Housewifery is hard work: taxing, by all accounts; isolating, by default; unwaged, by design. That is until 2006, when five women in Orange County were reportedly each given a few thousand dollars to be Housewives, Real Housewives, on cable television. They tottered, top-heavy, around Coto de Caza, their gated community, got Botox and went to […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2023/05/14/wages-for-housewives/
The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.
I picked up titles for the HoHoHoRAT…lol this made me laugh as I only have eyes for my flip-flops at the moment. I am feeling a little scattered brained, particularly due to the “change”, so tomorrow I am starting a new diet. Wish me luck. For those of you who enjoy MG/YA urban fantasy, I have an audiobook tour opening up this week! I am excited to share. It has rave reviews. Happy Mother’s Day! As always, Stay Caffeinated.
Learn more:
A special thanks to Keith Stoeckeler, Avon, Penguin Audio & Berkley Romance
Before you link up: Please be sure your weekly post includes a link back to Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Post
Never miss a post by adding Caffeinated to your Inbox
Source
Original source: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2023/05/sunday-post-575-happy-mothers-day.html
The Fifth Wife: A Memoir of Hope, Love, and Faith shares your story growing up in a Hmong family and the culture that shaped your life, and the challenges you faced. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I wanted to write this memoir to bring awareness to cultural issues, identity, and mental health. Like other Hmong refugees who have had to abandon their homes in pursuit of peace and freedom, my parents made huge sacrifices, bringing my siblings and me to this new country, America. In return, I always wanted to give them everything I could. In publishing this memoir, I wanted to honor my parents and our past life in which we have struggled and survived. In the writing process, I healed as I gained a deeper understanding of my life’s purpose and recognized what’s truly important in front of me. I wanted to share my story to inspire readers, especially those still trying to figure out themselves and where they should be regarding educational achievements, career aspirations, and family needs. This memoir is like a self-help book; you will learn to appreciate mistakes and lessons learned from unexpected circumstances.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
An idea that I wanted to highlight was that the brightest days would surely come after you get out of the darkness. Sometimes, you live through many storms, and life seems unfair, as if a good ending may never come. Many of us go through traumatic experiences; the aftermath of these situations can linger on deep within us. There are many ways to heal, and nothing is worth dying for. Another idea I wanted to point out is this: sensemaking is powerful. We can cultivate and define our experiences to benefit and strengthen us. It takes practice to get better at this. How we tell our story to ourselves (in our head) can destroy or empower us.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
Three things that were most difficult to write about:
1) Sexuality: This is a topic that can be uncomfortable for some. I was nervous at first, unsure of how much information to share. For any parts dealing with sexuality, I did my best to edit and leave in only necessary information to support the story. Still, it’s tough. I feel like, as women, we’re not supposed to express our needs when it comes to our sexuality, and love should do fine without sexual desires. But honestly, it’s hard not to bring up this topic when it comes to romantic love.
2) Depression: There is no word for “depression” in the Hmong language. And in mainstream culture, depression, like any other mental health issue – it’s not easy to grapple with. To highlight the fact that at one point in time, I was severely depressed, it can be embarrassing to admit. It makes me extremely vulnerable. Regardless, it’s a serious problem that needs more attention. I couldn’t skip over this part of my life. It took a lot from me. In return, there is much to learn from it.
3) Reputation: It was hard to write about others whose lives intertwined with me, especially my parents and husband. I didn’t want their reputation to be tarnished by telling the hurtful truths of our past. I did my best to show the different sides of each person and how we are not perfect. We have many flaws. As human beings, we’ve all tried our best to survive tough times and make the best of every decision.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your story?
Don’t judge a book by its title. Read this memoir with an open mind. You are about to enter into a world much different than yours. After reading this book, I hope you will feel uplifted. I hope you will be inspired with renewed energy and vision to keep trying to make the best of what you have.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
When Mai Cee least expects it, true love crosses her path. She falls head over heels for a charming American soldier, a hero who has come to rescue her from her dull, senseless, and conflicting Hmong life. But this amazing lover has other secrets in store, secrets that may destroy everything Mai Cee has worked for including her goal of forever trying to please her father.
The Fifth Wife: A Memoir of Hope, Love, and Faith, is a compelling story about the pursuit of excellence and honor, a daring undertaking to find true love, and a willingness to make new meanings. Follow Mai Cee’s story to understand the consequences of grief and despair; the power of faith and forgiveness; and the bliss of rediscovering purpose.
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/05/14/out-of-the-darkness/
What was the idea, or spark, that first set off the need to write Hidden Within Us: A Radical New Understanding of the Mind-Body Connection?
Startling observations from conversations with patients that indicated that they were unaware of emotions related to prior severe stress or trauma, and noticing rapid resolution of medical conditions among those patients who gained awareness of long-repressed emotions.
How much research did you undertake for this book and how much time did it take to put it all together?
Research over many years of clinical practice. About 4 years to write the book in my spare time.
Did you find anything in your research of this book that surprised you?
I did not put fully coalesced thoughts into the book. It was the process of writing the book that helped coalesce the thoughts.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
That they will understand the concept of repression of emotion, understand it as a gift of evolution, and trust that they can tolerate emotions that their unconscious allows to come up, and heal.
Author Links: Facebook | Website
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/05/14/a-gift-of-evolution/
resilient shares your story of growing up with parents that were abusive, being placed in foster care, struggling with repeating their mistakes, and how you learned to heal. Why was this an important book for you to write?
Something I learned when I began to heal from all of the trauma I experienced growing up was that I needed to know that there wasn’t something wrong with me and that I wasn’t alone. Feeling alone and isolated stunts the healing process because it leads directly to feeling like there must be something wrong with us. That realization – that I wasn’t alone – truly kickstarted my healing journey. And the more I realized I wasn’t alone, the more I realized how important that knowledge was to everyone else as well, that it wasn’t just something I personally needed. I couldn’t think of a better way of helping the world to heal and become a better place so fewer people have experiences like mine, or a more meaningful way of showing appreciation for those who came before me baring their pasts, than to open up and share mine with the world. I wanted my book to find its way into the hands of others like me so they will feel less alone and more understood, and I wanted my book to find its way into the hands of those who don’t have shared experiences so they could have some level of understanding of what it’s like for survivors of these types of trauma. I also wanted to have something candid and open about what it was like going through the foster care system in hopes that my story could help to improve the system for other children.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
There was a lot of my past that was difficult to write about, many times I had to step away and take a break. Different parts at different times were difficult, though not always for the same reasons. I found it extraordinarily difficult to open up about some of the destructive decisions I made because of lingering shame and embarrassment. At the same time, I struggled with writing about the sexual abuse by my mother’s drinking buddy and the assault by my boyfriend’s brothers because those events were some of the least healed parts of my past when I was drafting. Of course, writing about my sister nearly dying in the car accident we were in when I typically would have been sitting up front stirred up my feelings of having failed my sister that I had back then because I’d had to be my sister’s caretaker when we were little. I can’t say there was a single hardest thing to write about above all others, but different things for different reasons.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
I wanted to share as objectively as possible what happened in my life and the impact it had on me emotionally. I wanted to remove the whole aspect of blame and simply expose the myriad, sometimes befuddling, ways in which trauma can manifest in a young child, as well as demonstrate how certain things, however well-meaning, can be destructive, such as having a child reperform something done to them. We can all only act on what we know, so my goal is to help increase what people know so that we can, as a whole, improve the way we act toward one another.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your story?
I want readers to know that healing is possible. That no matter what happens to us, we have an amazing capacity to heal, as long as we’re willing to look inside and face those things we need to heal from, and that healing is going to be messy and that’s okay.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Instagram
When social services later intervenes, Katherine and her sister are placed in foster care in the countryside. Her new home and the stable and caring environment her foster mother provides are a far cry from the life she’s always known, yet Katherine’s struggles continue. As she approaches adulthood, reeling from her past and battling loneliness, life continues to beat her down with tough choices, staggering betrayals, and various assaults. For a few years, she’s able to cope by suppressing her memories and turning to self-harm and addiction. However, when she pawns her most cherished possession, she realizes that she’s following in her biological parents’ footsteps, tumbling in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Is it too late for her to escape her family’s generational inertia?
Katherine’s story is one of crippling weakness and breathtaking strength, debilitating self-doubt and defiant determination, self-destruction and healing…and the discovery of what it actually means to be resilient.
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/05/14/kickstarted-my-healing-journey/
When You Are Curious is a picture book that explores some of the many different ways to be curious and encourages readers to expand their curiosity. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Johnny Plasil?
Johnny Plasil had a ‘free hand’ with the illustrations. We always sat down to think of some ideas but the whole process was very natural and rewarding.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
I am passionate about Education and I was trying to encourage teachers, students, as well as the parents to try new things, explore their curious potential and discover their uniqueness, in order for them to grow.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am hoping my next book will be available before Christmas 2023.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/05/14/passionate-about-education/
By ingeniously weaving improbable and conflicting forces that make up his personal history, Eurovision expert William Lee Adams affirms an idea of home that yearns to transcend space and time.
Original source: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/09/1174944922/eurovision-william-lee-adams-memoir-wild-dances-book-review
For Tom Hanks, movies have always been transformative. Now, after acting in dozens of them, he’s written a novel based on his experiences on movie sets. He talked to NPR’s A Martinez.
Original source: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/09/1174934085/tom-hanks-has-starred-in-dozens-of-movies-now-hes-written-a-novel-too
Do geniuses get a “hall pass” for their behavior? Or, do we “cancel” the art of artists who’ve done “monstrous” things? That’s the question Claire Dederer tackles in her new book.
Original source: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/10/1174293359/monsters-a-fans-dilemma-review-claire-dederer
In this gripping follow-up to Angeline Boulley’s much-lauded debut, we return to Sugar Island and meet the next generation of girls in the Firekeeper family.
Original source: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/10/1172699332/warrior-girl-unearthed-firekeepers-daughter-novel-angeline-boulley