Home: A Memoir of My Early Years

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years

by Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews has always been a Broadway star who I grew up dreaming to work with someday (remember, I had hoped to be a Broadway director at one point in my life).  So reading Home: A Memoir of My Early Years provided me great perspective on the author’s life.  Andrews begins with historical perspective on her heritage: three generations of Andrews/Wells families.  While Andrews shares her own naiveté, she actually lived a pretty difficult life in England as a youth.  Moving between her father’s and mother’s homes after a divorce, she helped raise a sibling and faced a great deal of poverty. She is encouraged to pursue singing/acting through her mother and stepfather’s work as performers.  At one point, Julie is the breadwinner that keeps the family afloat.  From stage productions, radio shows, television and finally to Broadway, this book goes through her life up until her role in Camelot.  She shares the various relationships with stars, dealing with alcoholic parents, a stepfather who borders on the line of sexually abusive, and learning from her mother as a young adult that her biological father is not the same man who raised her.  The book serves as a bit of therapy for Julie.  It also is a coming of age book that shows how perseverance in life is what drives one to be successful.  I most enjoyed the portion of the book that brought her to NYC on a one-year deal to star in The Boy Friend, followed by a two-year run in My Fair Lady leading to Camelot.  There certainly is a great deal more but not contained in this book.   Dreams can be made in NYC – read this one to see how a Brit from a rural area can make it in the big city!

Bad Blood

Bad Blood

by John Carreyrou

An investigative non-fiction book by John Carreyrou, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, based on a tip he received about the company Theranos, a bio-tech company that hopes to revolutionize how blood screens are completed through a new technology.  In his book, Bad Blood, Carreyrou discusses the work of an entrepreneur who can’t be stopped.  The owner of the company is a young female, Elizabeth Holmes, who departed Stanford University after her sophomore year of college to become the next Steve Jobs.  Elizabeth is confident and driven with a ‘nothing will stop me’ attitude.  Holmes creates an all-star cast as her Board of Directors (George Schultz, Henry Kissinger, and other US statesmen) to help raise millions of dollars to create the mechanisms that will analyze blood without using needles and send results to the covering physician and the patient.  Deals are signed for a delivery date to Safeway (Walgreen’s) and even the military.  Along the way, we see that Holmes is a no-nonsense entrepreneur.  She runs a tight-ship but makes some unusual hiring decisions, namely her secret-lover, Sunny Balwani, who she had met at a program in China as a teenager.  Balwani is the hatchet-man at the company, and together they hire the best lawyers and instill a sense of fear in ALL staff on their team.  In the end, a whistle-blower (Tyler Schultz, George’s grandson) reveals that they are using bad data that could lead to patient death to stop the project from moving forward.  Amazing how power, greed, and never-ending drive can make smart people lie and scam so many others.  Great reporting.  Probably a Dateline episode on NBC.

Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too

Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too

by Jomny Sun

Finished another RA Favorite book, Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun. This is a ‘graphic novel’ with outstanding illustrations capturing the lessons learned by the main character, Jomny, an alien who is sent to earth by his outer space companions to learn more about the planet. And he does.  Jomny, a fairly isolated member of his community, tries to understand those he meets: the wise tree and many animals/insects (beaver, bear, bees, puppy and even an egg). Each of them attempts to teach him life lessons. Love, happiness, loneliness, and why we exist (and what for).  We go deeply into the meaning of the various ‘meetings’ that give Jomny a better understanding of life and death. The various characters open up to Jomny seeing that his curiosity is genuine.  It was a great example of being there to listen, to really be present… a lesson we all need to understand and bring into our own lives.  We can all learn a bit about ourselves when we take the time to experience life, one person at a time.  A well-written book by an artistic mastermind.  Simple, but so hard to digest.  Well worth the thirty minutes to flip the pages!

I'll Give You the Sun

I'll Give You the Sun

by Jandy Nelson

Finished another RA Favorite book, I’ll Give You the Sun by Nelson Jandy.  It is a coming-of-age story of twins, Noah and Jude, who lose their mother in a tragic accident.  The book is written in each of the children’s point of view with a juxtaposition of timeline and voice surrounding the incidents that occurred prior to and on the day of her untimely death.  The twins, inseparable in their lives, come apart with lies that keep them from comforting each other until, three years later, the pieces of their mother’s life and choices she was to make come to light.  It is a young adult book that covers issues related to sexuality, suppressing dreams, and growing up as a young teen. It reads a bit confusing at first, but as the tale unfolds, so do the details of the past.  First half dragged, second half picks up.  An interesting read for Mother’s Day.  Happy Mother’s Day all, might be a great read for younger teens who are exploring issues related to finding themselves.

Airman

Airman

by Eoin Colfer

Finished another RA favorite book, Airman, a historical novel by Eion Colfer based on his imagination coupled with a bad skydiving experience. The story is set in the 1800's at the time when the idea of flight was being developed into a reality around the world.  Declan Broekhart and his wife, pregnant at the time, are adventurers and take a hot air balloon for a ride, but they are shot down to the ground, which leads to their son, Conor, being born.  A number of years later, the family relocates to the Saltee Islands ruled by King Nicholas.  While young Conor spends his days trying to learn about aeronautics, trying to build a machine that can help him fly, the evil Marshall Bonvilain leads an effort to kill the King.  Conor is trapped in jail after being set up for killing the King, but this is not known by his family or the King’s daughter, Isabella, Conor’s friend and confidante.  Conor is placed in the dungeon as Bonvilain plots to take over the island, which has a mine full of diamonds.  Good vs. Evil is the subject of this young adult book.  Conor is led to believe that his family thinks he killed the King, while his family thinks he died in the fight over the King’s life.  The book has glimmers of Count of Monte Cristo with a bit of mistaken identity and injustices for the innocent.  Unlikely friendship, love and diamonds are all part of this one as well.

U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life)

U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life)

by Daniel Lerner & Alan Schlechter

Many students have participated in the “Science of Happiness” class at NYU.  It was the brain child of star faculty member and NYU Child Study Center doctor/professor, Jess Shatkin.  It is the most popular NYU elective offered and now a great book for all college students (and I would say all people) to read to be more successful in this very challenging world.  Daniel Lerner’s and Alan Schlecter’s book U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life) is the course in book format.  They draw much of their work from positive psychologist Dr. Marty Seligman from U Penn.  The book is broken into four parts: Strive to Thrive; Opportunities (and barriers) to Change; Student Bodies; and Positively Excellent. This ‘how to’ book, full of exercises and resources, tells stories from NYU students about how they embark on infusing these tips into their lives.  The tips include finding friends who are positive, taking care of your body, nutritional habits, sleeping trends, and understanding what makes a life worth living.  This is a must read for anyone who really wants to be accountable for their life and find ways to get through the challenges that face us.  Simple hints explained with clarity and direction.  Get this book for anyone who is planning on going to college next year (or already is there). 

Comfort Me with Apples

Comfort Me with Apples

by Ruth Reichl

A fun book to finish on my birthday as it captures things that I love…the journey of life, great food (I wish I knew how to cook!), and the gift of children (especially when one doesn’t expect them).  The book Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl tells of the author’s real-life journey through her early-thirties as a wife struggling to become a writer (a food critic at that!). Ruth and her husband, Doug, move from the east coast to the west coast and live in the quintessential Berkeley commune, a shared experience among the ‘hippie’ crowd of the 60’s.  Doug’s life as an artist starts to take off as Ruth begins to gain some modest success as a food critic.  Doug is constantly traveling, which leads Ruth to the arms of one affair followed by a second.  Ruth’s travels for her new role as a food critic take her to China, LA, and many other destinations around the world.  Eventually the marriage dissolves, and she, against her mother’s wishes, falls in love with another man, Michael, who is a producer for a television news station.  The final chapter of the book captures the couple’s inability to have a child and their decision to go with the adoption process. After receiving a newborn, the mother changes her mind, and a legal battle ensues with Michael and Ruth losing Gavi, the child they were raising for a few months.  The book ends after a trip to Barcelona for Ruth and a group of her food critic peers, returning home to find an unbelievable reality….  I won’t break the news on what happens.  The book is very special, sharing a life story of growth and adventure.  And each chapter ends with a recipe capturing the what was learned from the chapter.  Yes, food is comfort, but so is love, being with those one loves, and the ability to rise up after even the worst of circumstances.  A precious book that I’d suggest reading with some good food.

Brain on Fire

Brain on Fire

by Susannah Cahalan

Having gone through a slightly similar experience (an unknown illness for a period of time in August 2017), Susannah Cahalan’s true-life story, Brain on Fire, had a strong connection with me (please note, I did not have the same symptoms OR other horrible side effects, rather no doctor could diagnose it).  Cahalan, a writer for the New York Post, was going about her work when she suddenly felt different. She was experiencing the following symptoms: nausea, chronic migraines, forgetfulness, strange outbursts, paranoia, and hearing things.  After the saga was over, her employers suggested she document what she was experiencing and put it into a story in the daily newspaper, which later became a best-selling book.  Cahalan shares her own memories but mainly those from her doctors, family members, and friends as she lost most of what happened to her in a very short period of time.  Luckily, NYU – yes, the NYU Langone Medical Center that my wife works at – saves the day for Susannah.  While many doctors she sees thinks it may be a result of alcohol overuse, bi-polar episodes, and other mental illnesses, one doctor perseveres to determine it is a virus in the brain called NDMA.  Her horrific moments are re-lived in the book.  We all learn that viruses can kill if not discovered early.  The book is a scary reality of what we face in this world of chemicals, germs, and other unknown things in this world.  A wake-up-call book.  Quick read, not overly hard to get through, but does keep one on their toes throughout…

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese

by Gene Luen Yang

Graphic novels combine excellent drawings and engaging storylines, and this RA Favorite book, Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, meets both criterion.  Luen has three story lines: in the first, he delves into a history of Asian heritage, using the idea that monkeys, superpowers, and a lineage of value-centered morals converge into the lives of two young American boys.  The first of the two American-based stories is of Jin Wang, whose family immigrates to the San Francisco area.  He struggles to fit in as an Asian with an American culture that makes fun of the culture and language of his home country, China.  He befriends a second Asian who arrives to his high school but struggles to feel he can date American girls.  The second tale is of an American boy named Danny, whose Chinese cousin visits America every year for two weeks.  His cousin, Chin-Kee, is characterized as the racial stereotype that has pervaded our culture for decades.  Danny continues to be embarrassed by his cousin and has transferred schools after his visits.  The three independent stories are brought together when the reader learns that Danny is actually Jin Wang transformed into a white boy.  Danny fights with his cousin, and we learn he is the Monkey King, who is featured in the first story as the disciple of the God of the world. Through the battle, Jin Wang finally embraces his Chinese identity and is reunited with his Chinese friend whom he had walked away from because of the pressure to succumb to white culture.  An excellent read, not only from a visual standpoint, but also the story that captures how immigrants at a young age are pressured to give up their identity.

An Illustrated Treasury of African American Read-Aloud Stories

An Illustrated Treasury of African American Read-Aloud Stories

by Susan Kantor

Started reading the 2019-20 RAs favorite books.  It’s Easter Sunday here in Lake George.  I sat outside this morning and finished the edited stories of Susan Kantor in An Illustrated Treasury of African American Read-Aloud Stories. The book contains myths and fables; fairy tales; folk tales, friends and helpers, hawk and chicken tales, rabbit stories, biographies, stories on slavery, and a section on African-American songs.  The book was a set of inspiring stories for the RA who met with me.  She really picked a great one, especially for the youth who need to learn more about the diversity of heritages in the US.  The biographies of Arthur Ashe, Ray Charles, and Sojourner Truth in addition to the stories from Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglas give such depth of life lessons for the readers.  The myths and fables are very much in the line of Aesop’s tales.  For anyone with a young child, niece/nephew or grandchild, it would certainly be a great birthday present.  The last part contains songs from African-American lore, songs I remember from growing up: This Little Light of Mine, Kum Ba Ya, Miss Mary Mack, and He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.  Add it to your gift list!