All But My Life: A Memoir - Gerda Weissmann Klein

All But My Life: A Memoir by Gerda Weissmann Klein


I was familiar with parts of Klein's story through a documentary I showed my 8th graders each spring when we teamed up with the social studies teacher for a unit on the Holocaust. So it was both interesting and heart breaking to read her story completely.

I am starting to have a hard time rating memoirs because while the stories are usually important, I've found they're not the best written books. And my stars are usually based on both aspects. So I'll just say this one is worth the read.

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The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers - Maxwell King

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

It pains me to give this book 1 star. I was so looking forward to reading it and am a fan of Mr. Rogers and his work. This book does not do him justice.

I was a bit put off straight from the prologue where King refers to Fred Rogers as being feminine in nature. He does this several times throughout the book in different ways. I just don't see Rogers as that way. Caring? Yes. Calm? For sure. But not feminine.

The book is poorly organized and could have used a good dose of editing. The timeline is sort of chronological but also bounces back and forth some. Dates are mentioned randomly in some parts where as other sections where a date would be helpful to the reader, there is none. SO. MANY. Redundancies. The book would have been half the length if all the unnecessary repetition of information was deleted. Some sections and details were inadequately or poorly explained. Others the author went into overdrive on details and explanations that didn't add anything to the narrative of Fred Rogers life and work.

Had this not been the book chosen for both my book clubs this month, I would have quit it before I was halfway through. In fact, if you're in my local book club I give you full permission to quit it and still come to the meeting.

I wanted to love it. It is Mr. Rogers, after all. Disappointed.

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The Memory House - Rachel Hauck

The Memory House by Rachel Hauck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Oh man. So I only received a sneak peak at the first chapter from the publisher via NetGalley. The introduction to one of the main characters seems like a major departure from Rachel Hauck's usual work...and I think I'm going to love it. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest.

As noted above, I was excited to get my hands on the complete book. So thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for supplying me with an ARC. Unfortunately, I think my expectations were set a bit too high.

Beck Holiday lost her father (and her memories of him) in the attacks of 9/11. Many years later as a NYC cop, she goes a bit off the rails and gets suspended. Her suspension coincides with learning she has inherited a home in Florida. The home intersects Beck story with the story of the woman who gave it to her, Everleigh.

I think these story lines had a lot of potential; I just didn't love how they were executed. The individual stories didn't seem well organized and several story lines were dropped throughout the pages. There were also some discrepancies, which is one of my major pet peeves in books. For example, why did Beck believe that the car she noticed was a neighbor when she clearly saw the New York plates on it. Also, Beck peered out the window and saw someone in a tailored suit, but then it was really Hunter not in a suit at all. The dog preferred the dark on one page but then the light a few pages later. Simple fixes editing should have caught.

And why was it a big deal that Everleigh was pregnant? She was married when she got pregnant.

I wanted to love it. I just didn't. I didn't really connect with any of the characters. It was just okay to me.

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Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lithuania - 1941. Lina is fifteen-years-old and living the average young girl's life with her family. Until the Soviets invade her country, her town, her home. Lina, her mother, and brother are deported. This is the story of her struggle to survive.
I have read much about World War II when it involves Germany and the camps and prisoners there. Probably due to the popularity of Anne Frank and the fact I teach Night to my 8th graders. So this was branching out for me. And it was good.
While fiction, it still opened my eyes to another area of tragedy during this time. While depressing, it was also curiously uplifting. Lina is a fighter. I enjoyed her character - the personality, the development.
The book was very well-written. Engaging, informative, and inspiring.

3/4/19 Reread for book club. My above assessment and star count remain the same.

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Return to Dignity - Marilyn Skinner

Return to Dignity: Stories of Hope, Faith, Courage and Transformation by Marilyn B. Skinner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Inspiring stories of women who's lives have been changed through Living Hope Ministries.
They were hard to read at times. Not just for some of the content; what some of these ladies when through is horrific. But the way the stories were written themselves. I don't know if that is because maybe they were told orally and then written down without much editing. But the narrative timeline in each story bounces around some, and there's repetition.

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This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm - Ted Genoways

This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm by Ted Genoways
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because there was a lot of buzz over it when the governor of Nebraska refused to endorse it as the "One Book, One Nebraska" pick for 2019. I purely wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Otherwise it wouldn't have even been on my radar.

This books is both a look at one family farm during a year as well as a look back on farming history and innovation in general. There's even brief glimpses of what the future of farming might be. I'll be the first one to say I know nothing about farming. Genoways does a good job of making the more technical aspects accessible. It was far more interesting than I had hoped for when I picked it up.

I do think (although need to research to confirm) the issue Nebraska's republican governor had with the book. There are a couple of pages in the epilogue that talk about President Trump and how he won with the votes of many farmers who are now being negatively affected by his administration's policies.

A side note, the author picture on the back cover is a bit creepy.

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Girl, Wash Your Face - Rachel Hollis

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Rachel Hollis tackles 20 lies people (particularly women) believe, some truths that can counteract them, and some tips on what helped her through the debunking in her life.

I wanted to love this book. I really did. Especially since everyone I know has loved this book. But I just didn't. I didn't love it so much that I almost abandoned it multiple times, but kept pushing through because there must be some reason everyone else is giving it 4 and 5 stars. And there was some redemption at the end when a few of the topics were deeper.

I will admit, I had some reservations going in to the book. I listen to the podcast Hollis does with her husband, Dave, and her communication style just really isn't my cup of tea. I keep listening because I can relate to Dave Hollis's approach a bit more. So that might have colored my reading as well.

I have gone back and forth between 1 and 2 stars on this review. There were a couple of nuggets I took away, but I think the things the things that grated me in reading outweighed those. The whole book comes off as a long humble-brag. Rachel Hollis has certainly accomplished a lot in her short life thus far. I don't discount that. The tone of the book was off-putting to me though.

Her story of her then boyfriend/now husband was alarming. The mistreatment she allowed herself to endure for months to keep him followed by a clear demarcation and boundary setting by telling him not to contact her again. Then hours later accepting him back into her life, jumping to their marriage. Now I'm hoping we aren't getting the full picture and there was a lot of good boundaries set and couples therapy between him showing up at her door and their marriage. But I don't really know that because it's skipped over. The book basically reads: I called and told him not to contact me again...He showed up at my door...He's my husband.

Scriptures taken out of context. Wanting a thousand dollar purse because it "represented the kind of woman I dreamed of becoming." What kind of women is that...the superficial kind who determines who women are based on a purse? Saying not to set limits to your dreams and then having several dreams of her own to accomplish before 40. It goes on.

There were some basic truths I could get on board with in some of the chapters. But the delivery wasn't for me. And the other issues in the book were just too much for me to settle on more than a star.

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