Tuesday 3 August 2021

Latest book reviews

Here are my latest book reviews, and they may be the last for a while, as I'm going to concentrate on more studious endeavours!

Goodbye Britain: Talking to the Brits Who Packed Their Bags and Left, by Tom Beck

Tom Beck decided to interview people who’d left the UK to go and live abroad. He wanted to hear about their experiences, good and bad. The result, is a fascinating collection of short stories. Here’s the blurb:

My Review: Well hasn’t my life been boring!

This is a fascinating book, full of insights into people’s experiences living in different parts of the world after leaving the UK. One of the stories that I think will stick with me, is the anecdote from the woman who talked of moving to South Africa during the apartheid regime, and her horror at the way black people were treated — she was then treated like a pariah by other whites after inviting a black woman inside her home to use her bathroom. 

It’s sobering reading in places. Full of interesting accounts of people who’ve moved away from the UK to live in different parts of the world. It’s thought provoking, enjoyable, and guaranteed to make most of us feel like we’ve lived really boring lives!

My Alien Self: My Journey Back to Me by Amanda Green

Review: Brilliantly written memoir from a woman who's travelled widely, experienced many emotional ups and downs along the way, and has a pretty liberal mindset, which may not always have been to her advantage.

Amanda has Borderline Personality Disorder and her sometimes tumultuous relationships reflect some of the difficulties she experiences - but the problems she faces are certainly not all of her making. Her mother was schizophrenic, making her relationship with her parents difficult, to say the least. The men in her life leave something to be desired.

She makes some bad decisions and seems to be able to get money easily, charming her way into jobs, but then has difficulty keeping them, and spends money like water, so she's usually broke.

It's a very interesting read, incredibly frank and honest, taking you down lots of different paths through her history of eating disorders and depression, medication, and therapies, as she tries to reconcile her past with her present and deal with difficult relationships.

She was born the same year as me, so it's interesting to compare what I was doing while she was in Japan, or when I got married, etc. Her life certainly makes mine seem boring but safe. Very interesting read.

 

1 comment:

  1. My Alien Self sounds like an emotional but interesting read.

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