Review - The Black Family Who Built America

Title:  The Black Family Who Built America  

Author:  Cheryl McKissack Daniel

Publisher:  Atria/Black Privilege Publishing

Genre:   Nonfiction; History

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   288

Date of Publication:   August 12, 2025

My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

The riveting story of the McKissack family—the founders of the leading Black design and construction firm in the United States, from its beginnings in the mid-1800s to its thriving status today—in a moving celebration of resilience and innovation.

Captured in his native West Africa and enslaved on American shores by a North Carolina plantation owner, Moses McKissack I began to build his way to emancipation right from the start. Becoming an enslaved craftsman, he picked up the trade his family would become famous for in the earliest years of the 19th century, passing his learnings down to his children and seeing them off to freedom after the Civil War.

The family would settle in Tennessee, getting its bearings in the building trades despite rampant discrimination, establishing a foothold that now sees its latest generations working at the absolute peak of its industry.

The family’s fingerprints have been left all across the United States, spanning from Reconstruction to contemporary times, through projects like the Morris Memorial Building, Capers C.M.E. Church, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.

Here, Cheryl McKissack Daniel, CEO and president of McKissack & McKissack, reveals the full fascinating story of her family. So much more than an exploration of architectural achievements, The Black Family Who Built America is also a compelling illustration of how history rhymes and reverberates, and a celebration of the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity and drive change. From Moses’s humble beginnings to Cheryl’s current role as a trailblazer and champion of diversity, the family’s journey underscores the importance of perseverance, innovation, and strategic vision in shaping a legacy that continues to inspire and impact the construction industry.

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

American history is always interesting, but Black history even more so. When you read this book you learn about the McKissack family and how they were instrumental when it came to being part of the fabric of what made this country. 

With the author, Cheryl McKissack Daniel, recounting the history of her family, all while developing her own story, this story makes me think of aspects of my past. For example, her attending all white schools. I remember my senior year, and there were two other Black students besides myself, and I was the only Black graduate in my senior year. Definitely felt like a sore thumb, making me resonate with McKissack the more I read. With her family coming to America as slaves, they literally came a long way. This is a family that more people need to learn about and I hope that through the pages of this book that they are able to do so.

Many thanks to Atria/Black Privilege Publishing and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Review - A House Built by Slaves

Title:  A House Built by Slave

Author:  Jonathan W. White

Publisher:  Post Hypnotic Press

Genre:   Biographies & Memoirs; History

Format:  Audiobook ALC

No. of Pages:   240

Length:  9 hr 31 min

Narrator:  Jesse Lipscombe

Date of Publication:   December 21, 2023

My Rating:   5 Stars

*First published February 15, 2022

DESCRIPTION:

The forgotten but essential story of how President Lincoln welcomed African Americans to his White House in our nation’s most divided and war-torn era.

Jonathan White illuminates why Lincoln’s then-unprecedented welcome of African Americans to the White House transformed the trajectory of race relations in the United States. From his 1862 meetings with Black Christian ministers, Lincoln began inviting African Americans of every background to his home, from ex-slaves from the Deep South to champions of abolitionism such as Frederick Douglass. More than a good-will gesture, the president would confer with his guests about the essential issues of citizenship and voting rights. Drawing from an array of primary sources, White reveals how Lincoln used the White House as the stage to amplify African American voices. Even 155 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln’s inclusion of African Americans remains a necessary example in a country still struggling from racial divisions today.

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

For the last couple of years, memoirs have become an interest of mine. When I saw the audiobook of A House Built by Slaves pop up on NetGalley, I was immediately intrigued. In fact, the remainder of the title shows as "African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House."

During the years between 1861 and 1865, the Civil War was raging in America. At the same time, the president at that time, Abraham Lincoln, was engaged in a different fight, that of welcoming African Americans to the White House, forever changing most of America's hold on slavery. 

What was interesting to me - okay, I have been out of school for decades - was (re)learning about colonization. In fact, for a time Lincoln was a strong advocate of colonization. He began meeting with African Americans at the White House, but had wanted to implement a way to have Blacks migrate to other countries. In fact, Lincoln once said, "your race are suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people...but on the broad continent, not a single man of your race is made at the equal of a single of ours."

However, Lincoln continued to meet with various guests at the White House and soon his decisions, if not his very words, began to take on a transformation. Citizenship of African Americans, as well as voting rights, became matters of importance to Lincoln. In fact, on January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which stated, "that all persons held as as slaves...are, and henceforward shall be free." These were not mere words of Lincoln's, but his actions showed even more concern for a race that was experiencing so much turmoil.

Jonathan W. White does quite a remarkable job exploring the various ways in which Lincoln used his platform at the White House to initiate change for African Americans. I thought it was a good note in the book that Lincoln could not simply initiate policy even though he was President of the United States. It took years for the Proclamation to be signed, and today, 155 years later, African Americans are still struggling in many respects.

A lot of the focus in White's book was about how often Lincoln met with African Americans at the White House and how these frequent meetings went a long way when it came to changing Lincoln's attitude and reference to Blacks. Of course, Lincoln faced many an objection to his changing views of Blacks, even to the point of being assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The freedoms and kindness that Lincoln showed Blacks did not extend to future presidents for decades.

It is hard to believe that this book was only 240 pages. White did an excellent job reminding readers like myself of what our forbearers experienced and what many are still dealing with during our present day.

 

Many thanks to Post Hypnotic Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jonathan W. White is professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University. He is author or editor of 17 books and more than 100 articles, essays and reviews about the Civil War, slavery and emancipation, African American history, Abraham Lincoln, and the U.S. Constitution. His book Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln was named a best book of 2014 by Civil War Monitor, was a finalist for both the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize and the Jefferson Davis Prize, and won the Abraham Lincoln Institute's 2015 book prize. Midnight in America: Darkness, Sleep, and Dreams during the Civil War was named a best book of 2017 by Civil War Monitor. His 2018 book, "Our Little Monitor": The Greatest Invention of the Civil War, co-authored with Anna Gibson Holloway, was a finalist for the Indie Book Awards and honorable mention for the John Lyman Book Award. He is a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians, serves on the Boards of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute and the Abraham Lincoln Association, and is the Vice Chair of The Lincoln Forum. He also serves on the Ford’s Theatre Advisory Council, the editorial board of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, and as editor of both Lincoln Lore and ​The Lincoln Forum Bulletin. In 2019 he won the Outstanding Faculty Award of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the highest award given to faculty in the Commonwealth. His recent books include My Work Among the Freedmen: The Civil War and Reconstruction Letters of Harriet M. Buss (2021), which he co-edited with his student, Lydia Davis; To Address You As My Friend: African Americans' Letters to Abraham Lincoln (2021); A House Built By Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House (2022), which was co-winner with Jon Meacham of the 2023 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize; Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade (2023); and (2023), which he co-edited with Brian Matthew Jordan. In 2024, he published his first children's book, My Day with Abe Lincoln.​

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Review - Going There

 Title:   Going There

Author:  Katie Couric

Publisher:  Little, Brown and Company

Genre:   Biography & Memoir

Format:  Audiobook ARC

No. of Pages:   

Date of Publication:   

My Rating:   

DESCRIPTION:

Heartbreaking, hilarious, and brutally honest, Going There is the deeply personal life story of a girl next door turned household name.

For more than forty years, Katie Couric has been an iconic presence in the media world. In her brutally honest, hilarious, heartbreaking memoir, she reveals what was going on behind the scenes of her sometimes tumultuous personal and professional life - a story she’s never shared, until now. Of the medium she loves, the one that made her a household name, she says, “Television can put you in a box; the flat-screen can flatten. On TV, you are larger than life but smaller, too. It is not the whole story, and it is not the whole me. This book is.”

Beginning in early childhood, Couric was inspired by her journalist father to pursue the career he loved but couldn’t afford to stay in. Balancing her vivacious, outgoing personality with her desire to be taken seriously, she overcame every obstacle in her way: insecurity, an eating disorder, being typecast, sexism . . . challenges, and how she dealt with them, setting the tone for the rest of her career. Couric talks candidly about adjusting to sudden fame after her astonishing rise to co-anchor of the TODAY show, and guides us through the most momentous events and news stories of the era, to which she had a front-row seat:  Rodney King, Anita Hill, Columbine, the death of Princess Diana, 9/11, the Iraq War . . . In every instance, she relentlessly pursued the facts, ruffling more than a few feathers along the way.  She also recalls in vivid and sometimes lurid detail the intense pressure on female anchors to snag the latest “get”—often sensational tabloid stories like Jon Benet Ramsey, Tonya Harding, and OJ Simpson.

Couric’s position as one of the leading lights of her profession was  shadowed by the shock and trauma of losing her husband to stage 4 colon cancer when he was just 42, leaving her a widow and single mom to two daughters, 6 and 2. The death of her sister Emily, just three years later, brought yet more trauma—and an unwavering commitment to cancer awareness and research, one of her proudest accomplishments.

 Couric is unsparing in the details of her historic move to the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News—a world rife with sexism and misogyny.  Her “welcome” was even more hostile at 60 Minutes, an unrepentant boys club that engaged in outright hazing of even the most established women.  In the wake of the MeToo movement, Couric shares her clear-eyed reckoning with gender inequality and predatory behavior in the workplace, and downfall of Matt Lauer—a colleague she had trusted and respected for more than a decade.

Couric also talks about the challenge of finding love again, with all the hilarity, false-starts, and drama that search entailed, before finding her midlife Mr. Right.  Something she has never discussed publicly—why her second marriage almost didn’t happen. 

If you thought you knew Katie Couric, think again. Going There is the fast-paced, emotional, riveting story of a thoroughly modern woman, whose journey took her from humble origins to superstardom. In these pages, you will find a friend, a confidante, a role model, a survivor whose lessons about life will enrich your own.

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

 

Memoirs are quickly becoming one of my favorite genres. This amazing book by Katie Couric goes a long way into making me love reading about people as fabulous as she is. In this honest, thought-provoking book, Ms. Couric shares her journey as she became a true household name.

The world of media is a progressive place, and Ms. Couric traversed personal and professional hurdles as she rose in popularity. She came by her career honestly as her father was a journalist. He might not have lasted in the career, but this did not dissuade Katie. In fact, it played into giving her an extra boost in obtaining some of her career goals.

Things were deinitely not easy. In fact, women in media have an image to protect. An image often projected on them, even to the point of bringing harm. An example of this is how Ms. Couric even dealt with an eating disorder while forcing herself to fit into an expected mold. Also being a woman in a previously male-dominated career had its own share of challenges, and these included sexism and harassment. She rose like a champion, however, and spent decades in front of the camera.

Many of the stories Ms. Couric reportered were quite memorable, and in my mind's eye I can clearly see Ms. Couric reporting some stories that will be with me for a long time. She experienced some personal tragedies along the way, and this included losing her loving husband to cancer. This was not the only loss she experienced, but she came out like a champion, each and every time. She is one of the strongest women I have every had the pleasure of reading about. 

Many thanks to Little Brown and Company for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is notable as an American journalist who became well-known as co-host of NBC's Today. In 2006, she made a highly publicized move from NBC to CBS, and on September 5, 2006 she became the first solo female anchor of the weekday evening news on one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks. She currently serves as the anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, having replaced Bob Schieffer on September 5, 2006. Schieffer served as the interim anchor following the departure of long time anchor and managing editor Dan Rather on March 9, 2005. 

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Review - Walking Miracle

 

Title:   Walking Miracle

Author:  Ryan Shazier, Larry Platt

Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing

Genre:   Biography/Memoir

Format:  Audiobook ARC

Narrators:  Ryan Shazier, Adam Lazarre-White

No. of Pages:   256

Date of Publication:   November 30, 2021

My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

Nearly four years after an errant tackle left him paralyzed below the waist, the inspiring comeback story of how former Pittsburgh Steeler Ryan Shazier recovered to walk again.

As an All-American at Ohio State and All-Pro linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ryan Shazier was living his best life while excelling at the game he loves, a game that has given him so much. But then Ryan was forced to redefine success. Suddenly, it was no longer measured by tackles or sacks, but by purpose and faith.

WALKING MIRACLE is the story of this new definition of success, following the arc from December 4, 2017, when Shazier was injured playing the Cincinnati Bengals, to his retirement. For three years, Shazier doggedly pursued a return to professional football. He took small wins as “first downs” on the drive to return to the field: moving his toes, walking, dancing at his wedding, and ultimately running and returning to the team. What Shazier didn’t realize is that along the way, he was preparing himself for another purpose—that of father and husband, philanthropist, and football analyst. The journey was preparing him not for a renewed life as a middle linebacker, but a renewed life after the game.

Here we see Shazier overcome childhood alopecia, which caused a great deal of emotional pain, and scoliosis, which nearly robbed him of his dreams of playing college and professional football. We gain insights into legendary coaches Urban Meyer and Mike Tomlin. And we see him star on the field. Shazier was one of the best defensive players in Steeler history—a history full of great defensive stars.

WALKING MIRACLE—the message on a bracelet given to him by his godmother—is the story of Ryan’s comeback, but it’s also a book of life’s lessons, challenges, and a love letter to the power of positive thinking.

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

 

All American at Ohio State and All-Pro linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That may tell readers about his career playing football, but there is much more to this story. A tackle. A sack. Any football player knows that any hit could take them down for good, either crippling them or even causing severe brain degeneration. For Ryan Shazier his injuries were of a physical nature and were devastating. In fact, Ryan was thought to never walk again.

Not only did Ryan defy the odds but doing just that - walking - he wanted to do much more. Ryan wanted to play professional football again. He took as many firsts as possible to try to achieve his dream. Ryan made such progress that he actually remained on the roster for more than one team. However, he never did achieve that particular dream, although he did reach other very high hopes along the way.

The reason it was thought that Ryan would never walk again was because he sustained a critical spinal injury after a head-on tackle. Surgery proved successful in his journey to walk again, but it might not have been enough to achieve his ultimate dream to play professional football once again.

Despite the result of such loss that Ryan had to deal with, this book proved to be a book of hope. Ryan's hope was strongly connected to his faith. In fact, it was is faith that kept Ryan putting one foot in front of another - literally. More than that, this inspiring story relays Ryan's life even before he played the game of football. This was such an incredible story that this book will defnitely get a re-read by me. Faith, hope and courage just might be Ryan Shazier's hallmarks and makes this man a true hero to me.

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ryan Shazier

Ryan Dean Shazier is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Ohio State and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Shazier had a successful first few seasons in the league, including a Pro Bowl appearance in 2016. During the 2017 season against the Cincinnati Bengals, Shazier attempted to make a head first tackle that left him unable to move his legs, and he had to have spinal stabilization surgery and learn to walk again. After spending two seasons on the Steelers' physically unable to perform list, Shazier announced his retirement from football in 2020.

Larry Platt

A well-known author, editor, media executive and pundit, Larry Platt is the co-author of Just Tell Me I Can’t: How Jamie Moyer Defied the Radar Gun and Defeated Time (“The best book I have ever read on the psychology of that complex and marvelous creature called the pro athlete,” writes Buzz Bissinger) and Everyday I Fight, the posthumous memoir from Stuart Scott.

Platt is a former columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and former editor of the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia magazine. Under Platt, the magazine received its first back-to-back nominations for the much-coveted National Magazine Award in General Excellence and was named the nation’s third-best newsstand performer by Capell’s Circulation Report.

Currently, Platt is the co-founder and editor of The Philadelphia Citizen, a nonprofit media organization dedicated to using solutions-based journalism to reignite civic participation.

Platt is a nationally recognized writer, penning multiple features on sports, politics, media and business for publications such as GQ, the New York Times Magazine, New York, Men’s Journal, Playboy, and Salon.com, among other publications.

Platt is the author of four books. In 1999, Avon Books published Keepin’ It Real: A Turbulent Season at the Crossroads with the NBA, a chronicle of a year inside the NBA through the eyes of Charles Barkley, Chris Webber, Jerry Stackhouse, Vernon Maxwell, and Matt Maloney. In May 2002, Temple University Press published New Jack Jocks: Rebels, Race and the American Athlete, an anthology of Platt’s national sports pieces over the years.

In November 2002, Platt penned Only the Strong Survive: The Odyssey of Allen Iverson  (Regan Books). (“Iverson’s past has been strip-mined by many,” writes Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith. “Platt has gone back with a hand shovel and sifter and found what everyone missed.”)  Most recently, his book about ageless pitcher Jamie Moyer has met with widespread critical acclaim.

Platt, a native Philadelphian and avid tennis player, has appeared on numerous television shows, including Nightline, ESPN Outside the Lines, and HBO Real Sports. Platt is 49 and lives in Ardmore, PA, with his wife, Bet, a second-grade schoolteacher.

Review: Bono

Bono by Helen Brown

My rating: 5 Stars

New York Times bestselling author Helen Brown writes a touching, often humorous, tale of a time in her life when she is quite unsettled. Although happily married, she has recently dealt with a bout with breast cancer, despite having a good prognosis. Sadly, she doesn't feel as if her everyday life offers much excitement. Having recently published a book, she goes to New York in order to publicize the book. It is during this trip that Helen agrees to the daunting task to foster a homeless cat. Not only is Bono homeless, he is seriously ill.

Helen will be visiting from Australia, and to her delight, her eldest daughter Lydia agrees to accompany her for part of that time. Helen has her doubts early on about taking on a cat, but Lydia is very excited about it, much to Helen's surprise. Once Helen has warmed up to the idea, she is quite touched at everyone's response to it. This turns into a self-healing time for both Helen and Lydia, even if the healing that she will undoubtedly receive from Bono doesn't happen for quite some time.

I have to be honest and say that I've not read a biographical memoir before, but I am very pleased that the publisher forwarded this book to me. My emotions went from laughing, to bawling, whether from genuine sadness or complete joy. I absolutely fell in love with Bono. Oh, there was one particular moment when his sensitivity as a cat shone through. As a woman owned by several cats, this is an emotion that I am quite familiar with. I loved that Bono's story was shared to the world. It will be in my heart for all time. I also enjoyed the personal growth that Helen achieved in this story.

Most honorable mentions go to Helen's own cat, Jonah, and her past beloved feline, Cleo. I also do not feel that my review would be complete without also mentioning two very special people that brought Bono into Helen's life, Michaela Hamilton and Vida Engstrand, both of Kensington Books, for without whom she never would have never met Bono. A truly inspirational tale for for anyone who has a love for these furry, four-legged creatures. I have already placed Ms. Brown's backlist into my Amazon cart.

Many thanks to Helen Brown and Kensington Books for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.