5 comments about The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life.

1. This author tries WAY TO HARD to be funny! I did not laugh out loud once. I guess I was too busy rolling my eyes! Not impressed.



2. Laurie Notaro has become my favorite author. She talks about her life with such honesty and humor. Sometimes you laugh and sometimes you shake your head thinking "been there, done that". I would love to have coffee with her sometime and just chat!! A must read.



3. "I don't pay attention to funny noises [on my car]. I just turn the radio up louder and pretend it's someone else's car."
   
   Laurie Notaro's first book of her collected adventures (dating, jury duty, living in an apartment, parents on the internet, dealing with the exterminator, grandparents on exercise equipment) that are all too familiar, but told in such hilarious hyperbole and witty style that I was chuckling to myself all day at the beach. This is chick lit for girls with tattoos. Wonderful, though not as strong as her later works. Grade: A.



4. I'm a fan of Notaro's memoirs, and my favorite is her chapter on bathroom etiquette for the workplace. :)
   
   Enough said.



5. I do enjoy Laurie Notaro's brand of humor. This is a lovely beach read.

5 comments about Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith.

1. This book just "popped" up as an advertised suggestion for me, and after looking at the details on Amazon, I decided to order it. I am doing a lot of soul searching about my own faith journey, and am having a struggle with the Institutional Church not truly following the teachings of Jesus, having gotten enmired in politics and building empire. I felt this book was speaking to me, and is one I could hardly put down. It is well written, and certainly one I would, and have recommended to others.



2. Over the course of my life I have learned certain things about salad; it has good, nourishing things in it, like spinach, almonds, feta cheese, and olive oil. Sometimes you can add strawberries. With a splash of balsamic vinegar, it sings. Other times it is dressed with slightly less healthy things like mayonnaise or sour cream, but generally its ingredients have a clear line of succession back to something alive; apples, raisins, eggs, potatoes.
   
   Then I moved to South Dakota, where I was introduced to "salad". Unlike what I have just described, this concoction is made of things like Cool Whip and crushed up Oreos. It tastes good in the moment, but by the end of it I am always left slightly nauseous and wondering where it came from.
   
   There's a lot of spiritual "salad" out there. Thankfully, this offering is not in that group. From the moment you crack open the cover, it sings. Her story of earthy, fragrant devotion to God is refreshing and very alive. It breathes the living life of Christ and speaks from the still beating but wounded heart of the church. Thankfully, Taylor veers only briefly into the sordid realm of political hot button issues, and for good reason.
   
   With fifteen years in the pastoral crucible under her belt, and an evident love for all of us, Taylor comes across as someone you can trust. Her words in this precious memoir are nourishing, full of flavor and, like the vegetables in her Georgia garden, entirely organic.



3. This book would have been more accurately described in the subtitle as a "Memoir of Personal Experience".
   
   She dismisses orthodox Christian Theology and doctrine as something that the Apostles and Early Church had to "come up with" to explain this or that.
   
   Ultimately it is a story of how the narrow Christian path and Church "didn't work" for her, and many of her thoughts and experiences confirm the fact that women were never meant to be "priests" in the first place (though this fact enrages those who hold to the political language of "equal rights" versus sound apostolic theology).
   
   I found the book pleasant and very readable, but at the same time it was a sad story of how Christ just "wasn't enough". While most in our culture will find it "affirming" or down right "spiritual", it is a disappointment for the orthodox Christian who may wish to read a story about how Christ and the scriptures contain "all things necessary for salvation".
   
   Barbara's approach in later life is gnostic and universalist. In the words of her Presiding Bishopess, "saying Christ is the only way is to put God in too small of a box". Emotions, feelings, and cravings rule the day in the final analysis of her relationship to Christ, and it seems that "leaving" orthodoxy is freeing to her, though I question she was ever there in the first place. Ultimately, God is the final judge of what she has done and what she now teaches.
   
   Her elevation of Native American theology and her fondness of "other paths" leads the committed Christian looking elsewhere for a story of knowing Christ and Him crucified, and following Him in a culture that values personal choice and heterodoxy over all other things.
   
   In the end it is a volume that will find great company with the writings of Spong, Borg, Ehrman, and others who deny the reality of John 14:6 and the authority of Holy Sripture in the name of being on "an authentic journey".
   
   If I have to "put my eggs in one basket" I am going to have to stick with the Apostles and the Church Fathers and leave "other ways" up to Barbara, fine preacher though she is.



4. I read a lot of memoirs these days. In fact they are probably my favorite literary genre. Maybe I should have been warned by Taylor's subtitle - not simply "a memoir," but "a memoir of faith." Because this is not a memoir in the usual sense. There is precious little of Taylor's childhood, youth or young adulthood - no real concrete stories and examples from her life. Too much of this book remains caught in the abstraction of ideas and beliefs, with not nearly enough examples. The people who show up in the book remain undeveloped vague outlines. And I have a hard time identifying with Brown's spiritual "quest," if that is what it is. I don't think it's because she's a woman either. What few facts that do emerge about her life outside this "quest" do not really serve to make her a sympathetic character. Daughter of a psychotherapist, sister of a lawyer, wife of an engineer - all these tidbits add up to what appears to have been a life of privilege and ease, and continued to be even after her ordination, as she speaks of her Saab and Audi and how they didn't fit into her rural community, and goes on at some length about everything she "wanted" in her custom-built home outside of town (in lieu of a parsonage near her church). What comes through in Barbara Brown Taylor's book is a story of a driven overachiever, who in fact drives herself into a near nervous breakdown, which finally causes her to leave her church and the active priesthood. While I do not doubt the sincerity of her quest for her true vocation and place in God's world, I do wonder about her motives. She became more likeable - more human - in the final section of the book, after she had left the priesthood, when she talks about her crisis of faith and things like her fears of inadequacy and the death of her father. Having said all of this, I still have to say that I'm glad I read the book, which has left me with much to think about in regard to my own role in the Church (Catholic in my case)and my relationship with God and my place in His world. I also think that Taylor is a person I'd like to know, but these 200-plus pages have not given me that opportunity. A memoir of faith? Perhaps. A "memoir"? No. - Tim Bazzett, author of Reed City Boy



5. This gracefully written narrative tells the story of Taylor's journey toward ordained ministry, her years as an Episcopal priest, and her departure from that life into a new vocation as a college professor. She decides that the most important calling is not to be ordained or to be religious, but to be fully human and to live a life of love. This is a touching autobiography, an eloquent memoir of faith.

2 comments about When I Was Puerto Rican.

1. This is a rich and evocative memoir of the author's chaotic childhood. Growing up in rural Puerto Rico, while often living in primitive conditions, the author's lush and lyrical prose paints a vivid picture her early life. The flavor and rythms of her island home come alive under her expert hand, creating an unforgettable picture of her early childhood.
   
   The author grew up in a poor family. During her childhood, she lived in Puerto Rico with her unmarried parents, who were always at war with each other, as her father was a somewhat irresponsible philanderer. It was her mother who centered the family and who always sought a better life for all of her children. When an irrevocable break occurred between her parents, her mother moved to New York during the nineteen sixties, eventually settling with her seven children in the mean streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn in New York City.
   
   The author details her life's journey from rural Puerto Rico to Brooklyn. The author was transplanted to Brooklyn at the age of thirteen, and her description of her life in Brooklyn is every bit as interesting as that of her life in Puerto Rico. Her oftentimes bewildering transition from her native, Spanish speaking Puerto Rico to an English speaking environment is engagingly chronicled. The author takes the reader on her journey through Brooklyn's public school system to the prestigious High School of Performing Arts, where she graduated and went on to attend Harvard University on a scholarship.
   
   This coming of age memoir is so engagingly written that I was left with the desire of wanting to know more about the life of this remarkable woman. I was also very taken with her writing style. So, I went ahead and bought every book that this author has ever written and look forward to reading each and every one.



2. Great Title but maybe because the books speaks of being "Puerto Rican" in a different time- probably around 2 generations before mine- that I couldn't relate nor found interest in it. I think it would be a fabolous story if its one that has similar previous acquired knowledge or a personal understanding of having lived through that period of time. I think this is the type of story that one does or doesn't relate to and thus does or does not enjoy. I do however recommend it for those seeking to understand how life was for previous generations.

5 comments about My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams.

1. If you are a history buff or just a little interested in the history of our nation you will love this book. The letters exchanged between John and Abigail Adams are wonderful. Abigail was definitely John's rock. She kept him focused and steady. John was a very passionate man in his beliefs and at times would become a tyrant trying to convince people that his way of thnking was the only way to think. Thank goodness he had Abigail as he ran everything by her to see how she thought the people would react to his perception. Abigail would let him know when he needed to press an issue or just be quiet and let it happen on its own. Besides being lovers as husband and wife they were truly best friends. An inspirational read.



2. I must shamefully admit that prior to the renewed interest in John Adams with the recent miniseries, I really had only a general knowledge of his role and importance in the founding of our country. This book gives a private, personal and wonderful view of the strength,deep,abiding love of this first family. I could not put it down & would highly recommend it to anyone.



3. A beautiful book as I was sure it would be. Now in the possession of another John Adams admirer who happens to be a resident of Cornwall, England.



4. A collection of authentic letters between a man and his wife documenting the actual events as they occur from their first meeting, the beginning of the revolutionary war, the first meeting of Congress to negotiaing a system of government through freedom of our liberties through the written and signed Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Although early years were spent much apart, this extraordinary couple persevered a deep love, an emotional partnership and friendship while enduring personal tragedies of early Colonial life in the 1700's. These letters are Historical Documents. This was the life of Abigail and John Adams. A story that aided this reader in understanding a period of History so unassuming, so important in acknowledging the birth of our nation.



5. I am very pleased with the quality of this book. I watched the John Adams series on HBO and this makes a nice companion piece to that miniseries.

5 comments about A Three Dog Life.

1. Change is something most people loathe, because that which is familiar is more comfortable. Author Abigail Thomas learns to live with change following an auto-pedestrian accident involving her husband Rich which has a tremendous impact on her life. Rich miraculously survives the accident, but his thinking is modified. He no longer retains the past or carries the future. His thoughts and life are only in the present tense. Thomas realizes she cannot care for him alone due to his permanent brain trauma and he becomes a resident of a care facility. This requires Thomas to move from their New York condo to a home close by the facility. Despite the pathos, the book is filled with incredible humor. Conversations with Rich are often laced with poetic foolishness bordering on E.S.P. Thomas' descriptions of her coping mechanisms are spot-on with respect to surviving as a weekend caretaker in the midst of loss. She takes a cue from the arctic nomads who say the coldest night is a "three-dog night," and titles the book "Three Dog Life" because naps and snuggles with her three dogs provide great solace and comfort.



2. Life is not perfect. Tragedy can strike at any minute. How do you handle it when it happens to you? Thomas faces her tragedy with grace and poise. After her husband is injured in a horrific accident, Thomas begins the seemingly unending cycle of hospitals, doctors, and emergency calls. Eventually, Thomas realizes that, while Rich's life may remain in a state of limbo, her life must go on. She manages to find a balance between the wife she continues to be, and the woman who must now find meaning in her life -- on her own terms. She finds comfort with friends, family, and above all else her dogs. This is truly a story of love, loss, and ultimately - healing.
   
   I applaud Thomas for her ability to stand by her husband under such devastating circumstances. Her memoir is honest and thought provoking -- sharing her feelings of fear, self-reproach, and even happiness. Her love for Rich is evident in her writing. A Three Dog Life is a true love story and a joy to read.



3. A friend handed me this book while I was visiting her home...someone had given it to her. She wasn't interested because she thought it was about dogs. I did too. I would not have read it had I known that it's not a dog book. I'm so glad I didn't know its topic, because I would have missed out on a deeply emotional account of the author's experience of her husband's TBI. A very fast read. Poignant, courageous, thought provoking.



4. I read an excerpt of this book in O Magazine and was intrigued, so I ordered the free sample for my Kindle - was intrigued some more - and finally ended up buying the full Kindle edition. I'm almost done reading it, and I think this may be the first book I've read as a Kindle book that I also want to purchase in hard-copy form - just to HAVE. This is a keeper, a book I will remember long after putting it down. Where has Abagail Thomas been hiding and why is this my first introduction to her?!
   
   This is a tough topic - the traumatic brain injury her husband sustains and the author's adjustment to life after that event - yet Thomas handles it without unnecessary self-pity or pathos. I've read books of a similar vein that are gut-wrenching to read, others that are so lofty and inspiring they depress me - how can I ever measure up to such perfect humanity as expressed in those books. Thomas's book is the perfect treatment of this very difficult chapter of her life. She is able to speak the very emotions and mixed feelings and mixed up thoughts that any one would experience in that situation - I find myself reading and thinking YES, this is exactly how I would feel, it's exactly how conflicted and guilty and torn I would feel.
   
   I think I will be taking this book off my shelf many times over the years to re-read. Sitting down with this book feels like sitting down with the author for a long talk over coffee. A very difficult talk, granted, but it reads as one of those memorably discussions you had with a good friend at the end of a very difficult period.
   
   I look forward to finding other Abagail Thomas books.



5. A beautifully written story of loss and survival. Anyone who loves someone and who also loves dogs will understand and be heartened by this book.

5 comments about Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters.

1. I am a professional writer and editor; this is one of the worst things that I have ever seen in print. Atrociously written, apparently not edited at all, and the content is so thin and poor that I cannot imagine how any publisher ever thought signing this off to print was a good idea. Nancy Pelosi has always been about hubris instead of substance; she has a well-earned reputation for having a massive ego and not being able to achieve anything positive, but this is a new low even for her.
   
   I would never buy anything Pelosi wrote; I read this because I was stranded somewhere and it was available for me to read. What a waste of my time and energy. What a criminal waste of natural resources to print this garbage.



2. Ms Pelosi's devout religiosity is a constant theme in this book--she sings "How Great Thou Art" about herself for ~175 pages.
   I borrowed this book from the library, and it angers me that my hard earned tax dollars were used to pay for it.



3. Nancy Pelosi grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth and is the daughter of leftist politician parents and grandparents. One would think she would be grateful for all she has been GIVEN and all of the abundant opportunities that she has been granted in this wonderful country. Disgusting that her book is one long, poorly written, anger filled litany of perceived injustices and other whining complaints. I would not want my daughter to read this hateful rant. There are many good, uplifting books out there that promote enthusiasm and encourage ambition as opposed to the bitterness and anger Nancys' book projects. I give this "book" a big THUMBS DOWN!!!



4. I have nothing to say about this book that hasn't already been said.
   
   Awful.



5. Don't waste your time reading this. I can't believe that the speaker of the house is such a terrible writer. As others have said, she must have used a ghostwriter. You'd think she would have checked that person's previous material, but apparently not. The text is just a collection of rambling thoughts, and there seems to be no sense of organization.

5 comments about Without a Map: A Memoir.

1. This sad, yet inspirational memoir is moving and beautifully written. You won't be able to put it down and it will make you think long and hard about teenage pregnancy, abortion,and adoption. Meredith Hall tells her dysfunctional story with emotion and a small amount of well deserved self-pity. Some memoirs of late are written with such little emotion despite their sadness that I have felt the author was removed from their own story. Not so with Hall, she lets you feel her profound sadness and range of emotions and you will be so grateful that she included you in this amazing story.



2. without a Map, captured how some women live their lives wondering every secound what happened to their child which was given up for adoptions.



3. Without a Map: A Memoir Meredith Hall is so young and so unprepared for motherhood at the age of sixteen. In 1965 pregnancy out of marriage was so taboo. No one came to this girl's assistance. Everyone shunned her - parents, school, community and church. She has spent her whole adult life searching and the events of her life are forever influenced by that incident. This book lends iself to discussions of so many topics( relationships, identity, the sixties vs the present, adoption, and survival to name only a few.



4. Did not like it. Writer seems to bounce from story to story. I could not really get into this book and ended up reading two other books in between. This book will probably end up on my yard sale box:(



5. Meredith Hall writes "The whirligig [water bug] can synthesize these two distinct realms [above and below the water's surface], creating a cohesive picture of the world above and the world below. I've always envied this ability. Imagine being able to see what is before you and at the same time what lies beneath the surface, the obscured, the unannounced, the threatening.
   
   "I wish that I had had these eyes, had been able to see both realms: what was at the surface and what might lie below, the warning signs. At sixteen I'd held only one view: my mother loved me."
   
   Like Hall, most people have to have the wind knocked out of them before they change their worldview. The lucky ones have someone who comforts them until they're able to breathe again.
   
   Hall isn't lucky...when she is sixteen. She's seduced by an older boy's attention, gets pregnant, and is rejected by her parents, whose worldview won't allow them to do anything else. A girl who gets herself pregnant even their girl)is forever trash. Their family doctor agrees with them. He tells Hall "Don't try to tell me who the father of this baby is. I know you have no idea. Girls like you never do."
   
   How many girls have heard this? How many will hear this?
   
   Age, distance, and writing talent have permitted Meredith Hall to examine her life from above and below, and then relate what she believes contributed to the way she was treated and her inability to change the course of events. It's not all her mother's fault, her father's fault, her own fault, or even society's fault. It's more complicated than simple blame.
   
   Perhaps her readers will borrow her whirligig eyes to look at the lives of people they know. Perhaps their new understanding will breed compassion.
   
   Note: I wouldn't change a word of this memoir.

5 comments about All But My Life.

1. Despite the horrors around her, and fellow prisoners dying and becoming mentally unbalanced every day, young Gerda Weissman managed to survive several Nazi camps from the late 1930s through the grisly end of World War II.
   
   Imagine being a teenager, wrenched away from your beloved parents, older brother and home -- and never seeing any of them ever again. It would be enough to make anyone unstable, not to mention bitter. Yet somehow, Gerda emerges from her horrifying ordeal stronger than she began. As her body heals in a hospital run by the Allies during the spring of 1945, Gerda begins a relationship with Kurt Klein -- a young soldier who urges her to tell her story.
   
   Now an elderly woman living in Arizona, Gerda Weissman Klein is able to see just how far she's come from the young Jewish girl living a priviledged life in Poland. Yet at the same time, her writing style allows readers to see clearly just how that same persona has managed to live such a rich, eventful life to the fullest all of these years.
   
   I've read many Holocaust memoirs, though I must say that Gerda's story is beautifully and distinctly told.



2. I read this book a long time ago and just got done listening to the book on tape for the second time. It is the most powerful representation of the Holocaust I have found. Please read this book if you want to learn about the Holocaust from a gifted author and survivor.



3. This book was gripping and I could not put it down until I finished it. It's so hard to believe the hardships so many endured for being Jewish. A must read. Beautifully written with rich detail.



4. I have read many of the holocaust books out there but this is the one I pass on to friends to read. Especially moving is the liberation of the prisoners at the end of the book. I wish all schools made this mandatory reading. What a way to learn history! This author is quite an incredible woman.



5. This is one of the first Holocaust survival stories that I read. It is by far one that has stayed with me in the most detail.
   
   What a strong girl Gerda is. she was told to never give up her boots and in the end it is one thing that saved her life after marching in a blizzard half frozen to death. How she survived is nothing short of a miracle.
   
   Reading this when you are in a hard time reminds you that you do have the inner strength to survive. If she can do that then I can face my problems. It is quite graphic and tells the truth of really happened in the holocaust.
   
   I'm not going to give the story away I'm just going to say you will cry and rejoyce in this story. It will touch you to core of your very being.
   
   I must read for EVERYONE!

5 comments about Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and What He Wants to Do with You.

1. It helped me so see and understand how important these women really were in the lineage of Jesus. How God can change the seemingly impossible. Wonderful book!



2. I have led numerous Bible studies, and this book has been a real disappointment. The writing lacks balance, is often disorganized, and even has an "anti-women" tone to it. I find myself having to work all week to plan our study, to supplement what he's written. I would not recommend this book.



3. We have been studying this for the past few months slowly due to only meeting once a week. We have discovered fascinating new details about some of the women of the Bible that we did not know. While we have found a few discrepancies, they are minor and we talk it out as a group. Overall, we are finding this study to be enlightening and are looking forward to the rest of it.



4. This book is phenomenal and is filled with scripture. John MacArthur does a great job of making these women's lives parallel to our current culture and easy for anyone to relate. Each woman has her own personality but all have lessons to learn from. I have just started the book and am about half way through already and each page has spoken to me that most of the book is underlined and commented on. If you're looking for God to move in your life and teach you some great lessons pick up this book!!!



5. I could only get through the first two chapters before I had to put it down. I sought this book out for inspiration, but found it was sexist and insulting. I write this not because I one of those "new fangled feminist types", but because I posses a brain - a God given one. What I glean from the way the stories are presented is that the author's belief is that women exist only through men and have no real intrinsic purpose or value to God or the world, except through men.
   
   Eve is portryaed as a pathetic figure, the author writes patronizingly about Eve's sin: "As the weaker vessel, away from her husband, but close to the forbidden tree, she was in the most vulnerable position possible..." and "...Adam's sin was deliberate (when he took the apple) and willful in a way Eve's was not. Eve was deceived". So, the author doesn't even think she deserves equal billing in the "downfall".
   
   In chap. 2 about Sarah, when explaining how Sara and Abraham lied when they entered Egypt, saying that Sara was his sister so other men would not kill Abraham for her the author concludes: "...Abraham's motives were selfish and cowardly, and the scheme reflected a serious weakness in his faith. But Sarah's devotion to her husband is nonetheless commendable, and God honored her for it..". So, she is not a whole person in this author's view - they both lied, he calls it "cowardly" on Abraham's part, but believes God commends Sara, because she it was good she supported him - EVEN when he did something "selfish and cowardly".
   
   As a Christian I found the simplistic and ridiculous for the 21st century.
   I cannot recommend this book to anyone with a brain.

5 comments about All You Need to Be Impossibly French: A Witty Investigation into the Lives, Lusts, and Little Secrets of French Women.

1. I laughed all the way through this book. (Not in a bad way.) Very informative and entertaining!



2. I definitely want to move to France! It sounds like women are treasured! What a wonderful lifestyle! I'm sure I'll read it again when my memory starts forgeting!



3. I really liked the book, I found it to be an easy read, funny, informative and quite inspirational. Actually, I liked the book more and more as I kept reading it (except the chapter on lingeree - the author went on too long about the importance of wearing matching lingeree, etc - I did not think this topick deserved so much attention, but oh well, perhaps it does - afterwards I did go and buy myself a nice lingeree set! And new creams, and make up. ;)). I read this book on the bus on my way to and from work and looked forward to my bus ride every day - not a normal thing for me. I also purchased the other "more famous" book ("French Women Don't Get Fat"), but I thought it was a bit boring (I still finished it and can't say it was bad, just not as consuming). The latter talks mostly about diet while this book is much more entertaining and covers all aspects of French women lives. I am lending the book to everyone I know now, what a gem!



4. This was such a cute book to read. It's always interesting to see that the author interviewed other ladies and men to get their opinions of France and the chic cultures of the people who live there. It made the book more real for me. I really enjoyed it.



5. I was afraid it was going to be too frilly, but it is great. Love that she talks about real & famous french women. Funny at times. Very entertaining!