Book Reviews

“Supercharge Your Life After 60! 10 Tips to Navigate a Dynamic Decade by accomplished author, editor, playwright, speaker and publisher Vicki Ward is a thoroughly ‘user friendly’ informational and instructional resource to help navigate life changes for anyone 60 and over, retired, or considering it. Supercharge Your Life After 60! covers such critical and universal life changes include retirement, drawing pensions, financial changes, Medicare, aging bodies, health challenges, and creating new life goals. Aging parents often require assistance or nursing care. Adult children may seek financial or housing assistance. Supercharge Your Life After 60! is the ideal ‘go to’ guide for anyone managing the lives of aging parents. Simply stated, Supercharge Your Life After 60! 10 Tips to Navigate a Dynamic Decade should be a part of every senior citizen center, community, and academic library collections — as well as the personal reading list of anyone and everyone over the age of 60!”

Midwest Book Review

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I have been thrilled and honored to use Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color as a required text in my Psychology of Women classes over the past several years. Each semester students, including men and women of various ethnicities, ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds, share with me how much Life’s Spices has inspired and motivated them, and increased their awareness about the experience of women. I get chills when students report they have been so touched by the reading, that they shared it and engaged in warm discussions with their loved ones. Thank you, Vicki, for your contribution to engaging so many different people via the voices of women of color.

By Carmen McNeil, M.A.
Associate Professor, Psychology
Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA

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In the Spirit of Sisterhood

Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color, edited by Vicki Ward, is a wonderful collection of short stories, essays, and poems by mature women of all races. The collection is divided into the following themes: Sistahs’ Joys and Struggle with Family, Sistahs’ Joys…Life’s Pain, Love, Humility, and Other Spices that Flavor Relationships, Mothers Use Love, Forgiveness, Compassion, Wisdom…, Seasonings for Self-Esteem, Sistahs’ Survivin’ and Working It Out, Death Can Be an Awakening, and The Spirit…Always Present.

Within each theme are related stories of joy, pain, happiness, and sorrow. As each woman puts pen to paper to tell their account, as no one else can, you will find them captivating and filled with wisdom. Each poem is also overflowing with strength and weakness and finally some with acceptance of the hand the authors’ have been dealt and the power to forge ahead.

By Dawn R. Reeves of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

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Not Just For Women of Color - But Stories of Real People for All People

Sometimes you pick-up a book and wonder from the title if there is really anything inside the cover that will interest you. Such was my experience with a book titled Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color. The title gave me no insight on why a 61-year-old white man might enjoy reading this anthology of stories from women. What a most pleasant surprise awaited me once I opened it and began pouring over the pages and discovering that people are people regardless of gender or race.

Editor Vicki Ward did an excellent job of pulling diverse people and backgrounds into a mix that makes exploring between the covers a real joy. This book is not just for women of color; it is for all readers. I found inspiration from the life experiences shared in this book and feel that wisdom was gained by my reading it. There are not many books that you can say that about anymore.

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Seasoned Just Right

Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color, is a collection of stories by different women from all walks of life. From African American, to Asian, to Mexican women, all of the sistahs have a story to tell. Each piece is uplifting, wisdom-filled, and presented with just enough seasoning to add to life’s gumbo of joys, sorrows, and heartbreaks.

I found this book to be an excellent read. Each woman shared experiences that helped to mold them into strong, proud and wise women. In most cases, the stories were no longer than two are three pages, but each was packed with lessons to aid the reader in this journey we call life. If you are into nonfiction and enjoy reading how people triumph over life’s snares, you’ll love Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs.


By T. RHYTHM KNIGHT
APOOO BookClub
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Delightful Read

What a delightful read! [Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color] Real life storytellers are at work, here. And their narratives and poetry definitely add up to more than the sum of their parts. Through the harmony of more than 60 mature women’s voices, we’re given poignant, intimate, candid, and credible glimpses into the family life, empowerment, acceptance, abuse, faith, love, grief, and healing experiences of women of color. This is an outstanding tapestry of shared life experiences, the strands of which are illuminated by trials and victories of women traveling along life’s journey.

This collection is followed by a most helpful biography of each individual author and a researched list of state-by-state resources for women.

By Act Wise

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Fine anthology of personal essays

Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color is simply a wonderful book. I heartily recommend it to all readers who enjoy personal essays and who like to get insight into people. (I know some of the authors represented in the book. One could not ask to meet nicer folks.)

The book was the brainchild of editor Vicki Ward, who drew upon contributions by 60 mature women of color (mostly age 60 and up, I believe) for this anthology. Her idea was to bring forth reminiscences of family and heritage and experience from a wide range of women of color. The result is a fine volume of personal essays and some poetry-honest, unpretentious, and readable. Highly recommended. The focus of the book is mature women of color, but I think it will find a receptive audience among men and women of all backgrounds and ages, as reading it is like having conversations with friends whose experiences are worth telling.
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Life’s Spices From Seasoned Sistahs, A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color; Great for All to Read

I read this book for my female psychology class. The class and the book made me realize how societies, cultures, and men constantly discriminate against women. I learned about the different stereotypes that women face in this book, and I learned about what true, strong people and heroes are. I learned more about what women have to go through biologically, mentally, and emotionally.

What many of these women had to go through made my problems pale in comparison. What my mother, my grandmother, and what many other women in my life have had to go through could easily be part of this book. I wish many of my friends and family members that are sexist took a woman of psychology course, and I wish all people are required to read books like these and to take female psychology classes in order to combat and lessen discrimination toward women.


By DJ