Review: Not My Secret to Keep

Not My Secret to Keep: A Memoir of Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse by Digene Farrar

Digene Farrar was in New York City to re-launch her modeling career when the first jet crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. As a registered nurse, her instincts and training led her to the scene to help, and she was there when the second jet hit. The trauma she witnessed that day reactivated her own secret trauma of childhood sexual abuse.

Facing her childhood trauma lead Digene to finally seek counseling and help.  Not My Secret to Keep is her memoir of self-discovery, healing, and transformation, largely based on her own journals kept during her work with therapists.  Because Digene's career as an actress and a model is fast-paced, and her first-hand experiences, including those on 9/11, are so riveting, her story is compelling.  She also got help from, and gives credit to, co-author Cynthia Hurn, so the writing has a professional polish but showcases Digene's voice.

While it is Digene's deeply personal account of PTSD and working to heal from physical and emotional injury, Not My Secret to Keep is a practical book that offers real support to survivors, their allies, and professionals. Anyone working with those suffering from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse will find value in Digene's story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Digene Farrar lives in Seattle where she works as a nurse, motivational speaker, actress, and model. She is currently performing in the riveting play TELLING, produced by OAASIS. For more information, please visit her website, www.digenefarrar.com.

Book Beginning: Not My Secret to Keep by Digene Farrar

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

I can't count how many nights I have lain awake with my story projecting on the screen of my mind, and how often the mere thought of writing it down overwhelmed me.

-- Not My Secret to Keep: A Memoir of Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse by Digene Farrar.

Digene Farrar was in New York City to re-launch her modeling career when the first jet crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. As a registered nurse, her instincts and training led her to the scene to help, and she was there when the second jet hit. The trauma reactivated her own secret trauma of childhood sexual abuse.

This book is Digene's memoir of self-discovery, healing, and transformation. While it is her deeply personal account of PTSD and working to heal from physical and emotional injury, Not My Secret to Keep is a practical book that offers real support to survivors, their supporters, and professionals. Anyone working with those suffering from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse will find value in Digene's story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Digene Farrar lives in Seattle where she works as a nurse, motivational speaker, actress, and model. She is currently performing in the riveting play TELLING, produced by OAASIS.  For more information, please visit her website, www.digenefarrar.com.

Book Beginning: Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Oscar Wilde was a dazzling conversationalist: once heard never forgotten.

-- Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius by Barbara Belford.

This has been sitting on my TBR shelf forever! I am finally getting to it because of my idiosyncratic selection method for my 2015 Mt. TBR challenge.

Mailbox Monday: Birthday Treasure

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

It was my birthday last week and I got a couple of books for presents!

From my hubby, who knows Jim Harrison is my favorite:



The Big Seven by Jim Harrison, his latest and the sequel to The Great Leader


From my sister, because she knew I would love it:



La Volupté Du Goût: French Painting in the Age of Madame de Pompadour


From the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program and just happened to arrive on my birthday:



Selected Letters of Norman Mailer by Norman Mailer

Review: Things Invisible to See

GREAT VALENTINE GIFT IDEA!

Magical realism and baseball are two things I steer clear of in novels, but Things Invisible to See by Nancy Willard makes me rethink my prejudices. For one thing, there is very little in the way of actual baseball, for a book that starts off with:

In Paradise, on the banks of the River of Time, the Lord of the Universe is playing ball with His archangels.

And while there is plenty of magical realism to go around, no one bit gets played to death, which is my biggest gripe.

The story involves twin brothers from Ann Arbor in WWII, one who makes a deal with Death to save the paralyzed girl he loves. But can his sandlot baseball team really beat a team of baseball’s dead legendary players?

You have to read this adorably imaginative, quirky, and irresistibly romantic novel to find out.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of Things Invisible to See listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

I'm gave this one a go because it is on Erica Jong's list of Top 100 Novels by Women and was one of the books I randomly selected for my personal TBR challenge this year. I am so glad I did!

Book Beginning: Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

"I had a key. I was there to water Susan's plants, but I've always had a key."

-- Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley. This is Smiley's third novel, published in 1984, seven years and two novels before her Pulitzer-winning A Thousand Acres brought her fame.

Although it is described as a thriller and starts with the discovery of two murdered bodies, it is really a story of relationships among a group of friends from the Midwest who moved to New York City in the late 1970s. I love the era and have a feeling I'm going to love the book, even though I just started it.

Book Beginning: Things Invisible to See

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

In Paradise, on the banks of the River of Time, the Lord of the Universe is playing ball with His archangels.

-- Things Invisible to See by Nancy Willard.

Magical realism and baseball are two things I steer clear of in novels, but I'm giving this one a go because it is on Erica Jong's list of Top 100 Novels by Women and was one of the books I randomly selected for my personal TBR challenge this year.

Teaser Tuesday: I was Told There'd be Cake

8. Names I am most often called by telemarketers: Simone, Slain, Siobhon, Flo, Stacey, Susan, Slater, Leanne, and Slow. (Yes, my parents named me "Slow.")

-- I Was Told There'd be Cake by Sloane Crosley, from an essay called "Bastard out of Westchester."

Crosley's essays about growing up in the suburbs of New York and her post-college single days in the city are charming enough on a chilly weekend.  Nothing is gut-busting funny; but nothing is in off-putting bad taste either.

My favorite essay is the one quoted above in which she muses on her name.  Having an unusual name myself -- Gilion Dumas -- I could relate to every one of the funny experiences on her list.  Telemarketers typically call me Jillian (I pronounce mine with a hard G), Julianne, Geeyon, or Garion. And, of course, we all know how they say my last name.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.