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Nobody's Magic
- Narrated by: Mela Lee, Tracey Leigh, Jasika Nicole
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
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Publisher's summary
“The magic here is not the supernatural kind, but rather an attention to the grace of the ordinary. It is the magic of watching these women come into their power.”—New York Times
A GMA Buzz Pick!
A Most Anticipated Book by Essence · The Millions · Atlantic Journal Constitution · Glamour · Teen Vogue · Bustle · BookPage · Nashville Scene · Ms. Magazine · Parnassus Musing
A Best Book of February by Washington Post · Nylon · BookRiot
In this glittering triptych novel, Suzette, Maple and Agnes, three Black women with albinism, call Shreveport, Louisiana home. At the bustling crossroads of the American South and Southwest, these three women find themselves at the crossroads of their own lives.
Suzette, a pampered twenty-year‑old, has been sheltered from the outside world since a dangerous childhood encounter. Now, a budding romance with a sweet mechanic allows Suzette to seek independence, which unleashes dark reactions in those closest to her. In discovering her autonomy, Suzette is forced to decide what she is willing to sacrifice in order to make her own way in the world.
Maple is reeling from the unsolved murder of her free‑spirited mother. She flees the media circus and her judgmental grandmother by shutting herself off from the world in a spare room of the motel where she works. One night, at a party, Maple connects with Chad, someone who may understand her pain more than she realizes, and she discovers that the key to her mother's death may be within her reach.
Agnes is far from home, working yet another mind‑numbing job. She attracts the interest of a lonely security guard and army veteran who’s looking for a traditional life for himself and his young son. He’s convinced that she wields a certain “magic,” but Agnes soon unleashes a power within herself that will shock them both and send her on a trip to confront not only her family and her past, but also herself.
This novel, told in three parts, is a searing meditation on grief, female strength, and self‑discovery set against a backdrop of complicated social and racial histories. Nobody's Magic is a testament to the power of family—the ones you're born into and the ones you choose. And in these three narratives, among the yearning and loss, each of these women may find a seed of hope for the future.
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Critic reviews
"With Nobody’s Magic, Destiny Birdsong has given us a devastatingly beautiful, sexy, searing gift. I fell in love with the women Birdsong conjured so brilliantly. These are stunning, irresistible stories of Southern Black womanhood that I will return to again and again." (Deesha Philyaw, author of National Book Award 2020 finalist The Secret Life of Church Ladies)
“Nobody's Magic is an ironic title because Destiny O. Birdsong's prose is, in fact, magical. The character's wisecracks are as delicious as a po' boy, the situations are textured and sticky as the southern heat, and the histories are as thick as the bayou. We, as an audience, are ever so lucky to be along for the ride.” (Morgan Jerkins, New York Times best-selling author of Caul Baby)
“As with Destiny Birdsong’s poetry, the stories in Nobody’s Magic are striking and original, full of down-home hilarity, Black love, truth, grief, and the sometimes-uncertain roads one travels to accept the self. Birdsong’s is a powerful voice I’d follow anywhere.” (Dantiel W. Moniz, author of Milk Blood Heat)
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My Favorite Book So Far, by Far!
- By Dee on 04-19-09
By: Virginia DeBerry, and others
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If It Ain’t One Thing
- By: Cheryl Robinson
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Cheryl Robinson, a bright voice in African-American fiction, delivers a fresh tale of love in the modern world. Porter is a handsome Detroit firefighter who just got burned by his cheating girlfriend. Winona is a single mom who is getting by despite an old secret that haunts her. When Porter and Winona meet, they must face their pasts to allow their present romance to grow.
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Good listen
- By Brad on 06-29-10
By: Cheryl Robinson
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4 Guys and Trouble
- By: Marcus Major
- Narrated by: Ezra Knight
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcus Major, author of the Blackboard best-seller Good Peoples, crafts this fun, stylish and delightfully perceptive tale of four best friends, an oath - and one very special young woman. Colin, Dexter, Ibn, and Michael have been inseparable since college. Besides sharing similar interests, they have someone very important in common - Erika. Erika is the little sister of a friend who died, and they’ve promised to watch out for her.
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I really enjoyed the story
- By TooHot2Trott on 11-05-19
By: Marcus Major
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Orange Mint and Honey
- By: Carleen Brice
- Narrated by: Cherise Booth
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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After grad school, Shay Dixon feels like she's had enough for awhile. Inspired by her spiritual adviser - a soul-soothing blues player named Nina Simon - Shay calls her estranged mother Nona for the first time in years, and shocks herself by asking if it would be okay to come home for a while.
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One For The Money
- By DiaRose on 09-25-17
By: Carleen Brice
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The Sweet By and By
- A Novel
- By: Todd Johnson
- Narrated by: Becky Ann Baker, Adriane Lenox, Robin Miles, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Among the longleaf pines and family farms of eastern North Carolina, days seem to pass without incident for Margaret Clayton and Bernice Stokes until they discover each other in a friendship that will take them on the most important journey of their lives. Margaret, droll and whip smart, has a will of iron that never fails her even when her body does, while Bernice, an avid country-music fan, is rarely lucid.
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Great 2/3 of a book.
- By Tracy on 07-09-12
By: Todd Johnson
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Kissing Games of the World
- By: Sandi Kahn Shelton
- Narrated by: Myra Platt
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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What if the one person you can't bear to be with is also the one person you can't bear to be without? Jamie McClintock is a free-spirited artist and single mother who has at last found peace and freedom sharing a farmhouse with an elderly man and his young grandson. But when the old man dies suddenly her idyllic country life comes to a halt as the old man's estranged son, Nate, returns to claim the house and his child.
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Great Writer, Great Narrator ! Loved it!
- By Ms. Critic on 05-30-09
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God Don't Like Ugly
- By: Mary Monroe
- Narrated by: Denise Burse
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In God Don't Like Ugly, she weaves a powerful tale of devastating abuse, the strength of friendship, and the burden of terrible secrets. Shy, overweight Annette Goode is only seven years old when Mr. Boatwright, a boarder in her house, begins sexually abusing her. She keeps this information to herself for years, until gorgeous, self-assured Rhoda Nelson becomes her new friend. Annette confides in Rhoda and finds the strength and courage to survive to adulthood.
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A great listen
- By Tbrown on 12-29-12
By: Mary Monroe
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Sister, Sister
- By: Eric Jerome Dickey
- Narrated by: Sisi Aisha Johnson, Patricia R Floyd, Susan Spain
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Join three beautiful young women, Valeria, Inda, and Chiquita, as they look for Mr. Right in the bright lights of L.A. Gutsy, graphic, and full of sensual energy, Sister, Sister is Dickey at his best.
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Sister Sister is Sensational!
- By Thomas on 04-06-08
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Scandals
- By: Sasha Campbell
- Narrated by: Karen Pittman, Krystal King
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In Scandals, Monica Houston is a newly divorced mom who makes ends meet as an exotic dancer at Scandalous, the hottest club around. But if the ex finds out, she runs the risk of losing her kids. Meanwhile, sexy dancer Robin Wright thinks she might be in over her head when her sister is sent to jail and her nephew is thrust into her care. Unprepared for this new role, Robin finds herself falling for the kid’s “big brother”, even as she tries to prove her sister’s innocence.
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Scandals had me at the edge of my seat
- By Dream on 06-27-12
By: Sasha Campbell
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Rush
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Patton
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Lilith Whitmore appoints recent empty-nester Wilda to the Rush Advisory Board and suggests their daughters, both incoming freshman, room together. It's all part of Lilith's plan to ensure her own daughter receives an Alpha Delt bid - no matter what. Cali Watkins possesses all the qualities sororities are looking for in a potential new member, but her resume lacks a vital ingredient: pedigree. And if anyone discovers the dark family secrets she's hiding, she'll be dropped from rush in an instant.
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WHOA! I loved this book.
- By Carol Johnson on 03-05-19
By: Lisa Patton
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32 Candles
- A Novel
- By: Ernessa T. Carter
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Davie—an ugly duckling growing up in small-town Mississippi—is positive her life couldn’t be any worse. She has the meanest mother in the South, possibly the world, and on top of that, she’s pretty sure she’s ugly. Just when she’s resigned herself to her fate, she sees a movie that will change her life— Sixteen Candles. But in her case, life doesn’t imitate art.
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2 High Fives - for Monkey Night
- By Nevada on 10-03-12
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Rabbit
- The Autobiography of Ms. Pat
- By: Patricia Williams, Jeannine Amber
- Narrated by: Patricia Williams
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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One of five children, Pat watched as her alcoholic mother struggled to get by on charity, cons, and petty crimes. At age seven, Pat was taught to roll drunks for money. At 12, she was targeted for sex by a man eight years her senior; by 13, she was pregnant. By 15, Pat was a mother of two. Alone at 16, Pat was determined to make a better life for her children. But with no job skills and an eighth-grade education, her options were limited. She learned quickly that hustling and humor were the only tools she had to survive.
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Amazing story but dry reading
- By SpazzyMaggee on 11-03-17
By: Patricia Williams, and others
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Finding Amos
- By: J. D. Mason, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Bernice L. McFadden
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Three daughters, connected only through their relationship to Amos, a now elderly ex-musician struggling with Alzheimer's disease, find their lives intertwining as a car accident reunites them at Amos' bedside - bringing some long-buried issues to light.
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Soulful
- By D. Stokes on 11-11-15
By: J. D. Mason, and others
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The Untelling
- By: Tayari Jones
- Narrated by: Michele Blackmon
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Aria is no stranger to tragedy. Fifteen years ago, a family outing took the lives of her father and baby sister, leaving remaining members of this fractured family struggling with their own guilt - real and imagined. At 25, Aria believes she can reinvent herself through her planned marriage with all its promise of a family of her own. Her infertility changes her life as swiftly and irrevocably as the urban landscape around her.
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Don’t waste your time!
- By shasha on 09-18-20
By: Tayari Jones
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Suspicions
- By: Sasha Campbell
- Narrated by: Rachel Leslie, Korey Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In Suspicions, author Sasha Campbell pens a provocative tale about the trouble that can arise when a person ignores the past for too long. Because Noelle Gordon owns the hottest beauty salon in the area, she hears a lot about her clients’ private lives. But when a baby is abandoned on her doorstep, Noelle finds that she is the one at the center of all the drama.
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A Comical Read
- By Melissa on 09-19-12
By: Sasha Campbell
What listeners say about Nobody's Magic
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- 1 Traveling Chic
- 04-07-22
Not bad
I enjoyed the book overall. Three stories about women with albinism. The first two stories really kept my attention, the third one not so much. It was hard to follow.
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- John Mendoza
- 02-13-22
Nobody owns you. Not even you sometimes.
The book is a triptych of novellas loosely bound together by what the three women protagonists have in common and their different ways of approaching grief, joy, and violence. Each story centers around each woman— Suzette, Maple, and Agnes, all black women who have albinism and come from their own particular walks of life.
Suzette is a sheltered 20-year-old just trying to find her own way in life, despite her "older" parents' disapprobation. Maple is trying to make sense of her mother's unsolved murder. Agnes, highly educated and seemingly upwardly mobile, struggles and barely "make ends meet."
A common thread in each of the three women's stories is relationships with men. The circumstances of and how each is handled diverge differently and are probably beholden by their experience from family and childhood upbringing.
While I find the stories interesting, I can't say it was totally relatable to me— black womanhood, albinism, and the Deep South are as far from me as any life experience goes. I appreciated Suzette's story and found myself rooting for her in her strive for independence. I also learned a few things about albinism as it relates to optometry, which I think is cool. Maple's story was my least favorite, and I found myself speeding through to complete. At this point, I was considering abandoning the book because I did not want to start another story. I stuck it through and discovered Agnes's story, which I found very interesting and probably enjoyed the most. Agnes's approach to men as a way of her independence and coupled with her sibling rivalry was very interesting. I was glued to the explosive ending. The sheer ridiculousness of the situation she finds herself in, by her own making, wouldn't be so if not for her intelligence and education in the backdrop of her familial relationships.
None of the stories had definitive endings or deep connective tissues. Perhaps that was purposeful as it leaves the narratives open with enough story for us to imagine what may happen next for each of the women.
I rate this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.
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- k
- 01-02-23
it's a no
not sure what happened but this book started out so good and then all of a sudden it switched to a completely different book or a completely different narrator and it was just horrible I could even finish the end which pissed me off. wasted my money and I'm still waiting to hear the conclusion sigh
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