Title: First They Killed my Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
Author: Loung Ung
Publisher: Harper Perennial Paperback, 288 pages
ISBN 10:
0060856262
ISBN 13: 9780060856267 The Book Depository/Amazon/Goodreads
Back of the book description:
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee, and eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps , and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.
Harrowing yet hopeful, Loung's powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality.
My Take:
In a unique writing voice, Loung Ung tells us her story - at age 5, suddenly transported from a middle-class lifestyle in the Cambodian city of Phnom Penh, where she lived with her family, to a life of starvation, hardship and struggle in the brutal village camps of the Khmer Rouge in 1975. In their new world, her family of nine must learn to play down their intelligence, suffer through random visits by soldiers to houses where girls are taken from their families and raped, and entire families sometimes disappear, they must also worry about anyone finding out that their father served as a police officer in the former government.
This is a fascinating account of a new, harsh world as seen through the eyes of a young child, a world that no one should have to live in.
Flashes of hope and small triumphs (finding a way to get extra food, a visit from one of the siblings), become large in a world where hope and individuality are quashed.
I would totally recommend this title to anyone interested in the history of Cambodia as seen through the eyes of someone who lived through this regime.
BOOK RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through TLC Book Tours to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
Author: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Publisher: Harper Perennial, an imprint of Harper Collins
Paperback Release Date: February 15, 2012
Paperback, 304 pages
ISBN 10:
0061732478
ISBN 13: 9780061732478 The Book Depository / Amazon
Book description:
Kamila Sidiqi's life changed overnight when the Taliban seized
control of Afghanistan. After her father and brother were forced to
flee, she became the sole breadwinner for her five siblings. Banned from
school, confined to her home, and armed only with determination, she
picked up a needle and thread to create a thriving business that saved
their lives.
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana tells the incredible true story
of this unlikely entrepreneur who mobilized her community under the
Taliban. A story of war, it is also a story of family, faith, and
resilience in the face of despair. These women are not victims—they are
the glue that holds families together; they are the backbone and the
heart of their nation. Kamila Sidiqi's journey will inspire you, but it
will also change the way you think about one of the most important
political and humanitarian issues of our time.
My Take:
When you think of Afghanistan under Taliban rule, what do you think of? Reading this book may well change your thinking, especially about the women there, who, literally overnight, were forced to live under extremely oppressive conditions.
Kamila Sidiq is the second-oldest daughter of a family of 11 siblings. Her mother and, most especially, her father, strongly believe in education for ALL of their children. As the Taliban move closer to the city of Kabul, Kamila completes her teacher training, but ends up using it in a fashion that she never envisioned - teaching other young neighborhood women in her suburb of Khair Khana to sew in order to make enough money to feed their families.
In these pages, we are taken through the five years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, where the takeover was so sudden that women and girls in a modern culture where women went to work and school in Western wear, were, in one day, thrust into a world where they could not go outside without a chadri, or burqa, a head-to-toe covering with only a small mesh opening for the eyes.
Women and girls were no longer allowed to go to school or work. Medical doctors were no longer allowed to work with male patients or even talk to their male counterparts. Hospitals became segregated, and women and girls were not allowed to talk to any male outside of their own family members.
As Kamila's father, followed by her mother, leave for the northern provinces for safety (Kamila's father had worked for Massoud, the leader ousted by the Taliban), and her brother Najeeb also leaves to try to find work, Kamila, a teenager herself, becomes the head of a household where funds are running dry.
Rather than giving up and giving in, which would certainly have meant even more deprivation for her family in a city where electricity itself is spotty at best, Kamila finds a way to earn a living selling the clothing made by the light of hurricane lamps. In doing so, she opens the way for her sisters and for other women and girls in the neighborhood to help their families as well.
This inspiring story of a woman's will to DO something, when even a trip out of the house without a male relative could mean questioning, beating, detainment, or even death, is one that will fan a flame of hope inside everyone who reads it.
Written by Gayle Lemmon, a reporter who visited Afghanistan over a period of years beginning in 2005, this true story is uplifting and illuminating. As the reader lives and works beside Kamila through these pages, there are moments when you will hold your breath at the dangers faced by her and her family in their attempt to simply make a living. As Kabul and its outskirts are bombed after the events of 9/11, the dangers are different, but still very real.
In short, this is a remarkable story; one that will have the reader thinking of it long after the pages are closed.
QUOTES
Kabulis watched helplessly as the Taliban began reshaping the cosmopolitan capital according to their utopian vision of seventh-century Islam. Almost immediately they instituted a brutal - and effective - system of law and order. Accused thieves had one hand and one foot cut off, and their severed limbs were hung from posts on street corners as a warning to others. Overnight, crime in the monumentally lawless city dropped to almost zero. Then they banned everything they regarded as a distraction from the duty of worship: music, long a part of Afghan culture, and movies, television, card playing, the game of chess, and even kite flying, the popular Friday afternoon pastime. And they didn't stop at actions alone: Creating a representation of the human figure was soon forbidden, as was wearing European clothing or haircuts.
Brave young women complete heroic acts every day,with no one bearing witness. This was a chance to even the ledger, to share one small story that made the difference between starvation and survival for the families whose lives it changed. I wanted to pull the curtain back for readers on a place foreigners know more for its rocket attacks and roadside bombs than its countless quiet feats of courage. And to introduce them to the young women like Kamila Sidiqi who will go on. No matter what.
BOOK RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Other Reviews:
Book Fan Mary (her review is what made me want this book!)
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title from TLC Book Tours to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
Title: Immortal Bird
Author: Doron Weber
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Hardcover, 351 pages
ISBN 10: 1451618069
ISBN 13: 9781451618068 The Book Depository / Amazon
Damon Weber is a brilliant
kid – a skilled actor and a natural leader at school. Born with a
congenital heart defect that required surgery when he was a baby,
Damon’s spirit and independence have always been a source of pride to
his parents, Doron and Sheileagh, who vigilantly look for any signs of
danger. As Damon continues to thrive socially and academically, he
develops a dangerous heart condition that stunts his growth and saps his
energy. Despite having the best doctors, his condition becomes
increasingly serious, and the Weber family must make some difficult
decisions.
Yet frequent medical check-ups can't keep Damon's spirit down. He
proves to be a talent on stage, appears in David Milch’s HBO series
Deadwood, and maintains an active social life, whenever he has the
energy. Meanwhile, Doron searches relentlessly for answers about his
son's condition, examining the latest research and consulting experts in
a race against time for a solution.
Immortal Bird is a searing account of a father’s struggle
against disease and bureaucracy – a moving story of science, health and
love, and the redemptive power of art in the face of tragedy.
My Take:
The title of this book is taken from Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale", which is appropriate, as this is a father's ode to his talented son which also includes excerpts from his son's blog.
Damon Weber is a smart, creative, funny teen who was born with a malformed heart that was corrected by surgery when he was young. By the time he is 14, however, he is still only 5' 6" tall and not growing, having been diagnosed with PLE (a disease which causes protein not be kept in the body) at 13, the disease being a possible side effect of the heart surgeries he had as a toddler. His parents, especially his father, research everything they can about the disease and, having the means to do so, explore as many feasible options outside of heart transplantation as possible in order to keep Damon with them.
As a parent, and knowing from the first pages of the novel how it was going to end, this was a sad read. I could tell that the author tried his best to communicate the feeling of love he had for his son, and wanted to let the reader in on a child who was unmistakably a bright light in the world. It was apparent that he tried his best to be fully informed, and also frustratingly obvious were the mistakes and inattention by medical staff as portrayed in these pages. Having had my own battle with doctors brushing me off before my own son's diagnosis, I know how that feels, and it makes a parent angry. It makes a parent angrier when the "cure" itself turns out to be worse than the disease, and due diligence is not applied in figuring out what the resulting illness actually IS (in this case, it should have been obvious to the doctors involved, but the initial prescribed treatment was the OPPOSITE of what should have been done).
To THIS reader, however, the telling often felt stiff, forced, and, at times, overly dramatic. Every now and then, I caught a glimmer of something .. whether it be the dread of foreboding or the happiness at a triumph, but then the writing would go back to a somewhat superficial recounting.
I know that this must have been a difficult story to write, and I commend the author for this tribute to his son's spirit.
QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):
The world carries on as before. But underneath my feet, deep cracks and fissures appear. I shiver and hear someone who sounds suspiciously like myself begin to sob and scream.
I feel my wife's suffering more acutely than my own, because my powerful feelings for Damon have not yet developed - fatherhood remains largely an abstraction to me - and I don't understand that this little pale infant with his reddish tuft of hair will become the center of my life.
From Damon's blog:
Honestly I'll never understand how I got through the last 3 years as well as I did. And now when I think of what I might have been able to do with those 3 years had it not been for PLE it makes me kinda sad. I guess I never really accepted it or admitted it before but now it's suddenly sort of hit me; I had a disease and a bad one, one that could and did kill people and one that no one really knew anything definitive about and who could blem them. About 10,000 people in America have3 had my operation (the original 1) and 10% of those get PLE that's not exactly much of a data base. And one that could have eventually killed me and was weakening me day by day.
BOOK RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary ARC of this title from the publisher through Shelf Awareness to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
Title: Catherine the Great
Author: Robert K. Massie
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: November 8, 2011
Hardcover, 625 pages
ISBN 10: 0679456724
ISBN 13: 9780679456728 The Book Depository / Amazon
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, andThe Romanovsreturns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history.
Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into Empress of Russia by sheer determination. Possessing a brilliant mind and an insatiable curiosity as a young woman, she devoured the works of Enlightenment philosophers and, when she reached the throne, attempted to use their principles to guide her rule of the vast and backward Russian empire. She knew or corresponded with the preeminent historical figures of her time: Voltaire, Diderot, Frederick the Great, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette, and, surprisingly, the American naval hero, John Paul Jones.
Reaching the throne fired by Enlightenment philosophy and determined to become the embodiment of the “benevolent despot” idealized by Montesquieu, she found herself always contending with the deeply ingrained realities of Russian life, including serfdom. She persevered, and for thirty-four years the government, foreign policy, cultural development, and welfare of the Russian people were in her hands. She dealt with domestic rebellion, foreign wars, and the tidal wave of political change and violence churned up by the French Revolution that swept across Europe. Her reputation depended entirely on the perspective of the speaker. She was praised by Voltaire as the equal of the greatest of classical philosophers; she was condemned by her enemies, mostly foreign, as “the Messalina of the north.”
Catherine’s family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers, and enemies—all are here, vividly described. These included her ambitious, perpetually scheming mother; her weak, bullying husband, Peter (who left her lying untouched beside him for nine years after their marriage); her unhappy son and heir, Paul; her beloved grandchildren; and her “favorites”—the parade of young men from whom she sought companionship and the recapture of youth as well as sex. Here, too, is the giant figure of Gregory Potemkin, her most significant lover and possible husband, with whom she shared a passionate correspondence of love and separation, followed by seventeen years of unparalleled mutual achievement.
The story is superbly told. All the special qualities that Robert K. Massie brought to Nicholas and Alexandra and Peter the Great are present here: historical accuracy, depth of understanding, felicity of style, mastery of detail, ability to shatter myth, and a rare genius for finding and expressing the human drama in extraordinary lives.
History offers few stories richer in drama than that of Catherine the Great. In this book, this eternally fascinating woman is returned to life.
My Take:
I don't read a lot of biographies, mainly because they tend to be dry and difficult to really get into.
This biography is a wonderful exception. Written as a narrative biography and impeccably researched, you will come away feeling as though you know almost everything there is to know about Catherine the Great - her life, her marriage(s)? (there is one that may or may not have been a marriage - Mr. Massie offers up excerpts from letters that indicate that she may have had a second marriage), her lovers, her family, her first husband Peter - his personality, overthrow, imprisonment and subsequent death - her children, the intrigues between Prussia, Austria, France, England and Turkey - just a plethora of information that includes information gleaned from letters, writing, and other historical accounts.
Some tidbits:
Peter didn't consummate his marriage to Catherine for nine years
None of Catherine's children were biologically Peter's
Elizabeth, a fickle empress, kept Peter and Catherine under her thumb with harsh overseers and virtually no outside sommunication
Catherine's own written memoirs end on her 29th birthday
When Catherine first took the throne, she had a goal of gradually freeing the serfs, but found that it would be almost impossible to do. The French Revolution and the mayhem and executions that followed put that idea completely out of her mind.
Catherine may or may not have been married to Gregory Potemkin
I had only a few quibbles with this novel - there were a couple of instances of fact repeating, where something would be stated on one page and a few pages later, the same thing would be repeated. There was also mention of her three children, all born from different lovers, but two of them disappear from the pages, so much so that midway through:
Except for her son, Paul, and, later, her grandchildren, she had no family, and to Grimm alone she could pour out her thoughts and feelings as she might have done with a fond uncle or an older brother.
I would have liked to know a bit more about what happened to her other son and daughter.
The book almost faithfully follows a chronological sequence, except toward the end, when quite a few non-related items that weren't mentioned earlier in the reading are gone into.
I applaud this book as a wonderful, fully fact-based representation of a fascinating woman.
QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):
On Diderot: The man she saw before her possessed a "high brow receding on a half-bald head; large rustic ears and a big bent nose, firm mouth ..[and] brown eyes, heavy and sad, as if recalling unrecallable errors, or realizing the indestructibility of superstition, or noting the high birth rate of simpletons."
On love: Desire for love and sex played little part in attracting her lovers to her; they were motivated by ambition, desire for prestige, wealth, and, in some cases, power. Catherine knew this.
It was Catherine's wish, however, that the deterioration of their private relationship be kept hidden. Peter, lacking both the inner resources and Catherine's consuming ambition, could put on no such show. Smallpox had delivered a shattering blow to his mental as well as his physical health; his gross disfigurement had affected his psychological balance.
Catherine soon realized that the harsh treatment of Maria Zhukova was a clear signal to everyone in the young court that those who were suspected of closeness to either Catherine or Peter were liable to find themselves, on one pretext or another, transferred, dismissed, disgraced, or even imprisoned.
BOOK RATING: 4.75 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary ARC of this title from the publisher to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
Title: The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation
Author: Elizabeth Letts
Publisher: Ballantine Books, a division of Random House
Release Date: August 23, 2011
Hardcover, 288 pages
ISBN 10: 0345521080
ISBN 13: 9780345521088 The Book Depository / Amazon
November 1958 - the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was one of the most prestigious sporting events in the country. In the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and tradition, hotheaded thoroughbreds piloted by seasoned professionals awaited their turn to take on the course of towering hurdles. Into the ring trotted the most unlikely of horses—a drab white former plow horse named Snowman—and his rider, Harry de Leyer. They were the longest of all longshots—and their win was the stuff of legend.
Harry de Leyer first saw the horse he would name Snowman on a bleak winter afternoon between the slats of a rickety truck bound for the slaughterhouse. He recognized the spark in the eye of the beaten-up horse and bought him for eighty dollars. On Harry's modest farm on Long Island, the horse thrived. The even-tempered nag was wonderful with Harry's children and made a quiet lesson mount. But the recent Dutch immigrant and his growing family needed money, and Harry was always on the lookout for the perfect thoroughbred to train for the show-jumping circuit—so he reluctantly sold Snowman to a farm a few miles down the road.
But Snowman had other ideas about what Harry needed. When he turned up back at Harry's barn, dragging an old tire and a broken fence board, Harry knew that he had misjudged the horse. And so he set about teaching this shaggy, easygoing horse how to fly. One show at a time, against extraordinary odds and some of the most expensive thoroughbreds alive, the pair climbed to the very top of the sport of show jumping.
Based on the insight and recollections of “the Flying Dutchman” himself, Elizabeth Letts tells the dramatic and powerful true story of this unlikely duo's rise to stardom—from the de Layer family's farm in Harry's native Holland, through the horrors of the Nazi occupation, to his hope of a new life in America, where Harry's spirit and drive were matched by those of the plow horse he saved from the killer van. Their story captured the heart of Cold War–era America—a story of unstoppable hope, inconceivable dreams, and the chance to have it all. As Letts writes, “The message is simple--never give up, even when the obstacles seem sky-high. There is something extraordinary in all of us.”
My Take:
The description provides a great synopsis, so I will simply state some of my feelings while reading this title.
Through this highly descriptive narrative, which includes photographs, the reader is brought directly into the world of the privileged class of 1950's America through the eyes of Harry De Leyer ("The Flying Dutchman"), a Dutch immigrant, and his shaggy, loveable horse Snowman, saved from the slaughterhouse by a wonderful trick of fate that brought him to Harry's door.
There were definitely some emotional moments, with both happy and sad tears. I am one who often likes my non-fiction to read like fiction, and this book is a happy medium. You will cheer Harry and Snowman on, and you will love Harry's perseverance and insistence on his own and Snowman's worth in a world where few of the working class find entry.
My own mother rode dressage in her younger days, and this title brought to mind all of the trophies and ribbons I remember seeing before they were lost in a house fire. Even if you know nothing about horses and riding, you will find yourself drawn in by this story, almost leaning forward with Harry as he and Snowman make jumps that other horses find impossible.
A wonderful story of persevering against the odds, The Eighty Dollar Champion is definitely a must-read for lovers of true and triumphant stories.
QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):
Sometimes a man can forget the most important less of all: big dreams are often best accomplished when you do what you can with the material you have at hand. This eighty-dollar gelding, this lesson horse, this shaggy-coated, friendly, children-loving animal, had hidden his gifts under the plainest, most humble exterior. And Harry, keeping his eye on every hot-blooded renegade thoroughbred that came into the barn, shining like a copper penny, was guilty of not recognizing when the key to his aspirations, a natural born jumper, had landed right in front of him. Delivered right to his doorstep in a beat-up old cattle truck one cold February night. Dropped off like a newborn in a picnic basket abandoned on a church's front step. Handed to him for only eighty dollars and a moment's worth of compassion.
Snowman represented every little guy: everyone not sitting in a VIP seat, every worker at the armory that night - pushing a wheelbarrow or a broom - and everybody who was not born into the kind of privilege that surrounded the ring and competed that night.
Tonight, Harry was not representing any one particular nation - he was representing the little guy. He was riding for anyone who had ever been kicked around or neglected or underestimated. Anyone who had ever been shoved to the margins, given up on, or rendered invisible. The special bond between Harry and Snowman was the bond of survivors: a horse so beat up that nobody thought his life was worth saving, and a man who, his life destroyed by war, had had to start fresh in a country where he did not speak the language and had no capital except that of his own two hands, his love for his family, and his personal dignity.
BOOK RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
TWO Grammar Girls books up for review and a giveaway! Students, bloggers, writers - we ALL could use the tips in these books!
Title: Grammar Girl's 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know
Author: Mignon Fogarty
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, an imprint of Macmillan
Release Date: July 5, 2011
Paperback, 144 pages
ISBN 10: 0312573456
ISBN 13: 9780312573454 The Book Depository / Amazon
Millions of people around the world communicate better thanks to Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, whose top-rated weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 30 million times. Now she’s turning her attention to improving our vocabulary—one word at a time.
Not sure whether your post-high school vocabulary is up to snuff? This handy reference guide is a great starting point for ensuring you know the words that will help you impress your college professors, hold your own among your peers, write killer papers, and simply sound articulate--a skill that will benefit you for years to come.
Full of clear, straightforward definitions and fun quotations from luminaries such as J.D. Salinger and Susan B. Anthony, to characters such as Marge and Homer Simpson, this highly-useable guidebook gives you the confidence to succeed and sets you up for a lifetime of success.
My Take:
In the intro, the author states:
Use them in your college entrance essays or during job interviews to show that you're well-read and well-spoken. Even if you're past those stages in life, you'll regularly see most of these words in the news.
Middle Bebe Girl Jasmine is a reader - BUT quite often, she interrupts her reading while I'm here to ask, "Mom, what does ____ mean?", and then I'm left to explain it to her, after asking her to give me the word in context.
THIS little book is so handy - I think we all could improve our vocabulary immensely by reading up on one word a day, and then using it a few times during the day to make it stick in our minds. This is NOT a thesaurus, but a great vocabulary builder, and I definitely recommend it!
EXAMPLE:
Laconic
From the Greek Lakon, the name of a region near ancient Sparta. Laconians were known for their terse speech. The most famous example is the Laconian reply to Philip of Maceon's threat "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground." Their ruler simply responded, "If."
In English, laconic is still used to describe someone of few words. It sometimes carries a negative connotation.
You can get far in North America with
laconic grunts. "Huh," "hun", and "hi!"
in their various modulations, together
with "sure," "guess so," "that so?" and
"nuts!" will meet almost any contingency.
-For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming,
Scottish writer
BOOK RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Title: Grammar Girl's 101 Misused Words You'll Never Confuse Again
Author: Mignon Fogarty
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, an imprint of Macmillan
Release Date: April 5, 2011
Hardcover, 320 pages
ISBN 10: 144240339X
ISBN 13: 9781442403390 The Book Depository / Amazon
Millions of people around the world communicate better thanks to Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, whose top-rated weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 30 million times. After realizing her fans were asking the same questions over and over, Mignon decided to focus her attention on those words that continuously confound the masses. You’ll learn
· When you should use affect and when effect isright · Whether you should you say purposely or purposefully · What the difference is between hilarious and hysterical
Packed with clear explanations, fun quotations showing the word used in context, and the quick and dirty memory tricks Mignon is known for, this friendly reference guide ends the confusion once and for all and helps you speak and write with confidence.
My Take:
ANOTHER wonderful and handy tip book! I run into these mistakes (and likely commit them myself sometimes) quite often. For some of us, seeing these types of mistake in print (whether on a blog, in a book, or in correspondence) makes our eyes glaze over and takes away from the story or the message that is being imparted.
Look at the example below and you'll see why this book belongs on your shelf!
EXAMPLE:
Especially vs. Specially
This was an especially fun tip to write, it was specially designed for your enjoyment. Does that help you see the difference between especially and specially?
Especially usually means "particularly."
Samantha didn't believe in monogamy, especially when it came to real estate agents.
-Sarah Jessica Parker playing Carrie Bradshaw
in the TV show Sex and the City
Specially usually means "in a special or careful manner" or "specifically."
PETER GRIFFIN: Uh, excuse me, I'm Mel
Gibson, here for the key to my specially
reserved room.
GUY: You're Mel Gibson?
PETER GRIFFIN: Yes, I've put on a few
pounds for my next role. I play Peter
Griffin, a heroic warrior who defied the
English to free England from the English.
GUY: Holy mackerel! Let me show you to
your room, Mr. Gibson!
-Seth McFarlane voicing Peter Griffin
in the TV show Family Guy
BOOK RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
These are only TWO of the Grammar Girl books. There are more 101 series' books as well. If we think of our books as investments in knowledge, these are definitely great investments!
WIN IT: Jennifer at St. Martin's Press has generously offered the chance to win a copy for yourselves! There will be TWO winners, and, since they are different books, one person can even win both if Rafflecopter randomly chooses the same name twice!
HOW TO ENTER (PLEASE READ - commenting alone will NOT enter you):
1. Comment: Leave a meaningful comment on this review. Please remember to include your email address kind of like this: user(at)domain(dot)com or something similar to prevent spambots from picking your email address up.
2. Then scroll up to the Rafflecopter form (you MUST have Javascript enabled to see the form): under "How to Enter" where it says "Leave a Blog Post Comment", click "I did this!" and fill out the little form that pops up there - make sure you use the email address you put in your comment. (Please email me directly at knittingandsundries(at)gmail(dot)com if you have problems with the form).
YOU ONLY HAVE TO COMMENT FOR YOUR INITIAL/MANDATORY ENTRY; you can use the form for all of your additional entries (extra entry options listed on the form)! :)
Eligibility: US/CAN
Disclosure: I received complimentary copies of these titles from the publisher to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
Title: In the Garden of Beasts
Author: Erik Larson
Publisher: Crown Publishing, a division of Random House
Release Date: May 10, 2011
Hardcover, 450 pages
ISBN 10: 0307408841
ISBN 13: 9780307408846 The Book Depository / Amazon
Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler’s rise to power.
The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.
A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the “New Germany,” she has one affair after another, including with the surprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance—and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition.
Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre Göring and the expectedly charming--yet wholly sinister--Goebbels, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling, addictively readable work that speaks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror.
My Take:
Erik Larson has done it again - taken a slice of our collective history and served it up in an eminently readable fashion. Through dispassionate prose and accompanying photos, In the Garden of the Beasts chronicles Hitler's ascent from chancellor to tyrant by looking at the ambassadorship of William E. Dodd, a former professor turned American ambassador to Germany.
Dodd was not part of the wealthy elite that generally make up the ambassador corps, and his determination to live within his salary, coupled with his criticisms of those that didn't, made him stand out from the pack. As Dodd witnesses and hears of anti-Semitic attacks, including attacks on American citizens, he tries to sound a warning bell, but his warnings fall on deaf ears. There were many promoters of isolationism and laissez-faire (hands-off) within the United States at the time, and Germany had a huge bond debt to the US. Stirring up trouble by criticizing Germany's actions might have resulted in those debts not being repaid, and that seemed to be the biggest consideration by our government at the time. In addition, most Americans did not take the ridiculous-looking Hitler seriously.
His daughter Martha, rather promiscuous for the times, had a number of affairs while living with her parents in Germany, and her behavior also counted against Dodd, as at least one of her affairs was with a high-ranking member of the Nazi party, Rudolf Diels, originally the Gestapo chief.
As Dodd and his family witness persecution and see brutal laws being enacted such as the law for Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases, which resulted in the enforced sterilization of close to 400,000 "undesirables" in Nazi Germany, Dodd continues his warning attempts to no avail.
This account helps the reader understand how and why Hitler was allowed to rise to power. It illustrates how a collective blind eye was turned until it was too late, and should reinforce the lesson that saying nothing is as good as giving permission.
I would definitely recommend this for any reader who would like a deeper understanding of this period in history, especially for anyone who still wonders HOW.
QUOTES
From the foreword: There are no heroes here, at least not of the Schindler's List variety, but there are glimmers of heroism and people who behave with unexpected grace. Always there is nuance, albeit sometimes of a disturbing nature.
Regarding Jews: . . . "they intended to ruin Germany." More furious now than ever, Hitler proclaimed, "If they continue their activity, we shall make a complete end to all of them in this country." It was a strange moment. Here was Dodd, the humble Jeffersonian schooled to view statesmen as rational creatures, seated before the leader of one of Europe's great nations as that leader grew nearly hysterical with fury and threatened to destroy a portion of his own population.
Throughout that first year in Germany, Dodd had been struck again and again by the strange indifference to atrocity that had settled over the nation, the willingness of the populace and of the moderate elements in the government to accept each new oppressive decree, each new act of violence, without protest. It was as if he had entered the dark forest of a fairy tale where all the rules of right and wrong were upended.
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary ARC of this title from the publisher to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
Psalm 118:17
In the United States it is estimated that 91 people will commit suicide
this very day. This is equivalent to one successful suicide every 16
minutes.
Maybe a loved one or someone you know has attempted to take his or her
own life? At some point perhaps you struggled with depression or the
nagging thoughts to end it all? If so, please know that you are not
alone.
With warmth and wisdom, attempted suicide survivor and Bible study
teacher Yolanda Shanks offers practical solutions and scriptural truths
for the many painful questions suicide survivors face:
• Why me?
• Does God still love me?
• Will this pain last forever?
• How can I shake the embarrassment, guilt, and shame from my past?
• What's needed to rebuild my life from here?
While this book is not intended to replace medical counseling, Destined
to Live, Despite Me is instead a powerful resource for those
determined to live and find true joy, peace, hope, confidence, and
freedom through meaningful, and deliberate living in Christ Jesus.
Escape the shadows from your past and begin to build a new life
according to God's design today.
My Take:
Someone close to me suffers from borderline personality disorder, which, prior to getting on a strict medication protocol, caused her to be severely depressed and even suicidal at times, which is what made me interested in this book.
The author herself survived a teenage suicide attempt, and has since become a true believer. This novel is her attempt to offer guidance to others who are dealing with the shame and guilt of their suicide attempt. It makes the point that simply going to church and accepting Christ as your savior is not enough; you must walk with God at every step in your life. It offers Job as an example of someone who went through extraordinary trials and tribulations but did not lose faith. Some of the chapter headings and subheadings consist of suicidal thoughts, i.e. No one truly cares about me and offer Biblical thoughts that belie that particular thought.
I must admit to being somewhat disappointed in this book. It reads rather sermon-like in its enthusiasm. It is very exclamatory, and also contains an exploration of the Trinity that I felt wasn't pertinent to the message it attempted to convey. Rather than dealing specifically with and being addressed to those with suicidal thoughts or even to survivors of suicide attempts, it is basically saying, "Get saved, walk with God, and leave everything in His hands." While that may be true depending on your belief system, I was hoping for something more concrete, more focused on the specific issue it is meant to deal with.
While I didn't feel that it offered any real guidance (other than the back of the book, which lists resources for those thinking of suicide), it may be helpful for some who need the message of salvation and hope.
QUOTES
Choosing to deliberately live a meaningful life is just like preparing for that hurricane. Our belief system must already be established on a solid foundation of hope in God, through the person of His Son, jesus Christ. Such hope will keep us rooted despite and future trials and tribulations (hurricanes) that we will encounter on this journey called life.
Hope keeps us assured that despite the enemy's attacks, we are not on this journey alone, our current afflictions are only temporary, and we now have God as our defense!
The truth is, we cannot claim to have unshakable faith if we internally agonize about things over which we have no control.
BOOK RATING: 2 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title through the Goodreads First Look program to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
Title: Your Voice in My Head
Author: Emma Forrest
Publisher: Other Press
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN 10: 1590514467
ISBN 13: 9781590514467 The Book Depository / Amazon
Emma Forrest, a British
journalist, was just twenty-two and living the fast life in New York
City when she realized that her quirks had gone beyond eccentricity. In a
cycle of loneliness, damaging relationships, and destructive behavior,
she found herself in the chair of a slim, balding, and effortlessly
optimistic psychiatrist—a man whose wisdom and humanity would wrench her
from the dangerous tide after she tried to end her life. She was on the
brink of drowning, but she was still working, still exploring, still
writing, and she had also fallen deeply in love. One day, when Emma
called to make an appointment with her psychiatrist, she found no one
there. He had died, shockingly, at the age of fifty-three, leaving
behind a young family. Reeling from the premature death of a man who had
become her anchor after she turned up on his doorstep, she was adrift.
And when her all-consuming romantic relationship also fell apart, Emma
was forced to cling to the page for survival and regain her footing on
her own terms. A modern-day fairy tale, Your Voice in My Headis
a stunning memoir, clear-eyed and shot through with wit. In her unique
voice, Emma Forrest explores the highs and lows of love and the
heartbreak of loss.
My Take:
At 22, Emma Forrest was a a journalist on the fringes of fame, with a life that occasionally brushed that of well-known celebrities and other writers. She was also a cutter, and a bulimic. On a recommendation, she started seeing Dr. R. Three weeks later, she was in the hospital for a suicide attempt.
Her family took her home to England to recover (like many of us, she had no insurance, and treatment here would have been prohibitively expensive), where she and Dr. R. still kept in touch. She was diagnosed as a rapid cycle manic/depressive, with wild mood swings from one hour to the next. When she returned, she continued to see Dr. R., even after she moved to the West Coast from New York. Many of their discussions were now by telephone, but one day she calls, and the office is no longer open. She finds out that Dr. R. is dead of lung cancer at the rather young age of 53. This book was begun as a loving tribute to the man who saved her from drowning herself, but on the way, it turned into something more.
In turns hilarious, heartwarming, heartbreaking and inspirational, and interspersed with letters of tribute from former patients and friends, this is a unique look inside a manic-depressive personality. We meet Emma's wonderful, quirky family, and see her fall in "big" love after losing Dr. R. When that romance fails, it is only the strength she has been given by Dr. R. that keeps her grounded enough to keep going, and that is the biggest tribute of all.
What a lovely read this is. I know, you're probably thinking, "How can a memoir about someone with a mental illness coming off a suicide attempt, her trusted psychiatrist dying with no warning, then losing her boyfriend be lovely and funny?". But it is; trust me. Ms. Forrest's writing style is better than that of the average bear, and without being at all clinical, gives the reader a deeper understanding of a well-known, but little-understood, bipolar disorder. Click on the link below to read the first chapter; if you don't smile at least once, you may need to call in a repairman to fine-tune your sense of humor.
QUOTES (asterisks replace some letters in deference to my sensitive readers):
Karen is a friend of Bad Boyfriend's from childhood and he doesn't want her anymore so I take her because she's smart and kind and funny and deeply, profoundly needy and nobody wants her, not even her own family and it breaks my f**king heart.
Have you ever eating something appalling for breakfast, something really bad for you, a chocolate cake, and just thought, "F**k it, this is bad, I'd better keep going? Christ, this is making me feel horrible, I'd better have more?"
Reading that letter, I move the loss of GH and the death of Dr. R from being a picture in my wallet I see all through the day to going in a photo album to be looked at on special occasions.
BOOK RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through Shelf Awareness to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
Title: The Medium Next Door: Adventures of a Real-Life Ghost Whisperer
Author: Maureen Hancock
Publisher: Health Communications
Release Date: May 2, 2011
Paperback, 264 pages
ISBN 10: 075731564X
ISBN 13: 9780757315640 The Book Depository / Amazon
The Medium Next Dooris the amazing life story of spirit medium Maureen Hancock, who discovered her psychic abilities to see, hear, and speak with the dead when she was just five years old. Descended from a long line of legendary Irish mystics, Maureen was no stranger to the spiritual realm, but she still kept the messages from the departed to herself all throughout her childhood and teen years, eventually suppressing them almost completely.
Maureen wouldn't open herself up to communicating with spirits again until she was in a near-fatal car crash. Soon after, she had hundreds of voices in her head, many of them helping her crack cases and expose fraud in her role as a litigation paralegal at a large Boston law firm. Accepting her gift but still keeping it to herself, she married and had two children.
It wasn't until tragedy struck on 9/11 and Maureen was bombarded with messages from the spirits that she realized she had to stop hiding her ability and put it to good use. She left her job at the law firm and opened the holistic healing center Pathways to Healing and launched the cancer foundation Manifest a Miracle. Today, she goes by the title Medium Mom and strives to balance raising children, raising the dead, assisting the dying, searching for missing children, and teaching about life after death.
My Take:
Author Maureen Hancock comes from a long line of Irish healers and grew up with Southern, church-going women. Raised outside of Boston, she was born with a veil (or caul, as my Southern roots call it), which, according to some beliefs, indicate special gifts (ESP, etc.)
This book contains anecdotes telling the story of how she realized her gifts of healing and of hearing spirits, her family, her foundations, her work with law enforcement and holistic healing. She includes entries from her family and client journals as well as affirmations at the end of each chapter.
Many of the stories are both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and Maureen's narrative voice is like having a conversation with an earthy next-door-neighbor. As a former comedienne turned medium, with a large family and a husband and sons of her own, she takes the reader on a unique sort of journey, illustrating how a belief in holistic healing and her gift of clairaudience (hearing spirits) doesn't negate a belief in God and a higher power.
I found the book interesting, if a bit meandering and disconnected here and there. It IS a genuine accounting, and Maureen gives back to the community with Seeds of Hope (offers holistic healing, grief counseling, and other services), as well as Mission for the Missing. She offers many services at no cost.
Author Bio:
Maureen Hancock possesses the ability to connect with loved-ones beyond the grave. Her style is unlike any other medium in that she uses humor to deliver messages and soften even the hardest skeptic. Even more astonishing, she takes on the personality of the deceased providing detailed information—names, dates, and exactly how the person passed. She brings up specific life memories that leave participants laughing and crying.
Hancock has appeared on the front page of several newspapers for both her performances and her charitable work with the ‘Chernobyl Childrens Project’ as well as other foundations. While she has been interviewed nationally on
radio, she’s a regular morning guest on popular New England FM stations, WROR and Fun107. Hancock has been featured on two New England news stations, WHDH Channel 7 and FOX25 News. In the past, she hosted her
own Comcast Cable talk show called, “Postcards from Heaven.’ Hancock also appears in the documentary, “41”, distributed by Nehst Productions (award-winning film maker, Larry Meistrich).
Maureen has also appeared in four episodes of the 20th Century Fox Television daily strip show, Wedlock or Deadlock.
Hancock’s giving heart shines on those in need. She spends numerous hours each week giving back and on-call for emergencies such as the loss of a child, those about to pass from cancer, and searching for missing children. Through her own charitable foundations, Seeds of Hope and Mission for the Missing, Hancock provides these services pro-bono. She is also an inspirational speaker providing lectures for
several organizations including, Compassionate Friends, as well as various medical groups such as, The S.A.N.E. Program, several hospice groups throughout New England, and Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society.
Maureen’s path as a medium began on an icy night in 1992, when Hancock fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree, breaking several facial bones and fracturing her skull. The extreme trauma caused her to start to hear and see dead people throughout the day and night. Hancock believes this accident caused a ‘reawakening’. As a child, she spent three years in and out of Boston’s Children’s Hospital with lead paint poisoning.
After coming out of her coma and returning home, Hancock reported to family members that dead people were walking through walls and closed doors. She thought everyone could see and hear these spirits.
Ian Sander and Kim Moses (aka Sander/ Moses) are signed by Disney ABC to be the executive producers of psychic medium Maureen Hancock's life in her 2011 reality TV pilot for her upcoming reality TV series.
QUOTES
My brother Jim, the psychologist/skeptic, will probably never wrap his brain around what I do. I can tell he's curious but not yet convinced. And what a challenge it was to tell my devout Catholic mother that I was a ghost whisperer. Today, she is my biggest fan and promoter. Dad just sits back and smiles when he hears my stories. When I tell him an old Navy buddy wants to say hi, he just giggles and says, "Oh yeah? Is he still drinking Aqua Velva?" Apparently, any form of alcohol would do when out to sea for months.
While I specialize in helping people connect to their departed loved ones, people seem to think I have a full handle on the unseen. They ask me to find their missing loved ones, locate lost jewelry, diagnose medical problems, talk to sensitive children, and discover if their partner is cheating. They think they've found Dr. Phil, the Supernanny, and the Ghost Whisperer, all rolled into one.
Make a conscious effort to become aware of fear and decide not to let it weave its toxic web around you. This is the first step in awakening to the possibilities of abundant joy and laughter.
BOOK RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
BLOGGERS: Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publicist to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
I'm not a book snob. I may consider myself a bit intellectual, but a book doesn't have to be high and lofty for me to enjoy it. My ratings system is based purely on my own personal enjoyment while reading:
1 star - not even my enemies should read this 2 stars - there's at least one good thing about it 3 stars - it was an average sort of read 4 stars - very good; I liked it a lot 5 stars - amazing; you should read it and all of your friends and relatives should read it too
