My Story

Title: My Story

Author: Elizabeth Smart

Pages: 7 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: A

Synopsis: Elizabeth Smart was abducted at knife-point from her bed in her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell in June of 2002. She was taken to a camp high up in the Wasatch Mountains  and kept there with Mitchell's other wife, Wanda Barzee, for months before moving with her captors to San Diego, California.  Mitchell, Smart and Barzee stayed in San Diego for about 6 months before hitchhiking their way back to Utah. Their intent was to head back up to the same camp in the mountains, but while making their way north and while walking along State Street in Sandy, UT the police apprehended Mitchell and Barzee and returned Elizabeth to her family after being with her captors for 9 months.

My Review: Most of us are pretty familiar with Elizabeth Smart's horrific story and this book outlines the details of her abduction and captivity. The writing was a little repetitive and at times defensive. I tend to give my highest marks to books that make me feel something or make me want to be a better person and this book fit the bill.  Maybe it was hearing Elizabeth read the words of the book herself on the audiobook copy that I listened to, but when I finished the book I realized that I had been strengthened by Elizabeth's faith, beliefs and toughness.  I want my daughters to grow up with these same convictions and Elizabeth has become a more-than-worthy role model for the young LDS generation.  She suffered from many of the worst abuses imaginable, but as she puts it in the conclusion of the book (and I'm only paraphrasing because I don't have a written copy), "At the time of this writing I am 25 years old.  I've been on this earth for 307 months and of those 307 months I suffered the abuse of Mitchell and Barzee for 9 of them.  The other 298 months have been happy and spent with my family who loves me.  I cannot let those 9 months define who I am."

During the worst moments of Smart's life she was witness to miracles, kindness and generosity from the most unexpected places.  I hope to be able to both recognize these sorts of miracles in my own life (I know they exist!) and to be able to be that miracle in somebody else's life if God is willing.

I donated to the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, and you should too: http://elizabethsmartfoundation.org/donate/donation/

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Title: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Author: Dave Eggers

Pages: 485

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: This memoir is about life after Dave's parents both died within an month of each other. Dave was 21, his older brother was 24, his older sister was 23 and his younger brother Toph was 8.  The responsibility of caring for his younger brother fell largely to him.  He brought Toph to live with him in his small apartment in Berkeley and they existed more like roommates, than a parent-child relationship. 

My Review: I generally enjoyed this book, but after reading it I wasn't sure if it was a memoir or a work of fiction.  My gut tells me that the truth may have been stretched, but that mostly, this was a memoir. It's been a few months, but I believe there was a good amount of language.

Orange is the New Black

Title: Orange is the New Black

Author: Piper Kerman

Pages: 298

Genre: Memoir

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Piper Kerman is young and traveling the world with some friends who get their money from lining up drug mules - people who will carry drugs or money across the world inconspicuously in their personal luggage.  Eventually, Piper gets roped into carrying a suitcase full of money to Europe.  While she is not caught then, she gets cold feet and returns home.  Late on, once the drug ring has been busted Piper is fingered as a culprit and she is sentenced to prison.  However, she is not slated to start her sentence until some of the other major players are extradited, in case she needs to testify against them. Eventually, nearly 10 years after her crime was committed, she is sent to Danbury women's prison in Connecticut to serve her sentence.

My Review: I actually really enjoyed this book.  The biggest thing that I took from the book (and which surprised me) was the compassion that I felt for many of the women in prison alongside Piper.  Typically when I hear about somebody in prison, or who has been in prison, I'm pretty judgmental, even when those thoughts only happen in my head.  After reading and hearing Piper's stories I felt a lot more compassion for many of the women.  Very few people wake up intending to commit an egregious crime, but many people make mistakes that land them in the slammer.  Piper, who comes from a middle-class white family was in a class of her own in prison, which is dominated by those struggling on lower incomes.

Disclaimer: There is some language, but I didn't feel that it was excessive.

Shoe Dog

Title: Shoe Dog

Author: Phil Knight

Pages: 12 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: A

Synopsis: Phil Knight was a track athlete at Oregon in the 1950s.  While at Oregon, he would often try out the running shoes made by his coach and mentor, Bill Bowerman.  After Knight finished business school at Stanford 1962 he used a reluctant $50 loan from his father to start importing shoes from Japan.  And, as they say, the rest is history.

My Review: This book surprised me.  I really enjoyed it.  It was honest, candid, funny, sad, happy and really interesting. The company started out of Knight's trunk and basement and he was tenacious and focused on growing his company to the behemoth that it is today.

Naked at Lunch

Title: Naked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing Optional World

Author: Mark Haskell Smith

Pages: 320

Genre: Memoir?

Grade: B

Synopsis: The history of nudism is intertwined with stories from the author's experiences while venturing into the hidden world where clothes are options.  From a nude cruise, to resorts in the USA and Europe and hikes through the Alps, the stories and experiences are quite interesting and sometimes a bit irreverent.

My Review: Sometimes you walk by the New Releases table at the library and something catches your eye.  With a title such as this one I was sucked in from the get go.  The book was quite interesting about a topic that I hadn't thought a whole lot about (besides the rumors from camping with scouts in the Uintah Mountains that there was a nudist resort nearby)...

Left to Tell

Title: Left to Tell

Author: Immaculee Ilibagiza

Pages: 214

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B+

Synopsis: 1994 Rwanda was overtaken by a Hutu majority and in the course of about 3 months over 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a bloody genocide.  Neighbors were pitted against neighbors and anybody caught hiding Tutsis were killed.  Immaculee Ilibigiza had found hiding in a small private bathroom in a pastor's house with 8 other women while the rest of her family in Rwanda were slaughtered.  During the 91 days that she remained hidden in the cramped bathroom she learned to rely on prayer to help pull her through.

My Review:  It is absolutely shocking that this type of tragedy can still happen in the modern world.  Once the fighting commenced, the UN and Belgium sent peacekeeping troops, but it was too dangerous for them to stay and the world was not willing to send troops in a number that could have stopped the genocide much sooner.  I started reading this book shortly after returning from Uganda (which borders Rwanda to the north).  I loved being able to better understand the types of places that were described in the book.  It helped the book come to life, all the while feeling nauseous that humans can still be so utterly brutish and murderous one to another.

Hot Lights, Cold Steel

Title: Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years

Author: Michael J. Collins, M.D.

Pages: 320

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The book chronicles the four years of Collins' surgical residency at the Mayo Clinic during his training to become an orthopedic surgeon. Collins' honest style details their struggles with money, car troubles, time together as a couple, long hours at the hospital, moonlighting in a rural emergency room and having to make life-or-death decisions.

My Review:  Well, this was my second time reading Hot Lights Cold Steel, however, this is only my first time reading the correct book with the title from my list of books to read. I really enjoyed this memoir.  It was a great look into the life of resident at the Mayo Clinic.  Life as a resident can be pretty rough, but at the same time, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Desert Solitaire

Title: Desert Solitaire - A Season in the Wilderness

Author: Edward Abbey

Pages: 10 discs?

Genre: Memoir, Autobiography

Grade: A-

Synopsis: In this book, Edward Abbey recounts his experiences as a park ranger at Arches National Monument in Moab, Utah.  Arches had not yet been made into a National Park and was only accessible via a dirt road with very limited facilities.  For a couple summers (about April to October), Abbey was the only ranger for the park an lived in a small trailer near balanced rock.  The memoir is filled with stories of his experiences in the southwest and his musing and commentary on modern society and mainstream culture. included are stories about rafting down the Colorado River from Moab to Wahweap, while the Glen Canyon Dam was being built (he and his companion were probably some of the very last to see Glen Canyon before Lake Powell started filling), climbing a mountain in the Henry mountains east of Moab, descriptions of the wildlife, snakes and plant life and search and rescue operations for lost tourists.

My Review: Surprisingly I found that I really enjoyed this book.  I wish that I could pinpoint where, when or who recommended it to me (probably back in 2008).  There are a few points in the book where Abbey goes off on modern society and modern conveniences and complains against people who day-trip to the National Parks (of which my family and I are very guilty of).  He talks quite a bit about what we need to do to be good stewards of our precious environment and complains often about the prevalence of paved roads and Americans reliance on the automobile (This book was published in 1968, and I'm sure it's only gotten worse).  Even with all of the author's tangents I liked the book.

Between Shades of Gray

Title: Between Shades of Gray

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Pages: 338

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B+

Synopsis: As World War II is breaking out in Eastern Europe, a Lithuanian teenager Lina and her family are torn from their home by the Soviets and sent to work in Siberian prison camps.  Just as Hitler is cramming the Jews on train cars and shipping them to concentration camps in Poland, Stalin is doing much of the same to people in his country.  This is an incredible story of survival during difficult, cold times.  Frankly, it is amazing that anybody lived to tell the tale.

My Review:  What I find most amazing about this book and this story, is how little publicity Stalin's genocide has received.  Everybody knows about Hitler and the Jews, but Stalin and his brutality has been far less publicized.  Estimates of Stalin's brutality range from 15 million deaths to 50 million+, but probably most likely in the 20-30 million range.  This book is a tearjerker.  

Mother had a Secret

Title: Mother had a Secret: Learning to Love My Mother and Her Multiple Personalities

Author: Tiffany Fletcher

Pages: 188

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: Tiffany and her siblings grew up in an LDS home where their mother, Vickie, had multiple personality disorder, with 15 separate and unique personalities.  A few personalities were those of little children, while others were nurturers, cooks, lovers, protectors and one that could be very violent.  These personalities stemmed from brutal abuse that Vickie suffered at the hands of her father as a child. 

My Review:  It is difficult to write a review about a book that deals with a topic that is frankly quite maddening (abuse), sad (psychological disorder) and depressing (suffering).  I have a hard time separating my thoughts about the book from my feelings about the subject matter.  That being said, I found this book to be very enlightening.  This is a story that could be told about your neighbor, a friend or another acquaintance.  If it ever comes to it, I hope that I can recognize the warning signs of abuse and do whatever is required to make it stop.  As Tiffany grows older her struggles to learn how to love her mother were very heartening.

The Year of Living Biblically

Title: The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

Author: A.J. Jacobs

Pages: 12 discs

Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: A.J. Jacobs (known for reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica), embarks on another quest, this one to live the Bible as literally as possible.  While A.J. is mostly agnostic, he is Jewish by birth and has family who still adhere to religious principals.  For A.J. and his family though, this is a huge change.  A.J. grows a long beard, begins to only wear white robes, tries to be thankful and forgiving and embarks on a quest to live and understand the Bible's more well-known teachings as well as the more esoteric teachings.

My Review:  While I was a little afraid that I would find the book to sacrilegious, that wasn't the case at all.  While it was often irreverent, it was also very enjoyable and I found myself laughing at his experiences trying to stone the adulterers, performing sacrifices, avoiding mixed threads in his clothing and informing his wife of how unclean the Old Testament considers menstruating ladies.  I was often surprised by the requirements found in the Old Testament.  I'm not nearly as familiar with them as I am with those found in the New Testament. 

A Nice Little Town

Title: A Nice Little Town

Author: Robert D. Christensen, M.D.

Pages: 159

Genre: Memoir

Synopsis: Dr. Robert Christensen writes about moving from Chicago to the small town of Layton, UT as a very small boy. In the 1940 census, Layton only had about 600 residents. The book feels like a collection of memoir-like essays about growing up in Layton, attending Layton and Whitesides Elementary Schools, Central Davis Jr. High and Davis High School. His father was the town Dentist at the old Tanner Clinic and many of the long-time city residents are featured in some of the stories.

My Review: I'll not give this book a grade as I'm going to treat is as a book of stories that a grandfather may like to leave for his posterity. There were a great many of unfortunate spelling errors that made the book feel less like a published work and more like a family collection. That being said, the stories were funny and enjoyable and I especially enjoyed learning about the city/town that I grew up in and I recognized many of the locations and people that were part of the book. Generally, I'm quite certain that native Laytonites will enjoy this book far more than non-Laytonites.

Title: Angela's Ashes

Author: Frank McCourt

Pages: 15 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Frank McCourt grew up in absolute poverty with his family both in Brooklyn and Ireland. Having many siblings die at a young age from sickness and an alcoholic father that couldn't hold down a job for more than a couple of weeks forced his mother, him and his brother to scrounge and beg for food wherever they could.

My Review: The book was extremely sad as Frank described the hardships, difficulties and prejudices that he and his family had to endure. It was an eye-opening expose on the way that alcohol controlled the life of Frankie's father and many of the other men in Limerick. At one point, Frankie's father left to England to work in a factory during the war (WWII), of course he promised to send money back home to the family, but week after week the family wouldn't see a shilling. Every pound the father earned was spent in the pubs. I especially loved listening to the author narrate the audio version of this book in his Limerick (Irish) accent.

Disclaimer: There is a bit of language, most of which is the taking of God's name in vain.

The Kiss

Title: The Kiss

Author: Kathryn Harrison

Pages: 207

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: Kathryn Harrison is 6 months old when her father leaves her mother. She only sees her father a couple of times before he comes to visit her and her mother when she is 20. As Kathryn drops her father off at the airport, he gives her a sensual kiss that is the start to an obsessive love affair between father and daughter.

My Review: This book is a shockingly honest memoir from Kathryn Harrison. The power that her father (who is a pastor) is able to gain over her is amazing and disturbing. Her life unravels as they both become obsessed with each other before she is finally able to sever the tie.

Marley & Me

Title: Marley & Me

Author: John Grogan

Pages: 6 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Marley is arguably the world's worst dog. He is an excitable yellow lab with some crazy tendencies like destroying things, jumping on people and eating anything he can get his jaws on. The book is full of stories about Marley's antics and how his owner's family grows to love him, flaws and all.

My Review: I've never had a dog and I'll probably never have a dog so I found this book to be eye-opening into the lives of dog owners. The book does a very nice job of portraying how a family can fall in love with a pet that destroys rooms during thunderstorms, eats jewelry and embarrasses them whenever they have him out in public. I listened to this book on cd in my car and especially enjoyed the author reading the book. I found myself feeling much more compassionate to owner's of crazy dogs, but you still better clean up after your dog when they crap on my lawn ;).

Crazy for the Storm

Title: Crazy for the Storm

Author: Norman Ollestad

Pages: 6 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Norman Ollestad is 11-years old when he is in a plane crash high in California's San Gabriel mountains. His father and the pilot are killed immediately and Norman has to make it down the mountain on his own. The story of the plane crash is intertwined with a memoir of memories of young Norman skiing in races on difficult terrain and surfing throughout Southern California and Mexico. The pressure Norman's father puts on him to perform at these sports ultimately helps Norman save his own life when the plan crashes.

My Review: I listened to this book being read by the author and found the story to be quite enjoyable and amazing. When this book was recommended to me, it was recommended as one of the best books on parenting. While I don't concur with that opinion, I did find myself contemplating my own parenting style and the type of father that I would like to be.

Disclaimer: The language in the book is vulgar at times.

Running with Scissors

Title: Running with Scissors

Author: Augusten Burroughs

Pages: 7 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: Augusten's parents go through a messy divorce when he is around 10-years-old. He remains with his mother, but is eventually pawned off onto his mother's psychiatrist, Dr. Finch. Augusten moves in with the Finches and is given every freedom that a teenager could want. Dr. Finch believes that a child reaches full maturity at 13 and that from that point on, no adult can tell him or her what to do. As such, Augusten quits going to school and just spends all his time with Natalie Finch or with his 31-year-old boyfriend. Dr. Finch is an eccentric who believes that God can talk to him through his excrement and nobody in the household feels any responsibility of cleaning up.

My Review: I enjoyed this memoir. I felt that it was very honest and heartfelt, and if I had grown up under similar circumstances, then I would have probably written a memoir as well. Augusten makes the very interesting point, that although they had every freedom and could essentially do whatever they wanted, they felt trapped and boxed in.

Disclaimer: The language in the book is slightly foul and there are a couple instances in which gay sex acts are described in more detail than may be comfortable.

Night

Title: Night

Author: Elie Wiesel

Pages: 120

Genre: Memoir

Grade: A

Synopsis: Elie Wiesel was a Jew born in Transylvania. In 1944 he and his family were gathered up by the Nazis and forced into the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was separated from his mother and sister and never saw them again. Luckily, he was able to remain with his father for the bulk of his stay in the camps. After a time at Aushwitz, he was transferred to Buchenwald as the Russians were close to liberating the camp. During the journey from one camp to the other, they were packed tightly 100 men to an open-roofed cattle train car - and only 12 finished the trip alive. Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize for this book and his efforts in not letting the world forget the Holocaust.

My Review: I knew that this iconic book about the Holocaust would be a difficult read. We've all heard the stories, but realizing that they are true and that people really suffered as described is so sad and disturbing. I also find it repulsing just how many people were willing to treat other humans so wretchedly. As the review by the New York Times states on the back of the book: "A slim volume of terrifying power."

From the Book: "Listen to me, kid. Don't forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every many for himself, and you cannot think of others. Not even you father. In this place, there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone. Let me give you good advice: stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. You cannot help him anymore. And you are hurting yourself. In fact, you should be getting his rations..."

The World According to Mister Rogers

Title: The World According to Mister Rogers - Important Things to Remember

Author: Fred Rogers

Pages: 197

Genre: Quotes, Memoir

Grade: A

Synopsis: This book is made up of short quotes and anecdotes taken from the life of Mister Rogers and his television show. The quotes are grouped into four topics: The courage to be yourself, Understanding love, The challenges of inner discipline and We are all neighbors.

My Review: Not much to say about this one, other than the sayings all give a nice outlook on life and my respect for Mister Rogers has increased since reading it.

From the Book: "(p. 21) Whatever we choose to imagine can be as private as we want it to be. Nobody knows what you're thinking or feeling unless you share it."

"(p. 32) You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are."

"(p. 42) The thing I remember best about successful people I've met all through the years is their obvious delight in what they're doing and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they're doing, and they love it in front of others."

"(p. 53) Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now."

"(p. 113) I hope you're proud of yourself for the times you've said "yes," when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else."

"(p. 162) Whether we're a preschooler or a young teen, a graduating college senior or a retired person, we human beings all want to know that we're acceptable, that our being alive somehow makes a difference in the lives of others."

Expecting Adam

Title: Expecting Adam

Author: Martha Beck

Pages: 324

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Martha Beck reminisces about her second pregnancy. She and her husband were both PhD students at Harvard and the fact that they had one child and another on the way alienated them from many of their professors and students. During Martha's pregnancy, she and her husband shared many strange experiences. She felt that something was wrong with her baby and had amniocentesis done which confirmed that her baby had Down's syndrome. Everybody in the Harvard community wanted and expected her to get an abortion. Martha feels that Adam was able to communicate with her from the womb and that he sent spirits to help her through her hard times.

My Review: This is a great story. I feel that it is one that you must take with a grain of salt, because she makes claims of many strange, other-worldly experiences throughout her pregnancy. Even if only half of the stories are true, Adam is an amazing child that seems to have protection from the other side of the veil. I really like that she came to a decision to believe anything that has not been proven to not be true. I don't have many opportunities to interact with people with Down's syndrome but when I read books like this, I realize that there is a whole lot more going on with them than is first apparent.

FYI: Martha Beck is the daughter of Hugh Nibley. In a 2005 book she accuses him of sexually abusing her. While she didn't leave the church until 1993 - and her experiences written in Expecting Adam took place in the '80s, it is clear from the book that she was not a practicing Mormon at the time of his birth. Martha and her husband first co-authored a prominent LDS book about overcoming homosexuality. 5 years ago, Martha and her husband John Beck divorced and both publicly announced that they were homosexuals. As for the sexual abuse, only her, her father and God know the truth of the accusations.

From the Book: "(p. 78) And thus I learned that at Harvard, while knowing a great deal is the norm and knowing everything is the goal, appearing to know everything is an acceptable substitute. I pondered this great truth during the two-hour seminar. I was so buoyed up by it that I didn't pay enough attention to snorkeling up little bits of food in order to keep my nausea under control. I sailed right on into my next class, another seminar, confident that I could get through it without losing my lunch."

"(p. 124) Occasionally, especially at celebratory times, the whole gang of us would launch into a spontaneous mental game. For example, my mother used to send me to the back porch (a room containing no furniture but a simply incredible mass of Stuff) to get flour for holiday cakes or pies. I often returned to the kitchen, cringing with disgust, to announce that the flour was full of worms. No matter how sick this made me, I knew it wuoldn't bother my mother. She always just sifted the worms out, saying that even if she missed a few and they got into the food, they would simply be an excellent source of protein. Just as we were all beginning to feel thoroughly downtrodden, my father would save the day. "Everyone come up with a literary reference about worms!" he would shout."

"(p. 161) It was the first time I had spoken to them directly. In doing so, I felt myself cross a fine but very distinct line, the line between speculating about the existence of a metaphysical plane of some sort and climbing aboard for the ride. I knew I had let go of my sanity. It was terrifying. I only did it because my fear of what was happening to my body had become greater than my fear of holding on to rational beliefs."

"(p. 238) I also thought about that seminar classmate on Adam's ninth birthday. Adam had insisted on going to a pizza-and-games arcade for his party. The only person he'd invited besides his sisters was someone I'll call Lonnie, whom Adam claimed to be his girlfriend. Although I had often heard Adam sing about Lonnie, I had never met her, or seen Adam interact with any girl. I was afraid that he would start humping her leg the second she came in range. These were fears I'd sustained since before he was born; I though all people with Down syndrome were grossly overaffectionate. I was grossly wrong."

"(p. 284) "Most people go through their whole lives," John went on, "and never have one miracle happen to them. You've had dozens and dozens, and you still want more! It's like God gives you a brownie, I mean a really good brownie, but you can't be content with it. You want the whole pan of brownies. Nobody gets that.""