Memoirs and Biographies We Love discussion
What'cha readin'?
I have begun my first audio book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I had planned on rereading it, but instead I will listen to it. I don't want my first audio to be difficult. I want to enjoy the whole experience. I hae just finished a very, very good book: Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. I highly recommend it. My review folows: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... Let me just add that it is long and it does have a lot of history in the book. This is simply because she was a powerful leader. You meet her a a leader and as an individual. I admire her tremendously. I learned so much. I did get tiored at points when I felt I was drowning in the history, but that is only due to my own ignorance. I believe that every time you reread this book you will appreciate it more. If you knew what this woman did. And in private she wanted no fuss, no impoliteness. A very intriguing woman that this author has done an excellent job in bringing to life.
I have just begun The Hummingbird's Daughter in the audio format. I am trying to learn to like audios...... and I find the topic of this book interesting. Although it is a novel, it is based on a true woman and a real place. I just finsihed my first audio A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Yes, I did enjoy it but I felt that it is primarily written for a young adult audience.OK, maybe also for those adults that want to reminisce. I felt that it was tring too bluntly to convey a message. I didn't feel it engaged me as it did when I was a child. I absolutely adored the book when I was in the pre-teens. My GR review explains in more depth what I enjoyed and what disappointed me on my second reading: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
A book has been written about the author Betty Smith. I give a link to that book in my review. I cannot find it with the button here.... Anyway, what is interesting is that "Brooklyn", although clearly a novel, is loosely based on the real life experiences of the author.
Chrissie wrote: "I just finsihed my first audio A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Yes, I did enjoy it but I felt that it is primarily written for a young adult audience.OK, maybe also for those adults that want to reminisce. I felt that it was tring too bluntly to convey a message. I didn't feel it engaged me as it did when I was a child. I absolutely adored the book when I was in the pre-teens. My GR review explains in more depth what I enjoyed and what disappointed me on my second reading: ..."Well shoot, that's disappointing. I just picked this one up from the library to read with another group.
Kaliki, please note that I gave it three stars. That means I liked it, but it didn't blow me away as it did when I read it as a child. The book is certaily worth reeading. Therre were many aspects of the novel that I thought were very well done.
Oh good. I didn't get a chance to open up the link and read your full review. Planning to do that tonight. Thank you!
Kaliki, have fun reading it. If you can, try and put yourself in the mode of a YA reading it.... I think then you will feel how wonderful it is. If I were still in my pre-teens, what a joke, I think I might very well give it 5 stars.
I should be able to do that, since I just finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian which is definitely YA, so I'm in "the mode". Thanks Chrissie!
I loved the book. Just finished reading "Leaving the Saints." It was a chilling tale that made for very good reading.
Chrissie wrote: "You're welcome! Have fun."I did end up loving it, Chrissie. But I definitely went into it expecting YA and the helped. Thank you!
Kaliki wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "You're welcome! Have fun."I did end up loving it, Chrissie. But I definitely went into it expecting YA and the helped. Thank you!"
I am not surprised. It is a book that must be read at least one inyour life.
Lisa wrote: "I loved the book. Just finished reading "Leaving the Saints." It was a chilling tale that made for very good reading."
I have not read Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith, but it must follow Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic which I am glad I have read. If you haven't read that, I do recommend it. It must be about the birth of the same child. The two books have the same author.
Chrissie wrote: I am not surprised. It is a book that must be read at least one inyour life..."
I agree.
Yes, both books are by the same author. She talked about Expecting Adam in Leaving The Saints.
Lisa, I believe the focus of the two books could be very different. I was more drawn to the medical issue than the religious one.
I have to write my review for The Hummingbird's Daughter, which I really enjoyed. i cannot decide which I liked best, the story istself or the fact that I listened to it rather than reading it. Whatever, I recommend it.
Wow, I just finished an impressive book: The Hummingbird's Daughter. Four stars from me! Here is my spoiler free review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... This was my second audio book. I am hooked. I will begin again The Silence of Trees. I put it down to try an audio,
Thanks Chrissie. The Hummingbird's Daughter sounds interesting. I'll put it on my to-read list.
Lisa, glad I could help. Do you listen to audios?
Chrissie, I don't usually like audios but once in a while if my husband and I are taking a long car trip, we'll listen to one. We try to keep it light so that we can concentrate on the driving while we're listening. We've listened to a few episodes of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. They're very entertaining.
Lisa, I do not think I would turn to audios if I had excellent vision. But now I am very happy I have found them. I was happily surprised when I discovered that my previous reservations were washed away. I am happily surprised that I enjoyed the experience so much.
I have noted that many of my GR friends have The Silence of Trees on the TBR lists. I was interested in it too. However it was a real disappointment. I have explained in my review why I only gave it two stars. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...Now I will begin The Tricking of Freya. What do I think the book is about? A multigenerational saga filled with Icelandic myths, legends, culture and landscapes. Good writing. Exploration of family secrets. I hope I am right.
Neither are biographies or memoirs.
I am eager to start Chronicle in Stone: A Novel. I have read The Three-Arched Bridgeby this author and liked it, although I did not find it as good as The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric. The two books are both about a bridge and about life that circles around it. This book I will be trying now concerns WW2 in Albania through a child's eye. I believe the writing will be excellent. Although it is historical fiction there are also biographical elements. I just completed Cathedral of the Sea, which I am very glad I read. Here follows my GR review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... While this is historical fiction Many of the characters are true.
I finished Chronicle in Stone: A Novel. I absolutely enjoyed every minute reading it. I could not put this book down. Here follosw my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... It is worth every one of its five stars. If you choose to read something by this Nobel prize-winning author, do yourself a favor, read this! It is a child's eye view of war in the Albanian city Gjirokastër. After WW2, Envor Hoxha took power. His brutal long-lived Stalinist regime fell only in August 1991. Both the author and Hoxha have this city as their home! BTW you do NOT need to be interested in history to enjoy this bookNow I will go to Croatia and read The Tiger's Wife. I have heard such good things about this book, and I enjoyed the Kindle sample. I realize now that what is most important to me, more than plot, is an author's writing style.
I'm reading Knox-Johnston On Sailing 
Every now and then I pick up several books at once and find in some way they intersect. At the moment I'm reading Evenings With Cary Grant: Recollections in His Own Words and by Those Who Knew Him Best
and
Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier where the connection between the two is obvious. I find I'm also drawn to start Fellow Travelers
which if I recall what I read about it correctly is also about the 1950s. Hoping to make some headway into that tonight so we'll see.
Finished Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier
. It was depressing all the way through. I'm glad I read it because I wanted to know more about Grace Kelly, but my god, her life sounded like one long gritted- teeth endurance test with a four-year good spell in the middle.
I absolutely adored Birds Without Wings. I believe this will be my favorite book this year! Here follows my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...I will now start A Night to Remember. I am listening to the audiobook.
Just finished A Night to Remember, and have started Nefertiti. I wanted to try a book by this author; Michelle Moran is quite the thing these days: Why not give her a try?! Both are audiobooks. The book about the Titanic was clear, factual and concise. It is not for those of you who want a melodramatic rendering of the facts as shown in the movie. I enjoyed it. It gave the facts and drew a picture of what really happened. There have been many false stories drawn of this event! You learn of what happened to those in steerage. You get a minute by minute account of what happened. There is an epilogue with source info.
Concerning Nefertiti: I have read that the historical details are to be accurate. Are they?
Here is a new one for me: I am going to be reading two books at one time! I thought I would be incapable of liking audiobooks, and actually I have found that I love them. Soooo, why not try reading two books at once. I am picking one that I can take with me everywhere and another that I will read at home with Vocatex. I have finally figured out how to use it, at least the magnification part, and I LOVE it. The audio part is still a challenge, but I'll learn that too with time. Hopefully. Anyhow, I figured I would read one book that was fiction and one that was not. So I chose Oliver SacksUncle Tungsten for the non-fiction and River in the Sea which is historical fiction, although based on the author's mother's life. That means both books are kind of biographies.The first is set in England, the second in Holland. I picked up RITS free a few days ago for my Kindle. My GR friend Misfit was so kind and told me about it being free at Amazon. I have been waiting to read UT for ages, and if I like this then I can read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat & Other Clinical Tales as an audiobook! That is suppose to be really good too.
Picking books to read is almost as much fun as reading them. I NEVER have trouble finding books to read!
I have a feeling the latter will draw me more...... Will I end up reading one first?
I just finished Bloodroot. Here follows my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
In case you missed it, Dancing in Heaven — a sister's memoir about the life and death of my severely disabled sister Annie is a Goodreads Giveaway until St Patrick's Day. You can enter to win one of three books here: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
Chrissie wrote: "I have begun my first audio book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I had planned on rereading it, but instead I will listen to it. I don't want my first audio to be difficult. I want to enjoy ..."I'm reading Catherine the Great right now. I really like it, although it is slow reading at times. Fascinating. I'm learning a lot that I never knew.
Christine wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I have begun my first audio book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I had planned on rereading it, but instead I will listen to it. I don't want my first audio to be difficult...."I am glad you like it! I have discovered that Massie's "Peter the Great" has come out on both Kindle and in audiobook format. I absolutely must read it.
Chrissie wrote: "Christine wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I have begun my first audio book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I had planned on rereading it, but instead I will listen to it. I don't want my first audi..."Thanks for letting me know. I'll put it on my to-read list.
I just finished Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner. She founded the Green Belt Movement that empowered women to plant trees in Kenya. We read it for our book club and we had a great discussion tonight -- this was a very impressive woman with so much determination, creative thinking, and courage.
Christine I have listened to other audio books that were good; I think even better. I adored White Gardenia and Birds Without Wings. Listening to a book is a different experience from reading one. It is slower. Every sentence has to be worth sucking on. Now I am listening to Dancing at the Rascal Fair and reading Fanny Stevenson: A Romance of Destiny. Fanny is the wife of the famous author and the author of the biography is very well-known in France as a superb writer of biographies. I will begin this soon. I am trying to listen to one book and read another book.
I finally finished:River in the Sea|12897020]. Here follows my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....I gave up on Uncle Tungsten. My review explains why: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....
I completed Fanny Stevenson: A Romance of Destiny and here follows my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... I recommend this book for those curious to know more about about Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife. She and they traveled and traveled and traveled. Through reading this book you will learn about life in the US, Scotland, Hawaii, Polynesia and France at the turn of the 20th Century. Fascinating stuff!
I am still listening to Dancing at the Rascal Fair. I am enjoying every minute of that too. It is clearly a comforting read, but now something heart-wrenching has happened. This has been brewing from the start, but I am impressed by Doig's ability put "flesh on the bones", to nuance the central theme. This book is for those who enjoy character portrayal. It is also of interest to those curious about pioneer life in western USA, the immigrant situation and the National Forest Parks instituted by Teddy Roosevelt.
I've just started reading A Mountain of Crumbs,A Memoir By Elena Gorokhova
I just finished A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary. I highly recommend it even if it has as its prime subject matter rape. It is also about survival. Hopefully by reading it it teaches that one should not judge others too quickly. I recommend it to those of you who want to get inside of another human being, to understand their existence, to understand their choices. This is my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...Now I am going to read In the Time of the Butterflies.
I don't enjoy light, fluffy reads. That seems pretty obvious here.
Death of a Man
I read Garson Kanin's play, A Gift of Time, which is based on this true story. It's the account of the last two months of a man, the writer Charles Wertenbaker, by his wife, the writer Lael Tucker Wertenbaker, and how he chose to die on his own terms. I liked the play so well that I hunted down the book that inspired it. So far I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
I am listening to Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. I am enjoying it immensely. The sarcasm is oh so funny, the British tone amusing. I am learning stuff. I didn't know the Boers settled in Kenya!I finished In the Time of the Butterfliesand here follows my review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
This is historical fiction. Maybe too much fiction for me.
I just finished Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. I loved it. I highly recommend it. I was doubtful that it could be as good as the same author's book Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, but it was. Here are my reviews on both books: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....I have already begun listening to The Art of Racing in the Rain! I love it. I hesitated to read this book when my last curly coated retriever, Skye, was very, very old. Now I have Oscar and I can read this book. ;0) I know, I know it's schmaltzy......
Jennie wrote: "I just finished Gracie: a love story by George Burns. It was so sweet. It wasn't terribly cerebral, but I forgot just how funny Gracie Allen was, and this was a great reminder. She was the hardest ..."Thanks for the suggestion. I am old enough to remember the George Burns/Gracie Allen Show in the fifties and you ar so right, Gracie was a comedic genius. Thanks so much for your review. I need a laugh right now!
I have begun Memories of Silk and Straw: A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan. The author, a doctor, has recorded the stories of the elderly in his village Tsuchiura, one hour's train ride northeast of Tokyo. In this way we learn of how life was in Japan at the beginning of the 20th Century. What was life like in Japan before modernization? The book has won prizes in Japan. I don't usually like short stories but still I dare to read this. Each story is only about a page or two long. There are nice drawings by his father.I finished When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa. This is my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... The author is writing about his father and life in Zimbabwe.
I have finished two short books, both related to Japan: Memories of Silk and Straw: A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan and When the Emperor Was Divine, which was an audio book. My two reviews:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I will start today The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family. I think I have read another book by this author, but I cannot find it here on GR. This is about one Vietnamese family over four generations. Within the family, members did not hold the same political beliefs. It is a biography.
I am reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. I find it extremely well written. It is one of those books that makes reading history anything but dry. Why? Because along with the historical facts you are shown the lives of particular North Korean people. I have read several books since posting here. I have given both The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures four stars. Here are my two reviews:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I had written in my private notes to myself for both of these books the following: ABSOLUTELY MUST READ!
Do yourselves a favor. Read these books. I love reading about people who live in countries I am not well acquainted with. What about you? None of these books are fiction. They are concerned with the lives of real people.
I am also listening to The Children's House of Belsen. I confused this book with The Girls of Room 28: Friendship, Hope, and Survival in Theresienstadt and thought I would be learning about the camp near Prague. Still, this one is getting interesting too. I was just so stumped since it was going in a different direction than I expected. I would have to say that the author's choice of word is a bit strange, and I find the narrator kind of makes it more melodramatic than it need be. The story itself is horrible enough without the added intonation. I do not regret choosing it.
I recently read 'The President and The Assassin', which I found very enlightening.Debra Ann Pawlak, Author
Bringing Up Oscar, The Men and Women Who Founded the Academy
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hollywo...
Started Simply Halston tonight. I'm finding the beginning interesting, which is unusual, because I confess usually I find people's childhoods pretty boring.
Memoirs and Biographies We Love
Books mentioned in this topic
Farmer Boy (other topics)The Girl Who Ran Away (other topics)
Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times (other topics)
The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain (other topics)
James Dean: Little Boy Lost - An Intimate Biography (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
H. Alan Day (other topics)Mark Twain (other topics)
Michael Ondaatje (other topics)
Wendell Berry (other topics)
Edmund Morris (other topics)
More...
If you would like to see an interview with the son of the spy codenamed Snow then here is a link.
http://www.codenamesnow.com/#!snow-in...