New Release Review: Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir by Amy Tan

Title: Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir

Author: Amy Tan
1st Date of Publication: October 17, 2017

ISBN: 9780062319296
# of Pages: 368

Genre: Memoir

Age Rating: 13

 

Book Description:
In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan is at her most intimate in revealing the truths and inspirations that underlie her extraordinary fiction. By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, she gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. Through spontaneous storytelling, she shows how a fluid fictional state of mind unleashed near-forgotten memories that became the emotional nucleus of her novels.

Tan explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia—the real reason behind an IQ test she took at age six, why her parents lied about their education, mysteries surrounding her maternal grandmother—and, for the first time publicly, writes about her complex relationship with her father, who died when she was fifteen. Supplied with candor and characteristic humor, Where the Past Begins takes readers into the idiosyncratic workings of her writer’s mind, a journey that explores memory, imagination, and truth, with fiction serving as both her divining rod and link to meaning.




Setting: Primarily California
Point of View: 1st person- Amy Tan

Goodreads Rating: 3.55

My Rating: 4.50

 

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both

View on the Cover: It's pretty clear that this book is about Amy Tan because her name consumes most of the cover.
View on Title: It seems kind of interesting. Where does one's past begin? Ourselves? Our parents? Grandparents? It's hard to define the line.

Pros:

• This novel is very different from her other books (because it is a memoir rather than fiction), but this novel has similar writing aspects to her fictional pieces.
• The book has a structure but a different kind of structure than all her other books. This novel is more fluid in the way that it goes from one idea to the next. Amy Tan makes reading this novel feel like it is like you're in a really nice dream and you're going for the ride.
• The writing reminds me of concocting a chemistry experiment because this book is part journal, part diary, and part genealogy. The reader gets to be in the mind of Amy Tan as she writes with less restraint as she discovers more of her past and better understands both her life and family.
• The way the parts are organized are creative and unexpected. Instead of titling for family or herself, she titles them with what people encourage others to do.
• It's really interesting because you get a glimpse of how her characters in her books relate to people in her life, such as Amy Tan's mother as June's mother in The Joy Luck Club.
• This memoir gives the reader an idea of what  Asian American culture is like in some aspects because not every Asian American family is the same, especially in different generations. Academics and music become emphasized on perfection and nothing short of it because Asian parents want only the best for their children through achievement.

Cons:

• There is very little that I disliked about this book. The only thing I wish Amy Tan explored more is her relationships with her brothers, particularly her younger one. Her older brother is written a little more than her younger brother.

Critics' Reviews:
“Any book by best-selling Tan is cause for excitement, and this surprising and gripping memoir will be zealously promoted and discussed.” -Booklist

Amy Tan's Website:
http://www.amytan.net/

Other Recommendations:

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
On Writing: Memoir of Craft by Stephen King
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

Anticipation Friday: Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan

Goodreads Description
In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan is at her most intimate in revealing the truths and inspirations that underlie her extraordinary fiction. By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, she gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. Through spontaneous storytelling, she shows how a fluid fictional state of mind unleashed near-forgotten memories that became the emotional nucleus of her novels.

Tan explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia—the real reason behind an IQ test she took at age six, why her parents lied about their education, mysteries surrounding her maternal grandmother—and, for the first time publicly, writes about her complex relationship with her father, who died when she was fifteen. Supplied with candor and characteristic humor, Where the Past Begins takes readers into the idiosyncratic workings of her writer’s mind, a journey that explores memory, imagination, and truth, with fiction serving as both her divining rod and link to meaning.

Preorder on Amazon

Other info
Expected Date of Publication: October 17, 2017
Stand-Alone or Series/Companion: Stand-Alone
Genre: Memoir

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

• I have read one of Amy Tan's other books, Joy Luck Club, for school twice and I really liked it. All of her books are full of symbolism and themes, which makes it fun to read and find them all.
• She writes a lot of historical fiction pieces about Chinese immigration to the United States. Her books have a lot of Chinese-American culture in them, which I find interesting. There's often flashbacks of what it was like in China and how different life is as Chinese in the United States.
• I am actually going to meet her at the library in a week and a half where she will be discussing her newest book, Where the Past Begins.

Review Wednesday: Say You'll Stay by Corinne Michaels

*This is a book meant for adults due to some inappropriate content for people younger than 18.*

Title: Say You'll Stay

Author: Corinne Michaels
1st Date of Publication: June 19, 2016

ISBN: 9781682307533
# of Pages: 310

Genre: New Adult

Age Rating: 17+ (Sexual Content and Language)

Buy on Amazon

Book Description:
One word.
Stay.
It was all he had to do. Instead, he got on that bus and took my heart with him.
That was seventeen years ago.
I moved on. Marriage. Kids. White picket fence. Everything I ever wanted, but my husband betrayed me and I was left once again.
Alone, penniless, and with two boys, I had no choice but to return to Tennessee. He wasn't supposed to be there. I should've been safe. However, fate has a way of stepping in.
This time around, the tables are turned. It's my decision. Second chances do exist, but I don't know if we can repair what's already been broken...

Setting: Starts in Philadelphia, PA, but most of it is in Bell Buckle, TN
Point of View: 1st person- Presley Townsend Bensen and Zachary Hennington

Goodreads Rating: 4.15

My Rating: 4.45

 

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Cover

View on the Cover: That man is very attractive. He has a look that says, "Come over here and let me show you what I can do."
View on Title: It has a whiny connotation to it. It makes think that one of the main characters is clingy.

Pros:

• This is a stand-alone novel but it is also a companion novel since many of the characters in this novel will be in the other one, Say You Want Me.
• The story becomes heavy almost immediately into reading it. Usually, stories in this genre have a buildup to the amount of conflict and devastation before an event like the suicide in this novel starts.
• I love this story as a redemption novel where characters who were once very immature and previously made poor decisions become more mature and continue to grow when the novel takes place.
• This novel truly shows the impact people have on each other's lives, and it also shows the actions that someone would take to protect their loved ones.
• The main characters are pretty well-rounded and make the novel flow very easily. It didn't take long for me to finish it.
• Presley Bensen (nee Townsend) was always a simple girl with big dreams. She wants an old-school life of being a wife and mother, which I think is both her strength and downfall. She wanted that so bad that she never became independent on her own, even though she is a great mother. She lets the idea of love cloud her judgment in things and still continues to be dependent on everyone. It makes sense since she has a couple hundred thousand dollars of debt. Although she is very dependent and somewhat clingy, she knows who she is and where she came from.
• Zachary Hennington seems to barely be living his life. He dates someone who he doesn't love and knows it as soon as Presley shows up. I wish he kept his distance more and slowly got reacquainted with Presley. I do have to hand it to him because he is relentless and knows what he wants in his life. Plus, he is really good looking and great with kids.
• The secondary characters are the ones I feel like really make this book pop. My first favorite character Presley's long-time friend and sister-in-law, Angie. She is very spunky and lives life in her own tune, and Presley's complete opposite. Then there's Wyatt who is Zachary's little brother. He is hot and has a good sense of humor, but is always there for Presley and seems like the only one to be able to get her out of her depressing rut. I really empathize with him since he truly loves her, but she has always been Zach's girl.

Cons:

• I felt like there could have been two endings to this novel. Obviously, the first ending would be the one the author gave at the end of the novel. Although the ending was satisfying, the place where I thought the first ending should be would have been perfect. There was a conflict with no foreshadowing, backstory, or thoughts that happens right after where the ending I thought should have been enough. It felt like the author had to put that extra conflict in there just to put it in there. I don't want to give it away, but I thought it was unnecessary after Presley already had to deal with her late husband's suicide and the debt he gave her.
• Even though I understand the pain Presley has gone through in the events before the novel, she punishes almost everyone in the novel for it by not visiting her family and friends. I think that might be a little bit unrealistic because if she loved her family who has done nothing but loves her she would have been homesick and at least visit at least once or twice over two decades. The excuse Presley uses to stay away from her family in Bell Buckle is very immature and ridiculous.
• I felt that the grieving process was almost nonexistent as soon as Presley gets to Bell Buckle. I get that she's angry but she acts like her husband's suicide never happened.

Corinne Micheal's Website:
http://corinnemichaels.com/

Other Recommendations:

Wrong by Jane Aston
My Skylar Penelope Ward
For You by Kristen Ashley

Review Wednesday: The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Title: The Aviator's Wife

Author: Melanie Benjamin
1st Date of Publication:February 15, 2013

ISBN: 9780345528674
# of Pages: 416

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age Rating: 13+

Buy on Amazon 

Book Description:

For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements—she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States—Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth century—from the late twenties to the mid-sixties—and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviator’s Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage—revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure.


Setting: Early 1920s-Mid 1970s, United States (Mostly)

Point of View: 1st person- Anne "Morrow" Lindbergh

Goodreads Rating: 3.87

My Rating: 4.0

 

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both

View on the Cover: The woman on the cover shows that she is a strong and independent person. She also seems to know her way around an airplane and looks at home. The era seems to early to mid 1900s.
View on Title: The name seems pretty classy with high status. It seems like a very defining title.

Pros:

• This story is on the verge of historical nonfiction, but the characters might not have said or acted in a certain way in their every day lives. The author, Melanie Benjamin, used her creativity to enhance the characters and bring some reason to their reactions in history.
• All the main events, such as the abduction of the Lindbergh's son and Charles Lindbergh's antisemitism, are real and recorded in history.
• I enjoyed this because the story is about a real American woman who has made history. Anne Morrow Lindbergh may have been born and married into fame, but she set her own path. She became an author, mother, and an aviator.
• Anne is the second daughter of her wealthy political family so she is not expected to marry anyone of too much importance. All she wanted was to marry the hero, which she managed. Or did she? That's the question the reader constantly thinks about as he/she reads her story.
• The issue of whether women need men to be their heroes in order to feel complete. Women can make their own choices and be their own heroes.
• Charles Lindbergh's character has always seemed like a tortured soul with all the fame and loss he has dealt with alone and while being with Anne.

Cons:

• At times I felt like both Anne and Charles seemed very robotic and almost inhuman.
• I felt that the flashbacks to 1974 when Charles was on the verge of death were a little redundant because not much was said until the very end. Many things kept getting repeated, which annoyed me as I was reading the story. It made me want to read when times were better for Anne and Charles.

Critics' Reviews:

"Benjamin, author of the highly acclaimed Alice I Have Been (2010) and The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb (2011), delivers another stellar historical novel based on the experiences of an extraordinary woman. In this outing, she spotlights Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of wildly famous Charles Lindbergh and pioneering aviatrix and accomplished author in her own right. Though their courtship is the stuff of every girl’s romantic fantasy, time and reality combine to reveal a much different story. Plagued by tragedy and often stifled by her domineering husband, she eventually manages to carve out a quasi-independent life and career for herself. Fictional biography at its finest; serious readers may want to pair this with the recently published Against Wind and Tide, the sixth and final volume of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s copious letters and journal entries"— Booklist
“Utterly unforgettable.”— Publishers Weekly
“An intimate examination of the life and emotional mettle of Anne Morrow.”—The Washington Post
“[This novel] will fascinate history buffs and surprise those who know of her only as ‘the aviator’s wife.’ ”— People

Melanie Benjamin's Website:
http://melaniebenjamin.com/

Other Recommendations:

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek

Review Wednesday: It Runs At Night by L. Danny Perez

Title: It Runs At Night (The Water Boils #1)

Author: L. Danny Perez
1st Date of Publication: March 23, 2016

ISBN: 9781523850051
# of Pages: 98

Genre: Young Adult Short Story

Age Rating: 13 

Buy on Amazon

Book Description:
After her brother Federico goes missing, Lolita embarks on a lonely journey through the valleys of Mexico to find him and earn her family’s forgiveness. Deep into the valley she loses her way and soon realizes that she is not alone. As day turns into night, Lolita becomes more certain of what she must do to stay alive and find her brother. Does she have what it takes to survive the darkness?


Point of View: 1st person- Carolina "Lolita"

Goodreads Rating: 4.00

My Rating: 4.15

 

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both

View on the Cover: The color scheme of the book is interesting and shows that the books is about a dark matter. It shows that it is the girl's fault because she has her head fallen down as if she is regretting something.
View on Title: The title made me wonder what is the "It" that runs at night. It became very intriguing and I had to know.

Pros:

• I really enjoyed the writing style of this short story. It's very similar to the way I write when I write fictional pieces. The style of the writing is engaging and makes the book easy and it seems like it goes so fast when you read it.
• I love Lolita's character. She has a strong sense of responsibility which allows her to be brave. You're able to empathize with her, especially if you (the reader) have a younger sibling. You get in her head and understand her reactions to everything a lot better.
• I enjoyed the use of Spanish in both language and culture because I have some knowledge of both and understood the Spanish words used and the events that were mentioned.
• I also thought the use of the whispering voice was interesting and mysterious, which makes me wonder who or what is that voice.

Cons:

• I wish it was longer because it felt so short, but that's also because it's a short story. I knew what I signed up for, but by the end of it, it made me beg for more.
• The only thing that really bothered me is that everyone put the blame of Federico's absence on Lolita even though she is only a child herself. This is what forces/pushes her to go and save her brother.

L. Danny Perez's Website:

http://www.ldannyperez.com/

Other Recommendations:

Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall