Eunice Hunton Carter was an amazing woman, and I'm glad that Stephen Carter wrote this book about her.  Ms. Carter lived in a time when it was shocking for a woman to want to be more than a wife and a mother and shocking for an African-American to want to be an attorney, and yet she got her law degree and had an amazing career.

Mr. Carter writes engaging narrative non-fiction, and makes his subject, her surroundings and the time in which she lived come alive.  I had intended to share my copy of the book with all of the women lawyers I know (and I know a lot of them!), but after a discussion with a male colleague, I think men are the ones who need to read this book as a reminder that women's incredible achievements can get swept under the rug of history.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hearing at a local bookstore the author Stephen L. Carter speak about his paternal grandmother Eunice Huston Carter (1899-1970). Sometime later, after the Q&A session, I had the opportunity to speak with Professor Carter as he autographed my copy of this book.

"INVISIBLE: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster" puts the reader into an era in U.S. history barely half a century behind us, when African Americans were restricted by law and what was accepted custom from realizing their full potential in what was an overtly racist America (Jim Crow segregation). Notwithstanding all that, what I found to be deeply inspirational from reading this book is learning about the life of this most remarkable woman - as well as the lives of her parents (who were both fully engaged social activists; Eunice's father with the YMCA (its 'colored' section) for whom he worked tirelessly both in the U.S. and abroad til his death in 1916 and her mother Addie was a graduate of Boston Latin School, and a college graduate who later served as a teacher and worked with a variety of organizations promoting racial and gender equality til her death in 1943) and younger brother, from whom she became estranged. 

This is a book that would be instructive (as well as inspirational) to any reader who wants to learn about the value of living -- in spite of the obstacles and challenges arrayed against someone because of his/her color and/or gender -- a purposeful, committed life wholly dedicated to advancing socio-economic justice, as well as racial and gender equality.

I think I need an intervention.

I love books & reading- always have.  Reviewing is a bonus and the advent of ebooks was a mixed blessing.  As of this moment I have about 30gb of ebooks sitting on an external drive...

Not a typo: 30 Gigabytes. And I'm always acquiring more.  

Between purchases, giveaways, ARCs, freebies, NetGalley, Kindle listings & promos I've got a TBR pile that would make Sisyphus shake his head and wonder what the fuck was wrong with me.  It's only Wednesday and check out what this week's haul already looks like:

AlS

Oh, and did I mention I'm getting ready for NaNoWriMo?

...send help... or at least a shitload of coffee.