, I’ve been enjoying the opportunity of catching up with some of my favorite blogger buddies. I hope to list a favorite post each month and if this blogger is new to you, urge you to check out their blogs as well.

The review of The Woman in the Window at Digital Reads Media caught my eye and gave me a chuckle or two. Shalini, however, offers services to writers beyond reviews including blog tours and is social media savvy.

My Reading Challenges page…As mentioned before, I’ve overhauled the page for 2023 (managing to lose my entire 2022 Challenges page in the process) and will be posting monthly totals only this year. My 2022 challenges were achieved but I’ve adjusted 2023 challenge goals down.

I’m setting my NetGalley Challenge goal at Gold this year, 50 books. (Last year at Platinum, 75, was a struggle.) Audiobook Challenge at Marathoner – 50 – should be no problem at an average of four per week. Cutting back from 180 to 145 in the Goodreads Challenge, and lastly, the Historical Fiction Challenge will stay the same at 50 – Prehistoric, as this genre is proving to be one of our favorites. Which challenges are you trying this year? Achieve all your goals last year?

How did you do on your 2022 TBR? What titles have you already pegged for your February reads? I no longer schedule my reviews and posts in ink—everything is entered in pencil now that my calendar seems to require constant updating.

I do so appreciate my followers. A special shout-out to those who like, share, and comment! And I’m always looking for comments!

K, luv u, bye

Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis – #Audiobook Review – #ThrowbackThursday

in Self Esteem

Book Blurb:

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • A HARPERS BAZAAR BEST BOOK OF 2022 • A PARADE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • A MARIE CLAIRE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK

In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever.

This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.

As I wrote Finding Me, my eyes were open to the truth of how our stories are often not given close examination. We are forced to reinvent them to fit into a crazy, competitive, judgmental world. So I wrote this for anyone running through life untethered, desperate and clawing their way through murky memories, trying to get to some form of self-love. For anyone who needs reminding that a life worth living can only be born from radical honesty and the courage to shed facades and be . . . you.

Finding Me is a deep reflection, a promise, and a love letter of sorts to self. My hope is that my story will inspire you to light up your own life with creative expression and rediscover who you were before the world put a label on you.

My Review:

I suppose unlike so many others who read and/or listened to this biography by Viola Davis that she was discovered through her signature role of Annalise Keeting. I must confess that we have never really gotten into that series.

No, I’d noticed Viola Davis long before that. Whether it was a bit part or otherwise, I’ve always noticed Ms. Davis. There was always something about her—that strong, confident presence. She commands her parts—delivers. So there was always respect, an interest in the person behind the parts. I always liked her.

Her narrative reminds me that no matter how difficult you thought your own childhood, there is always someone else who had it much worse. That was Viola. While I experienced many of those childhood traumas including poverty, the demon of an under-achieving father (until he split for good), or major hunger, I didn’t often know the massive trauma of extreme living conditions with cold and rats or bed-wetting (thank heaven). Nor did I know the pain of rejection because I was dark-skinned or could walk in those shoes.

Ms. Davis lays it all out. She writes a no-holds-barred account of her childhood, the ugly struggle of young adulthood after she discovered her avenue to independence and then doggedly worked to achieve what might have appeared to anyone else as unachievable.

This is an absolutely riveting account of the fight to claw her way into a profession that no one but a tremendously talented person could conquer. Given she was allowed little sense of self from which to draw, who could have bet on her success, and who else could narrate this memoir with the dark intensely bestowed to those cruel stories. She remembers the scars received along the way, those people who saw the spark, that light in her, and knew she was exceptional.

Did Viola pay some dues? Oh yes, in spades. It wasn’t always pretty—but she is beautiful.

“In the course of playing Annalise, I understood that I was no longer and never was that ugly Black nigga. The role liberated me. I said to myself: All I’ve got is me. And that is enough.”

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Self-Esteem, Biographies of Women, Women’s Biographies
Publisher: HarperAudio
ASIN: B09F56PHTF
Listening Length: 9 hrs 15 mins
Narrator: Viola Davis
Publication Date: April 26, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Finding Me [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo