This Year Don't Just Buy Books #2 . . .

. . . buy my friend's books. This book is by my friend Carleen Brice (a.k.a. the Pajama Gardener) who has dubbed December "National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month." (More information on that here.)

I met Carleen through the blogosphere and bought her book when it came out last February. Mostly I couldn't resist a story that started out:

I should have known things were getting bad when Nina Simone showed up.

(You can read more of that here.) The rest of the book is just as good. And--I admit it--as I turned the final pages, I found myself sniffing surreptitiously on a crowded bus. It was a terrific mother-daughter story, especially for anyone with abandonment issues (and who doesn't have them?).

You can get Orange Mint and Honey at Amazon.com or your local bookstore. This copy is going to a friend of mine who does read my blog (waves!), but she knows that she's getting this already so it's okay that I'm sharing it with you. Trust me. You (or whoever you get it for) will love this book.