Memoir Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Pardon Me While I Close The Door by Marjan Sierhuis ★★★★

Pardon Me While I Close the Door, by Marjan Sierhuis, is a frank memoir about loss and a toxic relationship.

The author goes for a walk to clear her head and to contemplate the deaths of her father and mother, her relationships, including the memory of a toxic relationship, and the ups and downs in her life. The journey to overcome grief can take time, but it is possible for one to move on.

Opening up one’s heart and soul and pouring words on pages for all to read takes courage. Even more so when an author is penning […]

T B Markinson2016-02-05T06:43:41+02:00January 22nd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: My Father’s Son: A Memoir by John Davis

★★★★½

My Father’s Son: A Memoir by John Davis is the harrowing yet riveting story Davis’ tumultuous and abusive childhood at the hands of his father, who was a high-powered cocaine dealer in Brooklyn, and a complete tyrant with Davis at home. Even after his father left the house, he gets replaced with a series of other tyrants, so Davis never had it easy, but still managed to come out ahead with an amazing strength and warmth of spirit. My Father’s Son is at once heartbreaking and uplifting with a dramatic climax that you’ll never see coming.

What makes the […]

Henry Baum2016-03-04T03:53:18+02:00December 30th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Art on the Human Heart by Paul C. Ho, M.D. ★★★★

Art on the Human Heart by Paul C. Ho is the story of a cardiologist who has a heart attack, which makes him re-evaluate his life. It also makes him re-evaluate the medical profession, as he attempts to understand what affects the human heart well beyond medical science. Going through his life as a young immigrant, a failed relationship, a stint being a doctor in the Alaskan wilderness, his personal mysticism, and more, the doctor comes to a greater understanding of the human heart than he had before his illness.

The blurb for this novel, and the title, suggest that […]

Henry Baum2017-03-24T06:29:40+02:00December 24th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Medical Book Reviews, Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: Candlelight in a Storm by Naveen Sridhar

Candlelight in a Storm by Naveen Sridhar is the historical biography of his wife. Born during World War II and fleeing the violence there, later fleeing communist regimes as a teenager, and traveling the world, meeting her husband in Berlin, her story is at once colorful and harrowing. John F. Kennedy came to Germany and said “Ich bin ein Berliner,” signifying that Germany did not need to be forever tarnished with the legacy of the Nazi party, and there was a generation of Germans looking to establish peace and freedom in the country. Candlelight in a Storm is the ode […]

Henry Baum2021-09-07T07:49:44+02:00October 29th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Biography Book Reviews, Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Cold Beer and a Hot Dart by Brandon Wolfe

★★★★½

Cold Beer and a Hot Dart is the inspirational memoir by Brandon Wolfe as he travels from his comfortable home in Washington to the wilds of Australia, Polynesia and beyond, battling disease, cannibals, prostitutes, drug use, and other nefarious problems, as well as having the time of his life. A restless soul at heart, Brandon Wolfe is also a spirited storyteller, making Cold Beer at once a page turner and a moving meditation on finding your place in life.

Wolfe’s own summary of the novel is a very good indication of what you’ll find in the book:

Over a

[…]

Henry Baum2016-03-04T04:19:55+02:00October 6th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews, Self-Help Book Reviews|

Review: L.A.’s Lost Soul by Dominic Ryan

L.A.’s Lost Soul is the engaging and spirited story about Dominic Ryan’s stay in Los Angeles from the U.K., while he spends seven months learning the ropes at an acting school. It’s an entertaining fish-out-of-water story exploring what it’s like to land in Hollywood with relatively little money, no contacts, and without even a place to live. It’s a pretty harrowing prospect, but Ryan faces it all with cheerfulness and optimism.

First, the title is a bit of a misnomer. “Lost Soul” suggests someone forsaken and unhappy, but that’s absolutely not the case for Ryan. He had his share of […]

Henry Baum2019-02-11T09:54:59+02:00October 5th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews, Travel Book Reviews|

Review: Living Fulfilled by Lisa Thomas-McMillan ★★★★★

Living Fulfilled: The Infectious Joy of Serving Others is Lisa Thomas-McMillan’s inspirational memoir about helping the plight of America’s hungry that is equal parts harrowing and uplifting. With a decidedly spiritual message, she tells of her life growing up impoverished in Alabama, settling down in Los Angeles, then traveling back to her hometown to help the plight of the poor. She is also a fierce advocate against the death penalty.

What makes Lisa Thomas-McMillan such an effective narrator is that she literally walks the walk. The book is punctuated by two long walks – one in Alabama, and a 900-miled […]

Lysa Grant2019-01-22T15:43:56+02:00September 4th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: With New Eyes by Heidi Siefkas ★★★★

With New Eyes is the moving sequel to Heidi Siefkas’s memoir When All Balls Drop, about Siefkas’s accident: taking out the trash one day in upstate New York, a thousand-pound tree branch fell on her from out of nowhere, breaking her neck. That wasn’t the only thing that broke: her marriage (already difficult) dissolved, and she lost her high-powered job in the travel industry. With New Eyes picks up where the first book left off: Siefkas is healed up, for the most part, but now has eyes on putting her life back together.