Tag: memoir

Book Review for Even the Good Girls Will Cry by Melissa Auf der Maur

Hardcover book of Even The Good Girls Will Cry: A ‘90s Rock Memoir by Melissa Auf der Maur. I photo of Auf der Maur playing Bass.

I won a copy of Melissa Auf der Maur’s Memoir, Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A ‘90s Rock Memoir, from a Goodreads Giveaway. For my first-ever Goodreads giveaway win, I want to thank Grand Central Publishing for listing this book. I felt I should review the book, but it’s been a while, and I feel a bit rusty. Be kind.

Melissa Auf der Maur’s memoir details her early life and her time playing bass for the bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. She starts with some family history, her upbringing with her uncompromising feminist mother and her heavy smoking/drinking politically active father, and the early 90s music and art scene of Montreal.

When Melissa writes about her time in Montreal, it feels like a love letter to the city and the time. The memoir is well-written and has a distinctive voice. Melissa is open about her new age spirituality views, and that shows in her writing. The memoir gives a snapshot of the grunge scene behind the stage of the 90s. Billy Corgan seems to be important and recurring throughout the book. They meet just before The Smashing Pumpkins hit it big, and he is the reason she finds her way to Hole.

Melissa joined Hole, playing bass, a few months after Kurt Cobain and Kristen Pfaff’s deaths. Melissa seems to view herself as an outsider and observer of the grief plaguing the band at that time. When writing about Courtney Love, the front person of Hole, I found her kind, but I thought Melissa was very forgiving of Love’s behavior towards her. Yes, at the time, Love was dealing with a lot of grief and an addiction with a target on her back. There were scenes where Love was cruel, and I wanted to tell the author it was okay to be angry or upset with Love, but she seems to be very detached and maybe protective of her friendships.

There isn’t much about the time she joined The Smashing Pumpkins during their Machina/Machines of God album/tour, since they would soon break up.

Fans of Melissa, you may be disappointed as the memoir is mostly about her time in Hole. There is little to nothing about her solo album.

For fans of Hole, this is not a memoir to miss.

https://bookshop.org/widgets.js“>Hardcover book of Even The Good Girls Will Cry: A ‘90s Rock Memoir by Melissa Auf der Maur. I photo of Auf der Maur playing Bass.
Even The Good Girls Will Cry: A ‘90s Rock Memoir by Melissa Auf der Maur.

Book Review: Buffering by Hannah Hart 

I first learned about Hannah Hart on her YouTube show, “My Drunk Kitchen,” and I introduced her videos to many of my friends and family. I was hooked by her creativity, funny cooking puns, and life morals after every episode. On film she is a positive force. I didn’t know that from the comedy came a hard and trying life. She is an inspiring person with a story everyone needs to read.

Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded is a collection of journal entries, essays, and memories of Hart’s life experiences which lead her to who she is today.

This book is incredibly moving. She talks about growing up with a mother who struggled with mental illness. She talks about her sisters and her slow understanding they weren’t living like others. Her complicated relationship with her father and step-father. How that realization still affects them today. But she also still tries to help others by showing how she has overcome her battles with self-harm and stress. I felt a close connection to Hart’s struggles with depression. And was making mental notes to try some of the exercises she uses to work through tough times.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom. Hart did a great job of mixing the sad with the funny. It was nice to learn the beginnings of “My Drunk Kitchen,” the work that went into creating the business and the content she does today. Also, the meaningful friendships she has developed and the honesty of learning to embrace her sexuality, faith, and self worth.

She is an excellent writer. Her voice is strong and comes through as completely authentic through her writing. It reads as if Hart is sitting with you sharing her story. It takes a lot of courage to open up but by doing so she will help many others.

Thank you to Dey Street Books, HarperCollins, and Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for this review which had no weight on the outcome of the rating.

Expected publishing date for Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart is October 18, 2016.