Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
What are You Reading Now (Anything goes) 2023
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Mod
3 stars
I have never owned a horse but I enjoyed reading these stories about people who do. Do you believe we can communicate with our pets? That is the main idea in this book. This book reminded me of the Chicken Soup For The Soul books.
Killing Mr. Griffin
Lois Duncan
4/5 stars
A group of students in Mr. Griffin's class are tired of his berating them. So, a few of them decide to prank him and they tie him up and kidnap him. Unfortunately, things go horribly wrong and now they have to cover up their tracks. Very well written and a fast read!
Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson20 something in a dead-end publishing job...moonlights in another, is found out and then quits, but finds a somewhat romance with an an author. She crosses boundaries, and it all turns to custard. I'm like..I don't really want to read about someone in a dead-end job. Ok, but nothing exciting. Go work in a Library!!
At some point, we all navigate the loss and grief of a loved one, uncertain how or if we can regain a sense of normalcy to our lives ever again.OK, Little Bird is a virtual handbook, told through a memoir style, fast moving touching, laugh out loud and deeply feeling father daughter relationship. When you turn the last page, readers will find a way to feel whole again and inspired.
Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole
Susan Cain
3/5 stars
I loved Susan Cain's book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. This new book of hers was very interesting. She discusses the topic that without sadness and yearning that we cannot be a whole person. If you haven't read any of her books, I would start with Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Books Off My Reading List
Julie wrote: "Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole
Susan Cain
3/5 stars
I loved Susan Cain's b..."
I picked this up at the library, on my TBR pile. It has an orange cover though here.
BSC in the USAI think it's like Super Special #14
In this one, the Babysitters Club go on a road trip in two RVs from Stoneybrook, Connecticut to Palo City, California where Dawn is from. Each chapter is told by a different member/brother/sister . It's fun catching up with the club again, but...they kind of glossed over several things. Like how on earth could they afford it, or take time off school to do all these trips, and..Kristy's DAD turns up at a baseball stadium!
I also wish they had put a map in the book, but I am now so familiar with the geography of the US that it probably would be superfluous. Stoneybrook is fictional though, all the other places are real.
I'm hanging out for the one where they all go to London or Paris, or maybe even NZ on an extended Baby-sitting adventure where they get employed by my former private school as teacher aides.
The Little Broomstick
Mary Stewart
4/5 stars
Sweet story about Mary Smith, a ten-year-old girl who goes to visit her Aunt Sue and her family. When her aunt becomes ill, she is sent to live with her Aunt Charlotte who was kind of an outcast. But Mary and her Aunt became close and she experiences thing she has never done before, going on journeys, learning witchcraft and spells and befriending animals. Although this a juvenile book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Mod
4 stars
There are some really good dog training tips in this book. Brandon had a show on Saturday mornings called Lucky Dog and if you are like me and watch it regularly, you probably won't find much in this book that you don't already know. But if you are looking for a good book on dog training this is it. I know I learned a lot from watching his show and I have a great dog to show for it!
Mod
5 stars
So very hard to read but a book I wish everyone would read. There is one way to stop puppy mills and that is not to buy from them. This book will tell you why and how to avoid perpetuating puppy mills and animal abuse. So, so many people buy a dog because they think they are cute or a status symbol, but when these dogs arrive with so many problems a lot of the dogs are given to shelters or simply abandoned. I will never understand people spending thousands of dollars on a dog. The chapter on people taking out loans to buy designer dogs, thus spending a lot more money from paying interest was amazing. This book goes a long way to educate people about animal cruelty and being a responsible pet customer.
The Simple Act of Reading by Debra AdelaideEssays about reading mostly by Aussie writers. Some gems here, though some gone over my head as I don't read a lot of Australian literature.
Mod
4 stars
Not a how-to book, it is more reflections about each season of gardening. A short book with lots of pictures of flower arrangements, you can read this in a few hours.
Mod
3 stars
This really should have been in the older children's book section. There is not really anything here that most people probably don't already know. But the main message of the book is good: Be kind to animals. There are quite a few pictures so it is a quick read.
Selina wrote: "Julie wrote: "Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole
Susan Cain
3/5 stars
I loved ..."
Have just finished reading this one. I didn't like it as much as I liked Quiet, probably because I don't really identify as melancholic, but still interesting.
I think she ought to have written about the benefits of having a good cry.
Selina wrote: "Selina wrote: "Julie wrote: "Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole
Susan Cain
3/5..."
I liked Quiet much more than that book.
Jackie and Me by Louis BayardJack Kennedy had a best friend or more of a groupie/hanger on who acted as a go between for Jackie when he needed a wife. So the story is about how he courted her or kept her on hold for him.
It's a bit boring to be honest and most of the Washington society references are going to go over most peoples heads who weren't there at the time.
I don't have a very high opinion of JFK am sorry to say, or any of the Kennedy's.
Like a few books I read, the Kennedy's basically used people and the high society of the time had lots of servants who remained loyal mainly because they were rich. I wouldn't have called many of those servants their friends although its not unknown for the rich to love their servants better than their own families. I just found it all a bit sad, since Lem (the me of the book) was like so many of them who gave up their lives to hang round the Kennedys, even when they were being despicable and entitled. The real Lem was gay and in love with JFK just like a lot of the secret service men were in love with Jackie, though in this book, it's Jackie who loves Lem. But she's destined to marry Jack anyway.
It did mention in passing about Jackie's mother, who is portrayed as your typical social climber. Jackie's dad was a gambler, drunkard and womaniser, so her mum quickly took up with a moneyed titled man and had further children (the Auchinchlosses) but Jackie was urged to marry well too because she wouldn't inherit the Auchinschloss fortune.
Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life by William DereisciwiczI don't live in the US but I have often wondered what the deal is with the Ivy league and prep schools, having recently worked in an academic prep school myself. This book is part rant, part polemic, and possibly a reckoning for the author who went through the system. The funny thing is like most authors who end up being published, he trained in law and then didn't practice. He should have done an English major instead, and followed his passion.
The thing with universities is, they can be a funneling school for the middle/upper classes to stay priveliged. Though many are offering MBAs now, but the whole Harvard, Yale and Stanford triumvate doesn't necessarily give much cachet, it just means you have a certain priveliged mindset if you enter those hallowed halls. eg. you are a winner and everyone else who didn't get in is a loser.
The book is mostly realising that that kind of narrow edumacation isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004 to 2021 by Margaret AtwoodThe author of The Handmaids Tale weighs in, and she has plenty to say about the genesis of writing The Handmaid's Tale as well. If you haven't caught up with her in a while, this book has collected a great deal of her essays, introductions and a few lectures. Some you may only get if you are an English major though. Though English majors will adore it as they will anything Atwood writes. Especially when she has her tongue firmly in cheek.
Open: Andre Agassi. The engrossing story of an amazing athlete who hated playing tennis from the beginning through to his retirement. A tell-all intimate look at his childhood under the thumb of an ambitious, frustrated father and the up and down trajectory of his career to the number 1 world ranking. A fascinating read.
I like how some writers don't care to be confined to a label whether it's fiction or memoir for their books. Christopher Isherwood is one. His Berlin Novels inspire beyond the film Cabaret. Love his sense of freedom in this refusal to conform. So, call them fiction or memoirs. They're good. Here's my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sour Heart by Jenny ZhangI tried to find a Z book for bookathon and this was the only one on the shelf so I gave it a go. It's short stories about growing up as Chinese American immigrant girl in NYC. There are 7 stories and mostly about 6 girls but as I was reading only one stood out 'Crispina' they all seemed to be about the same girl to me.
Am not sure about the whole immigrant experience as portrayed here seems a bit skewed, though four families sharing an apartment does happen in the tenements of the freshly arrived (and maybe without documentation) and there are flashbacks to parents experiences of the Cultural Revolution in China.
Ties between siblings, parents and grandparents are explored but you may balk at a lot of profanity in these stories and they never quite gel into a coherent narrative being slices of life as it is, and very chopped up lives they are.
Edward Gorey: His Book Cover Art and Design
3/5 stars
There is not much to say about this book. There is a brief review about his artwork but the book mainly contains his book covers. Definitely, for Gorey fans!
Taming Toxic People: The Science of Identifying and Dealing with Psychopaths at Work & at Home by David GillespieSort of similar to The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't except it's a bit more scientific in its approach (talks about brain damage, neurons, etc) and advises pretty much the same as dealing with narcissists - go no contact. Look for another job and then leave if it's your boss.
I was quite surprised that Mother Teresa was considered to be a psychopath. It's obvious Donald Trump is...
The description of the micromanaging boss pretty much was exactly what I encountered with one of the principals at school. Then I figured there must be this club that principals join that makes them like that cos I've had two so far that acted like zombosses from hell. And they can be very charming at first...
Stuff Christians Like by Jonathon AcuffPastors wives always write books for women in church on how to be a Proverbs 31 woman. Pastor's sons write these kinds of books about how hard it is to grow up in church and expected to be good all the time.
I think you need to be a member to get all the in-jokes though. It's a parody of Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions which I haven't read so it would be interesting to compare the two. I'm all into social anthropology.
The Haunted Looking Glass
Edward Gorey
3.5/5 stars
This is a collection of haunted ghost stories written by several authors including Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson. However, all of the stories have been illustrated and picked by Edward Gorey. Interesting!
Mod
4 stars
When I started this book I wondered what it could teach me that I didn't already know. I'm sure we all know that the KKK is about hatred for people of a different race, but I didn't know they also were against Catholics, Irish and pretty much all immigrants and anyone that wasn't white and Protestant. I also didn't know exactly how large their presence was in the Midwest and exactly how powerful they were. At the time that this book focuses on, they were pretty much running the country. Thankfully, one woman was brave enough to bring down the most important man in the KKK, which ultimately led to the demise of the organization. Timothy Egan has a way of making history interesting. If you haven't read his book about the Children's blizzard be sure to check it out.
Selina wrote: "Stuff Christians Like by Jonathon AcuffPastors wives always write books for women in church on how to be a Proverbs 31 woman. Pastor's sons write these kinds of books about how har..."
Okay, have this now and see more of what it is! I'm not laughing much (I've seen Tim Hawkins do much funnier stuff in performance videos) and haven't read that other book, but now that I see it's a Christian laughing at some of the stuff they do--and some of it is worth laughing at or pointing out in a sarcastic way--this makes more sense.
Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck by Jon AcuffI am not sure what Jon Acuff actually DOES for a living after he stopped mocking Christians , or more specifically churchgoers but he keeps writing books about STUFF like quitting, starting over, and now doing over. Quitting what I am not sure.
My eyes glazed over and wondered what the point of this book was. Like every other rebellious pastors sons book, it had a picture of him on the cover, grinning like he knows the secret of not working and congratulating himself on writing another book. It has some pictures meant to be ironic like the Stuff Christians Like book, but the jokes wear thin.
I think it's because churches are now run like businesses so pastors sons are now entrepreneurs instead of preachers and evangelists?
I first heard about this here when Selina reviewed it. I had no idea it was written by an active Christian.Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff
I found this via a review on a GR group and had no idea, based on what I'd read, that this was Christian sarcasm. While I get all of his jokes, I didn't really find this book that funny. For one thing, almost nothing was new, and for another I far prefer the stage performances of Tim Hawkins for poking fun and inane things Christians do. Everyone does inane things, so it's not like anyone has a corner on the market for that. Also, sarcasm can be overdone, and at times his was. There were a few I did find funny, though, and of course.
Also, this is more what certain strains of Christians like, rather than all Christians, and very American to boot. However, apparently he had quite the popular blog that led up to this book. There's a link on his website, but it looks like the last entry was 2021 and apparently he now has a podcast, so evidently he has his fans.
It is rather annoying for GR librarians as well, because he decided to change his writing name to Jon Acuff, which can be seen on the cover of the MPE (main page edition), but which is not on the cover of the one I borrowed from the library that is a first edition. All he did was go from Jonathan to Jon, which means it's not even as though he has one or more extra pen names.
Duty and Desire
Pamela Aidan
3.5/5 stars
This is the second book in the Fitzwilliam Darcy Series. The story surrounds Darcy and there is only a little mention of Elizabeth Bennet. In this book Darcy takes off to see an Oxford classmate. However, at this reunion, Darcy meets Lady Sylvanie who is up to no good and there is a sinister plot involving the slaying of a pig and a kidnapping of a local child. This book is a little darker than I expected.
Karin wrote: "I first heard about this here when Selina reviewed it. I had no idea it was written by an active Christian.Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff
I found this ..."
I'm not offended by this book but I'm not a fan of sarcasm in general. I prefer gentle humour and its ok to poke fun at yourself, but I would be wary of using others as a target.
I can't remember anything that stood out as super funny in this book though. Where are the jokes the children tell in Sunday School, I like out of the mouths of babes esp the questions they might ask...
Selina wrote: "Karin wrote: "I first heard about this here when Selina reviewed it. I had no idea it was written by an active Christian.Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff
..."
I'm not offended by it, but sarcasm has to be used wisely. I can't say that I never use it IRL, but I use it carefully. Usually it's something light and in the moment and mostly at home. It can become nasty very easily.
But then we use a lot of humour here and not all the same kind (puns, "dad" jokes--that one mostly by my husband, but others of us do those at times as well, and various and sundry other ways. I'm the self-proclaimed humour expert here, but at least one person in my house disagrees :)
Mod
4 stars
I have always been interested in the immigrant story. Why they come here and what they have to go through to get here. The majority of them want to do the right thing and come here legally but the government makes it difficult. Most are good people that are escaping poverty or crime. Many lose their lives trying to get here. The author explores these topics and offers solutions to help. The only thing that would have made this book better is to have some actual case studies.
Mod
3 stars
Even though this book is called memoir and is tagged as nonfiction, I didn't check until I was done and at the beginning of the book it says it is fiction. As I read, I kept thinking there was too much imagined conversation and happenings that didn't seem like they could have really happened to be a work of nonfiction. The story takes place in the early 1900's and the baby Molly is placed on a doorstep. The couple that finds her is a white man and a Native American Indian woman who is a midwife and an herbal medicine woman. The story continues to the present day when Molly and another woman are friends in a nursing home and a female reporter is interviewing Molly about her amazing life and goes back and forth in time. As a work of fiction it is a cute story, but it would be hard to call this nonfiction.
Does One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez count? If so then I’m reading that right now.
Mod
Sure. Anything goes here.
The Sociopath Next Door by Martha StoutOr maybe only in America as its a National Bestseller and says on the cover that 1 in 25 Americans is a sociopath. So maybe I am safe. The author, who is a psychologist, describes several different kinds of sociopaths here, and sure enough, one of them is a high school principal.
Blood on the Breakwater
by Jean Paetkaurounded up to 4 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... review
Mod
3 stars
As a person who is very concerned about the environment, I found this book very hard to read. I am sure that the environmental issues presented in this book are accurate. It breaks my heart that coal companies demolish entire mountains and then just leave their devastation. I kept reading, hoping that some progress would be made with the environmental issues, but that did not happen. I didn't find this story particularly interesting.
Paperweight
Meg Haston
4/5 stars
Stevie is a teenage girl in an eating disorder home. Along with that her brother's anniversary of his death is coming up and she plans to end her life. Well written but very sad!
Currently reading loads of things but to keep it short the bio/ memoirs I'm currently reading are:Lucy - this is faction I think
I'm Just a Person
Slowly, only in bed, I am trudging through G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage
The Song of Taliesin: Tales from King Arthur's Bard by John Matthews
Not finished yet but it's a quick read. Wildly convoluted tales full of magic and mystery from Celtic folklore, adjacent to (and sometimes including) King Arthur's mythos. This is simply a story collection with poetry added; there is no discussion of sources or scholarly interpretation, as you might have seen in other books by this author. Do not read this if you have a phobia about pigs.
I don't usually read coffee table books, (too heavy, mostly pictures) but they good for vicarious travel and maybe decorating ideas.Eternally Ritz
We don't have many fancy pants hotels in Auckland, but some of them try to be like the Ritz (the Carlton, the Sheraton, the Langham, the Pan Pacific Hotel, Sky City Hotel) and its fun to peek inside their lobbies and rooms.
This one about the Ritz is the original one in Paris. I didn't know it had an Escoffier cooking school where you can go and learn to be a cordon bleu chef. I like the grand jardin and like to see the banquettes surrounded by trellis covered jasmine, potted palms, chandeliers and chairs with little handbag hooks where women could hang out and drink without a chaperone!
Kitchens: The New Zealand Kitchen in the 20th Century by Helen LeachNo I'm not renovating but I found this book interesting going decade by decade on all the new appliances and kitchen layout designs and menus that were in NZ and how people used their kitchens.
Mine (or rather, mums') is a rather poky one built in the 70s but more of a 60s design where we can only fit one brand of fridge and the atlas stove is right near the door. We only have one sink as well and no dishwasher but we do have a microwave, kettle, toaster and blender, and rice cooker. How all these appliances can fit in the one electric socket is something electricians need to figure out. What we end up doing as piling everything onto the dining table so there's barely any room to sit and eat, which we we end up eating off the floor in the lounge lol
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
Books mentioned in this topic
Kitchens: The New Zealand Kitchen in the 20th Century (other topics)Eternally Ritz (other topics)
The Song of Taliesin: Tales from King Arthur's Bard (other topics)
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century (other topics)
Lucy (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Beverly Gage (other topics)Meg Haston (other topics)
Jean Paetkau (other topics)
Gabriel García Márquez (other topics)
Gabriel García Márquez (other topics)
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Treasure State
C.J. Box
4/5 stars
Cassie Dwell is back and trying to solve two mysteries in this latest book. Cassie is hired to find a con man who meets wealthy women and convinces them to give them their fortunes. Also on her to do list is to find a client who claims to have buried treasure and he wants her to find him. I am enjoying this series. I hope that Box continues with the Cassie Dewell series.