Showing posts with label autobiography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autobiography. Show all posts

Friday, 20 December 2013

Feature: Secret Histories: Stories of Courage, Risk and Revelation

The Book


“Step into the secret lives of 25 writers . . . and witness the stories that shape us.

Open the pages of Secret Histories to explore pivotal experiences in the lives of 25 writers. Share a life-or-death moment as a woman hitchhiker faces an angry, explosive driver.
Climb to a sacred Tibetan mountain pass on a pilgrimage to renewal—and discover the cost of choosing life as a healer. Witness grief mixed with deep joy as a sister chooses to be her dying brother's caretaker. Flinch at a young woman’s shock as she discovers her father is a CIA spook. Watch the world shrink into a nightmare existence through the eyes of a young Japanese-American girl imprisoned in an American concentration camp during World War II.

These are just a few of the intimate life events that make SECRET HISTORIES an unforgettable collection of stories.
As each of the 25 contributing writers peels back layers of experiences either momentary or long-term, their individual stories form a powerful web of understanding, acceptance and love,”



It’s been exciting to be part of process from conception to publication. We watched “our baby” grow as stories were crafted, some from mere ideas, to polished perfected stories. They wove together into a beautiful tapestry of compelling, heartfelt, sometimes riveting and always truthful personal testimonies-our anthology.

We received the following glowing endorsements from two New York Times best-selling authors Kim Barnes and Clair Dederer.
"These gifted and generous authors bring to the page courage, risk, and revelation, but also something much larger. By breaking the silence, they allow us to believe that we are not alone in our wonderments, failures, and confusions. They give us permission to share our own stories, to leave a map of true experience so that others might find their way." - Kim Barnes; Author of In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country

Claire Dederer, author of Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses
“These gifted and generous authors bring to the page courage, risk, and revelation, but also something much larger. By breaking the silence, they 
allow us to believe that we are not alone in our wonderments, failures, and confusions. They give us permission to share our own stories, to leave a map of true experience so that others might find their way.”


Excerpt


Tell Me a Story” by Kathy Opie


An Italian immigrant grandmother enchants her young granddaughter with stories of the Old Country and coming to America. Forty years later, the granddaughter learns that many of the stories were false and has to come to terms with why her Nonna lied.

Book Links
Amazon || Facebook || SoundCloud || Twitter (@secrethistorie1) || Website

About Kathy Opie
Kathy Opie has been published in the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation Newsletter and the Go4theGoal Pediatric Cancer Foundation Newsletter, as well as Northwest Cable News.
She is currently working on a book for caregivers and writes a blog. Learn more at www.alittlesomethingtochewon.com.
She also writes YA book reviews for Goodreads and co-writes a weekly newsletter for her company. Kathy has an M.S. in Psychology and M.Ed. in Educational Psychology.

Author Links
Facebook || Twitter (@kathy_opie) || Website

Sunday, 8 September 2013

REVIEW: Lesbian Crushes and Bulimia by Natasha Holme

I received this book for free courtesy of the author

Finished: September 07, 2013
Rating: 4 stars

The Book
Lesbian Crushes and Bulimia: A Diary On How I Acquired My Eating Disorder
ebook (mobi)
173 pages

Lesbian Crushes and Bulimia is a real-life diary portrayal of an obsessive nineteen year old lesbian, Natasha, whose internal homophobia, alongside infatuations with other women, bring her condemnation in both her gay and straight environments and drive her into a state of compulsive binge-eating and purging.

Edited from detailed, encoded diary entries, the story. begins in the summer of 1989. Natasha is obsessively, unrequitedly in love with her former teacher, Miss Williams, a love which she declares openly as a tattoo on her wrist. She meets Alex, a girl her own age, who questions her about the tattoo, revealing her own remarkably similar obsessive love for her former teacher, Miss Wilson. A romance blossoms between the two girls.
This is the first book to present a diary account of living as a lesbian with an eating disorder.

My Opinion
I've said before that I love memoirs. I haven't read any in the LGBT category so this is new for me.
I enjoyed it. It is fascinating and compelling.
It is basically snippets and fragments and is very informal but the author presents it in a way that works.
The diary flows easily and you're not lost in the details and it's coherent and understandable

Get it on
Amazon US, UK
BN.com
Diesel
iTunes
Kobo
Smashwords
Sony Bookstore

** image and summary from goodreads

Monday, 19 August 2013

REVIEW: Something Furry Underfoot by Amy L Peterson

Received a free ebook copy from the author

Finished: August 12, 2013
Rating: 4.5 stars

The Book
Something Furry Underfoot is a funny, touching book about pets that Amy's husband brought home and how Amy ended up helping care for, and falling for, most of them. In addition to frogs, iguanas, dogs, a stray cat, gerbils, rabbits, and lots of hamsters, you will meet a male hedgehog that escaped three times to mate with a female hedgehog, a ferret that cost $1,200 in vet bills and a domestic duck.

My Opinion
I loved this book. It was funny and emotional. I felt like the pets were mine and they made me laugh and cry.
Some 200 pages of laughter, some tears and some information you hopefully wouldn't need.
Amy Peterson is one calm and patient wife and care giver.
I wanted to post quotes but I would have ended up posting the whole book.
If you like memoirs, especially humorous ones, you should read this

Get it on
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Smashwords
Sony Bookstore