Olivia Chow’s memoir is an inspirational account of her rise from immigrant poverty and a troubled childhood to a position of fame, influence and respect. It is also about how she found and lost the great love of her life.
Category: Non fiction reviews
A review of Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois P Frankel
While a book of “do’s” rather than “don’ts” might have been more positive, Frankel draws readers in with her warm tone, entertaining writing style and assurances that no one makes all of the 133 errors she identifies. The book contains some good general advice for women in or out of the work force; for instance, her admonition to be discriminating about helping others, and not letting people waste our time.
A review of Get it Done — From Procrastination to Creative Genius in 15 minutes a day by Sam Bennett
The book is full of strategies, worksheets, anecdotes, and guidance to help the reader deal with perfectionism, procrastination, lack of focus. Instead of judging the procrastinator, Bennett shows how something valuable and powerful in the procrastinator is causing the delay. She highlights the hidden potential, the perfectionist fears, and the capabilities in such a way that the cynical reader actually believes her.
A review of Kitchens and Gadgets 1920 to 1950 by Jane H. Celehar
I have collected Depression Era kitchen glassware along with gadgets, gizmos and thingamajigs for many years. Some I noticed in use in the kitchens of my grandmother and aging aunts. Others I have discovered at garage sales, in jumble shops, and estate sales. Some of the pieces I own are suspended from ceiling hooks, or rest on the walls in my kitchen and breakfast nook, and, some are in use when I slice a tomato or open a can. This particular paperback is my own and has proven itself vital over the many years I have scanned its pages searching for yet another captivating doohickey whose name and function may be as yet unfamiliar to me.
Tourists with Typewriters: Writers in the Sternthal-Klugman film The Words and Lucy Fischer’s book Body Double
There are many writers in many films. In Body Double, a book of eight chapters, with acknowledgements, afterword, notes, filmography, bibliography, and index, University of Pittsburgh English and Film Studies professor Lucy Fischer gathers together for examination a great bunch of films in which writers appear—Naked Lunch, Smoke, Deconstructing Harry, Paris When It Sizzles, Barton Fink, Adaptation, How Is Your Fish Today?, Swimming Pool, The Singing Detective, and Providence, among others.
On Gertrude Stein, and Tragedy and Transcendence in Stein: Writings 1903-1932
In reading some of the description of Gertrude Stein’s life, and how she came to be an art patron—a friend to artists, an owner of their work, a facilitator of relationships—I was impressed by how intimate and simple were the lives of now famous artists, how vivid the memory. One artist spreads news of the work of another artist, Pissarro talking with others about Cezanne; or one gallerist, Vollard, introducing Cezanne, Daumier, Manet, Renoirs, and Gauguin to those who might appreciate them.
A review of Fast Fiction: A Guide to Outlining and Writing a First-Draft Novel in Thirty Days by Denise Jaden
The book is designed to be used in a kinaesthetic way – through practical exercises that take the writer from the brainstorming of story ideas through to a three-act plot, writing a workable synopsis, creating characters, working up dialogue, themes, setting, building conflict, using symbols, setting scenes, and working up a cohesive story plan (call it an outline if you want). All of these are elements of good fiction, and Jaden covers them in a surprising amount of detail and in a way which is not facile at all.
A review of Rare Breeds by Terry Bridge
All in all the book is well written, provides a wealth of information regarding many agricultural animals, is filled with many photos of animals often not seen any more. Humans have long bred critters to improve productivity, the few breeds used today mean many of the rarer, interesting breeds are being ignored. Realizing the importance of maintaining gene pool capability enables enthusiasts who are setting up small breeding programs to conserve for the future farm animals for future generations to know and enjoy.
A review of More Generals in Gray by Bruce S. Allardice
Not only does Allardice bring to the fore the lives of these men, but, he clarifies the procedure for achieving rank during the period including that the procedure of becoming a general was often filled with prompting carried out by the man himself, or his friends, or men with whom he served, and the like; as well as unassuming coincidence of time and place with need leading to the ranking General brevetting to brigadier as well as maneuvering, politics, simple chance, or his service in state militia with accomplishment of rank there and carry over to Confederate records, politics, and even mismanagement.
A review of The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Ignore this kind of stuff and unless you win some kind of book lotto, your book will almost certainly fall into the obscurity that is an ever-present risk of modern authordom. What I like best about Howard-Johnson’s book is the simple, informal prose which is both warmly reassuring (‘of course you can do this’), and deceptively intelligent. The reader is encouraged and reminded of his or her own innate capabilities even as they’re goaded onto to raising the bar.