So it’s been over a month since first joining in with the Friday 56 over at Freda’s Voice.

There were many a time I intended too, but by the time the kids were in bed after a long week, I just didn’t have a blog post in me.

But I was home with two sick kids this past Monday and they had the decency to nap at the same time… FOR THREE HOURS … and I got into such a good book that I knew I wanted to make an extra effort this week.

Friday 56 rules are easy.

Grab a book, any book.

Turn to page 56, or 56% in your eReader.

Find a sentence (or a few, just don’t spoil it)

Post it.

Then join the link up.

The book I’m reading right now is Lawrence Hill‘s The Book of Negroes:

I picked it up, honestly, because my husband came home with an autographed copy as a gift for me.

Benefits of being The Photographer’s Wife. He was shooting an event with the author and the some of the cast of the new miniseries on January 27, and they were giving out signed copies. So he thoughtfully got one for me. Because he’s awesome like that.

It sat on my “to read” pile until this past Saturday when I got started.

I was about 150 pages in by Monday and then got through most of the rest. Then life got hectic, so I’m looking forward to finishing tomorrow morning while the girls watch Dora.

Briefly, the story is that of Aminata Diallo, told in her voice as she writes her autobiography in London, England at the beginning of the 19th century. Abducted at age eleven from her village in Africa, she is enslaved in South Carolina; her life then brings her to New York; and then Nova Scotia before returning to Africa; and then, I must presume because I am not there yet, London.

It’s one of the most memorable books I’ve read in ages.

Here’s my selection from Page 56:

Our captors stood and watched. Thinking of my mother and what she would do, I opened my palm wide, and shoved it at them with elbow locked and arm straight. They raised their eyebrows, and the toubab stared at me again. He muttered something to one of the captors, who passed it on to another captor, who asked me in Bamanankan if I was sure that I knew what I was doing. I gestured once more for them to go, and this time they retreated.

I rubbed Sanu’s shoulders and back with shea butter. “You will be a fine mother,” I said to her, and she smiled gently and told me I would make my mother proud.

I made a resolution this year to read more and am tracking my progress on Goodreads. Links on the side for anyone interested.

I look forward to seeing what others are reading. I started this year on a vampire fiction kick and have since moved on to a number of other genres (14 books so far this year; my goal is 50).

Looking forward to finding my next great read!