January and February 2023 Reading Roundup

So far, in January and February of 2023, I've read far more than in the same time period the prior few years! 

In part, I've been making a conscious choice to sit down with a book instead of mindlessly scrolling or watching TV. I've also just been far less stressed than in the last few years, so it's been more natural to pick up a book without having to make a conscious effort. 

Links within the body of this post are affiliate links for Bookshop.org. Links at the end of the post are from Amazon.com. Either way, these may result in a small commission for me if you make purchases through these links. Thank you in advance!

In January, I finished:

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (American fiction)
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (non-fiction; memoir; autobiography; poetry)

In February, I finished:

• Cold by Mariko Tamaki (young adult fiction; murder mystery)
• The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson (Contemporary British fiction; chick lit; Rom-Com; lighthearted and sweet)
• Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan (Contemporary American fiction; psychological thriller; family and friend relationships; near future climate crisis)

As of this writing -- the second to last day of February -- I am currently working my way through:

• No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib (Contemporary fiction; dramatic and tense but EXCELLENT)
• The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (Contemporary Swedish fiction; humorous)
• Animal Farm by George Orwell (Fiction; satire)

I have several other books in progress from months past, but these three are at the top of my list.

So far, the best book I've read in 2023 is Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan. Whoa! This book is tense, but I could not put it down! The book takes place in the near future amid a growing climate crisis that is making life nearly unbearable in what is an otherwise very typical suburban United States neighborhood. As the story unfolds, we see relationships  shift between a group of neighbors and their children. The kids are growing up and shifting allegiances. The parents are mostly trying to hold their lives and families together with varying degrees of success. Ultimately, everything unravels when one of the kids disappears into a sink hole. Cracks in all of the relationships -- family units, friends, and so on -- begin to form and unthinkable acts of violence occur under the cover of darkness. Although this was a devastating story, it was also exceptionally written and I highly recommend it.

What has been your best read so far in 2023?

BOOK REVIEW: Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Know My Name by Chanel Miller was by far the best book I read in 2020 (followed closely by Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi). Miller's book is a memoir about her experience as a sexual assault survivor, including the attack, the court case that followed, and rebuilding her life after physical, emotional, and mental trauma. 

I particularly enjoyed Miller's ability to weave memories of earlier times in her life into her telling of what happened to her. She is a master story teller, even when it comes to the awful, most horrifying bits. Miller's memoir is filled with both vulnerability and strength. At times I found myself openly weeping and crying while at other times I cheered and smiled large at her ability to find joy amid the depths of despair. 

After being attacked by Brock Turner on the Stanford University campus in 2015, Miller sunk into a deep depression that was only made worse through the madness of the criminal justice system. Instead, however, she fought her way back to herself and rebuilt her life. It is clear from her memoir though, that this also entailed dealing with long lasting trauma that may follow her and inform her choices and thoughts and overall being for the rest of her life. She chose over and over to not give in. She chose over and over to experience life and explore her interests. That's not to say it was easy and that's not to say she didn't go through periods where she did want to give up, where she did succumb to her fears and dark thoughts. But, she always climbed back out of the depths. 

Included in the memoir is Miller's victim impact statement which is a masterpiece that no one should ever have to write. It is a masterclass in how not to rape, how not to assault, how not to behave, how not to treat others. 

Miller's assault was not that long ago, but I am sure it will have a lasting ripple effect on her life, the lives of her sister and parents, on her friends, and others. I'm sure the intensity has and will continue to dial down over time, but the assault and all that came with it will always still be there, like a little grain of something in their shoes that they forgot about for the longest time. Then it shifts, and they feel it with every step until they try to remove it, but can't find it. It shifts again and they move on and don't feel it -- even forget about it again until, one day, there it is yet again. 

Every now and then Miller's attacker comes up in the news and do not feel a single bit sorry for him when the news is related to him having a hard time in life. He brought that upon himself. 

Rather than rewrite things I've already written, the rest of this post is primarily from comments I made in a small book group myself and three good friends read Know My Name. I've only edited a little bit for clarity and length. 

This was such a hard book to read, but I'm so glad that I did! I'm so glad I bought it instead of getting it from the library. I'll read it again, but not anytime soon. I know I'll recommend it to many people in years to come too. 

I'm struck by similarities with the Netflix short series "Unbelievable" which is excellent and based on real rape cases near Seattle and in Colorado. In both Miller's book and the Netflix show, there seems to be a clear division in the way men handled and treated victims compared to how women responded. There are some women who will take the "what were you wearing/doing/drinking" or "you should have kept your legs closed" stance and also some women who get embarrassed or don't want to to be involved in such intimate invasions, but I see it far more in men both in media and in life. It's unfortunate since men can be excellent allies -- and they aren't exempt from being victims as well. 

Women are constantly held to double standards from birth and both Miller's book and "Unbelievable" highlight that fact. As I was finishing Know My Name, I also was reading the poetry collection Wild Embers by Nikita Gill which was the perfect compliment to Miller's memoir. The poems feature themes about the double standards women are held to, about boys and men being given a pass for bad behavior because of the idea that "boys will boys", and how women are forced into the defensive position when we deserve to stand strong and not to be subjected to abuse. 

I loved Miller's book (and "Unbelievable" and Wild Embers), but it provokes a strong emotional response as a reader and was difficult, at times, as a result. I was struck by Miller's ability to create vivid images and to craft metaphors while mining the depths of her memories and lived experiences to create context, emotions, and so on.

I hope you'll consider reading Know My Name by Chanel Miller. I think about it regularly even though it's been months since I read it. 

You can buy a copy of Know My Name on Bookshop HERE.

Or find it on Amazon HERE. 

Or look for it at your local library. 

As of my writing this, "Unbelievable" is available on Netflix HERE.

You can find Wild Embers by Nikita Gill on Bookshop HERE.

Or on Amazon HERE.

Or try your local library.

Please note: links may be affiliate in nature. Making purchases through such links may result in a small commission to me at no cost to you. Thank you in advance. 

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin ~*~ Chapter 1: January

In my last post, I wrote about setting up my reading journal for 2021 and the books I planned to read in January. To be honest, I thought by January 9th, I'd have read a lot more than I actually have, but life gets in the way, right?

That said, it's not like I've done no reading at all. I've made much progress in two books not on my January 2021 plan but which I'd started previously and just hadn't finished yet -- The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. And, I added two books that aren't on my original January list: The Odyssey by Homer (Robert Fitzgerald translation) and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I'd started Crooked Kingdom quite some time ago and have been reading it in fits and starts -- I'm enjoying it, but I'm not so fully captivated that I feel compelled to read it quickly. The Chemistry of Tears was given to me by a friend on Christmas Eve and I do love it, but I've had competing interests and general life ups and downs to contend with.

Then, I suddenly had a surge in tutoring requests for literature and composition. Thus Catcher in the Rye and The Odyssey were suddenly on my list -- I always read books following my students' course reading schedules so that I can best advise them in their studies. Not only that, but I have another student starting The Odyssey this week (hopefully the same version as the first student, but we'll see!).

But, let's switch it up and talk about The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. 

I've read Rubin's book a couple of times and the new year seemed like the perfect time to start since the structure of the book follows the months of the year. The topic -- The Happiness Project -- should make it pretty obvious what the book is about: a project undertaken by Rubin to increase the amount of happiness in her life. Each month, she tackled a different theme or idea.

So, let's dig into January.

In the book, Rubin's themes for January are vitality and boosting energy. She also sets some specific goals for the month:

• Go to sleep earlier
• Exercise better/more
• Organize and declutter
• Take care of a nagging task
• Act more energetic

Rubin delves into the science behind why some of these can improve one's life, but she also talks about her own successes and failures in tackling each item on the list.

For myself, I'm a night owl and have a really hard time getting to bed at an hour that anyone might consider reasonable. My goal has been 3am for a long time, but I'm trying to be ASLEEP by 2am. With increasing requests for tutoring by students in several time zones, I find it helpful to go to sleep and wake up earlier. So far, I'm only doing so-so in this area. The only time it wasn't a struggle were all the years I worked night shift in hospitals.

As for exercising better and more, my kid and I have made it a point to get out and take regular walks -- usually four to five per week, weather permitting. We've been gradually increasing our distance and we both have noticed the benefits to our mental AND physical health. At some point, I'd really like to get back into bicycling and swimming, but the weather right now isn't my favorite for cycling and I'm waiting until Covid-19 is better under control before I head to a pool again.

When it comes to organizing and decluttering (Rubin's actual bullet point is "Toss, restore, organize"), I'm a natural, but Covid-19 and inheriting all of my uncle's stuff when he died, as well as all of his best friend's stuff (a story for another time), has overwhelmed me and resulted in tons of clutter and stuff to toss or restore or organize! Thankfully two friends are doing a lot of decluttering and organizing right now, so we've been able to hold each other accountable. We've all been getting a ton taken care of! With regard to the "restore" piece -- I've always checked our laundry as I sort it or fold it, and I pull out items that need repairs. Right now, I have two shirts with tiny holes that I'll repair (or restore). 

As for tackle a nagging task, well, January is pretty much the perfect time to start working on taxes, right? Yep, that's what I'm tackling. Ick... But, I know the sooner it's done, the happier I'll be!

And, acting more energetic...I'm naturally a low energy, shy, introvert (note: not all introverts are shy, but I am). As my tutoring student requests are rising and I'm taking on more students, I've found myself having to act more energetic, upbeat, and extroverted than I really am. All three of the students I've met with in the past week have commented on how upbeat and energetic I seem to be and how they like it! But, as a hardcore introvert with a shy streak, you can bet I need a few hours after each session to decompress!

I plan to come back every month to review my reading of that month's chapter in The Happiness Project and how it relates to my own life. Have you read it? What did you think? 

Grab a copy of The Happiness Project:

On Bookshop HERE.

On Amazon HERE.

Or at your local independent bookshop or library.

Learn more about my January 2021 reading list in THIS blog post or buy books from the list at Bookshop HERE.

And, if you or your child are in need of a literature or writing tutor (or both), you can find more information about my tutoring practice and offerings HERE.

BOOK REVIEW: Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi

I have enjoyed watching Padma Lakshmi cooking or talking about cooking for several years, but after watching her show "Taste the Nation" on Hulu, I decided to look for her cookbooks at my local library. Naturally, there is a long hold list for the one that my library has -- Tangy, Tart, Hot, and Sweet -- so I settled for her 2016 memoir, Love, Loss, and What We Ate. 

Although the memoir was not the best I've ever read, I still enjoyed it very much. Within the first twenty pages, I was drawn in with both my wanderlust and tastebuds ablaze! Lakshmi has me wanting to travel, to cook, and to eat new foods.

The memoir follows Lakshmi's life back and forth between the United States and India, as well as to London, Paris, and Miland. She describes in beautiful detail her extended family and the importance of food in her life from a very young age and uses food to explore her relationships with her family members, friends, and lovers. 

I had no idea Lakshmi had been a model, nor that she'd been a television host in Italy, and until watching "Taste the Nation", I'd never really noticed the large scar on her arm (even though I'm sure I've seen it before!). Lakshmi's background is at once highly familiar and exotic. She had many of the same struggles as a teenager as myself and many others, but she also straddled two cultures. She was raised by a single mom and had to navigate two different stepdads and the resultant challenges in her relationship with her mom and these men. 

Lakshmi also goes into great detail about her difficult marriage to Salman Rushdie and the lingering effects it had on her psyche and her post-divorce relationships, and she is quite frank and open about her struggles with endometriosis and fertility. I took comfort in several aspects of her story, as memoir readers often do, and saw myself reflected in many of her experiences. 

I do wish that the book had a been a bit more tightly edited and that there were more recipes sprinkled throughout. While I don't mind a metaphor here and there, they are quite heavily used in the first half of the memoir -- occasionally so frequently that I almost put the book down. And, I'm a sucker for a memoir that includes recipes, but again, there were several in the first half of the book and then far fewer in the second half. I would have loved a recipe with every chapter or every other chapter, especially since so much of the book revolves around food, spices, and the pleasure of eating. 

Overall, if you enjoy memoirs, food, and travel, I do think Love, Loss, and What We Ate is well worth your time, just be prepared for the metaphors and uneven spacing of recipes. I enjoyed it enough that I likely will re-read it at some point in the future. 

You can find Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi on Amazon HERE or Bookshop.org HERE.

Have you read Lakshmi's memoir or used her cookbooks? If so, leave a comment and let me know what you thought of them.

2017 Bookish Roundup

It's been a very long while since my last post and long time since I've updated my reading list! Whoa! 2017 was a particularly rough year for my family with my uncle (and best friend and mentor and champion) being diagnosed with and eventually dying from a stage IV glioblastoma (a really bad, aggressive brain tumor), my mom being moved into a memory care facility due to worsening dementia symptoms, and myself having gastrointestinal issues that had me quite ill for months on end and finally resulted in surgery. 

Thankfully 2017 is coming to a close and life is starting to look up. 

I'm also back to more regular reading, and I'm quite happy about that!

Without further ado, here are some of my 2017 reading stats, the five books I loved the most, and the books I'm currently reading as I finish out the year:

Books read in 2016: 39

Books read in 2017: 23

The five books I loved the most from my 2017 reading:
Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals that Brought Me Home by Jessica Fechtor
Stir is equal parts memoir and cookbook--honestly, this kind of crossover is my favorite genre! I love memoirs infused with recipes and delicious food! Fechtor suffered a horrific medical event that could have killed her and it ruined her ability to smell or taste food for a long time. She worked hard to fight her way back from illness to her life and she talks about how food and cooking are a huge part of her life and connect her to memories of childhood and growing up.  (Get it on Bookshop HERE)

Bon Appetempt: A Coming of Age Story (with recipes) by Amelia Morris
Another memoir/cookbook crossover! Seriously, I can't get enough of this type of book! Bon Appetempt is set in Paris, France which adds a fun dimension to the memoir/crossover. Morris writes about her experiences as a US expat in Paris, her job journey, relationship, markets in Paris, and cooking. I devoured it! (Get in Bookshop HERE)

The Scavenger's Daughters by Kay Bratt
The Scavenger's Daughter was a delightful find on Amazon Prime Reading (NOT the same thing as Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program!). I stumbled upon it at work when NOTHING was happening and NOTHING had been happening for hours on end--shhhh! Don't tell my boss! I rarely read on a tablet, computer, or device, preferring actual books in hand, but Amazon Prime Reading has saved me from falling asleep due to boredom at work when NOTHING is happening, everything is completely caught up, and there's nothing more to do while I wait for a patient to sign in (I work in patient registration in an Emergency Department). 

Anyhow, The Scavenger's Daughters is a fictional piece about a man and his wife who survived the Cultural Revolution in China, but due to a variety of reasons, the husband is unable to work beyond being a scavenger. He picks up other people's discards and resells them to earn money. During the course of his scavenging, over several years, he has also happened upon discarded female babies and children! He rescues these girls and he and his wife raise them as their daughters. The novel is a lovely story about the love of family and the fact that family is what you make it. There's a lot more to it, but that's the most boiled down version I can offer. (Get it on Bookshop HERE.)

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi
Whoa! When Breath Becomes Air is a TEAR JERKER! Have tissues at hand, and if you read it in public, be prepared to cry in front of others! This is one of only maybe three books that have ever made my cry in public, and I wasn't the least bit embarrassed or ashamed. That's how powerful this memoir is. Kalinithi was a medical resident in neurosurgery and found himself facing cancer which ultimately took his life. The book is both sad and uplifting at the same time. If I could only recommend ONE book from my 2017 reading, it would be this one! (Get it on Bookshop HERE)

No Other World by Rahul Mehta
No Other World was a random library grab and I'm so glad I brought it home! I'm not sure why I picked it up initially--the cover isn't all that amazing and I didn't read the flap. I just grabbed it and checked it out, and I'm so glad I did! Mehta did a masterful job of writing a novel that crosses cultures, carefully explores coming of age, and captures both the loveliness and cruelty of being a young person lost in the world. Please note, however, that if you find sexual scenes offensive, this novel is not for you--there are a couple of scenes that depict abuse and a few that are coming of age. (Get it on Bookshop HERE)

The books I read in 2017 were almost entirely excellent! Boiling down my favorites to only five was no easy feat! 

The books I'm currently reading as I finish out 2017:

• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins -- not to be confused with Girl on a Train by AJ Waines (one of my 2016 favorites!)
• The Whistler by John Grisham
• The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star by Vaseem Khan
• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

My reading goals for 2018 include:

• Weekly reading blog posts
• Donate 48 books to children's literacy projects/groups
• Start a monthly silent reading group

How did your reading goals go in 2017? Do you have reading goals for 2018? Post a comment and let me know!

This post contains affiliate links. Purchasing via these posts may result in a small commission for me. 

Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals that Brought Me Home by Jessica Fechtor

I haven't blogged about my reading in a long while and it's also been a while since I've actually done any really substantial reading.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to get back into my reading habit thanks to a medical crisis that has caused me to spend a lot of time on my couch. Thankfully, I'm feeling a lot better thanks to an abdominal surgery*, but I'm also feeling better due to all of the reading I've been doing. I didn't realize just how much I've missed reading!

In addition to my health issue, I've also just let the everyday stresses of life and work get to me. I let reading go by the wayside even though books have always been one of my primary means of relaxation and escape.

Sigh...

Well, on to one of the first books I've really dived into over the past couple of weeks...

Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals that Brought Me Home by Jessica Fechtor is a book that was nourishing on so many levels! It was a terrific read, allowed me to focus on someone else's medical problems instead of my own, and it was chock full of food, food, food! Most chapters end with a recipe, almost all of which sound absolutely dreamy!

Naturally, I haven't tried any of the recipes since I read Stir while I was on a highly restricted diet...I'm not sure if that was the best idea, but reading about food and reading recipes did give me something to look forward to once my recovery is completely done and I'm back to a normal diet.

Stir is a memoir--and I LOVE memoirs--about a young, intelligent woman who suffers a ruptured brain aneurysm that renders her incapable of doing almost anything that is part of her normal life. When Fechtor had her medical emergency, she was a PhD student and at the start of her marriage. She loved food and cooking, and was looking forward to starting a family. One moment she was on a treadmill and the next she was on the floor with the worst headache of her life and a long road of uncertainty ahead of her.

Fechtor's book combines so much of what I love in memoirs. She is able to bring together a good mix of seriousness with humor with moments that remind the reader that we are all human. Fechtor also writes with fondness of her parents and other relationships and makes it clear that our childhood memories carry on with us well into adulthood.

As I read about Fechtor's experiences cooking with her stepmom, I was reminded of many mornings and afternoon spent at my grandmother and great-grandmother's kitchen counters--I could practically smell the cinnamon and apples and could just about taste my great-grandmother's bread-and-butter pickles.

If you want to bring alive your food memories, you MUST read Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals that Brought Me Home. Not only will it bring up memories of food's intersection with your own upbringing, but you will come away with several new recipes as well. I've already written a grocery list and can't wait to make a mess of my kitchen with all the baking and cooking Fechtor has inspired!

You can buy Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals that Brought Me Home by Jessica Fechtor on Bookshop HERE (please note, there are two cover versions as of my writing this post).

This post contains affiliate links.

*If you are curious, I had a cecal bascule, a type of volvulus or twisting of the large intestine that can cause a bowel obstruction. Initially, this appeared to correct itself, but then I continued to have symptoms. We (myself, my GI doctor, and two surgeons) decided that even if it appeared resolved on CT scans, the fact that I was continuing to have symptoms and the fact that it could recur at any time and potentially have life-threatening consequences, surgery seemed appropriate.  As of this writing, I am 10 days post-surgery and feeling much better, although I still have some healing to do and it could be a few more weeks before we know if the surgery resolved my symptoms. If nothing else, the surgery will 100% prevent the potential life-threatening consequences due to recurrence--quite simply, the part of my colon involved was removed and thus the potential for recurrence is ZERO.

The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT by Debbie Stier

Just a brief review today!

I LOVED The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT by Debbie Stier! My local library classified it as test prep material, but that's only part of what this book is about. It's actually much more of a memoir about parenting teens as a single mom and dealing with some of the struggles of trying to motivate and connect with a teenager.

The premise of the memoir is that Stier's son wasn't living up to his academic potential at school and Stier was looking for ways to motivate him to study for the SAT in an effort to improve his likelihood of college admissions.  As a parent, and a single mom, there were so many times when I laughed and cried as I read Stier's book. I could relate on so many levels!

Stier decided that a great way to motivate her son to study for the SAT and to help him score as highly as possible, SHE would take the SAT herself! Not just once, but every single time it would be offered over the course of the year. And, on top of this already ambitious goal, she decided to test out a different test prep method for each exam--7 exams in total.

At times, Stier is really onto exceptional methods, but other attempts are utter failures. Along the way, her relationship with both of her children (a daughter as well as her son) is tested, even to a degree that at one point her children move out and go to live with their father for a brief period of time.

Most of the challenges Stier experiences with her kids are typical of many parents, but through the lens of SAT prep, she gives the reader a unique point of view. The Perfect Score Project is part memoir, part parenting guide, and part study guide. I had a hard time putting it down, and I gleaned insights into my own relationship with my teenage son.

Even if you aren't interested in the parenting and single mom aspects of this memoir, I highly recommend it if you or your child needs to take a standardized test. While the methods Stier tries are specifically for the SAT, they can easily be applied to many other exams as well. I picked up several tips and ideas that I plan to apply to some tests and courses I have coming up.  

As an aside, did you even know adults could take the SAT??? I didn't! And, I'd been wondering about adults taking the SAT already--as a private tutor, I'm often asked to tutor the SAT, but it's been so long since I took it myself and the test has changed so much that I usually turn down such requests. Now I'm considering studying for the test just to see how well I can do--maybe I'll do well enough to feel confident tutoring it! Time will tell...

I highly recommend this one! FIVE stars!

Pick it up at your local library or buy it HERE.

Check out all of my memoir reviews HERE.

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard

I love books that involve a story AND a recipe! Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard is no exception.

I have long wanted to not only travel to Europe, but to live there. I have yet to do either, so for the moment I live vicariously through memoirs. Elizabeth Bard is an American writer who studied and worked in England and found herself traveling to Paris, France, eventually meeting her love, Gwendal.

Bard takes us through the tentative first date jitters to the moment she knew Gwendal was the one, through ups and downs in their relationship, navigating two cultures, and more. Through it all is a carefully woven gastronomic treat--multiple recipes from Bard's Jewish American family, as well as recipes from her now husband, and others from his French family.

Although I have yet to make any of recipes, I've copied out several to try--the challenge for me, however, will be making them dairy free to accommodate my severe dairy allergy.  As an aside, my dairy allergy is so severe that it's one of my biggest concerns when considering traveling or living abroad. How does one live in a place like Paris without eating dairy??? I suppose people do it--others with allergies, vegans, and so on, but it just seems like eating dairy free in Paris would be like missing a big part of the Paris experience, right?

Bard has a magical, ethereal manner when describing the markets of her Paris neighborhood and the food in the many cafes and restaurants she and Gwendal find themselves in. She also has a delicate, but honest touch when writing about the difficult aspects of immersing oneself in a new culture, despite how familiar it might be. As an American in Paris, there are just some things she misses such as the direct approach many Americans take in the face of problems or the "can do" attitude that we seem to have when faced with a challenge. She also does a good job of navigating the challenge of having one foot in each culture, but rarely both feet in one. 

While I haven't lived in another country, I have lived in five states within the USA, and at times I found myself nodding with understanding when Bard wasn't as happy or comfortable or confident as she thought she should be.

Overall, I loved this memoir, and the end is excellent--Bard comes out on the upside of life as an ex-pat and I highly recommend this memoir! What I really want is to go to Paris and spend a couple of days with Bard, shopping at the various markets and cooking and eating.

I hope you'll give it a read, and if you try any of the recipes, let me know which ones you loved the best! I can't wait to try the chocolate souffle--she makes it seems so easy!

FIVE stars!

Pick it up at your local library or find it on Bookshop HERE. 

Check out my other memoir reviews HERE.

Bootstrapper: From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm by Mardi Jo Link

I stumbled upon Bootstrapper: From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm by Mardi Jo Link while looking for business development and personal finance books at my local library. I was drawn to the book by the word "bootstrapper" in the title and didn't read the cover blurb at all until I had the book at home and started sorting that day's library haul. I was actually expecting it to be a book for entrepreneurs who are just starting out.

Bootstrapper: From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm is not at all a book for entrepreneurs as I expected. Instead, it is a memoir that spoke to me on so many levels! I loved every word and every page of it! I even loved the acknowledgements at the end and hope you will read them.

I was delightfully surprised to find that the book is actually Link's memoir of how she went from an about to be divorced mother of three on a farm she couldn't afford to a divorced (with a big event later in the book!) mother of three on a farm she managed to figure out how to afford, at times in unconventional ways. As a single mom of a teenager, and frequently financially struggling, I was drawn in immediately!

Link writes about the ups and downs of being a single mom, the joys and worries of parenting boys, the pleasure in living close to the land, and the unpredictable nature of life. Her style is straightforward and to the point. When she worries about how to feed her children after a power outage results in pounds and pounds of spoiled food, you feel the despair, but you also feel the disgust as she describes pork juices oozing out of a freezer onto her cellar floor. I almost felt like I was standing there next to her (I'm so glad this book didn't include scratch-and-sniff! Ew!). When her youngest names a noxious rooster that attacks anyone that comes near, you likely will laugh out loud or knowingly smile and nod at a precious parenting-child-family moment that likely inspired many jokes among the older family members.

If you are a struggling single mom, I hope you will read this book. It isn't a parenting manual, a personal finance book, or anything else of the sort. But, it is an uplifting memoir that can help you feel less alone in your single, struggling parenthood. It may help you to see that there is a light at the end of your tunnel. Link has been-there-done-that. And, if you have ever thought about homesteading but aren't sure if it's right for you, Link's memoir includes horses, a pig, chickens, a big-ass garden, and more. She writes about bonds with animals, tragedies, ups and downs, and the realities of running what is essentially a homestead.

I HIGHLY recommend this one! 5 stars!

Pick it up at your local library or find it HERE on Bookshop.org.

Please note: Links in this and other blog posts or pages may be affiliate in nature. At no extra cost to you, purchases made through these links may result in a small commission for me. Thank you in advance!