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Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Category Archives: Memoir/Biography


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Flawed and Faith-Filled: The Complex Legacy of Elisabeth Elliot

Being Elisabeth Elliot: The Authorized Biography of Elisabeth’s Later Years

By Ellen Vaughn (B&H Publishing Group, 2023)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Pages: 278

Visa: Library book sale

Who was she?

This question lies at the heart of one of the finest biographies we’ve ever read, Being Elisabeth Elliot. The second in a two-part biographical series on the late missionary and Christian thought leader, Being picks up where Becoming Elisabeth Elliot leaves off. (Here’s our review of the latter: A Story That Strengthens: ‘Becoming Elisabeth Elliot.’)

Elisabeth Elliot has long held a top slot in our list of All-Time Favorite Authors.  Her life was mixed with “good, bad, glory, pain, tedium, hope, and despair.” Elisabeth’s first husband, Jim Elliot, was martyred in Ecuador along with four other American missionaries in the 1950s. Thereafter, Elisabeth’s life of obedience, timeless teachings, and best-selling books influenced both believers and seekers of the Christian faith for over fifty years.

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Julie Andrews’ ‘Home Work’: A Drop of Golden Sun

Home Work

A Memoir of My Hollywood Years

By Julie Andrews

Non-Fiction/Memoir/Autobiography

Julie Andrews’ second memoir, Home Work is a substantial tome, clocking in at over five hundred pages. Is Home Work worth the time? Mom will let you know – if ever stops prancing around the house singing about female deer and a drop of golden sun. Oh, wait:

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer:

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For the 4th: Stand Up & Cheer With This AMAZING True Story of Courage & Hope

Back in the Game:
One Gunman, Countless Heroes, and the Fight For My Life

By Congressman Steve Scalise with Jeffrey E. Stern (Hatchette Book Group, 2018)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Via: Library

Pages (print): 281

That one small entry wound belied a massive, mostly internal hemorrhage that was about to kill me. I’d be dead in a matter of minutes, unless someone with some kind of x-ray vision happened to show up and was somehow able to see all the bleeding that couldn’t be seen. I needed a miracle.

In gripping You Are There fashion, Back in the Game tells what happened when one man opened fire at a baseball practice for Republican members of Congress on the morning of June 14, 2014, wounding five and nearly killing one: Louisiana congressman and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. And how Scalise fought his way back to the people’s House.

It’s Scalise’s moment by moment account of not only what happened to him, but of those who emerged in the seconds after the shooting began and worked to save his life and the lives of his colleagues and teammates when a lone gunman attempted the greatest political assassination in U.S. history.

The gunman came within a hair’s breadth of succeeding.

Kimber: Let me just say right out of the kennel that Back in the Game is a book about heroes. Like:

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First-Hand Account of Everest Disaster a Riveting Read

The Climb

By Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt (St. Martin’s Press, 1997)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Pages: 255

Via; Library Book Sale

On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by some of the finest, most experienced climbers in the world set off on the final leg of a five-day climb to the top of the world. Along the way, things went terribly wrong. Traffic jams along the route, miscommunications, inexplicable delays that burned up vital oxygen. Questionable leadership and decisions. A ferocious rogue storm. Time. All at the cruising altitude of a 747. All conspired to kill. Eight climbers from three expeditions died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit.

It remains one of the worst disasters in the history of Mount Everest.

Several survivors wrote memoirs after the disaster. Climber and journalist Jon Krakauer published his first-hand account of the tragedy in 1997, Into Thin Air.  It was a bestseller. Anatoli “Toli” Boukreev, a guide with Scott Fischer’s Mountain Madness team, felt impugned by the book.  Toli co-authored his version of events in The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest, also published in 1997.

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Missed Opportunities in ‘Russian Legacy’ Memoir

Thread of Life: My Russian Legacy

By Jennifer Kavanaugh (CollectiveInk, 2025)

Genre: Non-fiction/Memoir

Pages: 153 + Chronology and For Further Reading

Via: Author/Publicity Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“This is a story of contrasts: the beauty of St. Petersburg and the brutality which took place within its walls; the gentle beauty of Dora and the atrocity of her treatment. A story that gives glimpses of the paradoxes of the human spirit: the ugliness and beauty of which humanity is capable…”

Thread of Life looks at the 20th century through the lives of three Jewish women. At its heart is Dora, a romantic and tragic figure, a concert pianist born in Riga, Latvia. She lived in St Petersburg and was killed in the Riga Holocaust. Her daughter is Genia. Born in 1915 in St. Petersburg, Genia lived in many places around the world before dying in England at the age of 102. It’s also about the author and her life and perspectives.

A thoughtful weft of memory, history, love, loss, and learning, this memoir includes insights from the author in which she shares her moments of discovery while addressing themes of Russia, Jewishness, motherhood, music, home, and language, as well as the vagaries of memory.

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Poetic Memoir A Barkworthy Read!

Sleeping With Dogs: A Poetic Memoir

By Barbara Barth (Gilbert Street Press, 2024)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Pages: 35

Via: Book Blog Tour

We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay. So who can resist a title like that? And a sweet furry face like me to tell ya about it? Wait. Her Momness wants to muscle in. You know Mom.

Snow doggie!

So here we go:

She had me at “dogs.” And I don’t even pretend to be unbiased on the subject of unconditional love on four feet. Hi, Kimmi.

But we totally loved this book. It’s short. Sweet. And to the point. Kind of like… Well. One of us was gonna say “chihuahua.” But we’ve known a few too many Chihuahuas With Attitude. So…

Heartstrings

The Introduction tells us that the author lost her husband in 2008. She turned to writing and dogs to cope. And this piquant and pithy collection of 23 poems in free verse is the latest endeavor. And we really, really liked it. Cuz. You know. Dogs. Besides. The gang’s all here. From a 50-pound German Shepherd named after a Jimi Hendrix tune to Bray, a skittish black Afghan to Queen Chloe, the “pet store dog adoption” and more, this clever little book tugs at the heartstrings.

Some readers will recognize Odette, the “Velcro dog” who was rescued from a backyard breeder. “NO” isn’t in Odette’s vocabulary.

But it’s about a lot more than descriptions of a lot of dogs. Their breeds and personalities and idiosyncrasies. A lifetime of love is packed into a few brief lines of free verse. Like, “In a blink of an eye, joy to despair.” “Fur weathervanes.” Love conquers all. “Nothing is important except the moment/An evening in the company of my dogs.” So much more.

Heartfelt

Heartfelt and effervescent, the entries snap, crackle, and pop as the author skillfully traces the ups and downs of life with dogs while interweaving bits and pieces of her own life story throughout the text. Sentences are staccato-short but packed with meaning and texture. It’s clever. It’s engaging. It’s as warm and welcoming as a sweet furry face we all know and love (Kimber: Even feline fans will love this book!)

Highly readable, Sleeping With Dogs is the kind of book you can read cover to cover in under an hour. You can also dive in for a quick nibble or two and come back to it later. Or sip and savor it slowly, like a fine wine. Or unconditional love on four feet.

So if the mere mention of “poetry” is enough to make you jump up and run screaming from the room, take heart. Or take bark. Because Sleeping With Dogs will grab you collar, kennel, and kibble from page one.

I’d grab a copy now ‘fize you!

Our Rating: 4.5


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‘Even If’: One of the Most Powerful ‘Valentine’ Stories We’ve Ever Read

Even If: Keeping Faith in the Face of Adversity

By Dwayne Harris (Indie author, 2024. From the Faith Forward series)

Genre: Non-Fiction/Inspirational/Memoir

Pages: 203

Via: Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“It’s undeniable – it’s him! He did it!”

Ever felt afraid? So stressed you can barely see straight? Or maybe you’ve felt like you can’t catch a break. Like just when you muster enough strength to rise above the water and catch your breath, another wave hits? Maybe you’re in a place where nothing makes sense? Asking how could a loving God allow…?

Then this book is for you.

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‘Hope Unleashed’ Warms Hearts, Wags Tails

Hope Unleashed: Coping with Cancer with Courage & Love: The True Story of an Animal Rescue Caregiver

By June Summers (Van Velzer Press, December 2024)

Via: Author request

Genre: Non-Fiction/Memoir

Pages: 179

We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Please note that we won’t be rating this book. Assigning a numerical rating to a memoir just doesn’t feel right.

If courage could shine through ink, these pages would glow.

Kimber: Mom and I? We don’t say the above about too many books. But June Summers’ Hope Unleashed isn’t just any book. Hauntingly beautiful and searingly elegiac, Hope Unleashed is based on the life of a real woman, Wendy, as told by her mother. It also has dogs. About 40+. And about 20 cats (Nobody’s perfect). And how Wendy’s limitless love for animals and her passion for saving lives became her own lifeline as she battled an aggressive form of cancer.

Mom says you might want to grab a box of tissue before diving into this one. Or maybe a whole pallet. I’ll let Mom tell ya more. As soon as I re-up her tissue supply. Take it away, Mom:

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‘Stubborn Positivity’ Shines in ‘Craig and Fred’

Craig and Fred

A Marine, A Stray Dog, And How They Rescued Each Other

By Craig Grossi (Harper Collins, 2017)

Genre: Non-Fiction/Memoir

Via: Library

Pages (print): 266

“Looks like you made a friend,” his Marine Corps buddy quipped of the short-legged, floppy-eared stray dog who wandered into the USMC compound in Afghanistan.

But what author Craig Grossi heard was, “Looks like a Fred.” The name stuck. What unfolds next is one of the most touching, heartwarming and remarkable true animal stories we’ve ever read.

Even Kimber Her Royal Magnificence was impressed: “Fred is my new best bud! He’s like, Totally PAWsome!”

“Kimmi, you say that about everyone,” chirpeth Her Momness.

“So?”

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‘Stable Weight’ Balances the Scales

Stable Weight: A Memoir of Hunger, Horses, and Hope (Hopewell Publications, 2021)

By Lisa Whalen

Biography/Memoir/Health, Mind & Body

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ever gingerly opened a book, unsure where it may head, or how?

Stable Weight was one of those books. When Mom and I sat down to read it, she let me in on a secret. I’ll explain at the end of this review. So stay tuned. And don’t tell Mom. Let’s just keep this our little secret, okay? Meanwhile, on to the review:

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