Reviews, Tags and More!
A couple of days I ago I posted my review for the book From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers who Raised Rock Stars by Virginia Hanlon Grohl. After listening to the audio book I discovered that it had been turned into a documentary series. It was released in May of 2021 and can been seen on Paramount.
As with the book, I would recommend this show for music fans of all genres. Check out the trailer below.
Published: April 2017
Published by: Hachette
Format Read: Audio book, Audible
Genre: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir
Rating: 4/5
Written by Virginia Grohl, the mother of Dave Grohl—former Nirvana drummer and current frontman for the Foo Fighters—From Cradle to Stage shares stories and exclusive photos featuring mothers of rock icons, the icons themselves, and their Behind the Music-style relationships
While the Grohl family had always been musical-the family sang together on long car trips, harmonizing to Motown and David Bowie-Virginia never expected her son to become a musician, let alone a rock star. But when she saw him perform in front of thousands of screaming fans for the first time, she knew that rock stardom was meant to be for her son. And as Virginia watched her son’s star rise, she often wondered about the other mothers who raised sons and daughters who became rock stars. Were they as surprised as she was about their children’s fame? Did they worry about their children’s livelihood and wellbeing in an industry fraught with drugs and other dangers? Did they encourage their children’s passions despite the odds against success, or attempt to dissuade them from their grandiose dreams? Do they remind their kids to pack a warm coat when they go on tour?
Virginia decided to seek out other rock star mothers to ask these questions, and so began a two-year odyssey in which she interviewed such women as Verna Griffin, Dr. Dre’s mother; Marianne Stipe, Michael Stipe of REM’s mother; Janis Winehouse, Amy Winehouse’s mother; Patsy Noah, Adam Levine’s mother; Donna Haim, mother of the Haim sisters; Hester Diamond, Mike D of The Beastie Boys’ mother.
With exclusive family photographs and a foreword by Dave Grohl, From Cradle to Stage will appeal to mothers and rock fans everywhere.
While you may not know who Virginia Hanlon Grohl is by name, you will most likely know her son Dave Grohl, as one of the most influential musicians of the past 30 years. In her book From Cradle to Stage, she takes readers along as she learns about the familial and maternal influences behind some of the most successful musicians. Along with these stories are vignettes about her son, the early years of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters.
I admit that I decided to listen to this audio book specifically to learn more about the lead singer of one of my favourite rock bands; Foo Fighters. I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed all the chapters, ranging from those I was familiar with to the ones I had never heard of before.
Chapters I especially found intriguing were that of; Bev Lambert (mom of Miranda Lambert) and Mary Weinrib (mother of Geddy Lee).
Aside from learning about how these musicians got their start, readers and listeners will see the importance of a strong support system behind big dreams. As a mother this only makes me even more eager to help and support my own child to cultivate his strengths and talents.
Virginia Hanlon Grohl also stresses the importance of funding arts programs in schools and how the lack of this education can negatively impact the success of some children.
I highly recommend From Cradle to Stage to music lovers and mothers alike.
Published: March 2018
Published by: Austin Macauley Publishers
Format Read: Trade Paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 2.5/5
Sometimes the smallest voices make the deepest impact.
Josephine Hadley, a 1930s Canadian housewife, fills her days looking after her children, her indifferent husband and a stream of Depression-era visitors. Her contribution to her guests is a bowl of stew and an open heart.
Her small world, however, is soon shattered by a tragic event which forces her to become the breadwinner. Can she run a business without sacrificing herself? And is it possible to act on a long-buried desire without remorse?
Johanne Levesque’s first novel, Trouble and Strife, is a poignant and heartbreaking look at a woman’s life in a fast-changing time. With intimate details and a deft poetic touch, Levesque has captured the spirit of an age where war and economic hardship altered the workplace, home and women’s lives forever.
Debut author Johanne Levesque, shares a tale of a Toronto housewife raising her family during the Great Depression.
I had the opportunity of meeting the author at a community event in my hometown, several years ago. Being a historical fiction fan and eager to help support a local talent, I scooped up a copy of Trouble and Strife.
Told in the style of diary entries, this book offers a day-in-the-life glimpse of a women who wasn’t accustomed to hardships in her married life and who, even in the depths of the Great Depression, still had more than most. Josephine was a privalaged woman, whose redeeming quality was her charitable work, assisting those hardest hit by the state of the world.
While I was grateful for the opportunity to read and review Trouble and Strife, I did not connect with the characters at all. There were times when I questioned the historical accuracy, found contradictions and inconsistencies in the storyline. Unfortunately in the end I rated this novel only 2 stars and wouldn’t recommend it to other readers.
Although I didn’t post my progress here on my blog, I did participate in the 52 Book Club Challenge during 2021. For those of you who have not heard of this challenge or the club, the goal is to read books to match with the prompts given. What I love about this challenge is that it made me pick up books that I might not have otherwise read. Finding books to fit each prompt is easy because of the reading guide on the clubs website and the feedback from the other readers who are participating.
Here are the prompts from 2021:
So how did I do?
Well I read over 52 books this past year, however I didn’t manage to fill all of the prompts. However I did complete more than I did when I participated the previous year. The following are the prompts I completed along with the books I read for each:
I’m looking forward to participating in this challenge again this year.
I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season and wishing you a very happy new year!
Today I am sharing my final wrap-up for the year 2021. After a couple of months with very little progress, I am very pleased with the amount of reading I accomplished this month. I even surpassed my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal!
Total Books Read in December: 6
Total Books Read in 2021: 54/52
I started this TBR back in October and I am very pleased to say that I finally completed it this month. Although these books are from authors that I have loved in the past, unfortunately none of them earned 5 star ratings.
Favourite Authors Read: 3/3
The Lake House
By: Kate Morton
Genre: Dual Timeline, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Rating: 4/5
The Notebook
By: Nicholas Sparks
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Rating: 2/5
Two of the books I read in December were set near Christmas or were Christmas themed. The other book, features a winter sport.
He Sees You When You’re Sleeping
By: Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3/5
Ice Magic (Silver Blades 16)
By: Melissa Lowell
Genre: Middle Grade, Series
Rating: 3/5
The Holiday Swap
By: Maggie Knox
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Fiction, ARC
Rating: 3.5/5
NOTE: I was sent a copy of Maggie Knox’s The Holiday Swap, from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
From Cradle to Stage
By: Virginia Hanlon Grohl
Genre: Non-fiction, Audio Book, Biography, Memoir, Music
Rating: 4/5
Total Number of Books Read: 6
Total Number of Fiction: 5
Total Number of Non-Fiction: 1
Total Books Sent for Review: 1
Total Books Read from My Shelves: 5
Total Library Books Read: 0
Physical Books: 4
eBooks: 1
Audio Books: 1
Over the year of 2021, I read only 6 books that I gave 5 star ratings to. This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the majority of the books I read, I did. I actually allowed myself to read more according to my mood, rather than a more strict schedule I have stuck to in the past. There were several books I read this past year that I had very high expectations for. Many of which were from authors that I have rated highly in the past. Oddly enough none of those books made this Top 6 list. Instead the books that ended up on this list were ones I randomly picked up on a whim. I wonder how this will play out during 2022.
Here are my favourite books that I read in 2021:
Good Luck With That by Kristan Higgins
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Fly Away (Firefly Lane, 2) by Kristin Hannah
Have you read any of these books? What were your favourite books you read in 2021?
Wishing you all a very happy holidays and a happy new year!
Today I am going to share a fun wrap-up post that I’ve never done before. Here are some superlatives from the books I read in 2021.
As I wrap up my posts for the year 2021, I decided to look back on my goals for the past twelve months and see how much progress I made.
At the end of 2020, I posted the following image of the books I was looking forward to reading during the upcoming year.
Here is how I did on this TBR
Number of TBR books read in 2021: 3/6
While I am still looking forward to reading Things You Save in the Fire by Katherine Center and A Winter’s Tale by Cassie Brown, I think that I have lost interest in reading Waiting for Summer’s Return by Kim Vogel Sawyer.
Total Books Read in November: 2
Total Books Read as of November 30, 2021: 48
I started this TBR back in October, however I finally made some progress during November.
Favourite Authors Read: 1/3
The First Phone Call from Heaven
By: Mitch Albom
Genre: Inspirational Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 4/5
Remembrance
By: Alistair MacLeod
Genre: Short Stories, Fiction
Rating: 2.5/5
Total Number of Books Read: 2
Total Number of Fiction: 2
Total Number of Non-Fiction: 0
Total Books Sent for Review: 0
Total Books Read from My Shelves: 2
Total Library Books Read: 0
Physical Books: 2
eBooks: 0
Audio Books: 0
Published: February 2019
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Format Read: Audiobook, Audible
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3.5/5
Note: I was sent a copy of Megan Collins The Winter Garden, from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This is my review of the audio book.
In this spellbinding and suspenseful debut, a young woman haunted by the past returns home to care for her ailing mother and begins to dig deeper into her sister’s unsolved murder.
Sixteen years ago, Sylvie’s sister Persephone never came home. Out too late with the boyfriend she was forbidden to see, Persephone was missing for three days before her body was found—and years later, her murder remains unsolved.
In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Prone to unexplained “Dark Days” even before Persephone’s death, Annie’s once-close bond with Sylvie dissolved in the weeks after their loss, making for an uncomfortable reunion all these years later. Worse, Persephone’s former boyfriend, Ben, is now a nurse at the cancer center where Annie is being treated. Sylvie’s always believed Ben was responsible for the murder—but she carries her own guilt about that night, guilt that traps her in the past while the world goes on around her.
As she navigates the complicated relationship with her mother, Sylvie begins to uncover the secrets that fill their house—and what really happened the night Persephone died. As it turns out, the truth really will set you free, once you can bear to look at it.
The Winter Sister is a mesmerizing portrayal of the complex bond between sisters, between mothers and daughters alike, and forces us to ask ourselves—how well do we really know the people we love most?
Megan Collins debut novel follows a woman who reluctantly returns to her hometown to care for her ailing mother, meanwhile the death of her older sister, years before still haunts and riddles her with grief. Can she get to the bottom of what really happened on that winter night?
The relationships in this book were as cold as its title. The way the characters spoke to each other was terrible and set an uncomfortable tone to all their interactions. The narrator especially did a great job of portraying the mother as a miserable and unfeeling person.
I enjoyed the pacing of this novel and while I did like the mystery, I didn’t find it as thrilling or suspenseful as I anticipated.
Although I was able to predict the outcome, it was a good read that I would recommend to fans of the genre.
ML's Red House Reviews 