Category: ariel castro

Hey guys!

So this week I am proud to say, was a successful reading week! I managed to finish ALL the books on my reading list! Yay me! 🙂

So let’s go through them! I finally finished ” Jesus Is” by Judah Smith. What a fantastic read, not only for a seasoned Christian, but for a new believer or anyone just curious about who Jesus is! I give this book 5 out of 5 stars and am going to recommend this book to everyone i know. He just released a new book that I  have already picked up ( ” Life Is” ) and I am looking forward to reading this in the very near future.

Next, i picked up “Finding Me” By Michelle Knight. This is a memoir written by Michelle Knight who is one of Ariel Castro’s  Cleveland kidnapping victims. She was held captive ( alongside Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus) in this monsters house for 11 years.

This book details all the gruesome and painful life Michelle had to endure. My heart broke as I turned each page of this book. But it still brought out so many questions; “Why on earth would she get into a vehicle with this man?” (she was offered a ride to an appointment at the family court regarding her son) and ” Why on earth would she enter his house???” ( He said he had puppies and that she could take one home for her son)

Now, Michelle recounts in her memoir that she did not have a happy or peaceful life up before her abduction. She was continuously raped by a family member, her parents were unstable  and abusive and even had a bout of homelessness  before she was captured. She even had her child ( a son named Joey” taken away from her because of the unstable home she was forced to raise him in.) So it becomes clear that Michelle never had a chance to grow up or mature, hence why she was naive and gullible enough to not notice the red flags. Very sad situation. Sadly her life in captivity was no better. She recalls memories of rapes, pregnancies and miscarriages. But one fateful day in May 2013, Michelle and her two other victims very rescued!

Michelle recounts how her and her other victim Gina DeJesus became very close during captivity. Yet Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus are writing memoir together recounting their experiences in captivity… Hmm…. If Michelle and Gina were so close.. how come Gina wrote a book with Amanda and not her? Or why haven’t the three of them done anything together?  All questions I hope are answered when I read their book, ” Hope: A memoir of survival in Cleveland”.  I give Michelle’s book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Finally, I finished “The Fix” by K’wan. I love Kwan’s books, but this one was just okay. Nothing to write home about. No pressing desire to read the sequel. It was just a book I started a year ago and wanted to finish. I’m trying ( unsuccessfully lol 🙂 ) to finish books I already own before I purchase more. I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars and that’s being generous because I love K’wan.

This week I think I’m going to keep it super light with it being Easter weekend! For me that means a 4 day weekend ( woohoo) but it also means church, church and more church and of course  spending time with friends and family. So I’m only going put one book on this to read list this week. This was a book I was suggested to read by a few people. It is “Copper Sun” by Sharon M. Draper. Now this is a young adult book but the content is very mature. I remember in high school I read a number of books by this author such as ” Tears of a Tiger “ ( which i loved and would like to re-read at some point) “Forged by Fire” and “Romiette and Julio”. So I was interested to see what all the hype over this book was about. Goodreads gives this descriptive plot summary:

Amari’s life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and living in a beautiful village, she could not have imagined everything could be taken away from her in an instant. But when slave traders invade her village and brutally murder her entire family, Amari finds herself dragged away to a slave ship headed to the Carolinas, where she is bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a birthday present. 

Survival seems all that Amari can hope for. But then an act of unimaginable cruelty provides her with an opportunity to escape, and with an indentured servant named Polly she flees to Fort Mose, Florida, in search of sanctuary at the Spanish colony. Can the elusive dream of freedom sustain Amari and Polly on their arduous journey, fraught with hardship and danger? (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90420.Copper_Sun)

I must admit, I started this book briefly this morning and I already have fallen in love with Sharon’s writing all over again. Looking forward to getting some time to finish this:)  This book was a Coretta Scott King award winner. 

I also picked up an old devotional I used years ago called ” Women of the Bible” . This devotional divides each women’s story into a week-long bible study. My two girlfriends and I ( Hey becca Hey Rach!) are going to use this devotional together! Excited! This week we are starting right at the beginning with Eve. ( These devotionals go from Monday to Monday) 

So those are my goals! Happy Reading y’all and if I don’t get on here again, Happy Easter season! May the love of God be ever-present in your life and homes!

xoxo