Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History | Book Review
Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History by Helene Stapinski Original Publication Date: 2001 Genres: Crime, Memoir, Non-Fiction Source: I purchased this book Goodreads With deadpan humor and obvious affection, Five-Finger Discount recounts the story of an unforgettable New Jersey family of swindlers, bookies, embezzlers, and mobster-wannabes. In the memoir Mary Karr calls “a page-turner,” Helene Stapinski ingeniously weaves the checkered history of her hometown of Jersey City—a place known for its political corruption and industrial blight—with the tales that have swirled around her relatives for decades. Navigating a childhood of toxic waste and tough love, Stapinski tells an extraordinary tale at once heartbreaking and hysterically funny. Five-Finger Discount Is About…
The Fur Person | Book Review
The Fur Person by May Sarton Original Publication Date: 1957 Genres: Animals, Fiction, Memoir Source: I purchased this book Goodreads In The Fur Person, May Sarton fictionalized an account of her cat Tom Jones’s life and adventures prior to making the author’s acquaintance begins with a fiercely independent, nameless street cat who follows the ten commandments of the Gentleman Cat—including “A Gentleman Cat allows no constraint of his person, not even loving constraint.” But after several years of roaming, Tom has grown tired of his vagabond lifestyle, and he concludes that there might be some appeal after all in giving up the freedom of street life for a loving home.…
Tisha: The Wonderful True Love Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaskan Wilderness | Book Review
Tisha: The Wonderful True Love Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaskan Wilderness by Robert Specht, Anne Purdy Original Publication Date: 1976 Genres: Adventure, Memoir, Non-Fiction Source: I purchased this book Goodreads Anne Hobbs was only nineteen in 1927 when she came to harsh and beautiful Alaska. Running a ramshackle schoolhouse would expose her to more than just the elements. After she allowed Native American children into her class and fell in love with a half-Inuit man, she would learn the meanings of prejudice and perseverance, irrational hatred, and unconditional love. “People get as mean as the weather,” she discovered, but they were also capable of great good. As…
Drinking: A Love Story | Book Review
Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp Original Publication Date: 1996 Genres: Memoir Source: I purchased this book Goodreads Fifteen million Americans a year are plagued with alcoholism. Five million of them are women. Many of them, like Caroline Knapp, started in their early teens and began to use alcohol as “liquid armor,” a way to protect themselves against the difficult realities of life. In this extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Knapp offers important insights not only about alcoholism but about life itself and how we learn to cope with it. Drinking: A Love Story is a book about alcoholism and about one woman’s fight to get her life back.…
Cheaper by the Dozen | Book Review
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr., Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Original Publication Date: 1948 Genres: Memoir Source: I purchased this book Goodreads What do you get when you put twelve lively kids together with a father—a famous efficiency expert—who believes families can run like factories, and a mother who is his partner in everything except discipline? You get a hilarious tale of growing up that has made generations of kids and adults alike laugh along with the Gilbreths in Cheaper by the Dozen. Translated into more than fifty-three languages and made into numerous films over the years — including a classic 1950 film starring Myrna Loy and a…
