What Road is This: One Black Womans Journey to Herself

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The excerpts are from that copy. I am voluntarily reviewing this title. She's a bit lost in life. She never really found her place. She left her parents and school when she was 18 and 'in love' and started working as a bar tender. Then she was married for six years and now she's living on a friend's couch, because her cheating hubby kicked her out of the house. And then she finds Atticus. Atticus wandered off when his owners were showing off his adorable siblings to buyers.

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Atticus probably wouldn't have sold for a good price because he has two different colored eyes. Not a good thing for buyers of such an expensive breed. He wandered off because his already mega curious nose was drawn to the smell of meat in a neighbor's garden - but he got lost and ended up in a ditch - freezing, hurt and hungry. Both Atticus and Hazel befriend the local vet. He helps them deal with their new life as pet owner and pet.

And Hazel helps the old doc by working off Atticus's bill and by breathing life into the old vet practice again. Atticus is your typical dog. Mega happy to be alive and to belong to Hazel and to have food and get to play and to just be. And he gets in a lot of trouble! She never used to care for anything.

Since she left her parents, she always had to look out for only herself. And now here's this little guy who requests all her attention and love and time. And she loves it. Finally someone who loves her madly. If only she would find a guy like that too!

I loved reading about every moment in the new life of our two darlings and their new friends! There were so many funny moments, moving moments, sad moments, heartbreaking moments, adorable moments. I had lots of tears in my eyes! Every little Atticus moments is just beyond beautiful. He's sooo amazing and a menace of course! It's not your typical romance. Hazel doesn't meet her guy until very late into the book - it's mostly about Atticus and second chances and finding yourself and helping others and starting again and ugh nuff said So please don't be worried or just scroll down and don't read the following I would be ok with it if one British character would use it, but everyone uses it!

I really don't want to insult Sawyer. I love her books, but But pfff who am I to tell her what to do, so just forget I said anything! It doesn't stop her books from being great! Some weeks or months ago I saw that cover on many of my bloggers friends. I crossed my fingers because I really wanted to read his story. I am a dog owner and I just know how they can sometimes seem so human.

Atticus has an incredibly expressive face and you can read all his emotions. We begin with Atticus POV as a puppy. That of a very curious and adventurous pup who will follow a scent just to be thrown into a dire situation. See and smell everything. Experience the world through his eyes. Atticus is really smart and empathic. He may be behaved…when he wants. At heart he is good, generous and mischievous. The second chapter if from Hazel Roundtree I kid you not!

That chapter I was really, really apprehensive as Hazel was a mess. She barely survived and was not an inspiring human being. What have I done requesting this book? I really dreaded going on with my read. Floundering around, landing in crap situations, not learning my lesson, and repeating.

Atticus: A Woman’s Journey with the World’s Worst Behaved Dog

Even if the female character is past her teen she still had to grow up. She had to become confident. She had to believe in her strength. Live through her own eyes and yes through Atticus eyes and not wait for a man to make her feel worthy. Hazel will stumble upon Atticus and will save his life. But Atticus will also save Hazel. Shouldering that responsibility will give her life a new purpose. They all were like onions with many layers you had to peel to get to the core of their story.

Dr Peel the grumpy veterinarian but who hid a heart of gold; Bernard the homeless who had a complicated past but was so selfless …. I cried when Atticus was lost and miserable. I huffed and puffed when Hazel was such a mess. I smiled when Hazel decided to save Atticus and that no one would hurt him. Over her dead body! I laughed at Atticus shenanigans as it reminded so much of my dog. I cried again when some moving moments happened in the book. I rejoiced each time Hazel achieved something.

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This is a feel good and insightful coming of age story. One that will leave you all warm and fuzzy inside. One that will make you want to adopt Atticus or at least follow him on IG. A huge thank you to Sawyer for writing this story, documenting Atticus shenanigans on IG as they always lift my mood and for sending the book!!!

And follow him on Instagram! Now one last quote for dog owners as it will certainly remind them of some mischief their own dog did: His tail wagging, his mouth grinning, and the end of the toilet paper roll in his mouth. I snagged my phone, whipped the camera out, and took pictures of it all while laughing my ass off. Atticus grinned and wagged his tail, elated that he delighted me with his bad behavior. Beware Of The Reader Facebook: Beware Of The Reader Facebook group: Beware Book Boyfriends Alert Instagram: This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.

To view it, click here. This is not a romance book.. Don't go into the book thinking that it's a romance because you won't like it. Especially to animals lovers This book was more about love, friendship and the journey of a woman that learned to love and turned out to be agreat human being. It's just amazing how a puppy changed the life of a woman. How this pup gave love to a woman when she needed the most. Hated the heroine in the beginning. She would get stoned, drink and 4. She would get stoned, drink and smoke like a chimney.

She wasn't painting a good picture for me. I wanted to choked her. But her love for the puppy that she rescued won me over, I loved how she went mama bear on chuck's ass I was cheering for her. I wanted to be there helping her. I wanted to be her friend so I could helped her when she got kicked out by her only friend. Loved reading his POV. Reading his POV made me laugh and it made me cried. I was swooning after this adorable pup. This old man was a cranky s. His friendship with the heroine was everything. Sure he started as an asshole but like me he sure warmed up to the heroine.

And they started as friends. And for me the real hero of the story was Atticus. I loved this book. I cried, I smiled big. And cried hard again. When the tiny human is born, Hazel will have completed her journey. View all 6 comments. Jun 30, Ian rated it it was amazing Recommended to Ian by: Sometimes you pick up a book that you just love from the first page to the last. If you want a life affirming book about a woman and her dog, look no further. May 15, Kate's Corner rated it it was amazing Shelves: Be aware there is hardly any romance in this book but that worked for me. And I could quote the hell out of Atticus and what he got to tell us.

Atticus was a curious puppy and one day he escaped his pen and went a wandering. He wandered into trouble and it was a tough call.

I love Atticus, he is bat Spoiler-ish! I love Atticus, he is bat shite crazy and hilarious. He reminds me of my dog who can be cheeky and not very well behaved, but Atticus is impish, mayhem and well he makes life interesting. Here are some of my favorites. It seems in those early days all I did was eat, sleep, poop and pee. It was an easy life, but not very exciting. But I hold it. Like tonight for example.

Now Hazel Roundtree has been down on her luck. She was drunk or stoned most of the time in the beginning. She thought about leaving the puppy to die 3. She decided to save the puppy so that it may get run over by a car on the highway. Seriously what is wrong with you? Although she quickly changed her mind she took the puppy to the vet and so a chance encounter with a dog changed her life.

Saving Atticus leads her to Oley Peele the vet that helps Atticus. Hazel finally takes responsibility for the dog but there is an incident, and not only does she become homeless but also jobless thanks to that little shit Chuck. But she has an ornery knight in shining armor.

As I said there is hardly any romance although at the end of the book Hazel does find someone. This is about friendships. They become a family. Hazel is on a journey to find herself and although her ex husband wants to get back with Hazel she has enough self-respect to say no and move on with her life. This book is about becoming the person you want to be about loving yourself first and foremost. About overcoming shame and guilt and reconciling with family. Hazel has amazing character development and in time I started to really like her. She must adjust to Atticus at the beginning with his antics.

Let me pick it up and chew on it. Or walking along, making progress, and ooh… a bubble gum wrapper. Let me also pick that up and chew on it. Seriously this book broke my heart, it gave me all the feels and well I needed a couple of tissues. The book roughly takes place over a time span of seven years. We get to see how Hazel overcomes her past and concentrates on a life that she wants to live. This takes place in the present. But that is a part of life. We get a sweet epilogue from Atticus that takes place 3 years later. This is one of my favorite books this year. View all 4 comments.

I have to give Hazel credit. Her life is a hot mess, but she takes full ownership of her flaws and the poor choices that led to her depressing circumstances. I loved the chapters written from his point of view that give glimpses into the motives behind his crazy actions as well as his amazing intuition and loyalty. The ragtag family Hazel creates is more supportive than many dysfunctional families that people are born into.

I fell in love with Oley, the crusty old veterinarian, from his first scowl. Bernard is the ultra wise homeless man who, oddly enough, is amazingly resourceful and perfectly content with his indigent lifestyle. They are an unlikely trio, but I treasured their bond. A warning to readers.

This delightful book is one hundred percent heartwarming. Recommended for fans of: Jun 19, Heidi McLaughlin rated it it was amazing. My favorite story by Sawyer, hands down. Not only for animal lovers! ARC received for an honest review. Welp, this book was not what I was expecting. And I am not saying that in a bad way. I am saying that in an "OMG this book is so much more than I was expecting" way. I was expecting a sweet and fun book about a dog called Atticus. And whilst I got that, I got so much more. What we are given is so,so much more.

It is a tail - yeah, I didn't misspell that - of unconditional love, of finding our way ARC received for an honest review. It is a tail - yeah, I didn't misspell that - of unconditional love, of finding our way when all hope is lost, friendship and family. I love, love, love the story from Atticus' POV. I know we think that dog's can't understand us, but gosh I wish they are thinking like him. Though I know when it comes to food, they are allll thinking like him.

Another thing I wasn't expecting was all the emotions. Oh god, the feels! I spent plenty of time reading Atticus through tears - I didn't sign up for that Miss Bennett! Another thing this book has done has made me miss my Rani girl a lot this week. She crossed the rainbow bridge last year and it has made me think about her a lot. Full of funny, sad, heartwarming, loving moments, run out and buy a copy of Atticus - you won't be disappointed. Oh, and make sure you follow real life Atticus on Instagram atticuscrazydog. May 21, Lexxie un Conventional Bookworms rated it it was amazing Shelves: Atticus was such a heartwarming story!

Hazel was so lost, until she found Atticus as a puppy.

And finally, she found the self confidence she needed to take charge of her life. Full review to come. May 15, Lisa rated it it was amazing. I have a cold, black heart. I pride myself on it. But this book brought me to tears. Happy, sad, everywhere in between. This isn't just a book about a dog. I mean, he's a huge part of this story and provides some hilarious comic relief.

But this book is so much more. Down on her luck, losing hope, and having lost her way, Hazel Roundtree is just trying to get by. Trying to make another buck, survive another day in a life she never imagined she'd be living. Then one day, o This book, y'all. Then one day, on her way to get a pack of cigarettes and cup of coffee with the last of her money, she stumbles upon a pitiful ball of fluff, trapped by barbed wire and crying in pain. In his eyes, she saw everything she felt about herself.

Fear, desperation, fading hope. And she knew, in that moment, what she had to do. This book is about not just the journey of Hazel and Atticus. The supporting characters play roles just as important. Oley, the grumpy vet who helps Hazel when she takes a hurt, filthy puppy to him and begs for his help. Bernard, the homeless man who comes to the bar where she works. Charmin, her friend and co-worker. And so many more. Because in life, we are who we are based on our experiences and what we make of them. Of our relationships and how we let them affect us. What we do in the face of adversity.

Join Hazel, and Atticus, as they navigate life's ups, downs, and in betweens. And maybe bring a couple tissues for the ride. Jun 09, Irene rated it it was amazing Shelves: Bennett is going down as one of my top 10 books for The storyline is beautifully written, emotional, sweet, heartfelt and it will bring out all the feels. I can't express how much I loved watching Hazel and Atticus together. Their meeting sets off a change in Hazel, she never thought a dog would bring so much joy and love into her life. Then add Oley the grumpy old vet who takes Hazel in, offers her a home and a life that she never thought she would ever have and a plot that will have you laughing one minute and sobbing the next.

And you have the perfect read. This book truly touched my heart, I connected with Hazel and Atticus and I couldn't get enough of them. Thank you to author S. Bennett Women's Fiction though men will like it too. But after reading Atticus: Atticus was everything I love in a book and so much more! I smiled the whole time, even when I was crying. Hazel is basically a loser in a dead-end life. Hazel is flat broke, miserable, and sees no hope in her future. Atticus is a curious little pupper. Next thing you know, Hazel is walking by a ditch to spend her last few cents on cigarettes and hears a whimpering puppy.

She finds the pup covered in slimy mud and wrapped in barbed wire.

Atticus: A Woman’s Journey with the World’s Worst Behaved Dog by S. Bennett

Both of them wet and hurt and shivering, they wait at the local vet for them to open. When the angry old vet Dr. Hazel will have to work it off. He can read her moods and knows who is friend and who is foe. Hazel leans over me, and I smile up at her while she pets me.

I give a little woof of acknowledgment. Now that she had something to care about, to get excited about, and something she needed to be responsible for, Hazel began to clean up her act. She worked days at the vet to work off her bill and hid the dog in the back of the bar at night while she worked. Until Atticus caused a little too much trouble. A cranky old veterinarian, a worthless bartender, and a homeless guy. Hazel had it in a pan while the oven was pre-heating. She went to the bathroom… and the opportunity presented itself.

I try to ignore her for a little bit, but that never quite works because I love her too much. He smells amazing, especially his butt. I watched earlier as Hazel tried to help Liz change a poopy diaper. My mouth watered, and Hazel gagged. But I just listened to the sample included on my blog , and I have to check it out for a re-read because I am not ready to leave Atticus.

This story centers Dana, a young writer in s Los Angeles, who is unexpectedly whisked away to the 19th century antebellum South where she saves the life of Rufus Weylin, the son of a plantation owner. To paint an accurate picture of the slavery era, Butler told In Motion Magazine in , she studied slave narratives and books by the wives of plantation owners. In the second entry of her divulging memoir Hunger , Roxane Gay reveals, "… this is a book about disappearing and being lost and wanting so very much, wanting to be seen and understood.

In six powerful parts, the daughter of Haitian immigrants and National Book Award finalist reclaims the space necessary to document her truth—and uses that space to come out of the shadows she had once intentionally tried to hide in. James Baldwin is a key figure among the great thinkers of the 20th century for his long range of criticism about literature, film, and culture and his revelations on race in America.

One of his most widely known literary contributions was his book The Fire Next Time , a text featuring two essays: The second essay, "Down At The Cross," takes the reader back to Baldwin's childhood in Harlem as he details conditions of poverty, his struggle with religious authorities, and his relationship with his father. After re-reading James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time , Ta-Nehisi Coates was inspired to write a book-long essay to his teenage son about being black in America and forewarns him of the plight that comes with facing white supremacy.

New York magazine reported that after reading it, Toni Morrison wrote, "I've been wondering who might fill the intellectual void that plagued me after James Baldwin died.

Clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates. Ralph Ellison's classic Invisible Man follows one African-American man's quest for identity during the s and s—and decades later, this is a struggle that many continue to encounter. Because of racism, the unnamed protagonist, known as "Invisible Man," does not feel seen by society and narrates the reader through a series of unfortunate and fortunate events to fit in while living in the South and later in Harlem, New York City.

Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved puts Sethe, a former slave in Cincinnati, Ohio, in contact with the supernatural. Before becoming a freed woman, Sethe attempted to kill her children to save them from a life of enslavement. While her sons and one daughter survived, her infant daughter, "Beloved," died. Sethe's family becomes haunted by a spirit believed to be Beloved, and Morrison provides a layered portrayal of the plight of post-slavery black life with a magical surrealism edge as Sethe learns she must confront her repressed memories of trauma and her past life in bondage.

In the book All About Love , feminist scholar Bell Hooks grapples with how people are commonly socialized to perceive love in modern society. She uses a range of examples to delve into the topic, from her personal childhood and dating reflections to popular culture references. This is a powerful, essential text that calls on humans to revise a new, healthier blueprint for love, free of patriarchal gender limitations and dominating behaviors that don't serve humankind's emotional needs. Unfortunately, the minister and activist didn't live to see it in print— The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in , not long after his assassination in February of that year.

The books chronicles the many lessons the young Malcolm born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska learned from witnessing his parents' struggles with racism during his childhood; to his troubled young adulthood with drugs and incarceration; and his later evolution into one of the most iconic voices in the movement for black liberation. During Zora Neale Hurston's career, she was more concerned with writing about the lives of African Americans in an authentic way that uplifted their existence, rather than focusing on their traumas.

Her most celebrated work, 's Their Eyes Were Watching God , is an example of this philosophy and brings to light Janie Mae Crawford, a middle-aged woman in Florida, who details lessons she learned about love and finding herself after three marriages. Hurston used black southern dialect in the characters' dialogue, to proudly represent their voices and manner. The Jim Crow laws of the 19th and 20th centuries were intended to marginalize black Americans who, during the Reconstruction period, were establishing their own businesses, entering the labor system, and running for office. Although a series of anti-discrimination rulings, such as Brown vs.

Board of Education and the Voting Rights Act, were passed during the Civil Rights Movement, Michelle Alexander's book argues that mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow impacting black American lives, especially black men. In the text, Alexander explores how the war on drugs, piloted by the Ronald Reagan administration, created a system in which black Americans were stripped of their rights after serving time for nonviolent drug crimes. Originally published in , Sister Outsider is an anthology of 15 essays and speeches written by lesbian feminist writer and poet Audre Lorde.

The titles of her works are as intriguing as the content is eye-opening. The Erotic as Power" examines the way people, especially women, lose when they block the erotic—or deep passion—from their work and while exploring their spiritual and political desires. In "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House," Lorde explains how feminism fails by leaving out the voices of black women, queer women, and poor women—which are ideas that are still shaping conversations within feminism today.

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Isabel Wilkerson, the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, documented these movements in her book, which involved 15 years of research and interviews with people. Wilkerson's excellent and in-depth documentation won her a National Book Critics Circle Award for the nonfiction work. Jacqueline Woodson's children's books and YA novels are inspired by her desire to highlight the lives of communities of color—narratives she felt were missing from the literature landscape.

In her National Book Award-winning autobiography, Brown Girl Dreaming , Woodson uses her own childhood story in verse form, to fill those representation voids. Through her work, we are reminded of how family and community play a role in helping individuals persevere through life's trials.

Janet Mock, an African-American and Hawaiian transgender activist and writer, began her career in media as a staff editor at People. In , Mock decided to share her story with the world and came out as a transgender woman in a Marie Claire article, and after landing a book deal, she released this New York Times bestselling memoir in Mock used her platform to speak in full about her upbringing as a young girl of color in poverty and identifying as transgender—a courageous move that set her on a path to being an inspiring voice for those facing difficulty in accepting their identity.

Blow opens up about growing up in a segregated Louisiana town during the s as the youngest of five brothers. In 12 chapters, Blow offers an extensive look at his path to overcoming the odds of poverty, the trauma of being a victim of childhood rape, and his gradual understanding of his bi-sexuality. Although these are hard truths to tell, Blow told NPR in , he wrote this book especially for those who are going through similar experiences and need to know their lives are still worth living, despite their painful circumstances.

It provides an in-depth look at the obstacles that shaped her early life. Angelou's childhood and teenage years were nomadic, as her separated parents moved her and her brother from rural Arkansas to St. Besides the blatant racism she saw unfold around her in the South, a young Maya also faced childhood rape, and as a teen, homelessness and pregnancy.

Angelou, who was at first reluctant to write the book, achieved much success with the text as she became the first African-American woman to have a non-fiction bestseller. In , Samuel R. Delany told The Nation that when he first began attending science fiction conferences in the s, he was one of only a few black writers and enthusiasts present. Over the years, with his contributions and the work of others like Octavia Butler, whom he mentored, he opened doors for black writers in the genre. If you're looking for a sci-fi thriller taking place in space and centering a woman leader protagonist, Delany's Nebula Award-winning Babel is the one.

Rydra Wong, a spaceship captain, is intrigued by a mysterious language called Babel that has the power to alter a person's perception of themselves and others, and possibly brainwash her to betray her government. Readers of Nathaniel Mackey's poetry are often intrigued by his ability to merge the worlds of music particularly jazz and poetry to create soul-grabbing rhythmic prose.

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Through this National Book Award-winning tale, Ward writes an emotionally intense and deep account about a family who must find a way to overcome differences and stick together to survive the passing storm. Danez Smith's poignant words take heartbreaking imagery of violence upon the bodies of black men, and juxtapose them with scenes of a new plane, one that is much better than the existence they lived before.

COLLECTIONS

Upon arrival, it's a celebration, as men and boys are embraced by their fellow brothers and are able to truly experience being "alive. Colson Whitehead brings a bit of fantasy to historical fiction in his novel The Underground Railroad. Historically, the underground railroad was a network of safe houses for runaways on their journey to reaching the freed states.

But Whitehead invents a literal secret underground railroad with real tracks and trains in his novel. This system takes his main character, Cora, a woman who escaped a Georgia plantation, to different states and stops. Along her journey, she faces a new set of horrific hurdles that could hold her back from obtaining freedom. If you're into mystery but don't know Walter Mosley, it's time to catch up.

The crime-fiction author has published more than 40 books , with his Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins series being his most popular. Mosley's debut and Easy's debut as well Devil in a Blue Dress takes the reader to s Watts, a Los Angeles neighborhood where we are first introduced to Easy, who has recently relocated to the City of Angels after losing his job in Houston.

He finds a new line of work as a detective when a man at a bar wants him to track down a woman named Daphne Monet. More than years after her death, English novelist Jane Austen continues to be celebrated for her sharp, biting prose on love's various entanglements. The strong female characters in books like Pride and Prejudice and Emma are as resonant today as when Austen first pressed her pen to paper. Though her bibliography totals just six novels alongside some unfinished novels and other works in all, Austen's books and her insightful quotes have been subject to hundreds of years of analysis and—for the Austen die-hards—numerous re-readings.

For more on the writer's life, influences, and curious editing habits, take a look at our compendium of all things Austen below.

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