Inspiration and glad tidings - Book Shelf - Book Review

Who better than a man who has been called "America's Best Preacher" to bring the essential message of Christmas? In Follow The Star: Christmas Stories That Changed My Life (G.P. Putnam's Sons, $14.95), Bishop T.D. Jakes provides a seasonal gift of inspiration. It is a heartwarming and joyful collection of Christmas narratives, mixing biblical stories and his own childhood memories, that illuminate the true meaning of Christmas--significance Bishop Jakes and his family were able to find during the worst of times, times of poverty and hardship, that helped them to appreciate the real gifts of fellowship, love and God during the best of times. Here, Bishop Jakes guides us to a deeper understanding of Christmas.

NAUGHTY OR NICE (Dutton, $17.95) by Eric Jerome Dickey is not your typical holiday story. But, true to Dickey form, it is filled with humor, heart and soul. It is a story of the special bonds of sisterhood as seen through the experiences of the McBroom sisters-Livvy, Tommie and Frankie--approaching the holiday season with a lot of emotions and the wrong men to spend them on.

ROCKIN' AROUND THAT CHRISTMAS TREE (St. Martin's Press, $14.95) by Donna Hill and Francis Ray is a story about hope and reconciliation during the holidays. Denise and Edward Morrison are having problems--problems that will test the strength of their marriage. This is a story about what happens when we begin to question traditional family roles as Denise seeks to start a design business while Edward believes she should stay at home.

During this season of Kwanzaa, the book FIGHTING FOR US: MAULANA KARENGA, THE US ORGANIZATION, AND BLACK CULTURAL NATIONALISM (New York University Press, $ 26.95), by Scot Brown, provides the first major look at the Black nationalist organization behind the holiday. While Kwanzaa has grown in popularity among African-Americans, the majority of people, the book asserts, have little knowledge of the organizational roots of the celebration.

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COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group