• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sandhenge Publications

Jim Potter, Author

  • About the Author
  • Author Blog
    • Sign Up for Jim’s Posts
  • Blog Podcasts
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact the Author
  • Read the Behind the Books Blog
    • Listen to the Audio Blog
  • Check Book Reviews
  • Sign Up to Receive Blog Posts
  • All Books

31 Days (Nights)

February 28, 2022 by Jim Potter 4 Comments

Share this blog post

Email
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
https://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/31-Days-Nights.mp3

31 Days (Nights): Memoir of Living Black in America

by Reginald D. Jarrell

Book Review

Can you tell a book by its cover? This is a question that author Reginald D. Jarrell addresses in his just published book, 31 Days (Nights): Memoir of Living Black in America (Blue Cedar Press, 2022).

The question is a theme in Jarrell’s memoir as he revisits his life as a Black man growing up in a country where the color of a person’s skin causes people, mostly Caucasian, to prejudge. Jarrell also makes it clear that the real issue has never been his color or his race, it’s been about “them,” those with a problem of accepting people as people.

Speaking in generalities, I’m curious what demographic will most warmly welcome 31 Days (Nights). Will people of color appreciate Jarrell’s personal experiences because they identify, having walked in his shoes? Will potential readers, targets of hate, see the book as an affirmation of surviving their own day-to-day struggles while encountering prejudice? Will people of color welcome the author’s memories? Or will they feel like they have their own painful, real-life stories, and prefer—for their own mental health—to avoid being reminded of past—even present—wrongs?  

I appreciate 31 Days (Nights) because, like any memoir, it’s personal. Jarrell’s stories are American history. In textbooks and on video, we can learn about racism and the Civil Rights Movement, but it takes true-life stories to give the world-wide racial picture a heartbeat in living color.

In today’s politically and culturally divided world, it’s clear that most people seek out others who support their worldview. I imagine people who support equal rights, especially racial equality, will welcome 31 Days (Nights) as a valuable example of the wrongs that need righted.

I also expect that those people who believe systemic and institutional racism doesn’t exist, or that it ever existed, won’t have the slightest interest in the read because it won’t support their belief system.

31 Days (Nights) isn’t for everyone, but I found it exceptionally well-done. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come as a society, and unfortunately, how far we still have to go.

Jim Potter—author of Taking Back the bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

 

 

 

Share this blog post

Email
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin

Related

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: 31 Days (Nights), Author Reggie Jarrell, Blue Cedar Press, Hutchinson Kansas, Jim Potter, Kansas Authors Club, memoir of Living Black in America, Reginald D. Jarrell, Reno County Kansas

Sign Up for the Blog

You will never have to check this site for the latest blog post, and you’ll get the latest and the greatest first! You will receive a confirmation email that you must respond to in order to be officially subscribed.

IMPORTANT! Check your Junk and Spam folders as needed!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alex says

    February 28, 2022 at 9:40 am

    Excellent review of this intriguing memoir.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      February 28, 2022 at 10:04 am

      Thanks for your support, Alex.

      Reply
  2. Gloria Zachgo says

    February 28, 2022 at 12:19 pm

    Jim,

    Your understanding and support of other authors is so appreciated. A great review!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      February 28, 2022 at 12:40 pm

      Thanks, Gloria. When I visited D5 on a regular basis, I was always pleased to sit by Reggie. I wonder if he ever got tired of me asking, “How’s your book coming along?” Now I know.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Jim Potter, Author

author

Recent Blog Posts

  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Draft Status February 2, 2023
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Choosing a Title January 26, 2023
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Multitasking January 19, 2023
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Networking January 12, 2023
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Introduction January 5, 2023

If you prefer to listen . . .

If you prefer to listen to my blog posts, you can do so … List of podcasts about Podcasts

Post Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017

What People Are Saying

Footer

Follow Jim on Facebook

Follow Jim on Facebook

Interviews with Jim Potter

Video interview with James Lowe outside Bookends Bookstore July 21, 2022

Print interview with author Bill Bush September 1, 2022

Print interview with author Cheryl Unruh February 28, 2019

Hutchinson Magazine Article

Copyright © 2023 Sandhenge Publications · Website by Rosemary Miller