An intimate and moving account of a singular bond.
In this debut memoir, a woman describes her unconventional relationship with her mother, a teenage parent.
“She was fifteen; he was nineteen….Vietnam was raging,” writes Aaronson in her opening chapter. With the imminent possibility of young men being called to serve overseas in the war, sex seemed like the “next natural step” for the teenage couple. They broke up soon after, with Cindy—the author’s mother—later discovering she was pregnant. Compelled to marry, Aaronson’s parents divorced while she was still a baby. The author describes being raised by a young and inexperienced single mom and the burgeoning understanding that Aaronson was meant not only to be her mother’s daughter, but also her “mother’s mother.” As a child, the author was taken to pot parties where she earned the lifelong moniker Doobie. Growing older, she recalls the freedom given to her by her mother and how they became great friends. Their bond was tightened in later life when Cindy (who changed her name to Briana in the late 1970s) fell ill, first with multiple sclerosis and then cancer. As a caregiver, Aaronson recounts her mother’s treatment and use of holistic therapies. The author’s writing is plainly conversational in tone, on occasion addressing readers directly: “You may be wondering how my dad and grandparents fit into this orbit of my mom’s and mine.” Although straightforward, Aaronson’s approach has a disarming charm and is warmly intuitive: “She had grown up adoring her baby dolls, and I was basically her most extraordinary one yet, being live and all.” The author includes transcriptions of her text exchanges with her mom, which add a deeper layer of intimacy, although certain conversations may make some readers uncomfortable: “Her: I’m feeling very anxious right now. My damn stoma has herniated and it’s sticking out really far! Great / Me: Oh no! What the??? Don’t worry…I’ll stick it back in at the airport.” Those who are skeptical about alternative therapies and mediumship may also struggle with this book. Illustrated with family photographs, this frank and affecting work is a deeply personal celebration of maternal love that avoids the pitfall of being narrowly anecdotal by exploring broader issues of personal identity, family lineage, and struggles with grief.
An intimate and moving account of a singular bond.Pub Date: June 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73646-050-4
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Astoria Books
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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