Tea and Chemo by Jackie Buxton (Non-Fiction, Memoir, 9/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

 February 2016, Urbane Publications, 240 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Summary from Urbane Publications

At the age of 45, wife and mother Jackie Buxton was diagnosed with breast cancer. Lurching between the crippling fear that the cancer had spread, and the great comfort of knowing she was one of the lucky ones who could be treated, she did what she always does when life presents her with a challenge: she wrote it down.

Jackie quickly realised that even with cancer, life was far from bad. Never known for her scientific prowess, she nonetheless became a ‘bit of an expert’ – at least in the field of hair loss, water retention and biscuits – and decided to use her writing to share experiences and help others recognise you don’t have to be defined by your cancer.

Nayu's thoughts

Having had several friends go through in the past few years I liked the personal insight Jackie gives to fighting cancer. Her experience was a bit different to my friends as she had children to take care of. I could relate a lot of the sentiments through my own health issues-it's so true that you can develop an odd sense of humour which others can find inappropriate, but which you think is rather funny. 

Jackie talks through all aspects of having chemo, especially how she feels about it, which is a bit brave of her, as well as important issues like whether to wear a wig, forgetfulness and the incredible fatigue which I most definitely relate to. She does get a bit down about it, but manages to pick herself up thanks to those she loves being there for her. A good read if you are or know someone affected by cancer. 

Find out more on Jackie's website. 

Life's Essential Primer by Robert C Trautman (Non-fiction, 8/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

April 2015, Xlibris, 342 pages, Ebook, Review copy 

Summary from Xlibris

Your current level of success (or failure) is the product of the choices you've made throughout your life. “Life's Essential Primer” provides a practical guide designed to help you make the choices that lead most directly to greater success and happiness. Ideally, school aged children should read, or be taught, the principles and practices detailed in Section 1. It will give them an essential framework within which they can plan and prepare their educational paths efficiently, to become successful, well-mannered, responsible adults, while avoiding the common pitfalls along the way. Unwittingly taking just such a path from an early age with meager means, the author was able to realize his own dreams. He now offers you the benefit of his experiences with the hope that your life will become filled with success and happiness, as well. It's never too late to get your life on track for greater wealth, both monetarily and emotionally. Sections 2 through 5 provide a series of amusing real-life adventures, illustrating the practical application of Section 1. Finally, Section 6 wraps it all up by showing how early choices affect events later in life. Success is a choice. Make it yours! 

Nayu's thoughts

I was intrigued to see if I could pick up any tips from this memoir. It's told in an interesting style, with Robert explaining incidents from his life and pointing out what can be learnt by them to the reader. I confess I thought there would be more focus on tips for the reader, rather than the sometimes long description of the events throughout his life, which had a lot of details, some of which I skimmed over as I didn't find them interesting.

However, the book as a whole is good because it explores over time how particular facts and figures about the world Robert lived in changed, his relationship with his brother and his family, and also how he matured over the years the more he experienced life. The various illustrations and photos that accompanied the text really brought Robert's world to life and explained some of the more complex occasions.

H is for Hawk by Helen McDonald (Autobiography/Memoir, 8/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

 

July 2014, Random House, 320 pages, Ebook, Review copy

Content: grief, internal questioning, some strong language (I think I remember some...) tissue needed, some humour

Summary from Ebooks by Sainsbury's who provided this book for review

As a child, Helen Macdonald was determined to become a falconer, learning the arcane terminology and reading all the classic books. Years later, when her father died and she was struck deeply by grief, she became obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk. She bought Mabel for 800 on a Scottish quayside and took her home to Cambridge, ready to embark on the long, strange business of trying to train this wildest of animals. H is for Hawk is an unflinchingly honest account of Macdonald's struggle with grief during the difficult process of the hawk's taming and her own untaming. This is a book about memory, nature and nation, and how it might be possible to reconcile death with life and love. 

Nayu's thoughts

Like Helen, although not to the same extent, I've been fascinated by birds of prey since I was little. There's just something incredible about them, how they hold themselves, how they hunt. They are simply magnificent, which is why H is For Hawk caught my eye. I definitely got insight in to how birds of prey are cared for and trained in Helen's personal book. I confess to dreading White's passages, and skimming over them as although I know his work influenced Helen's own training, I didn't care for him at all. I wanted Helen's trials and triumphs as she slowly worked her way through grief, became a recluse and then re-entered the world, so after several sections reading all of White's passages when I began to dread each one I skipped it. I'm sorry, they weren't for me at all. 

Helen isn't entirely alone, as she has friends who help sometimes knowingly and sometimes unwittingly in training 'her' goshawk, who is full of personality and teaches Helen ever so much about life. The other main reason I was intrigued by Helen's story is that having recent lost a grandfather I was close to, I thought I could understand her grief. I did, although I can safely say I didn't buy a hawk! My family, least of all my cat and pet finches wouldn't have been amused.