When I was a teen, I was into reading fiction about girls with anorexia, which at that time (mid-80's) was pretty new. I even thought that I might want to become a psychologist or psychiatrist due to the empathy that was borne in me from reading about the inexplicable struggle that these young girls go through. It's been a long time since I was a teen and it seems like eating disorders are much more commonplace (in fact they only affect about 1% of teen girls--see note below**), but I still wonder if anyone reading this hasn't had a friend or a relative who has struggled through anorexia or bulimia. And now with a tween daughter of my own, I feel certain that at some point one of her friends or she herself will struggle. Is ...
Category Archives: Memoir
The Lost Girls
The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World. is the story of 3 late-twentysomething women who left their jobs and personal lives behind in New York City to travel the world for an entire year. Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner each come to the trip for different reasons and with different points of views. The shift from person to person helps us to get a more complete perspective of the trip, but also cuts the depth, as we don't get to know the full affect that this trip had on any one person. I have a feeling that everyone will identify most with one of the girls, which makes the 3 alternating point of views interesting: Holly is a sweet optimistic girl with a thirst for adventure and ...
Accidental Cowgirl
We were asked if 5 Minutes for Books would like to participate in a book tour, sponsored by Women on Writing (WOW), for the book Accidental Cowgirl: Six Cows, No Horse and No Clue. I waved my hand around in the air to be the reviewer on staff who got to read this one because I thought it sounded fascinating. Mary Lynn Archibald writes this memoir to tell other potential cowpoke what life on a ranch is really like. She and her husband Carl had visions of grandeur in their heads as they signed papers on Twin Creeks Ranch. They envisioned themselves hiking, rocking in rocking chairs on the front porch of their ranch style home, lovely wildflowers and calm breezes. What they didn't bargain for were ...
The Center of the Universe
I happen to a big fan of the memoir genre, especially when the writer skillfully relates a true story in a manner that reads like creative fiction. Having devoured everything by David Sedaris, I approached Nancy Bachrach's The Center of the Universe with excitement because of the multiple comparisons to Sedaris' wry and witty works. While I found myself laughing and reading in amazement at the story laid out, I think I would be more inclined to compare Bachrach's style to that of Augusten Burroughs, with a remarkable ability to convey a family history of pain without sorrowful remorse, but instead with a large dose of dark humor. Chronicling her mother's story, including family secrets and a history beyond just "colorful," Bachrach opens a window on mental illness, from the perspective of an observant ...
Devoted
Devoted: The Story of a Father's Love for His Son was another book that I saw at the Book Expo in the Da Capo Press booth. Unlike some of the other new book releases though, this one looked familiar. I asked the rep if this was "the guy in the Youtube video" that I had seen - the father who competed in triathlons with his disabled son. She wasn't totally sure, but shared the idea behind the book and sent me a copy to read. I quickly read this memoir of a father and son upon the book's arrival. And yes. It is the "Youtube guy." Before you read this review, you really ought to check out the Youtube video which I will include for your ...
The Bucolic Plague
When a book causes me to laugh out loud twice -- before I even get to page one -- I'm pretty sure that I'm going to like it. From the page after the dedication page: "This is a memoir of a certain time in my life. The names of some characters have been changed, and some are composites of various people, experiences, and conversations I had then. If you think that's unfair, you've obviously never lived in a small town and written a memoir about your neighbors." Author's caution (from the page after that): "This book is not about living your dream. It will not inspire you. You will not be emboldened to attempt anything more than making a fresh pot of coffee." Josh Kilmer-Purcell goes on with that quote to compare The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman ...
Books on Screen: The Fabulous Beekman Boys
The Fabulous Beekman Boys premieres on Planet Green (a part of the Discovery Channel family) on June 16. It is the story of Josh and Brent, two boys from Manhattan who are trying to grow a life and a business in New York state. I previewed two episodes of the show, and read the book about the first year on the farm, The Bucolic Plague (click over for my review and for a giveaway). I didn't only read the book, I loved the book. And as is almost always the case if you fall in love with "characters" in a book, and then see them portrayed on screen, you are going to say "the book is better." And yes, in this case, the book is better. If you become fans of ...
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Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor -
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