if there is a book you want to read

If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.

–Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison, Beloved

Beloved is a ghost story, as well as a story about slavery, which at first may sound a bit odd but actually works really well.

Toni Morrison is highly regarded as an author, though personally I've found her a bit hit and miss- loved Jazz, couldn't understand the fuss about Mercy.

The Plot: Inspired by the true story of Margaret Garner, Beloved is set in the US during the time of slavery and after its abolition. Sethe, a runaway slave, kills her daughter and attempts to kill her other three children when men arrive to return her to Sweet Home plantation. she would rather they be dead than live in slavery. The ghost of her dead daughter haunts the family, until one day a young woman calling herself Beloved arrives on her doorstep.

Rating: 4/5

Full review under the cut:-

she couldn't read clock time

"She couldn't read clock time very well, but knew when the hands were closed in prayer at the top of the face she was through for the day"

- Toni Morrison, Beloved 

laughing children, dancing men, crying women

'After situating herself on a huge flat rock, Baby Suggs bowed her head and prayed silently. The company watched her from the trees. They knew she was ready when she put her stick down. Then she shouted, "Let the children come!" and the ran from the trees towards her.
"Let your mothers here you laugh," she told them, and the woods rang. The adults looked on and couldn't help smiling.
Then "Let the grown men come" she shouted. They stepped out one by one from among the ringing trees.
"Let your wives and children see you dance," she told them, and groundlife shuddered under their feet.
Finally she called the women to her. "Cry," she told them. "For the living and the dead. Just cry". And without covering their eyes the women let loose.
It started that way: laughing children, dancing men, crying women and then it got mixed up [...] in the silence that followed, Baby Suggs, holy, offered up them her great big heart. 
[...]
"Here," she said "in this place we flesh; we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard.' 
- Toni Morrison, Beloved 

Currently reading- Toni Morrison, Home

I quickly popped into the library yesterday, disappointedly nothing was really grabbing my attention. The only thing I came away with was this slim novel, Home by Toni Morrison. I've nearly finished it, so a review should be up in the next couple of days. I'm not sure what I'm going to read next, any suggestions?