Mad Girl's Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson Review

Mad Girl's Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this biography right up to the very end. I felt like it blamed Hughes for Sylvia's death. Look the biographer may know more about the situation from the letters and the archives but at the end of the day they know the same amount about Hughes and Plath's relationship as I do: nothing. Those two know what went down in their relationship. Of course you have recollection from third party sources but serious it was their relationship. And seeing as it's a biographer's job to be impartial (It should be anyway) that last bit really upset me.

But for the most part this was a well written biography. I like that it focused on the early years. I really enjoyed it up until the end.



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I guess going by the subtitle I should have known Hughes wouldn't come out smelling like roses but I did not pay attention to that. A really nice biography but not as impartial as biographer should be. At least with the end of the book and the afterword.

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The Bronte Sisters by Catherine Reef Review

The Brontë Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne by Catherine Reef

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is around the fifth biography I've checked out on a Bronte but only the first that I have finished. I have the massive tome by Juliet Barker but I was overwhelmed when I opened it. I've started and put down several more.

I felt I needed something light to introduce me fully to the sisters. Currently I've only read one book from Charlotte but it really made an impression on me. I've started both Shirley and Vilette but I haven't finished them yet. The same goes for Anne's Agnes Grey.

But reading this I felt like I got a good overview of them. And I reacted to it. Near the end with the family tragedies. I really felt upset. I don't know what it was about this particular book but yeah. I knew how they all died of course but I didn't really feel it until I read this.

I think this a good introduction to the family and it's easy to read. Four stars.



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I am all about biographies this year it seems. Hell I just ordered a book how how to write a biography so....yeeeah.

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Rough Magic by Paul Alexander Review

Rough Magic: A Biography Of Sylvia Path by Paul Alexander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I started this book near the end of last year. I had bought the ebook a few months back but I didn't start on it right away.

When I started reading this I grew more interested in Sylvia. It's safe to say that I already had an interest since I bought journals, then the collected poems, and then finally this. But it wasn't until I dug into the bio that I really became fascinated with Sylvia.

Her life at the surface seems so different from mine. She's from New England, both her parents were professors. But I was struck how similar we seemed. Both academic and literary minded. While I was reading the bio I dug into the journals again. It literally felt to me like it was something I would write. I just connected with her.

This book has given me a greater knowledge of her and has truly made me appreciate her work. I also like Alexander's writing style. It was very readable and I liked the structure of it.

For my first book of 2014 I'm glad it was this one.



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Girl in Need of a Tourniquet by Merri Lisa Johnson Review

Girl in Need of a Tourniquet: Memoir of a Borderline Personality by Merri Lisa Johnson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've been looking for memoirs and biographies that focus on borderline for awhile. I finally decided to buy one and this was it.

And I'm glad I bought it. I received this book today and I have just finished reading it. I actually sat down and read the whole thing with a brief break to tell my mother "This book is it. This book is everything."

I liked the way it was structured with anecdotes and brief excerpts from psych literature and sometimes normal literature. I immediately connected to the author when she opened comparing herself to Lisa Lopes from TLC. I liked that this book didn't seem stuffy. It was raw and real. The emotions she felt I feel too.

Like for example she writes about when she was diagnosed she googled it and she wrote "I'm going to be the best borderline." I mean...that is me to a T.

And she wrote about using her intelligence as a shield...again me to a T.

This was a beautiful book and I heartily recommend it.



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Currently Reading

Hey guys! I'm still reading over on my end and of course buying more books haha. I actually bought a few more books than I usually do at the local Walmart. But it's been a whole year since I've been to Barnes and Noble and I let my membership expire...oops.

But anyway I'm currently alternating between these two books. I started Home Girls yesterday. One essay in particular really spoke to me and how I feel as a black woman in America. The author says that she has no connection to her African roots because her ancestors weren't allowed to keep their old rituals. I've been feeling like this a lot. I would love to know what country my ancestors were from and what were their customs. Maybe one day when I have better finances I can find this out with that DNA testing ha.

The second book I bought yesterday. I've just decided to study more seriously for the GED test and I want to attend college. I want to make a better life for myself, you know? I bought this book because of the summary and plus I'll admit I sort of have a thing for self-help books haha. I can't help it alright!

So anyway that's what I'm currently reading. What about you guys? Anything interesting? Let's talk about it!

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Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin by Marion Meade Review

Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin Writers Running Wild in the Twenties by Marion Meade

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I became fascinated with the twenties when I happened to stumble on two different young adult series set in the 1920s. I loved those books and like with a lot of my interests, I immediately sought out books and other things that took place in the 1920s.

This book was one of the books I bought last year along with Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern. I read Flapper at the end of last year and was slightly disappointed in it.

I was in for a surprise when I started to read this book. The narration read like a novel. I found that a bit weird at first, but I got used to it. It made me feel like I was really there, instead of just a collection of facts. It felt more personal.

I had already been fascinated by Dorothy Parker so I was very excited to read about her. But the other women (Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edna Ferber, and Zelda Fitzgerald to name a few) was just as exciting. I'm now looking for individual biographies on each woman. I want to know more about them, I want to read their works. As a writer myself, I'm always fascinated to learn about women writers.

So I give this book 5 stars. It was an interesting look at the lives of different writers throughout the Roaring Twenties. I will also be reading Ms. Meade's bio on Dorothy Parker and Victoria Woodhall.



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The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives

Life & Death of Anne Boleyn: The Most Happy by Eric Ives
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since I first read The Six Wives of Henry VIII I have long held a fascination and admiration of Anne Boleyn. She represented everything I aspired to be and she still does.

I've had this book for awhile, but I've just gotten around to reading it now after several other readings of the Tudor era. Some of the things I had read before, but this volume managed to make the facts we know about Anne Boleyn jump off the page. I liked how Ives divided the book up by education, marriage, religion, and so on. I was expecting something different but this format was very helpful.

Even though I know how Anne's story ends, I couldn't but anticipate the ending to her story. I like the epilogue where it mentions is Anne vindicated by her daughter, Elizabeth's, accession? It's a personal feeling of mine but I always felt she was.

The only compliant I have about the book is the portrayal of Henry during Anne's fall. I don't know it just seems to make him seem more innocent or something. I don't think it was what the author was implying but by saying that Cromwell was more responsible for Anne's downfall is tricky. I think for it to have come to end the way it did even if Cromwell was the master mind behind Henry had to agree with it. I don't know that's just my personal feelings on the matter.


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The Life of Elizabeth I

The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After having some doubts with Weir's authorship with Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings, I was glad to be reassured with her biography of Elizabeth I of England.

I've always loved Elizabeth. Her story captivated me. The girl who had lost her mother at such a young age and lived in such a perilous age brought glory to her country once again. I had watched countless movies with her and the fascination grew from there.

I knew of the important facts of Elizabeth's reign, but with this book I got a better look at it. Weir made Elizabeth come alive again.

The book starts where The Children of Henry VIII left off with Elizabeth's ascension. There are twenty seven chapters and an epilogue and even that didn't seem like enough to me. Luckily Weir a listed a great bibliography, so I'll be checking out some of those.

This a great biography. Weir doesn't shy away from Elizabeth's faults, but also praises her achievements. I was truly sad when the end came.

There is an author's note in the back about Elizabeth in film. I was a little dismayed when she took the piss out of the Cate Blanchett films since I love her portrayal of her, but with reading this book I can see the flaws of the film. Still I am planning on watching a few of her approved Elizabeth roles.

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Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman review

Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics by Eleanor Herman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I recently read Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge by the same author. I really enjoying looking at the various queens and I was introduced to a few I hadn't heard of before. I liked that Herman divided the chapters up by time instead of talking about a certain queen in every chapters like she did with the Kings book. The only thing that may have turned me off was the use of the N word. It just seemed jarring and kind of took my out of the experience.



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The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir Review

The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have previously started this book, but I only got forty pages into it before something else caught my attention. After I finished The Six Wives of Henry VIII I wanted more Tudor stuff, so what better to read than this? After I've always been fascinated by those three royal children.

This book gave me more insight into Edward VI. Although it didn't delve too deeply into his reign. Edward seems to me to have been a puppet through most of his reign. But he did set the groundwork for the Protestant religion in England and he desperately tried to prevent his sister from undoing that by naming Lady Jane Grey as his successor. Although that was technically illegal.

Mary undid Edward's work and return England to the Church of Rome. She married the foreign Phillip II of Spain, which wasn't received well. I really did feel sorry for Mary when her pregnancy turned out to be a phantom. She really wanted that and with all the drama in her life, I think it would have made her happier.

Of course after Mary died, Elizabeth came to the throne and this is very the books ends with Elizabeth receiving news of her ascension and her uttering that famous line from the Bible. I'm ordering Weir's biography of Elizabeth, which I don't know why I haven't done this already since I acquired two of her books before 2009 and not one on my beloved Elizabeth? For shame. But I will devour that biography as soon as it's in my hands.

Oh and I've forgotten Lady Jane Grey. I knew her fate before going into the book, but I felt for her because she never wanted to be Queen and was pressured into by her parents. Her story is a sad one.

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The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir

The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had originally read this book way back in 2002 when I was twelve and it spawned a fascination with the Tudor era that has continued to this day.

On rereading this book again, I rediscovered little details, although I remembered most of the book, which is surprising as I hadn't really read the full thing in ten years and my memory has been affected by my medicine. I think it's a testament to how good of an historian Alison Weir is. She makes Henry and each wife seem alive and she doesn't condemn them for their actions. You have no idea how it feels to sympathize with Henry of all people haha, but I did during his early years with Anne Boleyn.

Next on the list to read will be The Children of Henry VIII by the same author, after that probably her biography of Elizabeth I. It seems as though my love of the Tudor era is still going strong!

View all my reviews Along with reading this book, lately I've been watching my DVDs that are about the Tudors. I've watched the 2003 TV serial starring Ray Winstone as Henry VIII, which is my personal favorite since as far as I know it's the only one with a redheaded Henry. That's a small quibble I know, but the man was a redhead and he had two redheaded children! After that I watched The Other Boleyn Girl with Eric Bana as Henry VIII and Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn. This one isn't my favorite, but I stan for Natalie Portman...hard and so I watch this one often. I've just finished Season 3 of the Tudors. For the longest time I couldn't get into the series because of some of the changes and whatnot. But after I stopped comparing to the direct history and took for enjoyment purposes, I really liked it and I've just watch like fourteen episodes in a matter of a week. The costumes are to die for of course!

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Elizabeth: Virgin Queen? by Phillipa Jones

Elizabeth: Virgin Queen? by Philippa Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was officially my first bio on Elizabeth I, though I've read a lot about her father's reign and I own a biography on her mother, Anne Boleyn.

This particular one focused on whether or not Elizabeth had any children and the possibilities when they could have born as well as commenting on other things of Elizabeth's reign. I really enjoyed and I thought the author didn't have any bias on who might have possibly been Elizabeth's child. But like her previous book The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards I did notice a few mistakes. Just on birth date and years, but it was easily overlooked.

I give this book 4 stars. Very interesting, but it was a little light on other important aspects of Elizabeth's life, though I suppose if you're looking for a general biography of Elizabeth, you might look elsewhere.

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The Other Tudors Mini Review

The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards by Philippa Jones

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I picked up this book when I went out to the Barnes and Noble for the first time since August 2011. I don't regret buying this book at all and the fact that I got it on a sale made it even better.

I've been fascinated with Henry VIII's reign since 2002 when I was twelve years old. Over the years I've collected books (non fiction and fiction), DVDs, and anything related to the Tudor reign. But surprisingly I hadn't heard of some of the women and children in this book.

I liked how each section spotlighted a different woman. I wish the author would have went into more detail about the ladies, but she gives the basics on each woman and the start of her affair with Henry.

I did find some mistakes in the book. Small mistakes, but seriously listing Elizabeth I's death year as 1605? Really editors, you didn't catch that?

All in all I give the book four stars! Good, but could have been better.



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An Obsession with Flappers

I don't know when I exactly became obsessed with the Flappers and the Roaring Twenties. All I know is I read two books that were set in the Twenties and it went from there. Now I'm rapidly consuming information about this period in American history and one of the books I've read on that journey is Flapper by Joshua Zeitz.



I started reading this maybe a month ago, but I put it down for some reason, although it was interesting and on a subject that I enjoy.

But on this past Saturday I picked it back and rapidly got consumed in the book again. It starts off focusing on the Fitzgeralds. Theirs is a fascinating story. From there each chapter mentions some of the major players in the 1920s. Of course it's more of general book, but I liked the glimpses of Clara Bow, Coco Chanel, etc. I'll definitely be looking into more definite biographies of some of the women that helped make America modern.

In two chapters Zeitz mentions non-white flappers, which is really interesting to me as I'm women of color. But it was more like a paragraph. That was my only qualm with this book. It would have been great to learn about WOC flappers as well. But I got the general idea.

The book introduced me to people I'd never heard of before and it touched on one of my favorite people from the Jazz Age: Dorothy Parker. I felt like the book served as an introduction to some of the most important people from the Twenties.

I thought the ending was nice. In previous chapters Zeitz talked about how Americans became consumers. The Stock Market crash of 1929 changed things a bit of course. I thought it was great that Zeitz showed how the flappers influenced even today's generation. That really hit a chord for me.

I give Flapper a solid four stars!

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