5 comments about Shadows in My House of Sunshine.

1. I liked how the author used the many houses she lived in as the framework for recounting her life. She goes from hard times to financial comfort with plenty of joys and sorrows along the way. A first hand view of a child's experience during the Depression. An excellent recounting for today's young women to see how far we've come since the 1940s. Also a view of what the 1960s was like for young married corporate types.
   Shadows in My House of Sunshine



2. I read this book in one weekend; I didn't want to put it down. Though I come from a different generation, I could relate to so many feelings Emilie Betts expresses in it, especially those of a young wife and a new mother. Her description of that period in her life brought my own experience back, and made me relate to the author even more. When I came upon the unexpected surprise at the end, I actually said out loud, "Ha, so there! Good for Emilie!"



3. In Emilie Betts' 85 years of life, she has lived in seven states and twenty nine different dwellings. Her nomadic life began when her family suffered great loss during the 1929 Stock Market Crash which left them homeless. Rather than being bitter about her life, Betts has used those experiences to paint a rich portrait of life for a child, turned woman through much of our nation's history.
   
   Beginning with the period immediately before the Stock Market Crash, Betts' book takes the reader on a journey that continues past the September 11th World Trade Center disaster. Her quest to find "home" and to re-create the life she knew as a child (her house of sunshine) before the financial ruin of her family is the common thread throughout this book.
   
   Readers watch Betts grow from an innocent child to a wise-before-her-time young adult and then a wife, mother and matriarch of her family. The very real impact of first the Stock Market Crash and then World War II are seen through the eyes of a woman. Reflective, confused, forever changed--these are just a few of the words to describe the way in which she approaches the telling of these events. Relationships, family crisis with alcohol, finding one's self, and searching for the true meaning of home are all brought together to take the reader through the sunshine and shadows of this amazingly complex life.
   
   Unfortunately, Betts's book did not receive the professional editing attention that her otherwise remarkable story deserves. There are numerous misplaced punctuation marks, run-on paragraphs, and strangely placed spacing. Worse, there are many words that don't make sense until the reader realizes that the automated spell-checker has produced an incorrect homonym. These editing problems made the otherwise pleasurable reading a chore.
   
   by Lee Ambrose
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



4. Shadows in My House of SunshineThis book is a true page-turner! From the moment I picked up Shadows in My House of Sunshine until the moment I finished it I was completely enthralled! Ms. Betts works magic with her words. It is a truly amazing experience to go on her journey of over eight decades from the Great Depression to September 11th . Her personal and honest account of her life is an inspiration! A must read! This book would make a great gift!



5. Emilie shares her facinating life, a journey of discovery and finding the strength from within. The words sing!!

2 comments about The Hooligan's Return: A Memoir.

1. Francine Prose's blurb says it all: check it out on the inside cover of this book. THR is a multi-layered memoir that does not always proceed in chronological fashion. This story of a Romanian exile's return to his homeland is more substantial and real than Romanian-born writer Andrei Codrescu (who changed his surname from Perlmutter to "Codrescu," probably to appear more exotic in the US). When Norman Manea fears encountering the staff at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest, he has REAL reason to, unlike the poseur "Codrescu," who likes to fancy himself a revolutionary. In 1992, Manea penned a controversial essay on M. Eliad, a conflicted man whose relations with Romania's ultranational Iron Guard caused him much intrapersonal conflict. Manea also blew the whistle then on the RO community in chicago where a significant community of IG sympathizers still carry the flame today. In fact, he intimates, there may yet be a connection between the IG/Chicago Legionnaires and the Securitate in RO even today. Dangerous stuff even in these enlightened times some 60+ years later after the changing of the fascist/communistic guard in RO. Debates of this type go on in all eastern European countries, as they begin to sort thru their messy post-fascist/post-communist pasts; combine this with the added and ironical baggage of having many former Party leaders morph into "democratic" leaders. Absurdity never dies. Manea inspires his readers to delve into the works of other RO writers like Cioran, Paul Celan, I. Culianu, Petru Cretia...so Francine Prose sums things up neatly with her observation that "THR operates on so many levels that finally, it eludes all classification." Well said.



2. This is a wonderful, if difficult book. It cronicles the author's life. Norman Manea suffered from both the Holocaust and Communism. Being Jewish, he and his family were deported during the Second World War to a concentration camp set up by Romania's fascist regime (General Ion Antonescu, Hitler's ally) in Transnistria, where several hundred thousand Jews were imprisoned and died in horrible circumstances. Luckily he survived the KZ and returned to Romania. Later on, when he had become a writer, he was declared enemy of the state and a 'hooligan' by Romania's Communists, because he had dared criticize the antisemitic government in an article. (Another fascinating Romanian-Jewish writer, Mihail Sebastian (see his Jurnal) was described as a 'hooligan' by antisemits in a literary scandal back in the 30's - the term has deep connotations for Manea). His relationship to his homeland remained troubled even after he left Romania in the 80's, settling down in New York as a professor for literature (he teaches at Bard College). Although he is one of Romania's best writers, his country's literary elite treats him with a certain embarassment. He can be compared in this respect to Imre Kertesz's relationship with Hungary.
   I liked this book not only because of all the detailed, multi-faceted and subtle description of these events, but also because it is an honest and selfironical autobiography. Manea is a reluctant autobiographer. My feeling is that he wrote this book out of duty; not to brag about his past, rather to pay tribute to those he loved and to remind the world of the terrible journey he has been through - a very typical journey for Jews and many East Europeans in the 20th century...

   P.S. If this book is superfluous, then so are the books by e.g. Anne Frank, Primo Levy and Mihail Sebastian. Good luck in burning them!

No comments about The Step Child: A True Story of a Broken Childhood.

5 comments about Faded Pictures from My Backyard: A Memoir.

1. From December 1947 until June 1951 while I was a student at SUNY - Albany, I worked and lived at the Albany Home for Children as one of several Assistant Activities Directors. A week ago while googling "Albany Home", I came across this book and started reading it to learn more about what has happened at the home since I left. It didn't take long for me to become absorbed in the major thrust of the book as described by previous reviewers - especially Virginia Mathers. "The heartfelt story she tells of her love for her mother is so poignant that at some points it is almost painful to read - her emotions are so raw and real. The other part of the story is Ms. Carswell's amazing candor as she describes her own problems and obsessions which haunted her throughout a majority of her life. The fact that she has perservered and become a major literary success is a tribute to her strength of character."
   
   I actually couldn't put the book down.
   
   Although it was a minor part of the book, Ms. Carswell's descriptions of life at the home, both from her own experiences and Bob Wygant's, was right on. In fact, I learned more about the purpose and mission of the home by reading the book than I did while I was there.
   
   I'm glad that she got to meet my boss, friend, protector, and straight shooter - Coach Huddleston.
   
   Read this book!



2. Sue's father is the Director of a home for disturbed children. It's interesting the expertise and wisdom that he can give to other troubled children, but when it comes to his own daughter, he's in denial. Very candid and extremely well written.



3. Sue Carswell's astonishing, spectacular book is, without a doubt, the most courageous book I have ever read. Carswell opens her heart, her psyche, and her soul to the reader and the world, and does so with monumental skill, humor, and candor. When you finish this book, you feel you know the author better than anyone, other than yourself, because she has revealed herself so generously. What a comfort her struggle with her demons will be to so many people.
   
   I laughed out loud at points and cried (something I haven't done in years while reading a book). Her voice evolves over the course of the narrative and will be in my head for a very long time, maybe forever. So sweet, so sad, so resilient. Ms. Carswell invites readers in to her wirting process in the beginning of this book, and at the end, she brings you back to her flickering computer screen. Even though much of the book is painful to experience, I didn't want it to end and so I read the Acknowledgments as if they were a part of the story and, in a way, they are.
   
   I tried to find one thing I didn't like about this book, but the only thing I was unsure about (the lack of quote marks), I ended up loving. Their absence is liberating.
   
   I recommend this book to absolutely everyone. Put it on the top of your list for 2006.



4. The tender love emanating from the pages of this book touch the depths of one's soul. Whether she knows it or not, Ms. Carswell has attained spiritual greatness, although the book does not seem to be written to that end. The love she has for her mother and the empathy she holds for the orphans are the true essence of its beauty.
   
   Reminiscent of the style in which Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, the author so poignantly captures the voice of a child trying to make sense of the sadness which is her backyard; while at the same time she interjects bouts of comic relief that can only come from pure childhood innocence. As she ages in the book her voice does also. It is brilliantly done.
   
   I highly recommend this book. You will cry. You will laugh out loud. And, because Ms. Carswell reveals her heart so openly, you will love.



5. Carswell's book is a tremendous, insightful read. There are so many beautiful images and her writing just flows off the pages. The story is captivating and the characters -- her family members -- are honestly drawn and with great humor.
   
   I literally could not put this book down. Not only is the writing fantastic, her changing voice as she matures and ages is something I don't think I've ever experienced as a reader before. The stories themselves are all intertwined and her observations of her mother and her own self-reflection are devastating, moving, hilarious, wrenching, and lovely. It's a wonderfully fascinating story and for anyone who grew up in a large family in the 60s, it is especially fun.

5 comments about Meyebela: My Bengali Girlhood.

1. I'll be brief since one reviewer elucidated my points quite well.

   There's no doubt that Taslima Nasrin will go down in history was one of the greatest writers the south Asian community has even produced. She has clear vision on contemporary issues within the south Asian world. Her recent novel is of course a "magnum Opus"that will be remembered by many. My only contention is that she tends to have a rather fervid tendency to over-generalize excessively. At times her statements about Islam in the book contradict her statements in speeches and other prints. Her critique of religion regurgitates old-fashioned arguments that stymies the reader( at least this reviewer). A good biography indeed. However, don't use it as a critique or religion.




2. My husband is Bangladeshi, so I was interested in reading this book. The book is interesting in providing an insight into a dysfunctional, abusive home and childhood. It makes clear the critical need for third world countries to seriously address the issue of abuse and oppression of women. However, the book gets repetitive and tiresome after a while.

   The reason I am giving the book only two stars is because it treats all of Bangladesh and all of Islam as one-dimensional. We are left assuming everyone is like that. Both of my husband's sisters have graduate degrees and his mother was head of the household, even though his father had spent a decade studying religion in an Islamic school. There wasn't any abuse and no prohibition against his sister's playing outdoors. They didn't wear head coverings either.
   
   The subtitle A Memoir of Growing Up Female in a Muslim world is misleading. Her story unfortunately is common for females all over the third world including India, China, South America, Africa, and to a lesser extent the US and Europe. Domination and abuse of women knows no borders and is practiced by members of all faiths. Nasrin is not objective and makes a lot of generalizations about Islam being the problem. I am Christian but I also grew up with a domineering father. Nasrin, unfortunately, has alienated her countrymen instead of engaging them.




3. A very interesting book, not always fun to read and maybe like the first reviewer says not always really well, or at least tightly, written. However, the account of this girlhood was shocking to me. I think now I understand feminism much better then before. And even though I've spent some time in Bangladesh, I now feel like I understand life in Bangladesh much better than before as well. I feel it was extremely worthwhile reading this book. It taught me a lot about how most of the world lives.



4. I usually enjoy reading books by women writers from the Indian subcontinent. This was one book that could not hold my attention - badly written, repetitive, and unnecessarily lengthy: a tedious read. Ms. Nasrin sounds like a manipulative child - she knows what the West wants to hear and makes too much of an effort to please.



5. Taslima Nasrinýs is a strong competent voice from Bangladesh. She has been in exile ever since her controversial book "Lajja" or "Shame" about Muslim persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh caused a fatwa to be issued against her. Meyebela, My Bengali Girlhood: A Memoir of Growing up Female in a Muslim World is Nasrinýs heart-wrenching account of a desperate childhood in Mymensingh, a relatively small town in Bangladesh.

   In this memoir (one of two volumes), Nasrin openly questions her religion, Islam, and its discrimination against women. Her sad and depressing childhood was an unfortunate byproduct of a unique combination of cruel elements, one of which was a repressive society where "I was simply supposed to acceptýwithout asking questionsýwhatever the grownups decided to bestow on me, be it punishment or reward." Taslima was treated like a second-class citizen all throughout and horrifically abused by her uncles. Add to these, Nasrin had very unstable parentsýa mother who was driven to religious extremism by a philandering father and a father who was extremely harsh yet very insistent on education. Having had his first two sons fail his "expectations", he pinned all his hopes on young Taslima and her sister, Yasmin. The girls were denied all social interaction (Nasrinýs father had high walls built around the house so the girls could not look beyond it and get distracted) and the books were made to be their only focus.

   Nasrinýs memoir, which is set against the Bangladesh war for independence, makes some very important points about religion and a girlýs role in an oppressive society. Like a flood of memories though, her memoir seems to shift out of focus occasionally. Towards the end, parts of her statements get to be repetitive.

   Taslima Nasrin did become a doctor and lived up to her fatherýs expectations. In that sense, he "won". But eventually Nasrin did manage to find her own voice-- one that continues to speak powerfully on behalf of oppressed women all over the world.

   Nasrin in her memoir tells us what life truly is like for many girls around the world. It is our duty to listen. It is sad though that we can often do little more than be outraged.

4 comments about Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.

1. Alexandra Fuller tells a story about growing up in farms in Zimbabwe as it became independent and then in Malawi as her parents worked to make a living among expats and natives. She went to a white school which emptied out of the white students at independence and then filled with the black children of the neighborhood. They had a servant who was a gifted tracker. She was invited into the home of a very poor black family. As a child she was able to see and do things the adults couldn't. Alexandra has a wonderful recall of the details of childhood.
   Lisette Lecat has a perfectly clear and delightful voice with a British accent that makes hearing the details a pleasure.



2. I have to say, I was certainly looking forward to reading this book, having heard much about it from family and friends (I'm from Zimbabwe). Perhaps it is the fact that I am not a white Zimbabwean, but from the first pages, I had a bitter taste in my mouth. I admired the writing, but that was about it. The overwhelming impression that we had of whites growing up in Zim became manifest in this book, and I was transported back to those days. The most disturbing thing for me was the lack of remorse...no, redemption, by the author. She would relay stories about her racist parents, her upbringing and such, and did not transmit any sense that all this was not right, not humane. Strange how the same words can be read by different people and evoke such divergent responses.



3. Alexandra Fuller is such a talented writer. I have read "Dogs" twice as it reminds me of my own African childhood. I have given it to friends who have loved it, so I decided it was time to listen to it on audio CD. I enjoyed it tremendously. Lisette Lecat's accents are wonderful and I could picture a young Bobo Fuller even more vividly than when I'd read the book. I found myself laughing in my car at times and couldn't wait to get back into the car so I could continue listening to Bobo's fascinating childhood story. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I am currently listening to Scribbling The Cat on audio CD.



4. I could hardly put this book down. It's the memoirs of a British girl growing up in Africa. Her story is absolutely fascinating. Highly recommended

5 comments about Once upon a Farm.

1. If you grew up on or currently live on a farm this is an interesting read. Even if a farm life is not your experience this book gives great insight to farm life before all the modern conveniences became common. You will enjoy it. Once upon a Farm



2. We bought this and "Christmas on the Farm" especially for our grandchildren who love farm animals. They thoroughly enjoy reading these books with Grandpa and talking about the wonderful pictures. What a great contribution to remembering things the way they used to be. Thank you Bob Artley!



3. Bob Artley is so talented and gives you the feeling you are back on the farm again. Brought out so many wonderful memories that I had forgotten. Great book!



4. My mother is in her eighties and her dictum has become (for gifts),
   if I can't wear it, eat it or spend it, don't give it to me. I
   broke the rule when I gave her this book for Christmas, and she
   loved it so much it brought tears to her eyes.

   Bob Artley came from a town not more than 50 miles from my home
   town and his age is not that far from the mother's age, and since
   my mother also grew up on a farm, going through the book was like
   going back into her own very real time. Unlike Mr. Artley and
   probably nearly all girls who live on farms today, my mother did
   not do chores connected with the farm. That was a guy-thing.
   Girls worked in the house. Period. But she certainly had
   brothers a-plenty who did those very same things in very similar
   ways as did Mr. Artley. The illustrations are wonderful,
   so realistic you can almost smell the hay, and other things
   not quite so fragrant connected with farms.

   I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever lived on a farm, lived near a farm, driven by a farm. It is a document of
   a way of life that is swiftly leaving the scene, more's the
   pity. It should also be in school libraries.
   Even very young children can get a real sense of what it was like
   to live on a farm through the marvelous illustrations




5. This is a beautiful book written by a writer and illustrator who grew up on an Iowa farm in the 1930's as the "age of the horse" was giving way to the "age of the tractor." The author, Bob Artley, illustrates with detailed sketches and color drawings of such things as walking through the spring mud from barn to barn carrying a bucket of feed, a birds eye view of the farmstead, one of father and son cleaning oat seed with a hand powered fanning mill, planting corn behind a team of horses, milking a cow the old fashioned way, the details of a cream separator, threshers at harvest time and much more. Mr. Artley writes a description of the work they did, what was hard, what was fun and a few of his personal memories of the feelings that he as a child had living this life. It is a touching book written with love and realism describing a lifestyle that has passed by. I especially loved his description of the barn chores where each cow had her chosen place where they were fed silage topped with ground oats and linseed oil, and where they would bed down in the straw with their heads in the stanchions feeding on clover hay. Mr. Artley is not overly sentimental in his memories. He also explains the distastefulness of cleaning out the gutters, working in the cold and the heat etc. He gives us a balanced look at farm life prior to telephones, electricity and indoor plumbing. This is a wonderful book for both those who also experienced farm life in the 1930's as well as younger people like myself who are simply interested in the lives of an older generation.

1 comments about My Name Is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank.

1. Jacqueline van Maarsen is a contemporary of Anne Frank, and only in recent years has begun speaking out more and more about her experiences and interaction with Anne Frank. This book was originally published in the Netherlands in 2003, and now is finally available in the US.
   
   "My Name is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank" (176 pages) is structured in 3 parts: Parts 1 and 3 deal with her mom and dad, respectively, and Part 2, by far the longest, deal with her own experiences living in the years leading up to the war, the war time itself with the occupation of Amsterdam by the Germans, and the aftermath of the war. The author, who is half-Jewish, brings us fascinating insights on what life really was like in those dark days of the late 30 and the 1940s. The author became best friends with Anne, and spent a lot of time with her in the years until Anne and her family went in hiding in the summer of 1942. There are some descriptions in the book regarding her friendship with Anne that I felt were almost too close for comfort. The author never saw Anne again after the Frank family went into hiding (and eventually was betrayed--it's still not clear by whom), but brings us touching, even heart-breaking, descriptions on her post-war dealings with Otto Frank, Anne's father (and the sole survivor of the Frank family). She writes: "He often wept when he was with me. I didn't know how to deal with that." Wow... how could a 16-17 yr old child bring comfort to Anne's dad?
   
   Anne Frank's contributions to history and her influence continue to this day, not only through the on-going sales of her diaries, but also as a result of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam (which I've had a chance to visit and will readily recommend to anyone). Meanwhile, "My Name is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank" is a nice addition to understanding not only the context of Anne Frank better, but even more importantly, to also better understand what life was really like, and the unspeakable crime that was the holocaust, which nevertheless must be spoken about for the sake of our children and our children's children. Highly recommended!

2 comments about Apricots on the Nile: A Memoir with Recipes.

1. This was one of my favorite all-time books. I purchased one as a gift for my sister also. I love to read about other cultures, and this was an enjoyable read.



2. I really enjoyed reading this book - even though I will probably never try the recipes. I read the whole book through in one sitting (although, to be truthful, it's a small book.) Besides being an interesting memoir of the author's childhood in Egypt during WWII, in a wealthy Jewish family, it's also an honest account of her alienation from her mother, which really spoke to me. The author is a good writer, which makes the book easy and rewarding to read.

1 comments about Chewing Gum in Holy Water: A Childhood in the Heart of Italy.

1. One of the most enjoyable books I have read in quite a while. I loved it