memoir
Bound Book Tour & Giveaway!!
Book Details:
Category: Adult non-fiction 18 yrs +, 296 pages
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: She Writes Press.
Release date: August 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 + M. In addition to its primary
focus on confronting terminal illness in the context of a complex
mother-daughter relationship, this book addresses mature themes of
sexuality (specifically BDSM), death, and illness. Conversations about
sexuality are related, sex toys and body parts are mentioned by name,
but there are no actual erotic sex scenes. There are healthcare scenes
that describe procedures and bodily functions and fluids. There is a
fair amount of poop in some scenes. The F-word appears once, on page
167, used in an expletive sense. The word “shit” appears twice, once as
an expletive on p. 51 and once in reference to bodily waste and also
metaphorically.
Book Description:
What happens when a forty-something, community college sociology
professor learns that her mother―a charming, passive-aggressive, and
needy woman who hasn’t had a lover in decades―has started seeing men who
want to be bound, whipped, and sexually dominated?
What happens when that same mother, shortly after diving into her newly discovered
sexuality, develops a cancer that forces her to accept radical changes
to her body, and then another that forces her, and everyone around her,
to confront her mortality?
In Bound, Elizabeth Anne Wood addresses these
questions as she chronicles the last eight months of her mother’s
life―a period she comes to see, over the course of months, as a
maternity leave in reverse: she is carrying her mother as she dies.
Throughout their journey, Wood uses her notebook as a shield to keep
unruly emotions at bay, often taking comfort in her role as advocate and
forgetting to “be the daughter,” as one doctor reminds her to do.
Meanwhile, her mother’s penchant for denial and her childlike tendency
toward magical thinking lead to moments of humor even as Wood battles
the red tape of hospital bureaucracies, the frustration of planning in
the midst of an unpredictable illness, and the unintentional inhumanity
of a health care system that too often fails to see the person behind
the medical chart.
* Kew and Willow is Dr. Wood’s local indie bookstore. If you
put a comment in the order form saying that you want a signed copy,
they’ll call the author to come down and sign your book. They also do a
lovely wrapping job.
Elizabeth Anne Wood is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Nassau
Community College in Garden City, NY. She is also Senior Strategist for
Woodhull Freedom Foundation, the nation’s only human rights organization
working full time to protect sexual freedom as a fundamental human
right. She earned her PhD at Brandeis University in 1999 and has written
critically about sexuality and society ever since. Born on an Army base
in Kentucky, Wood grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and now
divides her time between Queens, New York and Jamaica Plain, Boston. She
is a devoted fan of Amtrak and an avowed cat person.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
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High Heels & Beetle Crushes Publication Day Push!
High Heels & Beetle Crushers
A compelling memoir of post-war Britain. Jackie Skingley grew up with limited career choices but joining the Women’s Royal Army Corps offered her a different life, living and working in a military world, against the backdrop of the Cold War. Packed full of stories reflecting the changing sexual attitudes prior to the arrival of the pill and the sexual revolution of the mid 60s, Skingley’s memoir denotes a shift in the political and social fabric of the era. Follow her relationships with the men in her life from finding her first true love, which through a cruel act of fate was denied her, to embarking on a path of recovery.
Purchase Links
Author Bio
For Jackie Skingley, adventure has been her quest since childhood. Life with the British army allowed Jackie to live all over the world and gain huge appreciation for different cultures and customs. Since 1999, Jackie and her husband have lived in the Charente region of South West France where Reiki, jewellery making, painting and mosaics, as well as writing keep her fully occupied. Member of the Charente Creative Writing Group, mother and grandmother.
Giveaway to Win 2 x Paperback copies of High Heels & Beetle Crushers (Open UK / US Only)
*Terms and Conditions –UK & USA entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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Escape by Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer – 5 Star Review!
Story Rating: *****
Cover Rating: A
This book is a set of memoirs about a woman who grew up in the radical polygamist cult, the FLDS church. It details not only what she goes through, but also how she planned and executed her escape. I’ve always been fascinated with the study of cults and what they do to convince followers to enact some of the strange acts/customs associated with them. This book offers insight into that, as well as the suffering of a woman who was forced into becoming a 50-year-old man’s fourth wife. Giving birth to eight children in fifteen years? And the behind-the-scenes details about how she was or was not allowed to interact with her own child? Insanity.
This story is heart-breaking, informative, and offers an HEA of sorts. I applaud Jessop for being brave enough to escape, and am glad she shared her tale with the world.
The cover is eye-catching and offers an accurate depiction of what readers should expect to find within the book.
Vanguard of Hope, By Kathy Steinemann- Five Star Review
“Vanguard of Hope” by Kathy Steinemann is an intense book which is strongly based on sexual abuse in children. It is said to be a diary of one of her ancestors, although certain parts of the books make me wonder if it is, in fact, a work of fiction- whether by Steinemann or Hope. I read it as though it were a memoir, and along with the information in the back, it made me sick- but not in the way you are thinking. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I highly recommend that everyone read it. What makes me sick is that people who sexually abuse children are so true-and that the majority of these abuses occur as a result of a close friend or family member of the child. I will be writing a blog post about this, but… I do know people who were sexually abused as children. In fact, I know over a dozen who were raped, and at least that many who were not raped per say, but who were touched or told to do things that are completely inappropriate. It is a very real issue in the world-modernly and historically. I appreciate that the author was able to bring this issue to the front of everyone’s minds. The book is truthful, and well describes the issues that develop later in life for those children who were sexually abused. I encourage you to read this book, and leave a review so that others will also read it. I was touched, disgusted, and finished the book being well informed.
*This review was written by Chelsea*
*Please note, this book is indeed a work of fiction, however I find it best to read (and review) as a memoir, seeing as that is the way it is written. You will better enjoy the book if this is the way you also read it*
Chicken Feathers & Garlic Skin, by Chun Yu Wang- Four Stars
♥♥♥♥
Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin is a unique tale about a Chinese woman who was a factory worker on Saipan. In the story, you find out about the working conditions that she and other factory girls were forced to work in, as well as learn about her personal life outside of the factory. While I did enjoy the story, I found that the ending of the book was rather blunt. It seemed to simply cut off in the middle of the story, which is the only reason why I gave this book four stars instead of five. I enjoyed the tone of the book, and felt that it kept true to her story (the book was translated). I like the fact that Chun Yu Wang never gave up hope, and kept working towards a better life for herself, although she certainly made plenty of mistakes along the way. I also enjoyed noting the differences between Chinese culture and American culture differ. At one point, I remember reading that the author called a girl fat because she weighed almost 160 pounds, and I had to giggle because here, in America we don’t consider that overweight. The Chinese sayings you find throughout the book are also very interesting, and I think that they add a bit of merit and personality to the book. All in all, I highly recommend that anyone who enjoys biographies or memories read this, but do be ready for an abrupt ending.