Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie

 

What has been your favorite memoir?

Come, Tell Me How You Live is a lighthearted memoir about Agatha Christie’s adventures in Syria while her husband, Max, was on an archaeological dig in the1930s.  She gathered together her notes and vignettes afterwards to put together this interesting memoir.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie in July as part of #ReadChristie2025.  The overall theme this year is to explore Christie’s works through the canon of characters and their careers.  The career for July was archeologists.

·       Christie’s second husband Max Mallowan was a renowned archaeologist.  He was thirteen years younger than her, and they traveled the world together.  I love this for Agatha Christie after her disastrous first marriage.

·       There was not much in the memoir on actual archaeology, but more on the people, places, and trying to make a home in a new and foreign place.

·       My favorite vignette was unforgettable and disturbing.  Christie woke up one night to find her and her husband covered with mice.  He could sleep fine, but she could not so their beds were moved outside.  A cat was hired the next day who efficiently and methodically killed the mice.  Christie called it a “professional cat.”  I would have loved to see this cat.

·       Christie chronicled a lot of hatred between different groups of different religions against each other.  Some were told with humor such as driver that tried to run over people of a particular religious group whenever he saw them, but I didn’t think it was funny.  Sadly, this conflict hasn’t changed with time in the Middle East.

·       Christie did write this memoir with a lot of wit and humor throughout.  It was nice to read a different genre from Christie rather than a mystery.

·       I wanted to travel with Christie as she seemed like a very fun and charming person.  The site conditions didn’t sound so fun, however.

·       It was sad thinking about all these archaeological treasures being found and carted away from their homeland.

Overall, Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie was a great memoir filled with wit and humor.  This book gives one the experience of what it would have been like to live through an archaeological dig in the 1930s.

Book Source:  The Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Home of the Happy: A Murder on the Cajun Prairie by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

 

Title:  Home of the Happy:  A Murder on the Cajun Prairie

Author:  Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

Narrated by:  Christine Lakin

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 10 minutes

Source: Audiobook review Copy from NetGalley and physical book review copy from #MorrowPartner and Mariner Books.  Thank-you!

 

Do you have any family stories that you think would make good books?  I think my great grandparents had interesting lives and they would make good stories. 

 

In 1983, banker Aubrey LaHaye was found dead, floating in a bayou.   He had been kidnapped ten days before.  A man was arrested, tried, and convicted of his murder – but was he guilty?  Aubrey’s great granddaughter investigates his murder as a cold case.  Will she find clues that were overlooked in the original investigation?  What will she learn about her own family?

 

Thoughts about this book:

·       Home of the Happy is a perfect book for lovers of true crime and true crime podcasts.

·       This book was great on audiobook with an interesting narrator.

·       Besides being a true crime book, it was also a memoir of the author’s family and community.   It was a personal story.

·       I learned a lot about the Cajun culture.  The book gave the history of the Acadian Cajuns and included discussion of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, Evangeline:  A Tale of Acadie. 

·       The book went through the impact of the murder on the entire LaHaye family through the years and how it changed them.

·       It also detailed the trial of John Brady Balfa.  Some people still think he is innocent.  It really made me ponder the justice system.  It’s up to the victim’s family to keep going to the parole hearings to keep someone in jail.  But what if they are innocent?  The author grapples with this and whether her family has kept an innocent man in jail.  Luckily, she has resolution by the end to feel like they did keep the right man in jail.

·       The physical copy of the book has a great insert of pictures related to the family and the crime.

Overall, Home of the Happy:  A Murder on the Cajun Prairie by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot was an interesting true crime book that was unique with the intersection of a memoir of a family, people, and place in time.

Sweet Nothings by Sarah Perry

 

What is your favorite kind of candy?  I have so many, but one of my favorite kinds of candy is definitely bubble gum.

Author Sarah Perry has written hundreds of “micro essays” on just about every type of candy imaginable.  They are organized by color of the candy.  Perry philosophizes on the candy and its enjoyment, relates it to her life, and/or tells some of the fascinating history of the candy.  Will your favorite candy be included?

My thoughts on this book:

·       I loved the great drawings of the different types of candy that was included throughout the book.

·       I didn’t realize there are SO MANY different types of candy . . . and that I have eaten most of them.  I think I am a secret candy lover, although now as a middle-aged woman, I don’t each much candy at all besides gum.  I may still dream of it.

·       This book was funny, but informational.  I loved the history on things such as bubble gum as well as exactly what defines chocolate.

·       Candy as it is felt through all senses such as taste, flavor, feel, smell, and structure is discussed.

·       The author also tells the story of her life through candy.  She lost her mother at a young age, which deeply impacts her.  Her mother was murdered, which is slightly alluded to in this book.  I need to read her memoir, After the Eclipse.

·       This is definitely a book for adults as the author does bring in her adult relationships and sex life.

·       As this was a book of essays, I did notice a few things repeated at the end of the book.  Each essay could be its own stand-alone story.

·       The length of the essays really varied.  Some were a paragraph long while others went on for several pages.

Overall, Sweet Nothings by Sarah Perry was a funny and heartful book filled with great essays on candy and life.  It was entertaining and a unique read.

Favorite Quote: “What ever possessed the candymakers of the late twentieth century?  It was an era when strange textures and intense physical sensations predominated, a sort of arms race to see who could devise the weirdest way to mainline sugar.  By the 1990s we have Pixy Stix and Ring Pops and nerds and Fun Dip.  Fun Dip!  Just a bag of finely ground sugar, really, pastel cocaine.”

Book Source:  Review Copy from @marinerbooks # morrowpartner.  Thank-you!

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

 

Title:   I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Author:  Maya Angelou

Narrated by:  Maya Angelou

Publisher: Random House Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 11 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible

Do you like audiobooks narrated by the author?  I love them, especially when they are memoirs. I have read a physical copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou in the past, but it was especially wonderful this time to listen to Maya Angelou narrate her own story.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was Maya Angelou’s debut memoir, and it details her childhood until the age of seventeen.  This memoir is unique in its structure, prose, and depth of feeling.  She changed the way that memoirs were written.

Other thoughts on this novel:

·       I reread this novel in March for the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We had a great discussion about it.

·       This book is frequently banned.  I was dismayed to see it back in the news again recently as it has been removed from the shelves at the Naval Institute.  This is a travesty.

·       Maya and her brother Bailey were sent on a cross-country train alone from California to Arkansas when they are very young by their parents.  I just can’t imagine this!

·       I loved how Maya is always reading such great books at an early age.

·       Horrible things happened to Maya as a child, and she stops speaking. I loved that a teacher, Mrs. Bertha Flowers helps her to get her voice back.  She said you can not truly love poetry until you speak it.  She helped to introduce her to great authors.

·       Maya experienced so many things in her life up to age 17:  rape, being the first black streetcar operator in San Francisco, living in a junk yard, driving for the first time when she had to get her drunk father home from Mexico, etc.  It culminated with her having a baby.

·       This memoir soars with love and laughter, but also pain and neglect.  Angelou tells her story in a raw and honest way.

·       In her raw and honest way, Angelous discusses her feeling on sexuality as she grew up being confused during puberty.

·       Angelou’s parents angered me.  While her mother does help her with self-confidence and determination as a teenager, neither were there for their children and put them in awful situations.

·       “Mama” their grandmother, was truly a greater person raising her grandkids as best as she could.

Overall, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a compelling memoir that is great for a book club discussion.  Angelou tells her amazing story in an authentic and sincere way.  This classic should not be missed.

Living with Jane Austen (Austenprose PR Book Tour) by Janet Todd

 

What author would you like to learn more about?  I always love learning more about Jane Austen.

Living with Jane Austen is Janet Todd’s journey through Austen.  It was written to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth this year.  It is Todd’s relationship with Austen throughout her life as well as a deep dive into different topics in Austen’s life and in her novels.

My thoughts on this book:

·       I thought this was interesting and it gave me a lot to ponder about Austen. For example, it made me want to read Sir Charles Grandison by Samuel Richardson.  Austen enjoyed the novel and apparently the estate in it has similarities to Pemberley.  It is one of the longest novels in the English language which sounds daunting.

·       This was a literary analysis mixed with memoir.

·       Todd compared and contrasted Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen’s lives and works.  I thought that was interesting.  Their lives were so very different but were around the same time period.

·       The book is arranged by themes such as:  The Brightness of Pemberly, the Darkness of Darcy, Poor Nerves, Into Nature, How to Die, etc.  I liked this arrangement and learning more about these topics.

·       This was a slower read for me, but it was thought provoking and fascinating.

Overall, Living with Jane Austen by Janet Todd is part scholarly literary analysis part memoir, but 100 % intriguing.  It’s a great book for anyone that is interested in Jane Austen and her works.

Book Source:  Review copy from Cambridge University Press as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Fanny Price, in Mansfield Park, tells her persistent suitor that “we have all a better guide in ourselves...than any other person can be.” Sometimes, however, we crave external guidance: and when this happens we could do worse than seek it in Jane Austen's own subtle novels.

Written to coincide with Austen's 250th birthday, this approachable and intimate work shows why and how - for over half a century - Austen has inspired and challenged its author through different phases of her life. Part personal memoir, part expert interaction with all the letters, manuscripts and published novels, Janet Todd's book reveals what living with Jane Austen has meant to her and what it might also mean to others.

Todd celebrates the undimmable power of Austen's work to help us understand our own bodies and our environment, and teach us about patience, humour, beauty and the meaning of home.

ADVANCE PRAISE

“Intimate, knowledgeable and frequently unexpected, this is a book for all Jane Austen's readers by one of the very best of those readers.” —Richard Cronin, Emeritus Professor of English Literature, University of Glasgow

“Sharing a mind is as exciting as sharing a bed. In this gentle, witty, semi-memoir, Janet Todd reveals her eccentric encounters with books and shows us why the novels of Jane Austen should matter to all of us now.” —Miriam Margolyes, OBE, renowned British and Australian actor

“A timely, moving and masterful book by one of the English-speaking world’s foremost literary historians and a trailblazing scholar-heroine in Jane Austen studies.” —Devoney Looser, author of The Making of Jane Austen

AUTHOR BIO

Janet Todd is an internationally renowned novelist and academic, best known for her non-fiction feminist works on women writers including Jane Austen, Aphra Behn and Mary Wollenstonecraft. In recent years, she has turned her hand to writing novels, publishing Lady Susan Plays the Game (2013), A Man of Genius (2016) and Don’t You Know There’s a War On? (2020).

Janet has worked in universities around the world including Ghana, Puerto Rico, North America and India. She was a professor of English Literature at UEA, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities, before becoming president of Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge (2008-2015), Cambridge where she established the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. She is now an Honorary Fellow of Newnham and Lucy Cavendish Colleges. In 2013, Janet was given an OBE for her services to higher education and literary scholarship. Connect with her online at www.janettodd.co.uk.

World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

 

Do you like to read any books about nature?  World of Wonders was the Diversity Book Club pick at work in 2024.  It is a beautiful book.

World of Wonders is a memoir that is a collection of essays that meld together the natural world with life experiences.  This book prompted very in depth and interesting discussions during my book club meetings.

My thoughts:

·       The author looked for parts of nature that mirrored her life experiences.  It was very interesting.

·       Nature is interesting and relatable which made it a great theme for every essay.

·       I thought it was very interesting that the book discussed otherness in how one defines oneself and how others define you.

·       I was very sad by the peacock feather story where the author drew a beautiful peacock for a school project.  Peacocks were very important to her family, but her teacher shut her down and told her she needed to draw something “American.”  This led to an interesting discussion on what the teacher could have done differently to make this a learning moment for the entire class about another culture.  How could the teacher have built up the student rather than tearing her down?

·       The author’s mother was from the Philippines and her father was from India. Despite being the first doctor in her family, her mother faces racism from patients in the hospital.

·       The author discusses finding her “pond” where she belonged.  This also prompted great discussion in our book group about finding our own ponds.

·       The essays were a good length and easy to pickup and read.  It was a great format.

Overall, I highly recommend World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil for all those looking for a great book to discuss in a book club or those that love nature and learning more about others experiences.

 

 

 

The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator’s Search for the Unexplained by Stanley Milford, Jr.

 

Do you believe in the paranormal such as aliens, bigfoot, ghosts, other supernatural beings?  I am always curious.

Stanley Milford Jr. grew up in multiple worlds with a Navajo father and Cherokee mother.  He learned native culture and traditions but also grew up in the white world.  As an adult, he became a Navajo Ranger serving the very large (27,000 square miles) area of the Navajo Nation.  Along the way he had many encounters with the paranormal.

My thoughts on this book:

·       I really liked the Navajo creation story and myths that were interspersed between each chapter.

·       There were great pictures of Stanley Milford Jr. throughout his life as well as sketches of paranormal creatures.

·       I found this book to be very interesting.  Milford takes a police perspective to each investigation.  He can determine some are hoaxes, while others have no apparent explanation.  He had an interesting theory that there could be interdimensional travel happening to explain strange appearances.

·       It was interesting that one witness was able to get trail cam footage of a bigfoot and that the DNA analysis of the hair fibers came back inconclusive for the type of mammal.

·       Milford had a LOT of area to cover with not many rangers.

·       The book had an interesting discussion about how perhaps some areas see more paranormal activity than others, such as Gettysburg.

·       Milford was in a few documentaries on paranormal activity and now I want to see them.  He was on Unsolved Mysteries and Beyond Skinwalker Ranch just to name a couple.

·       This book was a good mix of memoir, native mythology, and paranormal investigations.

·       It was a quick read with a good index.

·       It was nice that Milford was able to listen to and help those who “regular” police would typically dismiss with their paranormal experiences.

Favorite Quotes:

“Overall, I found that treating people like fellow human beings instead of being badge-heavy always resulted in more compliance.  I was a member of the community, and that’s how I conducted myself on the job.”

“That’s what was different about paranormal cases as opposed to my usual, everyday ones.  These cases made me wonder What If?  They sent my mind whirring in all directions.”

Overall, The Paranormal Ranger was a very interesting memoir of a Navajo Ranger and his investigations into paranormal activity.

Book Source:  Review copy from William Morrow Books. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Prairie Man: My Little House Life & Beyond by Dean Butler

 

Title: Prairie Man:  My Little House Life & Beyond

Author:  Dean Butler

Narrated by:  Dean Butler

Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 7 minutes

Source: Thank you @netgalley for the audiobook review copy.

Dean Butler was a young twenty-three-year-old man when he was cast in his iconic role as Almanzo Wilder on Little House on the Prairie.  On the 50^th anniversary of the debut of the show, Butler has written a memoir on his life, experiences as an actor, and details on starring in Little House. 

My thoughts on this book:

·       A little girl asked Dean Butler, “Do you have any regrets?”  That question as well as it being the 50^th anniversary of the debut of Little House on the Prairie were the two inspirations for Dean Butler to put together this memoir. 

·       Like Tom Selleck’s memoir, Butler’s memoir is honest, but good natured.  He doesn’t dish dirt on fellow actors or his first wife.

·       There were great intros from Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) and Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls Wilder) on how just a nice man Dean Butler was when he joined the Little House cast and how awkward it was for 5-year-old Melissa Gilbert to kiss a grown man in front of her mother.

·       This memoir includes information on the real history of Almanzo Wilder.

·       I felt at one with Butler’s pale complexion that burns and does not tan.  There is a funny story in the memoir about how make-up had to be used to make Butler appear tanned for another show.

·       I am a Little House super fan and I’ve also read the memoirs of Melissa Gilbert and Alison Angrim.  I saw Butler from afar at an appearance in Green Bay a decade ago or so.

·       I learned I have been saying Almanzo wrong my entire life.  I have always been saying it the way they said it on the show.

·       Dean Butler seemed like a good-hearted person I would like to know.

·       I liked the funny star-stricken moments Butler had with Madonna and his childhood hero, William Shatner.

·       Butler described a lot of movies and TV series that sounded interesting.  I want to watch them, especially Forever, but they are not available due to music licensing issues.

·       It’s hard to think about Butler being unable to find work for a period until he was cast as Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s father.  He also started to work behind the scenes.

·       Butler has starred on Broadway as Rapunzel’s Prince in Into the Wild and Tory in West Side Story.

·       Butler was engaged to Mary Hart, which I did not know.  His heart was broken when they broke up.   He didn’t discuss his first marriage, except to state that it was a disaster.  He did discuss finding new love with his current wife Katherine.

·       The history of how the show was made was also discussed.

·       Butler is at one with his TV legacy of being Almanzo Wilder.  He has leaned into it and produced documentaries on Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder.

·       Dean Butler narrated the audiobook himself and it was excellent.

Overall, Prairie Man by Dean Butler is a wonderful memoir, perfect for any fan of Little House on the Prairie.  The audiobook narrated by Dean Butler, himself, was very engaging and interesting.

Spare by Prince Harry

 

Title:  Spare

Author:  Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex

Narrated by:  Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex

Publisher: Random House Audio

Length: Approximately 15 hours and 39 minutes

Source: Checked out with Libby through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Are you a fan of the royal family?  Although I am American, I have always enjoyed reading about the royal family of the United Kingdom.  Spare is Prince Harry’s tell all memoir that was much publicized.  This was the August pick for the Page-turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.

My thoughts on this audiobook:

·       Prince Harry’s memoir started with his mother’s, Princess Diana’s, death.  This was a defining moment in his life and many of his actions through his life have all been based on this.

·       Harry’s relationship problems with William seem to be typical brother woes but made to be worse by the separateness of family members.  Treating two brothers so very differently is going to cause problems.  I was horrified by the details Harry included that were personal and would have been best discussed directly with family members rather than in a tell all memoir.

·       Prince Harry read the book himself, which I greatly enjoyed.  He has a nice voice.

·       The memoir seemed raw and honest; it was Harry’s truth as he sees it.

·       I am not sure I believe that Harry should have written about his family like this.

·       Harry really hates the paparazzi, and it seems to consume his life.

·       He has a real fear of not having himself and family protected, and I understand that.

·       You can feel his love for Meghan in this book.  You can also feel the love that his father has for him.  I’m sad that they are estranged.

·       Harry has had a lot to live with being in the public eye, his mother’s death, and PTSD from his military service.  I hope he can get the help he needs, and I hope he learns to keep some things private and to appreciate the family he has while he has them.

Overall, Spare was an interesting memoir, and I am glad I listened to the audiobook.  It did make me wonder about our insatiable curiosity about the royal family.  Living under the microscope can benefit family members like Harry who are looking for an income, but it really seems to strain family relationships.

Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones

 

Title:  Leslie F*cking Jones

Author:  Leslie Jones

Narrated by:  Leslie Jones

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Length: Approximately 16 hours and 32 minutes

Source: Checked out with Libby through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 What is your favorite funny book, audiobook, or show?  I still enjoy Saturday Night Life skits, especially weekend updates.  I loved it when Leslie Jones was on SNL and I thought she was hilarious.  I saw that Leslie F*cking Jones was nominated for a Goodreads award in humor and I kept seeing great reviews of the audiobook, so I thought it was time to listen to this audiobook myself.

My thoughts on the audiobook:

·       I LOVED that Leslie Jones narrated this audiobook herself.  She was a joy to listen to.

·       This audiobook was very emotional.  Leslie Jones laughed but was also brought to tears through the remembrances of her own experiences. 

·       I enjoyed Jones’s details of playing basketball at the high school and college level, and then eventually coaching.

·       I loved that she had the dream of being a comic and she kept working towards her dream.

·       She was real and had moments of “real talk” about decisions she made.

·       Jones swears a lot, which is just how she talks.  If you don’t like to hear lots of swearing, this is not the book for you.

·       It feels like a personal talk with Jones at times addressing the audience.  At times it seemed like she was carrying on a conversation and not really reading what she had written.  I liked that.

·       I think this book should really be read as an audiobook versus the physical book, it was such a great audiobook. 

·       In the epilogue, Jones ends with plans for her own funeral, and they are as hilarious as you would imagine.

Leslie F*cking Jones was a funny audiobook and a joy to listen to, I was sad when this audiobook ended.