Memoir Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Abandoned Not Broken by Rob Johnson

An adopted child finds inspiration and determination from family, friends and mentors and grows into manhood successful, well-liked and respected, in the moving memoir, Abandoned Not Broken: The Passion and Perspective to Discover Your Purpose.

Robert Dunckley was the third child of a single mother. His father disappeared not long after the seemingly happy partnership with his mother, and a caring great-grandmother stepped in with financial support. With her oversight, the little boy was taken in by his loving babysitter, Pat Johnson, who soon adopted him, giving him her surname and two older siblings.

Through trying circumstances, young Robert […]

Review: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times by Lois Ann Nicolai

In the vibrant chronicle, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times: A Memoir of One Citizen Activist, author and activist Lois Ann Nicolai demonstrates how an apparently “ordinary” person can have a profound impact on the world at any age.

Nicolai was raised on a farm in rural America, imbuing her with a sense that all of us have a mission to perform. She married and had six children, feeling that raising them well was her personal purpose, but at age forty-six, she suddenly and unexpectedly became a widow. Dealing with grief and the need to forge a new life for herself, […]

SPR2022-03-04T02:18:13+02:00December 1st, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

’53 on 35th by J. Conran Meyer

A charming and unique reflection on childhood, ’53 on 35th: A Silent Boomer’s Recollections by J. Conran Meyer may be set nearly 70 years in the past, but its innocent wisdom is truly timeless.

This pseudo-memoir follows the exploits of a neighborhood of young boys/Knights as they discover adventure, freedom, and the mysteries that will be revealed after “kidhood.” As the author explains, this story explores the memories we cherish and those we create, the uncertainty of our rose-colored glasses, and the seminal events that shape our view of the world.

Peppered with anachronistic bits of Americana, which gives the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-10-21T16:27:48+02:00October 23rd, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: Just Buy Her a Dress and She’ll Be Fine by Amanda Dodson Gremillion

The emotionally charged yet sensible treatise, Just Buy Her a Dress and She’ll Be Fine by Amanda Dodson Gremillion, is the moving story of postpartum depression and OCD as it played out in the author’s own life, and how that became a medium for guiding others.

Gremillion’s mental distress seemed to begin when she had her first child. She and her husband Jay had met in their early teens, courted for ten years, and married – happily, at first. Both wanted a child and when their daughter Aubrie Lynn was born, she was welcomed.

Soon afterwards, the problems set in. […]

SPR2020-10-19T03:28:30+02:00October 13th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Health Book Reviews, Memoir Book Reviews, Parenting Book Reviews|

Stepping Out the Other Side by Peter Bell

Part memoir, part self-help guide, and part philosophical treatise, Stepping Out the Other Side: Finding Purpose Through Adversity by Peter Bell is the engrossing story of the author’s journey through mental illness, which could have stalled or shattered his life, but instead drove him to new levels of purpose and fulfillment.

The journal style of writing at the start of the book is a visceral dive into the emotions and processes of mental illness and professional counseling, while the recovery and resurgence segments of the book are written in a more traditional narrative. The storytelling is unique in its raw, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-09-28T08:55:43+02:00September 28th, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Psychology Book Reviews, Self-Help Book Reviews|

The Second Child by Regina Toffolo

Author Regina Toffolo excavates the darkest corners of her life in The Second Child, a memoir spanning decades of childhood instability, familial uncertainty, alcoholism, mental illness, and the unexpected challenges of parenting.

Told in a deeply personal yet accessible way, this book explores the warning signs and roots of addiction, as well as the repercussions of grief and loss that can only be unpacked from the distance of age or experience. The recollections are told in a matter-of-fact way, akin to journal entries, but there are also gut-punch moments that feel both voyeuristic and surprisingly relatable. Navigating wide-ranging subjects […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-09-21T04:50:21+02:00September 21st, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Addiction Book Reviews, Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: Somewhere in Persia: Memoirs of a War Correspondent by Dward Lee Greenbird

The observations, writings, poems, photos and jokes created by his father, Sam Greenberg, in service overseas in World War II fill the highly readable biographical portrait by author Dward Lee Greenbird, Somewhere in Persia: Memoirs of a War Correspondent.

Greenberg, born in 1912, was a newspaper staff writer when the war broke out, enlisted and became a war correspondent stationed in an army garrison on the Persian Gulf in Iran. Described by his son as a “happy guy,” Greenberg saved and sometimes sent home photos of the foreign countries he inhabited or visited. The material in this memoir comes […]

SPR2020-10-06T06:32:58+02:00September 7th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, World War II Book Reviews|

Despite My Odds by Denise Monique

From the fearless fingertips of Denise Monique comes Despite My Odds, a powerful and painful memoir of an unconventional childhood, a traumatic youth, and a perseverant adulthood that is both compelling and heartbreaking.

Layla is an enigmatic focal point, one whom it seems the entire world is stacked against, but as her memories unfold, patterns emerge, systemic failures appear, and the long-term emotional weight of trauma becomes clear. From sexual assault and early encounters with police officers to dangerous relationships and chronically low self-esteem, this is not an easy book to swallow; it will choke you up and force […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-28T03:20:59+02:00August 27th, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|