Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir read in 2020
Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir
Robin Ha
4/5 stars
Author Robin Ha’s graphic novel is the true story of her coming to America with her mother after being raised in South Korea. Since she only speaks Korean, she has a hard time adapting to the United States, let alone learning an unfamiliar complicated new language and trying to make new friends especially in high school where the students aren’t the friendliest. Well done!
Mod
5 stars
This is a bio of First Lady Mamie Eisenhower, written by her granddaughter Susan Eisenhower. You can tell the granddaughter loved her grandmother immensely, so I would say there is a little bias here. If her grandmother has any flaws they are only touched on lightly, if at all. The book was the most interesting when the author talks about her personal stories about her grandparents, but there is lots of history written about before she was born. An interesting bio of both the president and his wife. Much has been written about his presidency and here mostly the high points are mentioned, which was nice. I was born during the Eisenhower years, so I do not have a personal remembrance of them, so it was nice to learn more about those years.
Koren wrote: "Mrs. Ike: Memories and Reflections on the Life of Mamie Eisenhower by Susan Eisenhower5 stars
..."
Added this to my reading list!
The Library Book
Susan Orlean
5/5 stars
One of my favorite books was Orlean's book on Rin Tin Tin and so I was excited to read The Library Book and I was not disappointed. This book concentrates on the fire of the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986 and the chief suspect in the case. However, she does not tie herself down to that topic but also talks about the history of libraries and some of the people responsible for building and influencing libraries. Highly recommended! Not a true bio but it is a bio of libraries.
Koren wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Koren wrote: "Karin wrote: "Koren wrote: "In Pieces by Sally Field3 stars
After reading the Goodreads reviews for this book, I must ..."
She talked a little about getting them, but not much about the making of those big movies. She spent a fair bit of time on auditioning for Sybil, which I have never seen (but I read the book). Yes, that was disappointing!
All Who Live On Islands by Rose LuMillennials are now writing memoirs...so for those who don't mind reading growing up angst and graphic descriptions of 'safe sex' (with either sex) here's one for the newly globalised generation.
Rose parents immigrated to New Zealand/Aotearoa when she was 5 years old and 9 years later had a son. She moved primary schools five times, went to 2 intermediates and 2 high schools.
She writes about her Chinese family, her grandparents who raised her and spoke a different dialect to her parents, who owned a business but took the typical Asian view of grooming their children to enter respectable professions - medicine, and in Rose's case, engineering. Rose became a software developer turned creative writer. Her teen years were spent in small town Whanganui, and she attended university in Christchurch and Wellington..so her life has been quite varied with visits to China in between. Interesting reading about how east and west collide and her unique experiences. I often wonder how taken-for-granted the White majority in my country think and almost always come across a subtle non acceptance of other-than-white people living in New Zealand.
More of an essay of vignettes than a strict memoir, still there are issues that can't be swept under the rug here in NZ - the high youth suicide rate, the drinking and drug culture, and the immigrant experience of finding one's place in the world.
Me
Elton John
5/5 stars
Elton John relates his amazing career as a song writer, composer, singer, film maker and the incredible ups and downs of his life through childhood to the present. Well written and hard to put down.
Mod
Me
Elton John
5/5 stars
Elton John relates his amazing career as a song writer, composer, singer, film maker and the incredible ups and downs..."
Glad you liked it. I would completely agree.
Koren wrote: "Julie wrote: "Me
Elton John
5/5 stars
Elton John relates his amazing career as a song writer, composer, singer, film maker and the incredible..."
He was meant to give a concert here but fell ill and had to cancel...people were so disappointed. My cousin got to see him in Australia. I dont know that I am much of a fan but may give his bio a go at some stage. I hadnt seen Rocket man so am not that familiar with his life. Does he have any brothers or sisters?
Selina wrote: "Koren wrote: "Julie wrote: "Me
Elton John
5/5 stars
Elton John relates his amazing career as a song writer, composer, singer, film maker and ..."
He was a only child but he has 4 half brothers from his father's second marriage.
Mod
4 stars
The author writes about her dysfunctional family and her relationships with her mother and father. There were parts that reminded me of my own childhood (not the living in Hawaii part-darn!), but her father's addiction and dying at a young age from it and her mother's inability to show affection brought back not-so-fond memories, but sometimes it is helpful just to know other's go through similar things. It could have been a 5 star book for me, but 1 star deducted because her adult life was not nearly as interesting as her childhood and she kept going back to her childhood so that you were not always sure what time frame she was in. But, if I was going to write a memoir I would like it to be like this one.
Mod
5 stars
Absolutely fascinating! This book follows a county coroner in Marin County, California through his 35-year career, the interesting cases he has seen and the things he has learned. It moves quickly, not spending long enough on one story to get bored. I will be looking for more by this author.
I finished
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. I actually got more than the biographies of the 5 victims murdered in 1888. To my surprise, I felt that I had gotten a sociology class on the Victorian working class - including social values, gender roles, housing options, and bits of public policy.My review -
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
Sławomir Rawicz
3.5/5 stars
During WWII Polish solider Slavomir Rawicz is captured by the Russians and sent to a labor camp in Siberia. Conditions are horrible and Rawicz conspires with six other prisoners to escape to British India. The trek is a long one and several die on the way but when things go bad, they encounter people along the way who help them out even though their lives are also troubled. Though some of the events may be skewed according to Wikipedia, it was nevertheless a very interesting read. This was also made into a film unfortunately I have not been able to find a copy of it yet.
Looking for Carroll Beckwith: The True Stories of a Detective's Search for His Past, by Lt. Robert Snow4 stars!
It dawned on me after I returned it to the library this morning that this book is in fact an autobiography of sorts. Snow talks very little about his own life in the here and now, except for the time he took a dare to have a hypnotic regression done to see if he could remember any past lives, something he did not believe was possible. In fact he did not believe it would be possible for him to be hypnotized in the first place. Well, in a single 1-hour session he uncovered 3 lives, and the tape recording he made of the session had so many facts in it about one particular life that he decided he wanted to look into that life further. He watched himself in this life painting a woman's portrait, and explained to the hypnotist that this was his profession. Many hours in the library searching through books about paintings got him nowhere. But much, much later he stumbled across that very portrait in a shop he visited on vacation a thousand miles from home. He finally learned the name of the painter, allowing him to start researching in earnest. From there it gets even more unlikely, and the author is absolutely unwilling to believe this could be a real past life, even after he finds out one fact after another that matches up with the life history he reported under hypnosis of a man he'd never heard of before in his life. Really intriguing.
Mod
4 stars
Rachel Maddow has a political commentary show on MSNBC. She is incredibly smart (a Rhodes Scholar), interesting, hard working, and good at what she does. This book goes into detail about how her sexuality (she has had the same female partner for quite a while) has effected her life and her work. Hopefully Rachel will come out with her own autobiography in the future so we can get a more personal look at her life.
Mod
5 stars
Found this book at a used book sale. I did not know who this man was, but I learned that he was a prominent man in North Dakota and Minnesota history. He was a well-known state high school football player and then coach and a professor at the University of Minnesota and then traveled the world as a vice-president of Land O'Lakes. He had an interesting life, mostly because if he wanted something he went after it. This book almost seems like it might have been written mostly for friends and family and if it was it is truly a treasure. I loved reading about his North Dakota childhood. I dont think there was ever a dull moment in this man's life. I did a search and found out he died a few years after this memoir was published.
Mod
5 stars and a heart
Beautifully written. When I first picked this book up and read that it was a single woman who bought a ranch with no ranching experience I thought it would be a story that had been written hundreds of times about one disaster happening after another but that is not even close. There are many layers to this memoir. Her childhood and how the abuse from her father and neglect from her mother shaped the person she is today. Her love of the environment and the animals that inhabit it. Her professional life and her life at the ranch. I loved how she didnt buy the ranch to make money from the land or from livestock. All the animals were beloved friends and she didnt even raise them for food. She just raised them because she loved them and used her money from teaching and lecturing to support the farm. I needed almost a whole box of tissues when she talked about how humans are ruining the land and another box when she talked about the fire that almost consumed her ranch. Can you tell I just loved this book and by the time I was half way I couldn't put it down.
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel3 stars
This is the story of how a self-taught watch maker figured out how to make the first extremely accurate clock to allow sailors a reliable way to find longitude, particularly at night when it was cloudy. It's also the story of how others, mainly certain astronomers, didn't want to believe it could be anything other than a method using the sky and how some of them made it ridiculously difficult to win the money for solving this puzzle the most accurately.
There isn't much to know about John Harrison's life, but there is some, and then the author digs into some of the other people who either supported or fought against his ideas and work. This is written for the average person who knows nothing about either astronomy or clock and watch making at the time.
I am NOT going to tell you what they are, but there are two brilliant things that John Harrison was the first to figure out that are still used in devices, and at least one is something you have probably used, today.
Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson2 stars
This is the account of the amazing survival of British mountain climber Joe Simpson who was correctly left for dead after an accident that should have killed him, but due to various things that stopped his fall early, etc, he didn't die then. The spoiler is in the subtitle, and it's a first hand account (along with some sections written by his fellow climber, Simon Yates).
The beginning and the ending read okay, but, frankly, I found all of the description of the climb, etc, rather tedious; I had to take breaks in reading it just to clear my head. In addition, I have never, ever, not even once, thought this sort of climbing at nearly 4 miles above sea level something that is wise to do. I realize that we are supposed to be accepting of things people like to do, and of course he loves this stuff, but I have a very difficult time putting myself in someone's shoes who endures bitter cold and extremely hazardous conditions such as this for fun and adventure. What's more, he was out climbing again two years later, only 10 weeks after his sixth operation on the leg he broke in six places during this event (again, not a big spoiler).
That said, if you like this sort of tale, don't let this stop you from reading it.
Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister Lana Wood2 stars
I remember hearing about Natalie Wood's death, but can't say that I really knew who she was before then, although as a child I saw West Side Story. I had certainly not heard of her sister.
This book isn't just about Natalie--there is a lot of memoir and biography about Lana as well--her career, her marriages, her other things in her life. It's more about both of them. Parts of it are interesting, but, frankly, I found a lot of this boring as well as tragic. Their mother was a piece of work--the epitome of the pushy stage mother. The two women grew up in a dysfunctional family unit and, apparently, for Natalie, who became a star as a child and stayed that way through her formative years, it became her identity, because even though she died a very wealthy woman, she was still trying to get back to being a big star, or so the story goes (not a spoiler here, since her death was well publicized and remains a mystery to this day). I did lose respect for a few actor while reading this book.
I have to say that I far prefer the biographies that are about a lot more than just sex, betrayal, soap opera style lives and I know that not all actors live those kinds of lives. But mainly, I just don't think that Lana Wood is a brilliant biographer even if she has other talent. Also, I want to know what person put a bunch of erotic novels on her page that she did not write (just check her author page on Amazon, for only one place).
Mod
5 stars
What a powerful story about a woman who was born as the result of a saline abortion. After the abortion it was noticed that she was still breathing and she was taken to the NiCU and saved. She was adopted by a wonderful family and had a great childhood but didnt know she was the product of an abortion until she was 14. This news sent her on a downward spiral for a while, but ultimately it led her on a road to find her biological family. A faith-based story which had its ups and downs for the author. I think you will like this book even if you are pro-life and may make you re-evaluate your position and even if it doesn't I don't think you can come away from this story without being moved.
Koren wrote: "You Carried Me: A Daughter's Memoir by Melissa Ohden5 stars
What a powerful story about a woman who was born as the result..."
Had to add to my list!
Mod
5 stars
What a kind, generous man! This book has personal information, but nothing earth-shattering. He's been married to the same woman for almost 40 years, which makes me think he must not be too hard to live with! I think the only thing I would criticize about this book is that his work with the Steppenwolf theater was a bit long and overly-detailed. I liked reading about Forest Gump and how the movie was made. If only all people with the means to help would do what this man has done the world would be a much better place.
I finished Edward Snowden's autobiography
Permanent Record.
This was his attempt to convince readers that he's a patriotic whistleblower and not a traitor. I already had an opinion before I read it & it hasn't changed. It was eye opening to read about his disclosures as I hadn't read the details when he went public in 2013.
My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3115624052
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot.This was a sad and thought provoking blend of Lacks family biography and medical research history against the complicating backdrop of systemic racism. Very readable and accessible to those of us who don't often read the sciences genre.
My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3211012961
Finished Caracalla. Usually, this Roman Emperor is known for three things: killing his brother and co-ruler Geta, building the baths of Caracalla, and granting citizenship to all of the residents of the Roman Empire. The author takes a revisionist look at his story arguing the classical historians Dio and Herodian maligned the man and he actually accomplished a lot.
Woman Reading wrote: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot.
This was a sad and thought provoking blend of Lacks family biography and medical research history against the complicating backdrop of..."
Many years ago, my husband (and many other science students) worked with her cells at college when he was majoring in biology. Her contribution affected a lot of people. I read the book when it first came out and loved it.
Guts by Raina Telegemeier
Another graphic memoir for the tweens set by the popular author of Sisters and Smile, which I havent read yet...the girls in my school love her books, plus shes illustrated the graphic adaptations of The Babysitters Club series.
Raina's memoir is about how she suffered IBS in Grade 5 and her fears and anxieties about life that made her stomach ache and feel like she was always going to puke. She goes and sees a child therapist and its about her friends and family, touching on bullying at school and best friends moving away, sharing a tiny home with her family, puberty and growing up. She starts being obssessed with what she is eating and what everyone else is eating, then feels like a weirdo for not being normal.
Rainas illustrations are funny and engaging, and now I want to read her previous books about her tween life. I have not suffered from IBS - irritable bowel syndrome, I actually had a more serious disorder...being stressed out and feeling sick I can definitely relate to those nervous feelings growing up.
Mod
3 stars
For those that are not familiar, Parkland, Florida was the scene of a school shooting on Valentine's Day 2018.
I read the author's book on the Columbine murders and thought it was one of the best books I had read that year, so when I saw this book about the Parkland murders I grabbed it. I rarely buy a new hardcover book. I saw most of the reviews were 4 and 5 star reviews so I was eager to start this book. I have to say, I was disappointed. While Columbine delved into the backgrounds of the shooters and the victims, this book did neither. I understand that the name of the shooter was never released to the public, but it doesn't give us any information about him or why he did it. It also tries very hard to stay away from any political comments. There are a few comments about the money spent by the NRA on political elections and a mention of Marco Rubio. That is about it. As a lover of biography, autobiography, and memoir I missed having no personal information. This book was almost entirely about the teenagers going around the country giving rallies. If I had read the inside front cover information I probably would have realized that, as it does tell us that. The author mentions he got to know the kids very well, but he doesn't really let us into their lives or make us feel like we know them. That said, many people gave this book 5 star reviews, so if you are interested in what happened to some of the kids, you may very well like this book.
I would also like to add that my copy does not say Parkland: Birth Of A Movement. The front and back covers and spine all just say Parkland and their are 3 title pages where 2 just say Parkland and one says Parkland: Birth Of A Movement so I dont think I was wrong to assume that this book was about the entire Parkland school shooting and not just what happened after the shooting.
American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of PunishmentI was planning on reading this book, but but found the article he wrote for a magazine and it's pretty interesting. Saves me having to buy the book.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/...
Mod
4 stars
Phil Collins is the lead singer of the band Genesis. While I'm not a huge Genesis fan, I do enjoy their music. This book had its ups and downs for me. I enjoyed the book when he talked about his personal life,especially his early years. But he talks a lot about his professional career, the songwriting and the people he knows. At times it seems a bit rambling. Shorten up the singing and songwriting stories and I think it would be an excellent book. I appreciated his honesty towards the end of the book when he talks about his alcohol addiction and the things he wishes he would have done differently.
Helen Zia's
The The Last Boat Out of Shanghai.
It was very good and it's about the mass exodus of those who feared the new Communist regime in 1949 China. Zia chose 4 people whose families reflected different roles in society from the losing Nationalalist, the Japanese collaborator, the land owning family, and orphan. I learned not only China's history but American foreign policy as well.
My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3193192846
The Queens of Animation
Nathalia Holt
4.5/5 stars
This is the amazing true story of the women animators that worked at the Disney studios and who influenced and participated in the filmmaking process of the animated films. They came from all backgrounds and did jobs that the men got paid more for doing but they persevered and were able to make an impact on the films they worked on. Highly recommended!
Whoops, haven't made it here to post for a while!
The Magnificent Mountain Women: Adventures in the Colorado Rockies by Janet Robertson3 stars
This book was all interesting but at the same time sometimes rather disappointing. At first I wasn't sure if it was just the writer's style, but in the end I realized it depended on the subject and the women involved. This book is NOT all about climbing, although obviously the is some of that, but I don't like accounts of climbing in extreme climates and cold. I did like a couple of the accounts of 20th century climbers who weren't climbing in those sorts of conditions. I have actually done a wee bit of rock climbing in New Mexico--NOT for me and it wasn't in snow or ice, although I liked the Australian rappelling (hated rappelling going down backward) but not enough to ever do it again. What this means is that I at least understand some of the terminology. In addition, I have spent a couple of weeks in Colorado and was at the top of Pikes' Peak, but we didn't have time to hike it since that wasn't the purpose of my trip there (thankfully--this was after that New Mexico adventure).
The author obviously couldn't include nearly all of the key women involved, and in her epilogue points out that the (American) west was racist and so it's largely Anglo (that's not accurate--more like Northern European to be frank) because in the 19th and early 20th century it was hard enough even for women of the majority of those in Colorado to be breaking boundaries by climbing, not always climbing in dresses, and doing the other things in this book.
The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King3 stars
If I read it once, I must have read it a hundred times in this book, Mr. Rogers was the same man on and off screen and wasn't fake. That said, as one of his sons was quoted as saying, but I'm paraphrasing, he didn't talk to everyone as though they were three.
This book covers Rogers' life from early childhood on up, and covers more than just his television show and career, although, obviously, that is a gigantic portion of the book. There are interviews with a number of family, friends and guest performers, et al. Naturally, I was most impressed when it was names I know from their amazing musical talent. What I hadn't known was that Rogers' first degree was in music performance and that he wrote all of the music for his shows, although he allowed the highly talented jazz musicians make the accompaniment as sophisticated and challenging as they liked. I was very impressed with what YoYo Ma and Wynton Marsalis had to say, given that I have been well acquainted with their names and talent for many years.
I didn't love this book; at times I thought it rather longer than it needed to be. I may well see the movie, and will then be glad I read this since they will have to leave quite a bit out, but I suspect I'll like the film better.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance3 stars
Okay, I didn't like this as much as I expected to after all the hype, but it was definitely a worthwhile read. This is a combination of memoir/biography and a hard look at the poor whites from the Appalachian part of the States, even after many of them moved to Ohio in order to work where they often ended up in communities together. To say that his family was dysfunctional is not nearly an exaggeration, and his road to finally graduating from high school, going into the marines, then college and finally Yale law school (this is all in the blurb, so none of this is a spoiler--just looking at the author blurb tells you most of that) didn't happen just because of his own gumption, but because of just enough supportive people at the right times.
His insights weren't profoundly shocking to me, but what was new to me was his story and a more in depth account hillbilly culture and what has happened after they left a very poor economy in Kentucky in order to pursue a better one in Ohio--the good, the bad and the ugly. I can't say that I loved his writing style--but he writes well--and this isn't the first memoir I've ever read about a child growing up in this sort of family life, but there are things about this that gave/give it its own unique stamp, and I suggest reading it even if I didn't love it.
Julie wrote: "The Queens of Animation
Nathalia Holt
4.5/5 stars
This is the amazing true story of the women animators that worked at ..."
Thanks--I have marked this want to read :)
Mod
3 stars
It is not often you find someone on the autism spectrum that does comedy as a career choice. It is also rare to find someone on the spectrum that is able talk about his lack of social skills and make fun of himself like this author does. I did a youtube search to find him in action and I will say it is more interesting watching him and listening to him than reading his material. I would say most of the material in this book is covered in his stand up routine and you have to have his facial expressions and rapid way of talking to get the full effect of the humor. I think this would be a great book for the teenage reader to see inside the head of an Asperger's teen.
Mod
5 stars
What would it be like to live with a father who lost both hands in a farm accident when you were a baby and has huge anger management issues as a result? That is the story of the author growing up in the 50's and 60's as an only child with parents who had him later in life. His mother is a kind, warm person, which I think helps him stay sane. Even though his father is abusive and they had a very volatile relationship when he was a teenager, you can feel the love he has for his parents. It would be hard to imagine having to bathe, dress, and feed your father, especially when angry at him. The story is told through the eyes of the adult Lee, which I think worked well. This is a quick read at only 193 pages, but I would have liked it to go on longer.
Mod
4 stars
Second time around reading this book. I hope if I am ever in his situation (the author died shortly after the book came out from pancreatic cancer, leaving 3 young children ages 8 and under) I can stay as positive as he did. I would love it if his family would write a follow-up on how they are doing today, 12 years after his death, his oldest would be 18.
Mod
4 stars
There are many layers to this book. I started it thinking it was a true crime book, but the crimes that happened are just a small part of the book. The author grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, the hometown of Mark Twain. Within six weeks two murders happened in Hannibal by teenagers. The author decides to return to his hometown to explore how Hannibal had changed from the time of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn to his own teenage years in the town to the current state of affairs of the town. Like most small towns, Hannibal has not aged well. The book is mostly a memoir of the author and very little about the crimes. I would have liked to have seen more investigation into the crimes themselves and the backgrounds of the teenage criminals and their families, but otherwise, there is much food for thought in this book, with the main idea is that times have changed and not necessarily for the better.
Francoise Malby Anthony's memoir
An Elephant in My Kitchen.
She and her husband Lawrence Anthony had opened a wildlife conservation refuge in partnership with a local Zulu community in South Africa in 1999. I had heard about them through Lawrence Anthony's 2003 madcap but successful rescue of Baghdad zoo animals in Babylon's Ark.
Her memoir was about optimism and perseverance in the wake of her struggles to keep their conservation dreams alive after his unexpected death in 2012. Many stories of their rescued elephants and rhinos peppered the book. Given the aggressiveness of the poachers, she had her own brush with military style offenses.
My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3277809068
Population: 485 : Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry3 stars
Michael Perry--still steadfastly single when he wrote this (his author page here states that he lives with his wife and children, so evidently that has changed) and has focused this memoir around his time as a volunteer fire-fighter and paramedic. Each chapter has its own mini-theme as well, but the tie in is the volunteer work. Perry writes very well, but for me some chapters were riveting and some not-so-riveting, so I am giving it a 3 as in I liked this.
What is a mystery to me is why people have shelved this 1. fiction (it is nonfiction and a memoir), 2. mystery (there is no mystery involved in this book) and a few other odd ones. I am guessing that the two people who shelved this philosophy did this because he does touch on his existentialist outlook a number of times, but I wouldn't call this a book of philosophy.
Karin wrote: " Population: 485 : Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry3 stars..."
I read that a number of years ago. Not bad but not great!
Mod
Population: 485 : Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry3 stars..."
I read it a while ago and would agree with you. It is not fiction but who knows, maybe the people that shelved it also read it a while ago and were thinking of a different book.
Empty Hands: One Woman's Journey to Save Children Orphaned by AIDS in South Africa by Sister Abigail NtlekoInspiring memoir of a Zulu woman who overcame poverty and prejudice to became a nurse to help her community, reaching out in the devastating AIDS pandemic and adopting over 40 children.
She is now in her 70s and still looking after everyone...!
Selina wrote: "Empty Hands: One Woman's Journey to Save Children Orphaned by AIDS in South Africa by Sister Abigail NtlekoInspiring memoir of a Zulu woman who overcame poverty and prejudice to b..."
She sounds amazing :)!
Julie wrote: "The Library Book
Susan Orlean
5/5 stars
One of my favorite books was Orlean's book on Rin Tin Tin and so I was excited to read T..."
I just read this one. One of my shutdown grabs. lol. Excellent book.
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
Books mentioned in this topic
Where Am I Now? (other topics)Where Am I Now? (other topics)
Girl A: My Story (other topics)
The Price of Fortune: The Untold Story of Being James Packer (other topics)
My Sister Milly (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
John Colapinto (other topics)Fred Kaplan (other topics)
Ólafur Egilsson (other topics)
Monica Dickens (other topics)
Sam Staggs (other topics)
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The Family Nobody Wanted
Helen Grigsby Doss
4/5 stars
Set in the 40’s this is the true story of the Doss’s who were unable to have any children. Reaching out to an adoption agency they eventually were able to adopt one child. When they went back to try for another adoption, they were told they could only adopt one white child so Helen reached out to other agencies that had different race or mixed race children. They eventually through sheer determination adopted a total of 12 children. Wonderfully written and so inspirational, I sped through this book.