I Dreamt of Sausage by Corinna Borden

As if being newly married to a resident husband who rarely leaves the hospital, separated from family by miles, and finding herself in a small town isn't enough stress for anyone, being diagnosed with lymphoma further complicates things for Corinna Borden.  Through journal entries and snippets of episodes of her life we are able to journey with her as she navigates her way,  and she does make it her way, her unique journey documented in I Dreamt of Sausage.



Through out the memoir she does battle--with her family, the medical community,  her body and the voices/tapes we all play in our minds.  She does her best to escape the toxicity of traditional medicine, often opting for treatments that do not benefit her, delaying treatments that are proven, although unpleasant.  She falls victim to unscrupulous New Age gimmicks, taking thousands of dollars of supplements, submitting to daily coffee enemas and subscribing to nonsense-speak at times.

Corinna's parents and sister and especially her husband are patient and accepting, even when they believe her life is in grave danger.  Even the slightest question about her alternative treatments elicit temper tantrums and yelling "You don't support me!"  Finally her family just accepts that she is doing what she is going to do.  I can't even imagine how hard this was for them, especially for her husband, whose life work is based in science, not New Age magic.


All in all, Borden writes a courageous recollection of her cancer road trip, and while it isn't the map I would have followed, it was an interesting read and I give this one a solid 3 blooms.


Disclosure:   This book was given to me by the author in exchange for a review.  No other compensation was offered and no promise of a positive review was promised to the author.

Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story by Laurie Lindeen

Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story by Laurie Lindeen

Book description-

In the years between the meteoric launch of Madonna and Courtney Love, Petal Pusher takes readers on a thrilling journey across rock-and-roll—from the big haired 1980s to the grunge-filled 1990s—when Laurie Lindeen brought her all-girl band Zuzu’s Petals to compete in the indie rock arena.
Minneapolis in the eighties was a musical hotbed, the land of 10,000 lakes and 10,000 bands that gave birth to Prince, the Replacements, and Soul Asylum. For Laurie Lindeen it was the perfect place to launch her rock-and-roll dream. She moved to the city with best friends Phyll (“Annie Oakley meets Patsy Cline”) and Coleen (“former cheerleader gone off the arty deep end”) to crash in decrepit apartments and coax punk rock from crappy used guitars.

Lily's Thoughts- (as posted in Elle Magazine, August 2007)

Choppy and sometimes incoherent, Laurie Lindeen recounts her story of the turbulent beginnings of her Minneapolis all girl rock and roll band, Zuzu's Petals. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll is the anthem screamed by Lindeen's book, regardless of Lindeen's own lack of confidence and obligatory 1980's angst.. There is no doubt, You, the reader, are along on this journey--the good, the bad, the frequently ugly and incomprehensible. Sometimes juvenile, always brutally honest, the story evolves and grows up, finally, leaving the reader with a sense of relief that Lindeen, finally, is at peace with her past and ready to face the future with her head held up high.  3 blooms for this one.

Disclosure:  This book was given to me by Elle Magazine in return for a review.

Any Given Doomsday (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 1) by Lori Handeland

Any Given Doomsday (The Phoenix Chronicles, Book 1)

Any Given Doomsday (Phoenix Chronices, Bk 1)
by Lori Handeland.

Book Description-

Elizabeth Phoenix once used her unique skills as a psychic to help in the Milwaukee Police Department's fight against injustice. But when Liz's foster mother is found viciously murdered—and Liz is discovered unconscious at the scene—her only memory of the crime comes in the form of terrifying dreams...of creatures more horrific than anything Liz has seen in real life. What do these visions mean? And what in the world do they have to do with her former lover, Jimmy Sanducci?

Lily's Thoughts-

Almost condemning Any Given Doomsday from the beginning, I decided to plod on through and eventually found myself enjoying this somewhat of a paranormal romance meets Buffy the Vampire Killer story. Liz Phoenix, a feisty psychic orphan, is destined to be the savior of the earth. With the help of DKs, or Demon Killers, she must lead the battle between good vs. evil. I found this a rather ambitious goal of the author and, although there are entertaining aspects of the novel, I feel that, for the first book of this series, Handeland falls short. The first 1/3 of the novel was choppy, almost incoherent. The second third was better, but was riddled with flat circular dialogue that seems to just be a filler. The last third was where the meat of the story lay. Handeland has the bare bones started for a great series. Let's hope the next book does a better job at entertaining.

3 Blooms

Disclosure:  This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for a review.

The Red Book: Musings of a Manic Depressive Phase: Manic A Collection of Poetry by Aaron Rogier

From the author- "I publish this work in defiance of the stigma that is thrust upon so many persons.

Lily's Thoughts-

As a person who lives with being labeled manic-depressive, more recently called bipolar, I was excited to read poetry written by a fellow manic-depressive. The complete title of the book, The Red Book: Musings of a Manic Depressive Phase, claims that what is contain within is from the Manic cycle of bipolar, but many of the poems seemed to have a tinge of depression, or maybe of a hopelessness. Rogier must be commended for standing up and saying that we will be stigmatized no more--but I don't see much in this collection that would give outsiders any indication of what it is like to be bipolar, much less manic. The author does make good use of metaphor, mania is fire, the sluggishness and disconnect feelings of the drugs are mud, and depression is water. The poems do convey a sense of fear of not being able to maintain a mood homeostasis. As poetry is always subjective to one's tastes, I won't say that people will not enjoy Rogier's collection. Many will, but for me, the endless rhyming couplets were distracting. I could not determine any discernible meter within the poems. Having said that, I think the author has the talent to write prose, and hope to see that in the future. I believe that poetry might be too limiting for the ideas he is so vehemently trying to convey.

3 Blooms


Disclaimer:  This book was given by the author in exchange for a review.