Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
What Are You Reading Now (anything goes) 2019
Mod
Personally I've never wanted to start another book until I've finished the one I'm reading, but I imagine the..."
I usually have 2 or 3 going at one time. If I get bored with one I probably will start a different one and come back to the first one later. I usually have one bio/autobio/memoir and one True Crime real books and then one e-book so I can read it on my phone if I get stuck at an appointment or have time at work. I have hundreds of books I've gotten at book sales and garage sales.
Mod
3 stars
The author has two daughters who have a genetic hearing loss. Her own mother has had hearing loss and has worn hearing aides since she was in her 30's so the author decides to search her own family tree to see if others have had this hearing loss. She does find two sisters that lived around the late 1800's or early 1900's. They were immigrants that came through Ellis Island. Aside from that there is not a lot of information about them and she intersperses her story with a fictional story about how her ancestors dealt with their hearing loss in the days before there were hearing aides and implants. She also deals with her own relationship with her mother and how her mother often seemed distant to her, but may have often been because of her hearing loss. The rest of the book deals with how she dealt with and accepted her daughters hearing loss. I think this book would be helpful to others dealing with a child's hearing loss. I would like to see a sequel telling us how her daughters dealt with their hearing loss as they got older.
Dave wrote: "Not related to any particular book, but does anyone read more than one book at a time? Personally I've never wanted to start another book until I've finished the one I'm reading, but I imagine there's plenty of people who have more than one on the go. I hate to give up on a book, but I have done on occasion."I always have at least two books going at the same time ... sometimes three.
Historical novel suggestion, The Cremation of Sam McGee was #17 in Canadian literature this morning. The second half follows Robert W. Service poetry. Check out the poem on Google, a good Halloween read-aloud for alll ages. The unreliable narrator in the novel is a reporter from the 1898 days of Yellow Journalism.
Cat's Eye
Margaret Atwood
5/5 stars
This is the fictional story of the artist Elaine Risley. Going back and forth through different time periods, Risley relates her life as a child in Canada during WWII and tells of her life as a mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend and artist through good and particularly bad times. Wonderfully written and relatable to most women, I had a hard time putting this down.
I also loved this book. It's deep seated childhood experiences and how they played out as an adult was so real. M. Attwood is one of my favorite writers.
I usually have two or three going at one time. Sometimes the story gets too heavy to handle and I have to divert my emotions through another book. I always have one in the car for when I'm stranded somewhere. That one sometimes takes three months to finish.
I heard theres a sequel to the Handmaids Tale out. I havent read any of Margaret Atwood's latest offerings in a while but I used to devour them. Cat's Eye was my favourite and I always thought it would make a good movie. The Handmaids tale was the most disturbing of her novels. I havent seen the film. One day I will get round to it.
Dave wrote: "Not related to any particular book, but does anyone read more than one book at a time ?Personally I've never wanted to start another book until I've finished the one I'm reading, but I imagine the..."
Yep, sometimes a longer one and a shorter one that I skim or has pictures. I dont usually read two long narrative type ones at the same time though.
Selina wrote: "I heard theres a sequel to the Handmaids Tale out. I havent read any of Margaret Atwood's latest offerings in a while but I used to devour them. Cat's Eye was my favourite and I always thought it w..."I am surprised Cat's Eye was not made into a film.
Dave wrote: "Not related to any particular book, but does anyone read more than one book at a time ?Personally I've never wanted to start another book until I've finished the one I'm reading, but I imagine the..."
I have up to 8 going at a time, counting the ones I misplaced 10 months ago.
Mod
5 stars
A coming of age story partly based on the author's real life experiences. Written as fiction but reads like nonfiction. Part of the book is about growing up in small-town Minnesota during the 60's and childhood relationships. In the second half the main character goes to Viet Nam. The main character does not always make wise decisions and all of this comes together to show how family, friends, environment, and traumatic life experiences shape us.
One of my fav recently read memoirs is an oldie but a goodie—Mary Karr's The Liar's Club. Her voice is so unique and raw. Loved it! Has anyone read the sequel, Cherry?
The Clockmaker's Daughter
Kate Morton
3.5/5 stars
A multi-layered tale told over several generations beginning with Elodie, a young archivist who finds a case with a sketch book and an old photo of a beautiful woman in it. The author takes the readers on a journey, back and forth throughout several generations to find out the history and the story behind the photo. Good read but sometimes I had trouble figuring out what time line I was in since it was not a straight narrative.
Mod
Read 125 pages and still couldn't figure out what was going on so I didnt finish.
Julie wrote: "Selina wrote: "I heard theres a sequel to the Handmaids Tale out. I havent read any of Margaret Atwood's latest offerings in a while but I used to devour them. Cat's Eye was my favourite and I alwa..."I would watch it. Atwood's writing in that one is especially descriptive. Plus I want to see more of Canada on film.
The Madwoman Upstairs
Catherine Lowell
3.5/5 stars
In this fictional story, Samantha Whipple is a descendant of the Bronte family on her late father’s side. After her eccentric father who was a writer passes away she decides to go to Oxford to study. She supposedly has an inheritance of Bronte memorabilia that nobody can find until it starts showing up, a piece at a time at Oxford. I enjoyed this fast, light read and it makes me want to read some bios on the Brontes.
Mod
3 stars
The author has an NPR radio show that features people over the age of 100. In this book the author interviews centenarians about their lives. At times she injects herself and her feelings into the stories, such as when she interviews a person with dementia and then states that she wishes she wouldnt have chosen them as they werent very helpful. I wondered why she just didnt leave them out of the story. I have worked with the elderly most of my life and I kept thinking I could have introduced her to some people that were more interesting than the people she chose, although the gay woman was someone I would have liked to have met. She was pretty interesting. At the end I was sad because most of the people she interviewed were gone before she even got the book published and now its been 17 years since the book came out so they would all be gone now.
Half way through Date Night on Union Station. Going back to my (much) younger days reading some lighthearted sci-fi.
For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink
by Sarah Rose
5/5 stars
This is the story of the lengths that England and the British East India Company went about to monopolize the tea industry away from China. Robert Fortune, gardener, botanist and plant hunter was sent by England to secretly gather plants from China to send to India (where England had British Rule). Aiding him in the transplantation of the plants (besides some Chinese citizens) was the newly invented Wardian case, a predecessor of the terrarium. This was definitely a hard to put down book. So interesting!
Legion, William Peter Blatty4 stars!
This one was much, much better than I dared to hope. A perfect Halloween read about settling old scores while contemplating the meaning of evil and how to overcome it. This book is the basis of Jeff Dahmer's favorite movie, EXORCIST 3. See it and then read this novel. You won't be sorry.
Julie wrote: "[book:For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for t..."
Sounds good Julie I will put that on my list.
Mod
Mod
3 stars
I can really appreciate the research that went into this book and the organization. About half way it started to sound the same, just the location was different and I tired of reading of places I was probably never going to visit.
Koren wrote: "Reading Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. I'm only to page 70 so far. It started slow for me but now that they are talking about the history of children's televisio..."I have this on my list-glad you are enjoying it!
"Here If You Need Me" - by KateBraestrup.Recently, I've been reading memoirs by typical people.
There's a bookshelf here:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
Over 1200 memoirs listed.
Tommy
Here If You Need Me
The Instructions
Adam Levin
1/5 stars
This is the story of ten year old Gurion and his feeling/belief that he was going to be a/the Messiah. This 1000 page book has wonderful reviews but it was just too long and the story line is repetitive at times. Also I just didn't get most of it- but I did finish it. I did like the characters and would have loved to hear more about his parents who I thought were more interesting than Gurion.
Mod
4 stars
Though technically not a memoir the book does begin each chapter with a bit of biographical information.
This is a compilation of his work. I have seen the author in person twice and love to listen to him speak. Some chapters were funny and some just made you think. He makes Minnesotans laugh at themselves.
Mod
4 stars
To write country music songs you have to be a story teller and Bill Anderson is one of the best. He's got a zillion stories to tell about his early days in country music and most of them are funny. There will be a lot of names from the past and people that are not here any more. Just a quick read if you need a little humor in your day.
Just started reading this.
Imagine if you could use DNA from thousands of years ago......
Hello everyone! I started my reading goal in October. My original goal was 10. I keep upping it by 5. My current book “Joys Sorrows and Shadows” by Emma King in not in the database therefore won’t be added to my goal. This gets me right in my feelings!! Anyone else come across this?
Jen wrote: "My current book “Joys Sorrows and Shadows” by Emma King in not in the database therefore ..."It is now, Jen. :)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Jen wrote: "Anyone else come across this?"If you mean do we come across books missing from the database, yes, it happens all the time. I just go ahead and add them myself.
Koren wrote: "I Hope You're Living as High on the Hog as the Pig You Turned Out to Be by Bill Anderson4 stars
[bookcover:I Hope You're Living as High on the Hog as the Pig You Turned Out to Be|44..."
Love that title!
Most of the way thru Murder in the Heartland. It's an appalling true-crime story and one of the most disturbing things about it is the author's fascination with the murderer. There's a single blurry photo of the victim but we see baby pictures, a succession of school photos, a wedding photo, and a slew of other photos of the killer at every stage of her life as if she were, I don't know, Elvis?
Bunny Lake is Missing
Evelyn Piper
4/5 stars
A young woman and her daughter are starting over in a new town. Blanche, the single mother drops off her daughter at her new school but on her return no one remembers a new girl at school and she is not there. This sends Blanche into a panic. No one, especially the police, believe that she has a daughter who is now missing. Suspenseful! This was made into a film by Otto Preminger though the plot was radically changed.
Murder in the Heartland, William Phelps3.5 stars
A really good read about one of the sickest crimes ever. The author breaks a large, complex story into bite-sized pieces so it worked out to be a quick read despite the thickness of the book. I was a little thrown by the photo section, which had a single, blurry snapshot of one of the victims, then 2 of a survivor of the crime followed by 13 -- count 'em, 13 -- photos of the criminal as if she were the most fascinating creature alive. I wish the book had included the outcome of the proposed changes to the law resulting from this nightmare scenario but you can't have everything. Well written by today's standards. I recommend this one.
Just started Briar Patch: The Murder That Would Not Die. Aside from the unfortunate title I discovered quickly that this is fictionalized to an unclear extent. The names have been changed, for example.
Mod
2 stars
In the beginning I thought I was going to love this book. I did not know about the controversy surrounding the book. There were some thought-provoking moments when the author talks about the hardships the American Indian still go through because of what the white man has done to their population and their ancestors. The author claims to be 1/2 Navajo and talks quite a bit about what it is like to live on the reservations Then I started to think the author had quite a bit of bitterness in his own heart towards the white man and some other things that seemed a bit odd. I decided I wanted to know more about the author so I did a search for the author. That's when I found out that this book being labeled a memoir is a total fraud. The author Nasdijj (another reason I googled was to see if I could find out how to pronounce this name) is a total made up name and the author's real name Timothy Patrick Barrus and he has zero Native American blood and the book is a total work of fiction, even though it is plainly labeled as memoir on the cover. This also happened around the time that James Frey sold his book as a memoir when it was almost total fiction. So I felt cheated to find out that I had read 2/3 of the book thinking it was nonfiction and then finding out it was fiction and not even written by a Native American. Reading the reviews it seems that this is a pretty common reaction.
Koren wrote: "theThe Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams: A Memoir by Nisdijj 2 stars
In the beginning I thought I was going to love this book. I did not know about the controversy surround..."
?! Why do people do this?
It was like that book about the aborigines. I cant remember the title now. But she faked her walkabout experiences.
Mod
2 stars
In the beginning I thought I was going to love this book. I did not know about the contro..."
The explanation I found when doing my search was that he thought it would sell better as nonfiction. Personally, I think it would have sold better as fiction, but I read several comments in the book reviews here that people with American Indian ancestry were offended that he would try to make money from a heritage that was not his own and that white men had taken advantage of for centuries.
I think publishers ought to be held accountable, people often blame the author but often its just the publisher that wants to make the buck not the author. And some do rip their authors off with vanity publishing and make them pay to have their work published.
Into the Water
Paula Hawkins
2.5/5 stars
A writer comes to town to do research on a book about a death at a lake and is found dead in the same location. I am not sure how to review this book. I had a hard time with this book though at times I really enjoyed the writing and I felt like I was understanding what was going on and then another narrator is introduced and another side to the story and I just got discombobulated. However, I had to see who the killer(s) were and so I finished it. According to Wikipedia, there were 11 narrators or narratives in this story and it seemed like it. I would read another Hawkins book because I loved her first book but this one not so much.
There is, you should pardon the expression, a colorful history of people passing as members of other races -- sometimes because they don't want to be who they are, sometimes to see how society will treat them, maybe just to sell books, sometimes to create a stink.Examples:
In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World
The Education of Little Tree (written by a former Klansman who decided to start passing as Native American)
Slippery Characters: Ethnic Impersonators and American Identities
Here's a really crazy one:
Outrage: The Story Behind the Tawana Brawley Hoax
She didn't pass as anything but what she was, African-American, but tried to say she was gang-raped, smeared with dog poo and stuffed in a garbage bag by the KKK. The police landed on in the case like a ton of bricks, investigated their tails off and found out it never happened.
The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World
Abigail Tucker
3.5/5 stars
This is the fascinating history and evolution of the rise of cats and their dominance in the animal world. Tucker talks about their popularity as pets and the extremes humans will do to take care of them. Definitely for cat people but others who love animals will also enjoy this book.
Mod
3 stars
I'm not very familiar with Jim Gaffigan. I believe he is probably funnier in person than what this book is. In other words, I dont think the humor translates to the printed word very well. From reading other reviews I have learned that a lot of the jokes in this book are also in his stand-up act so if you have seen him before you might be disappointed. The whole book is one food joke after another, so if you like food jokes you might be ok with this, but otherwise I would stick to youtube.
Requiem for a Wren
Nevil Shute
4/5 stars
On return to his parents’ home in Australia after the years following WWII, Alan Duncan finds the family and staff quite upset. Their former maid, Jessie, who was very good with her job had been found dead, possibly by suicide. The family was very fond of her and could not understand why she killed herself; they also can find nothing of her possessions. Alan searches the house and finds hidden in the attic, her suitcase and passport. When Alan sees the name on the passport, he realizes that the maid had used a different name and it was someone he knew personally. But why did she do it? Shute weaves a tale of love and loss and the effects of war on the women and men who served. Well done!
There are two titles for this book. The one I listed was the English version but the American version is titled The Breaking Wave.
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
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Personally I've never wanted to start another book until I've finished the one I'm reading, but I imagine the..."
I usually read a couple at a time but I don't start them at the same time. I get most of my books from the library and they come in at different times so I like to start them when I get them.