Memoir Monday... Let's Take The Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell

Let's Take The Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship

There's something special about women's friendships. They can be intense, emotional, fulfilling. A common thread can link us together and sustain a friendship through long separations, careers, and men. Gail Caldwell and Caroline Knapp found that common thread. Let's Take the Long Way Home is Gail's homage to that friendship. A friendship that was the perfect recipe, except that Caroline was diagnosed with terminal cancer... Here's what the publisher writes,

“It’s an old, old story: I had a friend and we shared everything, and then she died and so we shared that, too.”

So begins this gorgeous memoir by Pulitzer Prize winner Gail Caldwell, a testament to the power of friendship, a story of how an extraordinary bond between two women can illuminate the loneliest, funniest, hardest moments in life, including the final and ultimate challenge.

They met over their dogs. Both writers, Gail Caldwell and Caroline Knapp, author of Drinking: A Love Story, became best friends, talking about everything from their shared history of a struggle with alcohol, to their relationships with men and colleagues, to their love of books. They walked the woods of New England and rowed on the Charles River, and the miles they logged on land and water became a measure of the interior ground they covered. From disparate backgrounds but with striking emotional similarities, these two private, fiercely self-reliant women created an attachment more profound than either of them could ever have foreseen.

The friendship helped them define the ordinary moments of life as the ones worth cherishing. Then, several years into this remarkable connection, Knapp was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

With her signature exquisite prose, Caldwell mines the deepest levels of devotion and grief in this moving memoir about treasuring and losing a best friend. Let’s Take the Long Way Home is a celebration of life and of the transformations that come from intimate connection—and it affirms, once again, why Gail Caldwell is recognized as one of our bravest and most honest literary voices.

I've got my box of tissues ready, because I'll be reading Let's Take the Long Way Home this week. It's gotten a lot of praise from the reading community, and I look forward to reading it even though I know that ultimately it's a sad tale...

Memoir Mondays with Stitches by David Small... A Graphic Novel, A Memoir and A Review

A Memoir in Black & White...

Stitches, written and illustrated by David Small, is his coming-of-age story told in graphic novel form. It's David Small's memoir of growing up in a family where his mother "had her little cough", sobbed quietly "out of sight", and slammed the kitchen cabinets to communicate. His father took his frustrations out on a punching bag, and his brother on the drums... and it's the story of the operation that would remove a vocal cord and leave David practically a mute...

There aren't a lot of words in Stitches. There really isn't a lot of need for lengthy prose- David Small's black & white ink drawings tell his story perfectly... I could almost feel his grandmother dragging me up the stairs to bed without supper.. I could feel the terror as he is put through shots, enema's and radiation to cure his boyhood illnesses. His drawings are so expressive and the bird's eye views he chooses to show certain scenes in, make the story a visually treat. They are not pretty pictures, but they are meaningful.

From "sock-skating" on a freshly waxed floor in the hospital his father "the radiologist" worked to finally having the operation to remove that cyst on his neck (which he'd find out later was really cancer caused by all the radiation his father gave him), Stitches takes you on a visual adventure of emotions. You'll get to know his often times cruel & dysfunctional family and feel the pains of growing up. I was surprised how haunted I was after I finished reading Stitches. I felt such pain for David growing up virtually unloved and isolated. A sensitive child trying to find his place in the world, trying desperately to have a relationship with his mother, but being let down each time the door to that relationship cracks open a bit, except for one final moment . This was definitely not my usual read, but part of my "reading outside the box" with The Graphic Novel Reading Challenge 2010. I chose this because it had gotten so much buzz and was nominated for The National Book Award in 2009 under the young peoples literature category . Only one other graphic novel has been nominated for the The National Book Award, and that was American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang in 2006. Stitches was a moving read, and one I am glad I stepped outside of my box to read! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to step into a graphic novel for the first time. And as far as the seasoned graphic novel readers are concerned... I bet you all read this already!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

Chemo KateLynn by Andrea Lynn Katz.. a Review & Giveaway...

Congratulations to kalea kane! She's the winner in the Chemo KateLynn giveaway!

Chemo KateLynn... Humorous perspectives on life Before Cancer & After Diagnosis

Cancer... the word itself is frightening - whether the word is referring to a diagnosis you receive, a loved one, or a friend... Most of us know someone who has been touched by cancer in some way. Cancer has touched me personally - I have lost family and a friend to the disease. Not to mention my family and friends that were diagnosed and are now thankfully cancer free.

When Andrea Lynn Katz, CSS (Certified Cancer Survivor), was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma her world changed. BC (Before Cancer) Andrea was working in 'Corporate America' as a busy executive with long hours and traveling quite a bit. At the same time trying to raise two children. Always exhausted from her hectic schedule. AD (After Diagnosis) Andrea began to rethink her life. Being diagnosed in 2007, suffering a relapse in 2009, and "facing the daunting physical & mental challenges associated with a stem-cell transplant" you might think that Andrea would feel defeated, but she believed that a positive outlook is important, and with that positive outlook she looked for ways to bring a smile to the faces around her. About the time of her diagnosis Andrea was going to celebrate her 50th birthday. It was "a bit awkward to celebrate a birthday so soon after her diagnosis, and she wanted to break the ice. So she roasted herself." Part of the result of that roast and the humor she chose to turn to is her book, Chemo KateLynn: Humorous Perspectives on Life Before Cancer and After Diagnosis. She found she could make people laugh with her humorous comparisons of life before cancer and life after cancer....

" I never cooked in BC years, and in my AD years, I still don't cook, but I have an excuse; my wig is flammable."

"Andrea and Chemo KateLynn invite us all to appreciate the beauty of each day, find humor in everyday living and be receptive to recognizing, cherishing, creating and sharing those moments with others. Chemo KateLynn admits that "cancer does suck," but funny things happen along the way while fighting this disease. Chemotherapy may have taken her hair, but no amount of chemo could make a dent in her sense of humor."

With cute cartoons, we face the doctor appointments, "night caps", haircare products and more with Chemo KateLynn BC and AD. And in the process we are made to "rethink" these things ourselves and what is really important in our lives.

Chemo KateLynn by Andrea Lynn Katz will be published in the fall. A book I would recommend to your friend or loved one and their care givers. Also a portion of the proceeds of the book is going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation!

** A special note to everyone- I just received word today from Andrea's publisher who tells me Andrea is back in treatment for her cancer! Unfortunately she has become chemo resistant and now needs a bone marrow/stem cell transplant in order to save her life. She has asked me to post the link for the bone marrow registry, in order to learn more about registering to be a potential bone marrow and help save a life. Read more at Marrow Registry Blogspot. And we wish you well Andrea!

Thanks to Emily Weiss of Bascom Hill Publishing Group for sharing this book with me AND letting me giveaway one copy of Chemo KateLynn ! Need to cheer someone up?! Want a copy for yourself?! Enter for your chance to win a copy of this book!

So now about the giveaway.... There are a couple of ways for you to enter to win a copy of Chemo KateLynn, each good for 1 entry...

1. leave a comment below with your email address

2. blog or tweet about this giveaway ( and leave me a link in the comment)

Giveaway open to US and Canadian residents only. (No PO Boxes). Book will be shipped directly to the winner from the publisher. I will contact the winner by email for mailing address. Giveaway ends 11:59 pm EST July 11th! Winner will be chosen randomly the next day!

Good Luck! And Thank you Andrea for trying to brighten our lives a little bit when they may seem the darkest!

Giveaway has officially ended! Thanks for everyone joining in and participating! Our winner for a copy of Chemo KateLynn will be randomly drawn tomorrow and announced soon! Check your emails!.... Good Luck!