Her Book Self

I have a weakness for fictionalized biographies.  Joining books I've loved in this unique genre next to What is the What, Romancing Miss Brontë, and The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott is Melanie Benjamin's latest novel, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.  

Mrs. Tom Thumb whose name graces the title of this novel, was the better known moniker of Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump Stratton - a name whose size matches the personality, though not the stature, of an amazing yet diminutive woman. Born with a form of proportional dwarfism, "Vinnie" as she was called by friends and family, rose to fame under the wing of showman P.T. Barnum and married to Barnum's star, General Tom Thumb.

From humble beginnings as a school teacher, Vinnie wanted something more out of life and eventually seized the opportunity to travel the world with the circus as her ticket. Her fame and renown grew raising her to the social circles of New York's elite while she and her husband basked in the company of presidents and royalty throughout Europe.

Melanie Benjamin's story The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb takes a glance inside Vinnie's mind and world, and the story unveiled is engaging and fascinating. The historical details of circus life and the figures of P.T. Barnum, Tom Thumb, and Vinnie herself are drawn with a degree of realism that reflects Benjamin's meticulous research. The story is fully captivating from start to finish and headstrong Vinnie - with her sharp wit, gentle heart, and untamed dreams - is definitely a heroine to love.

What do you think of historical fiction biographies?  Do you prefer nonfiction or do you enjoy authors' reimaginings of historical figures and events?

An advance review copy of this book was provided by LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program.  This review represents my honest and unbiased opinions.  The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is available now.

Driver's Education is a teenage rite of passage for many in the United States, and like most, I can recall an anecdote or two of the successes and mishaps from my first times behind the wheel.  However, I never gave much reflection to the people who accompanied me on those first perilous driving trips: the driver's ed instructors.  This perspective changed when I picked up a great new book.

Thomas M. Sullivan opens the door to the life of a driving instructor in his nonfiction memoir Life in the Slow Lane. From the bureaucracy of the company he worked for (and argued with), to the past-their-prime cars he used, and the unpredictability of a job centered around teenagers overly-confident or excessively nervous; Sullivan takes a direct and witty approach to his narrative. The appalling stories of demands placed on him by his employer are juggled with hilarious anecdotes and observations from his time with his students.

For anyone who ever wondered what a teacher was thinking when they stepped on the instructor's brake, Life in the Slow Lane offers a unique glimpse through the eyes of the passenger in a driver's ed car. Cleverly crafted and highly entertaining, Sullivan genuinely captures the humor of the mundane. Whether you fondly recall "Student Driver" as a rite of passage or a terrible teenage travesty, this is a book that will shed a green-means-go light on the world of driver's ed.

I'd highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy humorous memoirs.  I'm always trying to incorporate more nonfiction in my reading repertoire, so Life in the Slow Lane was a delightful discovery!

Stay tuned this week for my interview with author Thomas M. Sullivan!

Shauna Niequist, author of Cold Tangerines, returns to writing and her signature style of simple but poignant observations on faith in everyday life in her latest book Bittersweet. Subtitled thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way, Niequist does not shy away from discussing her own personal struggles and pain. Her candid honesty and conversational tone connects the reader to her words and her life making her message stronger, clearer, and more profound.

Each of the small chapters works as a stand-alone essay, but they all tie together smoothly. Whether reading one passage at a time or several in one sitting, the book has a smooth pace. Niequist is ultimately quotable, too; and I found myself dog-earring multiple pages knowing that there were several lines I wanted to come back and reflect on at a later time.

The title of the book comes from Niequist's idea that a full life requires both bitterness and sweetness. She says, "When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow." In a later chapter about friendship and the trap of always trying to appear perfect she explains, "We slip into believing that it's better to strive for perfection than to accept and offer one another grace." And among many brilliant thoughts on writing she offers the insight, "Writing wakes me up, lights me on fire, opens my eyes to the things I can never see and feel when I'm hiding under the covers, cowering and consumed with my own failures and fears."

Niequist is not ashamed to share her "failures and fears" with the reader but it is obvious that what she states about writing is true. In the written word she truly does shine, and her words are perfectly chosen and powerful, creating a work to be reread, reflected on, and ruminated over long after the final page is turned.

Sweet Mandarin is a great biography/autobiography of three generations of Chinese women and their stories of working as restaurateurs in England.  Subtitled The Courageous True Story of Three Generations of Chinese Women and Their Journey from East to West, the book does tell an inspiring story of courage as each woman grows, adapts, and changes with the world around her.   Helen Tse is a great writer and the family memories she shares are interesting, poignant, and quite captivating.

With her vivid descriptions, sights and sounds jump off the pages and the book is equally filled with smells and tastes that leave readers as hungry for Tse's recipes as for her prose. I would highly recommend this book to fans of Amy Tan's novels (The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, etc.), as the multi-generational story is similar to much of her work, but I enjoyed Sweet Mandarin all the more because it is nonfiction. I felt a deeper connection to the characters knowing that they were actual members of Helen Tse's family rather than just her creations.

I don't travel much.  I wish I had the time and money to explore more of the world - and even more of my own country - but for the most part, I don't go very far from home very often.  I think because of that, I love to read about foreign countries and different cultures.  I suppose my love of nonfiction stems from my overall love of learning, but I also feel that books are akin to mental passport stamps - a way to visit far off places without leaving the discomfort of my bus seat.  My most recent literary vacation was to Kabul, Afghanistan in Deborah Rodriguez's book, Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil.  The map at right is courtesy of CNN.com and shows where Kabul is in Afghanistan, and the inset shows the country's location in relation the rest of the middle east.  I've read several other books set in this part of the world, but anytime I read a book about a country that I'm unfamiliar with I like to look it up on a map to better orient myself with the geography of the setting.  (That's super nerdy, right?  Oh well, I'm comfortable with my braininess.)

Back to the book.  Deborah Rodriguez is a hairdresser from Holland, Michigan who trained as a relief worker and traveled to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.  Originally feeling that her talents were not as crucial as those of the doctors and nurses in her company, Rodriguez spent much of her time exploring her surroundings and befriending the people around her.  When she discovered that the Westerners in the area and many of the Afghan women she met were desperately seeking her services as a beautician - an idea was formed to begin a school to train and develop local women to start their own salons.  With corporate sponsors and the hard work of dedicated individuals, the Kabul Beauty School opened its doors and Rodriguez became a teacher, mentor and friend to women whose country had forgotten them.

I loved how this book explored the culture clash between American and Afghan society.  The story was well told and it was inspiring to see how Rodriguez changed the lives of the women she worked with and the powerful impact that their stories and friendship had in her life as well.  The book was also a good example of community development done right.  Rodriguez hired her first graduates as teachers and along with giving them a means to support their families for a better quality of life, she set up a cycle of sustainable serving for those who had learned to continue on in teaching others.  It is a model of giving a hand-up rather than a hand-out; the former being ultimately much more productive.

Cross Posted From Blogger Arrow:

My friend Ellen recommended a book to me called Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. I didn't admit to her (until now) that I cringe a little at book recommendations. There's a certain amount of pressure that comes with reading a book that someone else really likes. Maybe the book spoke to them in a way that it just won't talk to you; perhaps something in a person's life resonates with the book and they only imagine that you share that sonorous quality. Whenever someone recommends a book I find myself reflecting on the quote that, "In literature, as in love, we are often astonished at what is chosen by others."

However, Ellen is someone that I trust and admire so her recommendation didn't dare go into the "perhaps, maybe before I die" pile of books on my mental shelf. Instead, Cold Tangerines showed up on my library hold queue and jumped quickly to the top. I started it this week, and (as of my train ride home today) I have just a few chapters remaining. It's the kind of book that speaks to a reader - I suppose I mean female readers - and I almost wish I could Xerox off different chapters and press them into the hands of family and friends and say "You need to read this!" or "This is SO what you are going through!"

And, of course, with a book that relevant to my loved ones, there were to be found several passages that seemed to be written directly at me. In a chapter called "Prayer and Yoga" she laments that both are decidedly good for her yet she doesn't stick to either as often as she should. (Sound like anyone you know??) I also really liked her thoughts on writing. As I contemplate another looming November with NaNoWriMo, I find myself pondering if I want to embrace - unleash - my identity as a writer once again. I've wavered and flip-flopped about taking on the chaotic novel-in-a-month challenge this year and then, this afternoon, I read this:

"Sometimes when I'm writing, if I try really hard, I can move more slowly, like a dancer or a mime, and taste things more vividly, and see not just the trees and the grass, but the individual leaves and blades. Things are richer and brighter than I thought, now that I have slowed down enough to see them."

~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines p. 137

I don't think NaNoWriMo is quite the atmosphere for slowed down perception that Niequist is speaking of, but I understand her need for the reflective introspection that comes from times of writing. It's where I spent a lot of time in the days when I was a prolific journaler - heck, even when I was a more prolific blogger. I look with some shame on my sparse posting of this year. I see it not as sad because I missed sharing inane thoughts with friends and family but rather, sad that I was living my life without reflection.

There's a famous quote that says "We must live life forward and define it backward," but I think most of us fall into the trap of too much forward motion on that one. Not that it would be good to over-define life to the point of not spending one's time living it. When we can find the place between rushing out to live each day and poignantly reflecting on our journey as a whole, that's where a well paced life will be. Neither hurried nor bored, that will be a balanced life indeed.

Cross Posted From Blogger Arrow:

Last month I got another pre-realease book through Library Thing's Early Reviewers program. There's something ultimately fun about reading a book before it's even hit the bookstores and I figure since the whole purpose of publishers giving out these delicious freebies is to drum up publicity for their product I might as well at least mention the really good ones here as well as on LT. The book I just finished is a nonfiction work called Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran. Here's my review:

Honeymoon in Tehran is a memoir by Iranian-American journalist Azadeh Moaveni chronicling two years of her life living in Tehran and dealing with the complications of a government that restricts the freedoms of women and journalists (and especially women journalists). The book is a resource of world politics as Moaveni presents an insider's view of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rise to power. The story is even more compelling as Moaveni tells her own tale of falling in love. As she navigates Iranian wedding customs and the issues of pregnancy before marriage, the story becomes a personal one and her balance between factual and emotional writing is exceptional.

In many ways Moaveni's story is a wake-up call to be aware of things that Americans and other citizens of Western countries can take for granted - choice of dress, public playgrounds, sattelite TV, choice of children's names, uncensored internet access, freedom to associate with members of the opposite gender - and yet she paints a fair picture of Iranians in Tehran and refrains from playing the victim despite dire circumstances for her family and career. As a book that both educates and entertains, Honeymoon in Tehran is an excellent book club choice or a great read for anyone seeking a literary trip to Iran.

I got to thinking about this book a lot this week with the monumental inauguration on Tuesday. I won't deny that I'm an Obama supporter. Since meeting him in 2005, I've gained the impression that as a senator - an hopefully now as president - he sees himself as a public servant and I feel that is a role that comes across as more of a rarity in Washington these days. With that said though, I'm not one of the many celebrating January 19th as "Bush's last day in office". I don't think Bush was the villain that many have painted him as. I won't defend his decisions, but I won't criticize them either. Going back to the subject of Honeymoon in Tehran, I'm really grateful to be an American citizen. As I mentioned in my review there are so many freedoms we have in this country that people take for granted. Even those who hated Bush knew that they would have to deal with him for a maximum of eight years - and throughout those years they were able to enjoy the freedom of speaking their mind about him openly, loudly, vehemently with no penalties. Yes, I'm glad to see President Obama in office but I have a healthy salute to former President Bush for his service to our States. Republican or Democrat, Inauguration is bigger than the man in Oval Office - whether you support the current administration or not - this country is one that I'm exceptionally thankful to be part of.