Bogormen

Title: Dare to Do
Author: Sarah Outen
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 288 pages
Date read: January, 2017

On 1 April 2011, rower and adventurer Sarah Outen set off in her kayak from Tower Bridge for France. her aim was simple: to circle the globe entirely under her own steam - cycling, kayaking and rowing across Europe, Asia, the Pacific, North America, the Atlantic and eventually home. A year later, Sarah was plucked from the Pacific ocean after tropical storm Mawar, her boat broken, her spirit even more so.

But that wasn't the end. Despite ill health and depression, giving up was not an option. So Sarah set off once more to finish what she had started, becoming the first woman to row solo from Japan to Alaska, as well as the first woman to row the mid-Pacific from West to East. She kayaked the treacherous Aleutian chain and cycled North America, before setting out on the Atlantic, despite the risk of another row-ending storm...


I've been wanting to read this book pretty much ever since I first heard of it... which was while Sarah was still on her London2London expedition, so it's been awhile :)

Sarah Outen's first book, "A Dip in the Ocean" was a clear 5-star book, and this came very close to being the same, but unfortunately it suffered somewhat from the expedition being so much longer, and the book (by necessity) therefore couldn't go into as much detail.

I still loved reading it though. Granted, I knew much of it in advance from following Sarah Outen's blog and youtube channel, but it was still great to have it all wrapped up here, and I enjoyed living vicariously through her experiences... well knowing that there's no WAY I could follow in her footsteps in reality. Didn't make it any less fascinating to read about - probably quite the contrary.

My one complaint is that there wasn't nearly enough photos for my liking - only 8 pages worth - but fortunately the rest are easily found online.

Title: Wrong Way Round: One Country, One Camper Trailer, One Family, One Amazing Adventure
Author: Lorna Hendry
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 238
Date read: April, 2016

'Mate, I reckon you're going about this all wrong. For the first month, you're only going to be a day's drive from Melbourne. If it was me, I'd get her across the Nullarbor quick smart so she can't nick off home.' When Lorna Hendry, her husband James and young kids left Melbourne on a one-year trip around Australia in a 4WD with a camper trailer (having only been camping once before they left), they ignored all advice and drove across the Nullarbor and up the west coast of Australia .

They may have been travelling the wrong way around Australia, but it was the best decision they ever made. Lorna returned to Melbourne three years later, having crossed deserts and rivers, taken ill-advised short cuts in the most remote areas of the country, stood on the western edge and the northern tip of the country, stumbled onto its geographic centre, and lived in remote communities in Western Australia.

Wrong Way Round is a story about four people who had to get out of the city to become a family. It's about this beautiful and harsh country. And it's about the adventures that you can have if you step outside of your door and turn left instead of right.


Not the best book ever for a readathon, as it was rather slow reading, but man, I loved it! This is one of the best travelogues I've read in a long time, and I loved living vicariously through the experiences of Lorna and her family. It made me want to go back to Australia and explore more of the country (I've seen depressingly little of it), although I'm not quite sure I could be as loosey-goosey with the planning as they were ;) Still, it made for fascinating reading.

My only complaint was that there weren't enough photos! There were a few pages at the end, but that was it. I would have appreciated seeing more of those - although Lorna did do an excellent job of putting them into words.

I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to come back to 'every day life' after an adventure like that.

Title: Take It As a Compliment
Author: Maria Stoian
Genre: graphic memoir
Rating:
# pages: 100
Date read: February 2016

Bringing together the voices of males and females of all ages, the stories in this collective graphic memoir reflect real life experiences of sexual abuse, violence and harassment.

Covering acts such as sexual violence, public sexual harassment, domestic abuse and child abuse, this is a reminder for survivors that they are not alone and a call for all of us to take action. The stories clearly show that assault of any type is not an honour bestowed on anyone. It is not a compliment.


I don't know how to rate this book. It seems completely inappropriate to set a star rating on it. It is an absolutely brilliant and powerful book. It is an incredibly heartbreaking and loosing-faith-in-humanity book.

But beyond all that, it is an important book. All the stories are so raw - so real. My jaw kept dropping at the horribleness of it all.

A trigger warning is in order. I'm fortunate enough that I've never experienced unwanted sexual attention or harrassment, but I know too many people who have, and am afraid that those women will find this book only too relatable.

But hopefully it will also vindicate them. Rape culture is a thing. Victim-shaming is a thing. We need to stand up and talk about it - let the victims know that we believe them, and that we will not stand for it.

"Take It As A Compliment" is a quick read, but not an easy one. I applaud all the people who let their voices be heard in this collection of graphic short stories. It can't have been easy, but it was necessary. So to all of you - thank you.

Title: Only in Naples: Lessons in Food and Famiglia from My Italian Mother-in-Law
Author: Katherine Wilson
Genre: Memoir, Cultural
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 304
Date read: January, 2016

I love living vicariously through other people - especially on travels - so the minute I saw the description of "Only in Naples", I knew it would be right up my aisle. Katherine Wilson travels to Napoli - originally only for 6 months - and ends up falling in love with the city, the people, the mentality and the language... and when her future husband's family take her in as one of their own, she knew she was never going back.

The first few chapters were a bit slow-moving. I got slightly frustrated with Katherine at times, and wasn't sure where she was going with her memoir. As she became more familiar with the country and its customs the frustrations lessened though, and before long it came to the point that I smiled involuntarily just from picking up the book, because its charm had so completely captivated me that I felt like I knew these people, and were reading about friends of mine.

Originally I'd assumed it to be a travelogue, but it's more a story of an unexpecting ex-pat falling in love with a new country. As such, it didn't inspire my wanderlust, as much as it made me relive my own experiences abroad, and I therefore connected with the book on a different level than I had expected, and found it intensely relateable.

Highly recommendable.

Title: Cooking as Fast as I Can: A Chef's Story of Family, Food and Forgiveness
Author: Cat Cora
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 256
Date read: September, 2015

Before she became a celebrated chef, Cathy Cora was just a girl from Jackson, Mississippi, where days were slow and every meal was made from scratch. Her passion for the kitchen started in her home, where she spent her days internalizing the dishes that would form the cornerstone of her cooking philosophy incorporating her Greek heritage and Southern upbringing - from crispy fried chicken and honey-drenched biscuits to spanakopita. But outside the kitchen, Cat's life was volatile.

In Cooking as Fast as I Can, Cat Cora reveals, for the first time, coming-of-age experiences from early childhood sexual abuse to the realities of life as a lesbian in the deep South. She shares how she found her passion in the kitchen and went on to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and apprentice under Michelin star chefs in France. After her big break as a co-host on the Food Network's Melting Pot, Cat broke barriers by becoming the first-ever female Iron Chef.



Full disclosure: I knew nothing about Cat Cora prior to picking up this book. However, I've long been interested in chef's memoirs, so I knew I wanted to read it all the same.

As many memoirs it was a bit slow to start, but after about 50 pages, it quickly made up for it and I found it difficult to put down. Cat's journey from cooking at home with her grandmother to being the first female Iron Chef and opening her own restaurants was absolutely fascinating, and certainly made me try my hand at cooking some of her delicious-sounding meals as well!

The story of Cat's rise to stardom was nicely seasoned with anecdotes from her more private life, and I appreciated the insight we got into her family, her relationships and her personal life in general. Cat Cora arose from the pages as a fully formed human being, instead of merely a 2-dimensional chef.

I'll have to check her out on youtube, and see if I can find any of her Iron Chef competitions.

Title: Angry Conversations with God
Author: Susan E. Isaacs
Genre: Christian non-fiction, Memoir
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 252
Date read: June 2015, August 2021

Disillusioned, disenfranchised, and disinterested in anything churchy, Susan Isaacs knew of only one thing to do when she hit spiritual rock bottom at age 40.... She took God to couples counseling.

In this cuttingly poignant memoir, Susan Isaacs chronicles her rocky relationship with the Almighty--from early childhood to midlife crisis--and all the churches where she and God tried to make a home: Pentecostals, Slackers for Jesus, and the über-intellectuals who turned everything, including the weekly church announcements, into a three-point sermon. Casting herself as the neglected spouse, Susan faces her inner nag and the ridiculous expectations she put on God--some her own, and some from her "crazy in-laws" at church.


Very interesting and thought-provoking book. I love the idea of taking God to couple's counselling, because while at the end of the day, I'd be the one who had to change, hopefully - like Susan - my perception of God would have to change along the way.

And it brought up some really deep issues - do we expect everything to go our way, and that God will bless our every endeavour, just because we believe? How do we cope when God's every answer doesn't seem to be "yes and amen", but a door shut in our face? How can we see the big picture and trust Him when we're in the middle of the dark time of the soul? (I keep wanting to write "the dark tea-time of the soul" - darn you, Douglas Adams!)

Definitely a book that has given me a lot of food for thought. I found myself highlighting passages all over the place, so I'm glad I got it as an ebook!

Title: Displacement
Author: Lucy Knisley
Genre: Graphic memoir
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 161
Date read: June, 2015

Knisley volunteers to watch over her ailing grandparents on a cruise. In a book that is part graphic memoir, part travelogue, and part family history, Knisley not only tries to connect with her grandparents, but to reconcile their younger and older selves. She is aided in her quest by her grandfather s WWII memoir, which is excerpted. Readers will identify with Knisley s frustration, her fears, her compassion, and her attempts to come to terms with mortality, as she copes with the stress of travel complicated by her grandparents frailty.


Not as good as Lucy Knisley's other books, and certainly the saddest of the lot, as it focuses on Lucy's experience seeing her grandparents growing older and less competent. In that regard, I thought it an incredibly true and honest account.

Unfortunately it also made me incredibly frustrated on Lucy's behalf, and infuriated at how other people treated her and her grandparents - up to and including her own family!

Fortunately, there were also some really adorable moments - like when Lucy finally got her grandparents into the pool - and all in all I rather liked the book, and definitely want to read more of Lucy Knisley's work.

Title: A Dip in the Ocean
Author: Sarah Outen
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 310
Date read: April 2015, April 2024

Four-thousand miles of unpredictable ocean, 500 chocolate bars, 124 days of physical exertion, three Guinness World Records, and one incredible journey

On April 1, 2009, brave 23-year-old Sarah Outen embarked on an ambitious solo voyage across the Indian Ocean in her rowing boat, Dippers. Powered by the grief of the sudden loss of her father and the determination to live life to the fullest, Sarah and her tiny boat successfully negotiated wild ocean storms, unexpected encounters with whales, and the continuous threat of being capsized by passing container ships. Along the way she broke two oars, ate 500 chocolate bars, and lost 20 kg of bodyweight before arriving in Mauritius. She became the first woman and the youngest person to row solo across the Indian Ocean.


Absolutely fascinating memoir! Very well written, and so interesting! Parts had me crying and parts had me cheering. I seriously cannot even imagine setting out on such a huge adventure / challenge alone though! I'd be completely terrified. But I love living vicariously through others, and this book was right up there with "Changing Gears: A Family Odyssey to the End of the World" by Nancy Sathre-Vogel in how much it captivated me.

I need to google Sarah Outen now, and read more about the London2London trip she mentioned in her afterword. Perhaps there's a book out on that as well?

Highly recommendable for people who like to be adventurous through others.

Title: Tender at the Bone
Author: Ruth Reichl
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 320
Date read: October, 2014

At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be a way of making sense of the world. . . . If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciously crafted memoir, Tender at the Bone, is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by a passion for food, unforgettable people, and the love of tales well told. Beginning with Reichl's mother, the notorious food-poisoner known as the Queen of Mold, Reichl introduces us to the fascinating characters who shaped her world and her tastes, from the gourmand Monsieur du Croix, who served Reichl her first soufflé, to those at her politically correct table in Berkeley who championed the organic food revolution in the 1970s.

I read "Garlic and Sapphires" a couple of years ago and LOVED it, so I had great hopes for "Tender at the Bone". Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to my expectations. It was good enough, but not as good as I had hoped for.

It was interesting to hear about Ruth Reichl's background though - it was very different from what I had expected, purely based on G&S. Can't have been easy with a bipolar mother to contend with.

Title: Sleeping Solo: One Woman's Journey Into Life After Marriage
Author: Audrey Faye
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 51
Date read: September 2014

I don't really feel right rating this book. How can you "grade" somebody's personal experience? Fortunately the goodreads rating system (which I've adopted here too) is based on how much you like a book, and not how good you think it is from a literary standpoint. That helps.

"Sleeping Solo" is Debora Geary's first book under her new pen-name, and does a lot to explain why she had to change pen-names, and why she could no longer remain Debora Geary.

It's a fascinating book about the first 8 months of her life post-divorce, and invites you a look into her journey from a married woman to a single mother.

Personally I am amazed at how quickly she was able to regroup - had I not known the timeline I would have assumed these events took place over a couple of years rather than 8 months - but each person regroups in their own fashion, and while I do believe some ways are healthier than others, it does seem as if Audrey Faye chose the way that was best and healthiest for her.

It's a deeply personal account, that doesn't claim to offer any advice or "truth" for other people in a similar situation, but is simply a writer's way of reacting to a deeply personal and transitional set of circumstances.

I appreciated reading it, and getting to know a bit more about the person behind some of my favourite books.