Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
What Are You Reading Now (anything goes) 2019
I've been reading a whole bunch of books but no bios lately.Expert Podcasting Practices For Dummies
Market Domination for Podcasting: Secrets From the World's Top Podcasters
Profitable Podcasting: Grow Your Business, Expand Your Platform, and Build a Nation of True Fans
The second one actually did have some bio material because the podcaster interviewed all these different podcasters and asked them how they got into it.
Mod
Expert Podcasting Practices For Dummies
[book:Market Domination for Podcasting: Secrets From the World's Top Podcasters|..."
We all need to diversify sometimes.
The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump
Rob Sears
3/5 stars
This came across the desk at the library and was so intriguing I just had to read it. Rob Sears took President Trump's tweets and transcripts arranging each sentence and made them into poetry. Every sentence was spoken by Trump which the author backs up with notes on where each sentence came from.
The Annotated Little WomenLouisa May Alcott
3/5 stars
I found this classic story of Little Women which was made into an annotated version. I wish I could I say I loved this version but I had a hard time with it. There were copious annotations in the book and most were very tedious which took me away from the storyline. I was looking forward to a re-read but I must have never read this version because this was so different from what I remembered. Perhaps I had read a children’s version when I was younger.
Am missing my bios.I've been skim reading Tears of Rangi: Experiments Across Worlds by Anne Salmond
At first I thought this book would be interesting, but when it came in on request it looked rather fat with over 400 pages. Its meant to be a history of Maori and European interaction but with any history I find it getting bogged down in the details. In 1838 this happened. In 1841 this happened. I would prefer a summary!
Huia Come Home by J Ruka was a much shorter and more manageable read. It was not written by an anthropologist or academic and I am absolutely fine with it not quoting a whole lot of texts with footnotes.
Mod
5 stars
Fun walk down Memory Lane, even if you are not a collector. A fast read as it is mostly pictures.
urban maori: the second great migrationInteresting.. the Maori people came.from Hawaiki in the Pacific, to Aotearoa the land of the long white cloud..and then from there they went into the cities, traditionally the domain of Pakeha...the Europeans who started taking over the land...this book explains the recent urbanisation of Maori and has several profiles and stories told by Maori of their experiences, leaving their families behind in their tribal lands to live in the cities with the Pakeha people.
In recent times Maori had started migrating to Australia to become 'maussies' or Mozzies. They didnt suffer the same fate as the Aborigines. Their sense of tikanga or culture and whakapapa or geneology kept their iwi or family tribes connected. Going from rural to urban meant a loss of land and tribal identity but by establishing Marae or meeting houses they kept their identity, language and culture although quite a few of them did lose out or become victims to drugs and alcohol and criminal gangs in the city where there was lack of family connections.
I grew up in a bicultural nation and I remember many racist attitudes toward maori and thinking how unfair that was because they were the indigenous people. The europeans thought the maori were a dying race...its true that in the past they might have self destructed with inter tribal warfare. But maybe this urbanisation is crossing borders an bringing all Maori closer together and strengthening them. For a time they nearly gave up their language and roots to fit in. But now its ok to speak te reo and not be ashamed of being Maori.
Bowlaway
Elizabeth McCracken
3/5 stars
Bowlaway is the story of the unusual Bertha Truit, her family and friends in Salford, Massachusetts. When we first meet Bertha, she is in a cemetery and presumed dead but her life isn’t over and she eventually sets up her life in Salford surrounded by her husband Dr. Leviticus Sprague. She opens up a bowling alley where candle pin bowling is the game and life revolves around the alley with characters coming and going, growing old and dying. I had some difficulty with keeping track of all the characters coming in and out of the story line but overall I enjoyed this book.
Giraffes on Horseback Salad: Salvador Dali, the Marx Brothers, and the Strangest Movie Never Made
Josh Frank
3.5/5 stars
This is the interesting and absurdly true story about the famous painter Salavdor Dali who had written a screenplay and wanted the Marx Brothers to be in it. Josh Frank had been researching unmade film scripts when he found mention of Dali’s script originally titled The Surrealist Woman and from there he had his subject for this book. Through painstaking research he pieced together the story of Giraffes on Horseback Salad screenplay. Illustrated by Manuela Perte and adapted with Tim Heidecker, this book contains the graphic novel based on the screenplay and the written story of the strangest movie never made. One of my favorite trivia bits from the book was how did Harpo and Dali (who became friends) communicate. Neither spoke each other’s language but both wives spoke German so they could translate for their husbands
Wade in the Water: Poems
Tracy K. Smith
3.5/5 stars
The poems from this book are from the Poet Laureate of the United States. I especially enjoyed the section of poems I Will Tell You the Truth about This, I Will Tell You All About It which were taken from letters written by African Americans civil war soldiers and their family members.
The Princess Saves Herself in This One
Amanda Lovelace
3.5/5 star
Lovelace writes from the feminine prospective on love, loss and growing up/being female through short concise poetry. This is the first of 3 books in the series. You will either love it or hate it. I loved it.
The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One
Amanda Lovelace
3/5 stars 5/12/2019
This is the second book in a poetry series from Lovelace’s the women are some kind of magic series which discusses women’s issues. I found this one darker than the first one but I could feel where the writer was coming from through these poems.
Summer Hours at the Robbers Library
Sue Halpern
3.5/5 stars
This novel follows three main characters- Kit, the librarian; Sunny, the shoplifter and Rusty, who was down on his luck after a meteoric run on Wall Street. They meet through the local library. As the novel proceeds you follow their backstories and the trouble they have been through and how their bonding improved their lives.
Been reading plenty of picture books in my new job...The children really love anything by Lynley Dodd to do with Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy
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The children really love anything by Lynley Dodd to do with Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy"
What is your new job? I want a job where I can read plenty of books.
Koren wrote: "Selina wrote: "Been reading plenty of picture books in my new job...The children really love anything by Lynley Dodd to do with Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy"
What is your ..."
Librarian at a Primary school!
Selina wrote: "Koren wrote: "Selina wrote: "Been reading plenty of picture books in my new job...The children really love anything by Lynley Dodd to do with Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy"
..."
I used to volunteer at my kids' school library and loved it. I liked it so much I got a job at our local library.
Mod
The children really love anything by Lynley Dodd to do with Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy"
..."
Fun!
The Flying Classroom
Erich Kästner
3/5 stars
This is Kastner’s 1933 novel about a group of very young male students that live at a boarding school in Germany and which highlights their camaraderie as the grow up and learn about life and how they learn to rely on their classmates and their teachers. This was just okay for me, however, when I researched the author; he became more interesting than this story. He was German and his books were burned in 1933 when the Goebbels instigated the book burnings pre WWII. Now I want to read a biography on Kastner.
The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One
Amanda Lovelace
4/5 stars
This is the third book of the series of poems about women’s issues by Lovelace and this one also includes other female poets’ poems. I enjoyed it.
Mod
5 stars
This was a free Amazon With Prime book. It is a good look at how people can become involved with a cult and how hard it is to get out. It starts with the history of Scientology beginning with L. Ron Hubbard, covers a few celebrities that have become involved with Scientology and ends with how difficult it is to get out of Scientology if you choose not to belong. I think it was fairly unbiased.
Selina wrote: "Librarian in a primary school!"So, no true crime section, huh?
Fishface wrote: "Selina wrote: "Librarian in a primary school!"So, no true crime section, huh?"
No..it seems plenty of books on sharks though.
The Bird's Nest
Shirley Jackson
3.5/5 stars
A young single woman who lives with her aunt comes home from work one day very ill from headaches. Her aunt knows something is wrong and takes her to a doctor who discovers that she has developed into split personalities and attempts to help her get rid of them. Very dark-just like a Jackson novel should be!
Selina wrote: "No..it seems plenty of books on sharks though."That's a sound and wholesome taste. It's never too early to develop piscatorial love!
Mod
That's a sound and wholesome taste. It's never too early to develop piscatorial love!"
You're hilarious!
Julie wrote: "The Flying Classroom
Erich Kästner
3/5 stars
This is Kastner’s 1933 novel about a group of very young male students that live at ..."
hi Julie, what caused you to pick up the Kastner ? I'm very interested in the fate of artists during the Nazi period
Pamela wrote: "Julie wrote: "The Flying Classroom
Erich Kästner
3/5 stars
This is Kastner’s 1933 novel about a group of very young male students..."
This will sound stupid but I am doing a reading challenge and I needed to read a children's book. I came across Kastner as a child's author and learned he had written The Parent Trap but I already knew that story so I found a list of his other books and found that book and it was in our library system so I ordered it. However, I looked into his life story and found it is definitely more interesting than the books he wrote. Still looking for a biography written in English on him.
Am reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Self-Sufficient Living by Jerome BalengerI wonder if the complete idiots copied the dummies. But Its ok I read both to find out stuff.
Grief Cottage
Gail Godwin
5/5 stars
This story revolves around Marcus whose mother has passed away and who is sent to live with his Aunt Charlotte, a reclusive painter that lives on an island off of South Carolina. Aunt Charlotte has her own demons to deal with, let alone raising a nephew. Marcus is mostly on his own so when he explores the island he finds Grief Cottage- a house that was wrecked in a hurricane and which his Aunt often paints pictures of. While there he senses a young man at the cottage starring at him as he sits on the porch. Who is this young man and why is Marcus so intrigued with him? What a wonderful tale by Godwin-I will definitely read more of her!
Koren wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Selina wrote: "No..it seems plenty of books on sharks though."That's a sound and wholesome taste. It's never too early to develop piscatorial love!"
You're hilarious!"
I am dead serious!!!
The Little Free Library Bookby Margaret AldrichThis is a book about little free libraries and also got how the first one was started. There are now thousands of them all over the world,but I note, only three official little free libraries registered in my city.
We have gone for pop up fridge libraries instead...they are easier to make and hold more books!
The Keepers of the House
Shirley Ann Grau
5/5 stars
This 1965 Pulitzer Prize winning novel revolves around the slave owning Howlands, who have lived in the South for generations. When events that happened in the past have come to a head in the future, Abigail, the latest Howland has to deal with the repercussions. This is one of the best books I have read this year.
I'm not sure if this counts as biography but it is based on the true story of Dita KrausGrim reading is the The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
Dita is 14 years old and entrusted with a library of books in auschwitz, she has to hide them or it might mean death from the guards. There are only eight books but she also has 'living books' adults who tell stories whenever a child wants to hear. In camp 31 there are children and they while the adults know they may be condemned to death, while they are at camp they try to look after the children by playing games, having sports, telling stories, singing songs etc.
This book is a translation and the way its structured is a little confusing and descriptions can be a bit tedious, but there is liberation at the end after all the horrors. Not for the faint hearted and not a book I would want to read particularly, though its important I wonder if Dita couldnt just tell her own story of how she survived. I mean having it fictionalised kind of removed the personal aspect for me of how Dita really felt at the time. She was 14 and there were several things she wouldnt have understood at that age, but i suppose it was trying to encompass the horror of everyones collective experiences not just Ditas.
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Grim reading is the The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
Dita is 14 years old and ..."
You posted under the 'anything goes' thread so that is fine if you are unsure where to post. I'm not that fussy.
Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners
Therese Oneill
3/5 stars
Oneill, in a humorously satirical style, details the awfulness of being a woman in the Victorian Age. You will be glad you live in today’s modern era after reading what women had to do to keep up appearances and while taking care of their family and home. Interesting and a fast read!
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Just started Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History. Oh, also Cult Killers, a "True Detective" compilation.
Koren wrote: "Reading The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Eagan. It is about a big forest fire that occurred in America in 1910. I'm not very far into it but ..."Funny..I just started reading this one...Burn: Using Fire to Cool the Earth by Albert Bates
Its talking about biochar, made from 'waste' organic materials. It could save the planet....
Save the planet from which imminent disaster?
Mod
5 stars
Before 1910 there was very little in the way of conservation measures for America's huge national forests. The big lumber and mining companies thought everything was theirs for the taking. Fortunately, President Teddy Roosevelt loved nature and wanted to see the forests preserved and a national park and forest system started but the legislature fought him as much as possible. That is, until a huge forest fire happened in the west and demonstrated the need for a bigger and better forest ranger system. This book goes into great detail describing the fire and how the people suffered and died. I had never heard of this fire and how it influenced the park and ranger system. It was very interesting.
Koren wrote: "The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan5 stars
Before 1910..."
Added to my list!
Fingersmith
Sarah Waters
4.5/5 stars
In 1862, Sue Tinder, a young woman comes to an estate in England to work for a wealthy gentleman and his daughter. But Sue is not all she seems. She is actually there to set up a scheme to make her family of cons very wealthy. But of course there is a twist to this plot that Sue is not in on and things go from bad to worse for everyone involved. Sarah Waters doesn’t disappoint her fans in this wonderful written novel of suspense.
Fishface wrote: "Save the planet from which imminent disaster?"Save it from exploding. Or being so toxic that we can't survive it anymore, anytime we breathe we just breathe in carbon monoxide and gas ourselves to death.
When it gets too hot because of greenhouse gases, the ice caps will melt and flood the land. Already people from low lying Pacific Islands have to evacuate to countries that have higher ground because of rising sea levels. And pollution/habitat destruction in general that affects how we live.
Mod
5 stars
[bookcover:The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America|40961561..."
If you have Amazon Prime it was a free book this month.
Mod
Save it from exploding. Or being so toxic that we can't survive it anymore, anytime we breathe we just breathe in carbon monoxide an..."
Or maybe nuclear war or the bees will become extinct. So many things to worry about.
The Lost Queen of Crocker County
Elizabeth Leiknes
2.5/5 stars
When her parents perish in a plane crash, Jane Willow, a popular movie critic is forced to come home and face her past. Unfortunately, one night she hits something on the highway but runs from the scene after she discovers what was on the road. She spends the rest of the story sneaking around trying to make everything right. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and it was a fast read but I really had trouble with the actions of the main character and how it ended.
Transcription
Kate Atkinson
3/5 stars
Juliet Armstrong of England is recruited during WWII to be a spy and infiltrate the British Fascists. When WWII ends she joins the BBC to do radio programming but her history with MI5 comes back to haunt her. Well written but at times I got confused as to what was going on which I suspect was the aim of the author. After all isn’t that the purpose of a good spy!
Selina wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Save the planet from which imminent disaster?"Save it from exploding. Or being so toxic that we can't survive it anymore, anytime we breathe we just breathe in carbon monoxide an..."
I just read a book on the melting icecaps called The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World. Made me glad I live in the Great Lakes region and not on a beach or an island.
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
Mitch Albom
3.5/5 stars
Narrated by the voice of Music, this is the story of the magical but difficult life of Frankie Presto, musician extraordinaire, born in Spain and who became an orphan at a very young age. He was taken in by a blind music teacher who helped him hone his gift which leads him into his musical career and the ups and downs of his unusual life. Interesting read!
*Though Frankie is not real, the author used real singers in different chapters talking about their relationship with Frankie.
Fishface wrote: "Selina wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Save the planet from which imminent disaster?"Save it from exploding. Or being so toxic that we can't survive it anymore, anytime we breathe we just breathe in car..."
Just heard on the news a pipe burst and raw sewage is flowing into our biggest lake, Lake Taupo. So..I dont think living by a lake is necessarily safe.
I live in a city with 50 dormant volcanoes. If one starts to blow, we are all doomed.
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
Books mentioned in this topic
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ellen Raskin (other topics)Janet Evanovich (other topics)
Pam Muñoz Ryan (other topics)
Annie Spence (other topics)
Annie Spence (other topics)
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The Innocent
Ian McEwan
4/5 stars
In 1955, during the Cold War, American Leonard Marnham, in his first job, is sent to East Berlin to set up recording devices that tap into the Russian sectors to keep an eye on them. Along the way he falls in love with the divorced Maria. Complications ensue when Maria’s ex-husband shows up. Between his job and the ex-husband Leonard is overwhelmed with life and eventually things only go from bad to worse. McEwan is one of my favorite authors and he doesn’t disappoint in this novel.