Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir read in 2020
Koren wrote: "Karin wrote: "I just read
Reba: My Story by Reba McEntireI actually became familiar with Reba not through her music, but from he..."
Yes, I saw that she divorced--she was so happy with her second husband when she wrote that book. I'd rather read what she has to say in a book than check the internet which isn't necessarily accurate.
This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith and Life by Gavin MacLeod3.7 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve... first
Overall I enjoyed this biography--there is a good balance between being positive and saying kind things but also pointing out some of the less than stellar things that happened, and I thing this book strikes that. But there are a few too many exclamations points! However, not overwhelming and not enough to make me cast aside this book in horror.
I did watch episodes of this show during the first season of Love Boat, or at least if I happened to be home those nights. I was old enough to be out many times on those nights. I did see reruns of the Mary Tyler Moore show, and perhaps even some of them when they aired since it went until right before Love Boat started (within a few months). That and Fantasy Island (It's a plane! It's a plane!) started on the same night and I think they were on the same station.
What I hadn't known is that MacLeod started out in live theatre, or any of the rest of the things about his life (or even that he changed his name because the one he was born with was holding him back for reasons you have to read in the book, not because it was a bad name), because he was older than my dad and so obviously not that cool to people in my age bracket. I didn't follow any of their lives. Once I turned 13 and got over my boy-singer phase, I didn't follow any stars that closely.
Karin wrote: "This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith and Life by Gavin MacLeod3.7 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve... first
Overall I enj..."
3.7 stars? Is that an average rating from everyone who's rated it on Goodreads or your own rating?
Just wondering. I have actually read this bio. I enjoyed it even though I hadn't seen much of the Love Boat.
Karin wrote: "This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith and Life by Gavin MacLeod3.7 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve... first
Overall I enj..."
I would read this.
Selina wrote: "Karin wrote: "This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith and Life by Gavin MacLeod3.7 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve... first ..."
That's my rating. I liked it better than 3.5 but not at 4.0, so put it higher. I rounded it up, though.
Twilight Children: Three Voices No One Heard Until a Therapist Listened by Torey HaydenMore Torey Hayden stories - in this one she's a practising child psychologist at a hospital ward with a specialist team behind her. Her speciality is elective mutism - children who choose not to talk, usually as a result of abuse or trauma.
This time she's dealing with a 9 year old girl who violently disssociates, a 4 year old boy who is charming but silent, and a 80 year old stroke victim who doesn't speak - until the memories come flooding out.
The 4 year old turns out has a vocal chord abnormality which mean he can't speak effectively, but it's his parents who lie about it because of his overbearing grandfather. The 9 year old had been abducted by her father and abused by her uncle, and the 80 year old had done the round trip homesteading failed dream.
When you read a Torey Hayden, though, once the breakthrough happens as it inevitably does, you wonder if thats the end of it, well its the end of it for Torey but their lives go on.. however its still worth reading to understand just how far people go to keep things secret and will not speak out because of shame.
The Carol Thompson Murder Case, by Donald John Giese3 stars
This is the second book I have read on this hideous murder; in this book I learned a lot more about just how hideous it was. The book focuses on the crime, the impressively thorough investigation and the trials, but it also includes a pretty decent biography of the victim and glimpses into the lives and minds of her killers. The author inserts himself into the story more than once, because as a journalist covering the crime from day one, he was in on a great deal of it, including team meetings with investigators and attorneys (!). He also stood trial himself at the very end, for refusing to reveal a source in some of his stories on the case, and was convicted of contempt of court. I only gave the three stars because it covered all 4 trials in more than sufficient detail, shall we say. But I did learn a lot more about the case and I came away far more convinced than I was before about the defendants' guilt. This story barely touched on the existence of Carol Thompson's 4 children and that helped me understand why Dial M: The Murder of Carol Thompson had to be written -- they are such a huge part of this story and deserved to finally have their voices heard. You'll have a better picture of this story if you read both.
Towards the Mountain: A story of grief and hope forty years on from Erebus by Sarah MylesSarah's grandfather Frank died with 272 others on the Air New Zealand sight seeing flight to Mt Erebus Antarctica on November 27 1979 when the plane crashed into the mountain. The navigational coordinates for some reason had been changed and the pilots had no idea as they were on autopilot.
This book pieces together the aftermath of the tragedy, how it affected her family (she was 3 at the time) and the nation.
She talks to family members, the salvage crew, the transporters, the funeral directors, the embalmers. What follows is a meditation on loss and how because of lack of information, families relied on their own truth to fill in the gaps of what happened.
The book doesn't cover the controversy and cover up that the management of Air New Zealand refused to apologise or acknowledge their role in the tragedy but its something that hasn't really been discussed until now because the pain of sudden loss was too raw. This was even more people that died in the Christchurch earthquake. Everybody knew someone who knew someone.
It was amazing that most of the bodies could be identified and recovered from the wreckage site but then spare a thought for those vicitms of the Pike River Mine disaster in which it is too dangerous to go, as well as the recent White Island. To this day Mt Erebus is a no-fly zone.
Mod
5 stars
This is the story of a mixed-race daughter getting to know her black father after his diagnosis of terminal prostate cancer. Her father is a head-strong man with deeply rooted southern traditions, hence the title Pig Candy, which refers to a recipe they made when roasting a pig. Part of the book is devoted to her relationship with her father and the relationships they have with family and the people in a small rural Southern town. The other half of the book deals with her taking care of her father in his last days. Very interesting story!
Mod
3 stars
The title sounded interesting. Going into it I thought it would be several stories about one of the first female Wildlife agents to go into the Alaskan wilderness to hunt poachers. I am sure this woman must have many stories to tell but this book focuses on just one. I think it would have been a better book if there was more than one story to tell. The conversations are too long and the author focuses on too many unimportant details, such as what she had to eat. It was hard to read at some points because she goes into detail about killing the animals and butchering them. I just cant understand killing beautiful animals just for the sport of it. I pretty much skimmed to the end because I wanted to see how it all turned out. Unfortunately, even though she took out a few poachers, there are still a lot of them left and they can make a lot of money so they dont care if they kill the last surviving animal or not.
Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda TiradoWell I like someone who tells it like it is. Although my edition wasn't titled 'living in bootstrap America'.
Cue lots of swearing and saying what it's like to live on minimum wage.
Selina wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor NoahI'm not sure how I got on to this book as I had never heard of Trevor Noah..maybe I was searching for a book abo..."
He's one of my favorite comedians.
It's school holidays - therefore I have too much reading time. I've just read.That Terrible Time By Geoffrey Rice
Compilations of eyewitness survival accounts of the 1918 flu pandemic in NZ.
This was published 2018 and the foreword was saying be prepared for another one. What seems different about the 1918 where at least 9000 nzers died and nearly everyone got the flu (some had the flu and survived, some didn't and just saw everyone else die around them) was that people turned black when they died, and it would come on very sudden, for about three weeks in November and then it was over.
Shops closed, businesses closed, they had inhalation rooms, and wore masks as well, and disinfected and sprayed using either Jeyes fluid or Formalin. Lots of people were making soups and there were makeshift hospitals and volunteers. Undertakers were busy burying people. It really was 'that terrible time'.
The entry point of the flu seemed to be blamed on the Niagara steamship which wasn't quarantined after arrival in Auckland. But it might have got in before that with troops returning home. At any case the 1918 armistice and race cup gatherings prior meant the whole country got it.
Mod
I'm not sure how I got on to this book as I had never heard of Trevor Noah..maybe I was searching..."
Mod
I'm not sure how I got on to this book as I had never heard of Trevor Noah..maybe I was searching..."
Mine too!
In the Blink of an Eye: Dale, Daytona, and the Day that Changed Everything by Michael Waltrip and Ellis Henican3+ stars
This is a combination of biography and memoir. The first third is about Waltrip's racing from a child through to having a 463-0 record in the top racing circle (he had wins in other levels--auto racing is nothing if not complex). The middle third is about his being asked to be a part of a third team with his long-time good friend, Dale Earnhardt, Sr and it is during this third that the tragedy happened (this is public record--there was a death in a car crash) and the final third deals with the aftermath and what happened later.
This is more readable than some of the auto racing nonfiction I've read for a reading challenge/game, but I can honestly say that once this is over, I won't be retaining a lot of detail because I don't care enough about all the parts of racing cars and I would never be one to suffer that much or put myself in such danger to win a race, nor am I a car aficionado. That said, my eldest daughter planned to be a race car driver for a couple of years starting when she was 4 or 5 and I did watch a stock car race in Ohio once (that was enough since they are LOUD). This book, thankfully, does not spend time delving into how cars are built and all of the parts, etc, the way some of them do.
If American auto racing history is up your alley, this is a book to read. (less)
Mod
4 stars
Edward Curtis was driven to capture the American Indian in photographs. Living in the early 1900's, the traditional Indian was rapidly becoming a thing of the past. With little money, he traveled the United States in search of traditional Indians and their stories. Andrew Curtis died in poverty, but today his photographs bring a lot of money. For me, this book was at its best telling the life stories of his subjects. The first story was actually the best one in the book. The life story of Edward Curtis was interesting, but dragged at times. This story is very sad, but the pictures are beautiful. I would love to see the entire collection, which can be seen in several museums.
Dark Remedies
Trent D. Stephens
4/5 stars
This was such an interesting and sad book about the history of Thalomide. The authors trace the drug from its beginning: from the doctor who developed it and who had a questionable history, stories of the families whose children had suffered from phocomelia (malformations of the arms and legs) and to its revival of use in cases of leprosy, multiple myeloma and HIV. I found it to be thoughtful and well written.
Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding3.5 stars
Con artist extraordinaire from the ages of 16-21, Frank Abagnale's methods would have a difficult time working today with modern security measures, etc, but make no mistake, what he did took skill. I wouldn't call this a comedy, although some people have, because these were very real crimes he committed. It might be that the movie made them funny, but I can't say that I laughed. He was bright, very good at reading people and situations, stayed sober and learned to plan well. It helped that he looked a good deal older than he was.
I thought that the book was quite solidly written and very readable. One thing that helped me enjoy it better is knowing that by the time he was thirty, he was helping people prevent the types of crimes he had perpetrated.
Diary of a Player: How My Musical Heroes Made a Guitar Man Out of Me by Brad Paisley and David Wild
3 stars
This is the story of how Brad Paisley's musical journey beginning with the Christmas his grandfather gave him his first guitar (not something Paisley had asked for). One of the things I respect is that he had to work hard to learn how to play well--this is how it really is with an instrument when you want to get really good and technical. Like some others who have done this well, he had a lot of help, teachers (his first one was terrible, but his second one was much better) many mentors and some fabulous opportunities. There are no instant results with playing music, or guarantees if you go for it, but there are many rewards and not everyone with talent chooses to make it a career.
He wisely chose to write this with a friend who is a professional writer, so this is quite readable.
Mod
4 stars
I went into this thinking it was about dealing with dementia or Alzheimer's, but not so. Her parents were alert til almost the end. Working in the geriatric field for 30 years, I know that this book is a typical experience of a caregiver helping their parents in their old age. This book is not just about her experience, but also gives very good advice for caregivers and would be helpful if you just want to know that you are not alone and others are going through the same thing.
I just finished
The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths by Bernie Chowdhury.This is more than a biography of Chris and Chrissy Rouse, the father and son diving team, as it included other key figures in the tight-knit diver community.
My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3365331165
Last night I finished
The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon by Colin Fletcher2 stars
The Man Who Walked Through Time is a remarkable classic of nature writing, an account of a journey both physical and spiritual. A detour from U.S. 66 to visit the Grand Canyon on a June morning in 1963 inspired Fletcher to walk the length of the Canyon below the rim. It is also a record of the Grand Canyon as it was before the massive influx of tourism. Fletcher's descriptions of the spectacular geography, the wildlife, and the remnants of much older cultures serve to remind us that the Grand Canyon has been around longer than humankind and may well outlast us.
Selina wrote: "Towards the Mountain: A story of grief and hope forty years on from Erebus by Sarah MylesSarah's grandfather Frank died with 272 others on the Air New Zealand sight seeing flight ..."
Never heard of this case!
Somebody to Love: The Life, Death and Legacy of Freddie Mercury, by Matt Richards and Mark Langthorme4 stars!
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling3 stars
Mindy Kaling is bright, beautiful, hardworking and funny. If, in the extremely unlikely scenario that she reads that, is not written in any specific order. I've never met her, so am just basing it on what she wrote in the book plus what has happened with her career--you don't get there without working really hard.
That said, like Dave Barry's essays, I found some of these essays very funny and some of them just didn't work for me. Of course, to be fair, I I wasn't a fan of "The Office" and for some reason have never seen her series, but then I haven't seen the vast majority of TV series out there. One of the chapters where I laughed and chuckled, and I even went to Youtube to listen to half of itafter I finished the book, was the speech she gave in 2014 to the graduating class at Harvard Law School.
Waiting to Be Heard: A MemoirJust finished the audio version of this. I enjoyed hearing Amanda's version in her own voice of what happened to her. I remember when this was going on. Has anybody watched the documentary series? I have not...
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man
Mary L. Trump
4.5/5 stars
Mary Trump, niece of Donald Trump and daughter of Fred Trump Jr., writes about life in the Trump family beginning with the patriarch of the Trumps, Fred Trump. Fred Sr. was a cruel, miserly man obsessed with profits and his children were his last priority and seen only as valuable as employees and for what they could do for him. When their mother became ill, they were on their own and were ill prepared for life. Not a long book but filled with crucial details of the Trump family history and a look at the family that shaped Donald Trump.
Mod
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man
..."
I have seen her on so many talk shows that I'm pretty sure I have heard most of what's in the book. I'm guessing that the opposition is saying she's lying. She makes me a little crazy by how slowly she talks and seems like she's thinking about every word before she says it.
Koren wrote: "Julie wrote: "[book:Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous ..."
That book has just come in our bookshop. Quite a few are buying it. I suspect she's being really careful about what she says because she's probably getting flack from her family for speaking out.
I don't really watch talk shows...If someone's talking about their book they shouldn't really give it all away, or they may as well just read it all out loud on tv.
Mod
[book:Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's M..."
It's not just talk shows. She's been on all the all-day news shows, except probably not Fox. It would be interesting to hear what people in your country think about our orange blob of a president.
Most people are rather appalled by him Koren. Although we've got our own politicians to criticise, so whatever Trump says doesn't take up too much of our brain space.
Koren wrote: "Julie wrote: "[book:Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous ..."
I haven't heard her in any interviews but I thought she wrote quite well. It is not a long book. I read it in 2 days.
Mod
[book:Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's M..."
I would probably have an issue with looking at his face on the cover. LOL. Ok, I'm not going to say any more. I so try to keep political opinions off this site but sometimes it is soooo hard!
Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma3 stars
Haben is pronounced thusly: the Ha is like haha, and the ben as in Benevolent (ie it doesn't rhyme with RobIN).
If you are shocked that I only gave this three stars, so am I. Haben herself is a 5 star woman. Part of my disappointment is due to the poorly chosen subtitle because I was expecting a lot more about her application to and time at Harvard. Only ONE chapter discusses her time at Harvard Law School! This isn't to say that there was nothing interesting, but I know that Girma is brilliant so wasn't expecting it to feel more like I was reading something written to young adults--and I think that if it hasn't been marketed that way, it's a shame, because her story is quite inspirational. I think this ought to be marketed to the young adult market.
I am not going to count this for black lives matter even though she is black, because this is about an even larger American minority that gets shafted all the time--the disability community (she doesn't care for the term special needs from what I can garner), so it is addressing the very serious problem of ablism. I knew this already; a friend of mine has been in a wheelchair since the ripe old age of one year old after a car accident (and most people don't think to sit to look her in the eye to speak with her if there is a chair handy so she has to crane her neck, although many people just look past her). 70 percent of blind people (also her preferred term) are unemployed, and most schools that train the blind do very poor jobs--not because they are often taught by sighted people, but because those sighted people haven't been trained with sleep shades on until they can do what the blind are capable of doing, and other reasons.
Haben is a disability lawyer and was part of the team of lawyers who sued Scribdol for originally making their platform inaccessible to the blind (and especially the deafblind) because if they have computers that convert text and speech to Braille (and only 10 percent of the blind are taught to read Braille which causes illiteracy--she has met Blind people who think that "once upon a time" is one word, for example). Now I add this information to what I know about the exorbitant cost of wheelchairs (many people who need them are housebound because they can't even afford a proper chair--they have to be custom made--let alone a converted van), etc.
Much of this book is from Haben's childhood and teen years; some is during her first degree. I think if you go into this book knowing how little time is spent on the subtitle it might help you enjoy the book more than I did.
Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life
Laurie Notaro
Laurie Notaro is an unconventional wife, mother and writer. She writes about her everyday experiences from trying on Spanx, snooping in her husband’s journal and her love of Twinkies to name a few, with no shame and makes you laugh and smile a lot. I would read more of her books!
Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini4 stars
This book was better than I thought it would be. It's not easy to write a book like this as balanced as I think it is. On the one hand, Leah Remini was a victim, but on the other hand, she's honest about her mistakes; she started in Scientology when she was a child and her family was in a vulnerable situation. This book covers both her years in Scientology and her life, including her start and career in Hollywood as well as her family life. It couldn't have been easy to write what she did, because leaving something as controlling and consuming as Scientology after all those years was difficult, emotionally, and I would say harder than a divorce because it was even more all-consuming from such an early age for her than a marriage.
It's easy to sit outside of this situation and ask how anyone with any brains could get sucked into anything like this and I don't know anyone personally who has been in something this controlling. That said, I know a few Ivy League university graduates and other brilliant people who grew up in loving homes with good people skills who have had to leave abusive religions (not necessarily as financially draining as Scientology). Not everyone who gets involved in these situations is weak, hurt or unintelligent.
I am not sure if there was a ghost writer--there might have been--but the books sounds like Remini when she is being serious. There is no way to really know a person just be seeing them in an interview or reading a book they have written, of course, but I have to say that this book has given me more respect for what Remini did by speaking up and while I can't know for sure the veracity of everything she writes (it's a memoir starting from when she is a child, and memories aren't always completely reliable for any of us, it smacks of authenticity, and I am not referring to the philosophy.
Karin wrote: "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini4 stars
This book was better..."
Nice review!
Finished the Hitch 22: A Memoir audiobook today.Unfortunately found it quite underwhelming as I was hoping it would have more information about his personal life. Instead, he talks about specific political issues, which I didn't find that interesting, for too long for me.
Mod
5 stars
Who doesn't love Alex Trebek? As a long-time Jeopardy fan, I loved reading this autobio. His book is just what you think he is- one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He keeps everything on a positive note- including his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. He even has good things to say about his ex-wife. One thing that was a bit surprising, Alex has a bit of a potty mouth. His mother must have taught him that if you cant say anything nice about someone, dont say anything at all, because he seems to like everyone. I love the fact that he has so many humanitarian (and animal) worthy causes and donates quite a bit of his money to these causes. Be prepared to come away from this book with warm, fuzzy feelings and have a box of tissues handy at the end.
Mod
5 stars
Throughout this book I kept thinking how fun it would be to get together with a group of friends and go camping. These women get together for a week every year for at least 20 years (at the end of the book they are still getting together). They support each other through marriages, births, divorce and deaths. The death of one of the women had me in tears. It so closely mirrored the death of a friend that I went through. But they also have a lot of fun!
Koren wrote: "The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek5 stars
Who doesn't love Alex Trebek? As a long-time Jeopardy fan,..."
I am glad you liked this, I have in on my to be read list!
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Erik Larson
5/5 stars
I love Erik Larson and he does not disappoint in his newest non-fiction book recounting the first year of WWII. The book mainly centers on Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of England as he and the country wage war against the Nazi Regimen and as he tries to get help from President Franklin Roosevelt. Larson also recounts the lives of Winston’s family and friends during war time and the British citizens as they deal with food shortages, bombing raids, death and destruction and trying to work amidst the German air raids and bombings. Larson’s books are so interesting, that I can’t wait for his next book.
Bossypants by Tina Fey2 stars
Before I go any further, since you've seen the 2 star rating, I have never been a SNL fan, even before Fey joined the writing staff. This is not to say none if it is funny to me, but none of my friends or I were into this show, so that may have affected how I reacted to some of the humour (but some of it made me laugh). I have never watched 30 Rock, either. I don't known if it just wasn't on a channel with a TV show I was watching in that era of my life, because it doesn't ring a bell (I kept having to remind myself that 30 Rock wasn't a typo for 3rd Rock starring John Lithgow--there are just so many TV shows out there--plus that one is actually 3rd Rock from the Sun and was on before 30 Rock.
This basically follows Fey's life from childhood through the year she wrote this, primarily focusing on the path to her career, but including stuff about her. This is a memoir that is also comedy, so I took some of it with a grain of salt--good comic writers know how to milk their stories to make them funnier. That said, I was annoyed by all of the swearing. Comics broke through that barrier about 60 years ago, and women a bit later, so why bother now? I find it crass and I am someone who uses that kind of language when angry (not something I am proud of, either) so it's not like I don't know how to use that sort of talk. The chapters were hit and miss for me
Queen Emma and the Vikings: Power, Love, and Greed in 11th-Century England by Harriet O'Brien2 stars
I am not sure if this is really a biography or a history book with a title made to look like the biography of a historical figure.
This is about a woman who was officially made queen, was married to two different kings and at least one of her sons ruled England. I have to admit that I am not generally keen on political history, but thought this would be interesting as it was about a Queen and Vikings; I am interested in women's history. However, she really isn't in as much of the book as I would have liked due to lack of good records for some of the times, so there was a lot of stuff about kings and other leaders, etc, that I couldn't care much less about. That said, some of it was interesting and the writing was good enough I can't bring myself to rate it less than two stars. There is more about her in the second half of the book than the first, but since I read it on an old-school type of Kindle I can't easily go back and count the pages, etc, that centre on here. If nothing else, she managed to beat the odds of the day with how long she lived and she was obviously a bright woman, etc.
Mod
3 stars
I'm not a huge Clapton fan, although I will say I named my cat Layla. If you are a huge fan I think you will love this book. He is brutally honest about his drug use and infidelities. It dragged some for me when he got into the business end of the music industry. I think this book could have been a bit condensed but otherwise it was a 3 star book for me...liked it, didnt love it.
Educated by Tara WestoverThis book was...different. Because I had read Native Son: The Writer's Memoir about Witi Ihimaera's education from his Maori background to academia it kind of echoed a similar family dysfunction. Witi had attended a Mormon high school (which would have allowed him to go on to BYU - Brigham Young University )but in this story Tara's family who are Mormons didn't even go to a Mormon school at all. She was nominally homeschooled but what that really meant was she worked for her dad until she decided she'd had enough of staying home and not learning much and wanted to go to college. She somehow got into BYU on a multi-choice test, studied and won scholarship to Cambridge. Then she went on to do a PHd.
However that's all incidental to her Dad's paranoia, which she referred to as Bipolar but actually seems more like Schizophrenia. As well as her older brother's bullying. The book is full of incidents like car crashes and burns and falling off pallets in the scrapyard her Dad owns. He was one of those 'survivalist' Mormons who believed in the imminent End of the World, but when Y2K came and went, all their stockpiling was for nothing. Tara eventually had to get her own birth certificate AND vaccinations. And call the hospital instead of relying on her midwife mother's homeopathic remedies, which became a successful business enterprise.
No Tara wasn't raped or anything but she was emotionally abused and constantly gas-lighted. Shades of the Glass Castle except she wasn't poor her Dad was just...a bit crazy.
Mod
This book was...different. Because I had read Native Son: The Writer's Memoir about Witi Ihimaera's education from his Maori background to..."
I would just like to clarify one thing about this book. What you refer to as 'survivalist' Mormons is called the Fundamental Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are much different than the mainstream Mormon church. They kind of live back in the 1800's and broke off from the mainstream church because they didnt like it when the church denounced polygamy. That's the short version and I am not Mormon so if anyone wants to correct me or explain it better go ahead. Just to clarify, the father in this book was CRAZY and shouldn't be held up as a typical Mormon.
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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I'm not sure how I got on to this book as I had never heard of Trevor Noah..maybe I was searching for a book about Nelson Mandela or South African apartheid. Anyway for those who don't know Trevor Noah is a comedian and tv presenter. The book is quite humorous. For starters Trevor was born from a white father and black mother which made him immediately illegal in apartheid South Africa. What follows is his childhood growing up in when apartheid loosened up. I think his mother was a character..if you like family stories then read this one. And if you want an example of great faith, read it too.