memoir

Book Review: The Office BFFs

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The Office BFFs
by Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Read by the authors

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey—Pam and Angela, respectively, from the TV show The Office—talk about their time on the show (both on and off set), how they came to be on it, and life after the show. If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll probably enjoy the stories about their fellow cast members, the directors and other crew, and ways that working on this show was different than other acting jobs they’ve had. I liked the conversational style and the topics they hit.

I listened to the audiobook, which was great, because there were extras like a letter about the authors written and read by Rainn Wilson and a song written and sung by Creed Bratton. It also adds a lot to the conversational style, and you can hear their love for the subject at hand and for their friends. Some reviewers have mentioned that this book doesn’t cover much more than you can hear about on the Office Ladies podcast, and I can’t speak to that—I’ve only listened to a few episodes. But I did enjoy the book, and if you plan to read it, I highly recommend the audiobook. (On the other hand, there are pictures all throughout the book, so if you can get a copy of the book or e-book, even if from the library to look through, you might want to do that too.)

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Book Review: Keep Moving

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Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Truths about Aging
by Dick Van Dyke
Read by the author

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Part memoir, part book of advice, I chose to listen to the audiobook, which Dick Van Dyke reads himself. Though I’m a few years younger than the book’s primary audience, I still enjoyed the advice, humor, and sections about Van Dyke’s life. As can often happen when you don’t already know much (if anything) about an actor’s real self and tend to conflate his/her on-screen appearances with real life, it was a bit jarring to hear some of the things about his life. However, I’ve read reviews for the full memoir he wrote a few years before this, and it sounds like this is pretty tame in comparison. I had planned to read that too, but I think I’ll leave it at this.

Some of my favorite parts involved Van Dyke’s brother Jerry Van Dyke, who seems to have a considerably different (and quite humorous) outlook on getting older. I was particularly surprised to learn that Van Dyke has never had any formal dance training; I am one, apparently of many, who always assumed he had. I appreciate parts of his outlook on life, while some of his take on politics and religion left me shaking my head. When he basically says that no one can really know the truth about God, I think to myself, “Is that the truth?” It’s an age-old argument that probably never solves anything, though. In the end, I mostly enjoyed this book, and if you plan to read it, I highly recommend the audiobook.

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Book Review: Trapped in Hitler’s Hell

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Trapped in Hitler’s Hell
by Anita Dittman with Jan Markell

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Anita Dittman was a child living with her family in Germany when Hitler and the Nazis started to make life increasingly difficult for Jewish people. Anita, her mother, and her sister were Jewish, while her father was not. He abandoned them to save himself, and though Anita’s sister managed to escape to England, Anita and her mother were moved into a ghetto, and later, work camps. As a Christian Jew, Anita found comfort in her relationship with Jesus, even before she really understood what it meant to have that relationship. Her story is told in Trapped in Hitler’s Hell.

I have read accounts of Jewish people and resistance workers in countries that were occupied by the Nazis, but I believe this is the first I’ve read of a Jewish family living right in Germany. Anita and her mother had some protection because of Anita’s non-Jewish father and because Anita and, eventually, her mother were Christians, but life was still difficult and dangerous, and much worse lay ahead.

While books like this can often make the reader question, “What would I do if this happened to me?” the question this most brought to my mind was, “How can I be as trusting and faithful with my witness in my life right now as she was during such hard times?” Though often told to stop talking about Jesus, Anita just couldn’t help herself, so great was her love for God. And no matter what bad thing happened, she would always be the first to express that God was still in charge. I do wonder about the wisdom of her tendency to always assume that God would keep her and everyone she was with safe and intact, since God does not promise earthly safety, especially during times of persecution. Not that he doesn’t ever keep someone protected, alive, even healthy, against all odds, but if we believe that will always be the case and it’s not, will our faith be shaken? Despite that concern, this book is worth reading for anyone interested in Holocaust accounts, especially those from a Christian worldview.

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Book Review: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

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The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
by Maria Augusta von Trapp

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Though many know the story told in the popular musical & movie The Sound of Music, most probably don’t know the true story behind it. This is the book that inspired Rodgers and Hammerstein to write the musical, and there are some similarities, but also some large differences. The book also goes on to cover the Trapp Family’s lives in America after they fled Europe, an event which takes place within the first 40% of the book.

Overall, I found it fascinating to read about the true story behind a movie I watched so very many times all through my childhood, and plenty since then, too, even leading my own daughter to fall in love with it. It is very easy to read and follow what is going on. I enjoyed the times the author tells about her halting English in a way that seems very real, even while the entire book is in English. I love the way the family works together in all things, not just their singing career, each one using their talents where they can be most useful. I also appreciate the author’s instinct to attribute everything to the will of God, doing quite a few things she didn’t really want to do, because she had good reason to believe God wanted her to. I should add that I don’t agree with, and at times even understand the need for, some of the theology the author believes in, but the foundational beliefs of trusting in God for every aspect of one’s life is important.

We can find a word of caution for our own lives in these pages, as the family watched Hitler come to power and take over their country years before WWII started. The children were told at school that their parents were “nice, old-fashioned people who don’t understand the new Party,” and that they shouldn’t tell their parents what they learned at school. This is beginning to happen to some degree today as well, with some areas wanting to cut parents completely out of the decision-making for what goes on at schools. Once they start trying to keep what the kids are learning at school secret from the parents, it should be a huge red flag!

The book did feel like it dragged a bit in the 2nd half, though I can’t quite put my finger on why. It may have simply been that the story of how the family’s concert career grew and they bought their farm wasn’t as interesting to me as the rest. Overall, though, I’m glad I read this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the movie and wants to know the true story or anyone interested in memoirs about life during and after WWII (especially from those who are from countries directly affected by the war).

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Book Review: Night

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Night
by Elie Wiesel

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Elie Wiesel’s account of his time in death camps during WWII is told simply, without unnecessary prose. As a teenager in an unthinkable situation, Wiesel clung to his father, while losing all faith in his God. One of the things that strikes me most after reading this book is the constant uncertainty the author and his fellow Jews were faced with—will it really get that bad before the war ends? Are the rumors we’re hearing of camps true? Where are we going? What will happen when we get there? Which is better, left or right? To stay with family or to go where directed? To fight to survive or to let it be over? To join the evacuation march or to be left behind in the hospital? Not that this hasn’t all come up in other Holocaust books I’ve read, but for whatever reason it stuck out more to me in this book. That Wiesel was struggling to come to terms with what happened to him and millions of others even in the writing of this book is evident, and it certainly makes the memoir raw and personal.

Reading this book was one of my earliest exposures to the horrors of the Holocaust, as I’m sure I read it around high school age. I even found a couple of notes that I’d written in the book back then, which I don’t remember doing. While there are a lot more books out there about the Holocaust, both fiction and non-fiction, than there were when this was first published, I think it is a classic in the genre, and a good starting point for anyone newly diving into the genre.

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Book Review: I Can Only Imagine

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I Can Only Imagine
by Bart Millard
Read by the author

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Singer and songwriter Bart Millard, lead singer of the band MercyMe, shares the full story of the band’s best-known song, “I Can Only Imagine.” Though this story was shared with the world through the movie by the same name, as Millard explains at the beginning of the book, a movie has time constraints that a book does not; thus, the book is able to go into more detail about Millard’s relationship with his abusive dad and his dad’s transformation shortly before his death.

You know how a song can be so popular, played so often, that you almost start to not care about it, even though you thought it was a great song when you first heard it. I won’t pretend I enjoy “I Can Only Imagine” as much now as I did when it was first released in 2001. But reading this book definitely puts the song in a whole new light. Though it sounds like Bart Millard has told the story about his abusive-turned-repentant dad many times over those years, I don’t recall ever hearing it, and I haven’t seen the movie. And wow, it is quite the heartbreaking story. From the physical and mental abuse to the (worse in some ways) checking out of his dad later, Bart Millard has every reason to be traumatized. And to know that it has continued to affect him in more recent years, even while playing music to large crowds, of which, at various times, I’ve been a part, only adds to the sadness.

I am incredibly grateful for so much of the music that Bart Millard has written and that the band has recorded, and I think it’s important for “fans” to keep in mind that these are real people with real problems. They often seem like they have it all together, like they have all the answers, to the degree where even when they’re standing on the stage telling us that they’ve had some rough times, we imagine those rough times to be over, because otherwise, how could they be standing there in front of us leading us in worship? We assume that whatever problems they have can’t be as bad as our own, and maybe by the time they get to writing a book like this, they’ve got it all sorted out. But most likely, Bart Millard will continue to struggle with PTSD and the feelings of inadequacy that his dad instilled in him, while thanking God that he had some good times with him before it was too late.

I listened to the audiobook, because I wanted to hear the words in the author’s own voice. I’m incredibly glad I listened to the book, and though I’ll probably never quite think of MercyMe songs the same way again, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

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Book Review: Between Heaven and the Real World

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Between Heaven and the Real World
by Steven Curtis Chapman with Ken Abraham

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Singer and songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman shares the story of his life so far—childhood, romancing his wife, the road to becoming a household name in Christian music, and the loss of his young daughter. Chapman does not hold back as he tells of doubt, uncertainty, even anger, but also of learning to trust God, to believe He’s working even when we can’t see it, and to let Him lead the way.

I went into this book knowing that there would be tears involved, considering the circumstances around his loss (I don’t know if spoilers are an issue for an autobiography, but I’ll still avoid it, just in case), and I’d imagine it would be even more difficult for those who have experienced a similar loss. The emotion is raw, unfiltered, and there’s no attempt to cover it up and say “God’s got this,” since that would be disingenuous to how they were feeling at the time. One thing Chapman points out in this book is that you can know and fully believe that God is good all the time, and that His plan and timing are perfect, but that won’t necessarily keep you from feeling completely devastated by a loss, especially when in the immediate moments, days, months, when you’re still in shock, reeling, trying to process and figure out how you even take another step forward. This book is certainly not a how-to on picking yourself back up after a devastating loss, trusting in God, and moving forward firmly in His plan, but more a picture of one family’s muddled, messy attempts at finding daylight in the utter darkness.

And of course, this was just one chapter of Chapman’s and his family’s lives (several chapters in the book, though). I appreciated reading about how his earlier life led him to be the man he is and write some of the songs he’s written. I was fascinated by some of the stories behind songs that are well known to me. I do wish some of the theology had been delved into a little more deeply, for example the foundational reason that a loving God allows bad things to happen, but in the end, he was sharing his life, not trying to preach a sermon. I was also often disappointed with the picture placement, because pictures would come too early and sort of “give away” something that was coming. It might have just been an issue with the Kindle version, but then some pictures came on time or a little later than the event was discussed, so who knows. (I fully enjoyed the pictures themselves, though.) Overall, it was a deep, at times dark, fascinating read, and think that fans of Steven Curtis Chapman’s music will enjoy it, as well as people interested in the behind the scenes of the Christian music industry.

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Book Review: Behind the Lights

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Behind the Lights
by Helen Smallbone

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Helen Smallbone is the mother of seven children who are all adults now, three of which are well-known in Christian music—Rebecca St. James and brothers Joel and Luke of for KING & COUNTRY. In this book, she shares the story of her family, from moving from Australia to the US where everyone pitched in to keep them all afloat, to working together to put on Rebecca St. James’s shows once she got into the music industry, and to how for KING & COUNTRY got started.

One of the things I liked about this book was that way it was so conversational, like she’s telling her story in person. And she’s not afraid to talk about the mistakes made by her or anyone else in her family. I appreciate the way she ties every lesson learned into God and the Bible. Though very little of her incredible life is very relatable to me, I was still quite immersed in the book and was carried along with the ups and downs.

I’ve seen hints of at least Joel & Luke’s involvement in Rebecca St. James’s concerts, but the overall story of the entire family working at their oldest sister’s concerts and growing into their roles was the most interesting to me. It gives a lot of insight into what I’ve said since pretty much the first time I saw fK&C in concert—they put on some of the best live shows I’ve ever been to. And now I can see how their talent as performers had early roots. I’m really glad I read this book, and think that fans of Rebecca St. James and/or for KING & COUNTRY will enjoy it, as well as people interested in the behind the scenes of the Christian music industry (though I was fairly disappointed by some of what I read about that).

Thank you to Netgalley and K-LOVE Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about Behind the Lights and for KING & COUNTRY
Publication date: April 12, 2022

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Book Review: Things We Couldn’t Say

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Things We Couldn’t Say
by Diet Eman with James Schaap

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Diet Eman, along with her fiance Hein Siestma, watched as the Nazi’s occupied their country, started imposing rules and restrictions, and then began to persecute the Jewish people living there. What started as quiet, minor resistance turned into a movement, with Hein and his brother leading their own group. Both Diet and Hein were arrested and spent time in prison, and then concentration camps. Fifty years later, Diet tells her story in Things We Couldn’t Say.

This is the third book I’ve read now that centers on Dutch resisters during WWII and the Holocaust. I was fascinated to hear about the citizens’ reactions to the occupation and the royal family fleeing in advance of the invasion, followed eventually by the realization that the royal family’s decision hadn’t necessarily been as cowardly as first thought. Diet also talks about why it was so natural for people in her country to resist, as she explains how stubborn the Dutch tend to be, easily forming splinter churches if there’s a difference of opinion.

In 2015, upon receiving the Faith and Freedom Award from the Acton Institute, Diet Eman said, “…you think it’s something special. But when your country is taken—and Hitler had said he would respect our neutrality, and then he marches in and he starts killing all of the Jews—and we had so very many Jewish people in our country. So, you would have done the same there, when you had friends who were Jewish and they were in danger.” However, from this book, it’s clear that not everyone would do the same thing. Even as Diet tried to find people who would help her early in her work, she was disappointed in her Christian friends who valued their own safety over that of others.

Diet was in the same prison, and then later, the same concentration camp, as Corrie & Betsie ten Boom, and though she didn’t meet them at the time, her observances of these fellow Dutchwomen of faith only strengthen my admiration of the ten Boom family (their story can be found in The Hiding Place). It’s inspiring to read how Diet’s faith grew during the toughest times and how she continued with her resistance work even after suffering very difficult things. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in true WWII resistance or Holocaust accounts, especially those from a Christian worldview.

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Book Review: Lead Me

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Lead Me
by Matt Hammitt

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian living, memoir

Former Sanctus Real lead singer Matt Hammitt talks about the difficulties he faced for many years trying to balance life on the road with life at home. With a wife and eventually 4 kids, he wanted to be the husband and father they needed while also following God’s calling on his life and providing for his family. In this book, he lays bare the doubts, anxieties, even depression he went through while his wife was at home simply wanting him to lead the family the way he was meant to.

This book really hit home to me in so many ways. My husband and I are at a good point in our 21-year marriage right now, but it hasn’t always been so, and I know it won’t always be so. When Sanctus Real’s song “Lead Me” came out, it spoke to me every time I heard it, and I used the lyrics to explain to my husband where I felt our relationship was lacking at the time. I’m sure the song spoke to countless others as well, just as I’m sure this book will speak to many hearts. Hammitt’s insights into what it means to be present in a marriage, even if you can’t be physically present (though that certainly helps) come from a place of experience, all of which he shares in this book. That his marriage survived some of what he describes is a testament to what can happen if two people refuse to take the easy way out and instead determine to do life together, even when it gets rough (really rough, from the sound of it).

I also found some insight into an issue my extended family is dealing with right now, and highlighted some quotes that apply to that situation. Though we all have our own stories that we’re writing as we go through life, we can certainly learn from each other along the way, even if circumstances don’t match up perfectly. And though I can’t fully connect with what Hammitt and his wife went through during and after the birth of their first son, my heart broke to read about the pain and uncertainty they went through.

My favorite thing about the book is that he points back to the Bible with every uncertainty he has, with every lesson he learns. It’s all right there for us to discover, and Hammitt lays some of it out in a way that could be beneficial to so many people who are struggling with their own families, marriages, or other relationships, whether their issue is trying to balance work and home or a plethora of other possible things that can cause a divide. Also, fans of Matt Hammitt and/or Sanctus Real might appreciate this peek into his life and why he left the band in 2015. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has interest for any reason. (Plus, any book that mentions Psalty the Singing Songbook, not once but twice, is a winner in my book!)

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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