The Bee Cottage Story: How I Made a Muddle of Things and Decorated My Way Back to Happiness

            Frances Schultz, the author, can list several accomplishments to her resume. She is a blogger (FrancesSchultz.com), author and co-author of several books, a contributing editor to House Beautiful, has appeared on several television shows, and more. Here she presents a combination memoir and home decorating guide; showing us her inner soul and her home and how she was able to develop both.

            The reader learns about Frances’s abilities and accomplishments during her early years, in her career and the social/emotional realm. Yet as she approached the age of fifty, she broke off a relationship just before the wedding because she realized that she wasn’t being true to herself and her fiance. At loose ends, Frances decided to cope psychologically by throwing herself into a renovation project. Before she broke off her engagement, Frances, with her fiance’s approval, had purchased a small cottage in East Hampton. She threw herself into the project; its details are recorded here with helpful decorating guidelines and accompanied by appealing before-and-after photographs taken by Trevor Tondro.    

            Happily, Frances succeeds in both creating her new home and recovering emotionally. This book is based upon the House Beautiful magazine series on the makeover of Bee Cottage.

            

Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman's Prison

            This memoir, written by Piper Kerman, a Smith College graduate and advertising executive, details her imprisonment in a minimum-security federal prison for a little over a year. As part of a post-graduate fling, Piper travelled with a female friend who was a drug trafficker and eventually helped her by transporting drug money. Years later the friend identified Piper, as well as others, as an accomplice; Piper was arrested by the FBI for drug trafficking.  Legal matters caused the imprisonment to be postponed for another few years. Finally, Piper had to leave her boyfriend,  family, friends and job to turn herself in.

            From here, the narrative follows two themes. One is that the female prisoners that Piper lives with are often victims of poverty, little education and challenging family relationships; because prison life does not retrain them for self-sufficiency the prisoners often return to their lives of crime. The second theme is that of Piper’s maturation during her prison stay; she becomes acutely aware of the value of family members and friends who unconditionally support her during this time.  

            Although the reader might wonder at the validity of Piper’s observations, being that she is an upper-middle class white woman in the midst of poverty-stricken women of color, at the end of the book Piper does offer suggestions on how she and the readers of her book might help these prisoners improve their lots in life.

October Birthdays

    Celebrate October by reading up on the lives of celebrities who have birthdays this month.

October 1st: Former President Jimmy Carter:
  1.Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: the Georgia Years, 1924-1974; written by E. Stanly Godbold, a professor of history, it examines the lives of both Carters prior to his election to the presidency
  2.White House Diary; written by the former president, it is an edited and annotated version of the diary he kept during his White House years

October 1st: Singer, actress and author Julie Andrews
  1.Home: a Memoir of My Early Years; written by Andrews and covering her life between birth and Walt Disney’s discovery of her in 1962
  2.Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies; a collection selected by Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton

October 2nd: Musician Sting
  1.Sting, Back on the Beat: a Biography; written by Christopher Sanford, a rock music critic, it traces Sting’s career from a schoolteacher, to his work with The Police, to his successes as a solo artist

October 16th: Actress and author Suzanne Somers
  1.I’m Too Young for this!: the Natural Hormone Solution to Enjoy Perimenopause; written by this talk show host and natural health writer; this is her twenty-fourth book

October 26th: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
  1.Living History, written by Clinton herself about her years in politics, first as a partner in her husband’s career and then as a senator from New York
  2.Bill and Hillary: the Politics of the Personal, details the political partnership and personal relationship of the Clintons

A Stolen Life: A Memoir

Here is Jaycee Dugard’s life story, in her own words, recounting the events surrounding her abduction, imprisonment and eventual return home eighteen years later. As an eleven-year-old girl snatched from her school bus stop by previously convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy, Jaycee’s horrifying experiences were just beginning. Aside from repeated sexual attacks by Phillip, resulting in Jaycee’s first pregnancy at the age of fourteen and the birth of two daughters, Jaycee also was forced to live in filthy backyard outbuildings and act compliantly towards her captors. She was instructed to tell her daughters that she was their older sister and Nancy their mother. Despite this psychological oppression, Jaycee managed to raise and educate her two daughters as normally as possible; although several times she does wonder aloud (to the reader) how her life might have been different if she hadn’t been abducted. But throughout the whole book we are in awe of Jaycee’s strength under impossible circumstances. This is a true survival story.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir

Written by Elizabeth McCracken, this is an exploration of the author’s feelings during a tumultuous time in her life. Recently married, she and her husband Edward, both writers, temporarily move to France on work assignments. Elizabeth discovers she is pregnant and the couple spends the next several months in a blissful state, enjoying both the pleasurable elements of French culture and the exciting promise of future parenthood. Then the unthinkable happens; in her ninth month of pregnancy Elizabeth senses that something is wrong with the baby. She is rushed first to the clinic and then to the hospital where she delivers a stillborn son. Inconsolable in her grief, even though her husband is very supportive, Elizabeth falls into the depths of depression. We are present in all her thoughts and feelings. Not long after this she becomes pregnant again, hoping against hope that she will deliver a healthy baby. Even when Elizabeth does deliver a healthy second son, Gus, she still has a place in her heart for their first child and asserts that this book is a memorial to him.

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy

Author Carlos Eire presents a memoir of his upper middle class childhood in Cuba, spanning the years between Batista’s rule and the ascension of Fidel Castro. Eire describes his early youth as one of privilege and enjoyment; the reckless pleasures of rough play activities with his friends and father is contrasted with the strict religious education he receives from the monks at his school. His family members and friends are depicted lovingly and humorously; the portrayal of his father the judge who believes that he is the reincarnation of King Louis the Sixteenth is hilarious. The characterizations of people that Eire does not like explode with rage.

As Castro comes into power, Eire’s family finds that their range of freedoms narrows. In 1962, their parents send Carlos and his brother Tony to the United States during Operation Peter Pan, where they endure life-altering changes. Eventually their mother joins them but their father remains behind in Cuba.

Eire’s lyrical prose accentuates the emotional timbre of his account, allowing the reader to empathize with his plight.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

Prolific writer/humorist Bill Bryson treats baby boomers and others to his experiences growing up during the 1950s and 1960s. As the youngest child of journalist parents, Bill grew up in Iowa during simpler times, when the United States was king of the consumer world and the fear of nuclear bomb attack was managed with practice air raid drills. Cigarette smoking, sex, movie theaters, country fairs, and baseball are just some of the topics Bryson examines with humor and a touch of nostalgia.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia

Here is author Elizabeth Gilbert’s account of her quest for spiritual, psychological and physical balance after a divorce and other personal problems upset her well-being. Ever the traveler in her work as a freelance writer, Liz plans to visit three countries over the course of a year in order to escape her deep depression and regain her joy of living. Her choices are: Italy, to sample the ultimate in fine cuisine and enjoy their effect on her five senses; India, to study at an Ashram belonging to a guru she met in Manhattan; and Indonesia, where her desire is “to learn . . . how to live in this world and enjoy its delights, but also devote my self to God”. Along the way she makes new friends and finds true love.

New Biographies

Whether the setting is Hollywood or network television or Broadway, reading the biographies of the stars can be a fascinating experience.

Life with my Sister Madonna, by Christopher Ciccone, is a memoir written by the younger brother and personal assistant of music legend Madonna. He recreates their work and travel experiences throughout her career; it includes the inside scoop about Madonna’s many transformations and ordeals.

Audition: A Memoir, written by Barbara Walters, is a no-holds barred account of Ms. Walters’ remarkable rise through the ranks of television journalism. Her interviews and experiences with many of the world’s most influential people in politics, royalty, show business, and more provide the reader with quite a few “you are there” experiences.

Home: A Memoir of my Early Years, written by Julie Andrews, details the singer/actress’s youth, from childhood to her late twenties during the 1940s to 1960s. As a member of a family act in England’s music hall circuit, Julie’s big voice leads her to fame in London’s theater district and New York’s Broadway, where she meets many theater and music legends along the way.

These and many other biographies are available at the library.

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

Ruth Reichl, currently the editor of “Gourmet” magazine, tells of her experiences as the New York Times restaurant critic during the 1990s. Although Ruth’s career in the food industry included stints as chef, restaurant owner, food writer and restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times, none of these posts prepared her for such an exalted position as that of the New York Times food critic. Operating in this competitive atmosphere required fortitude, an encyclopedic knowledge of all foods and cuisines, and a sense of the dramatic. In order to accurately assess each restaurant, Reichl developed a variety of characters and dressed them in an assortment of wigs, makeup and clothing. Then each of these personalities anonymously visited the restaurants to evaluate their menus and to see how they behaved toward typical customers. Sensual descriptions of food, hilarious accounts of the New York City restaurant culture, and some of Ruth’s favorite recipes enliven the pages of this book.

Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog

Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, written by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Grogan, is a memoir based on John and Jenny Grogan's often hysterical yet heartwarming adventures with their 97-pound Golden Labrador Retriever. Impulsively purchased when the couple was newly married so that they could practice their parenting skills before having children, the Grogans unknowingly selected a dog whose neurotic traits made it difficult to control him. While obedience training eventually took hold (somewhat), the family, including the three children who arrived in due course, valued Marley for his fierce loyalty and his joie de vivre. A film based on this book is in the works and is scheduled for release on Christmas 2008.