Monday, September 12, 2016

A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice: A Memoir In Four Meditations, Christine Hale

This book was provided to me by TLC Book Tours. All opinions are strictly my own. 

book, review, reading, book review, nonfiction, memoir, goodreads, amreading

A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice: A Memoir In Four Meditations by Christine Hale is a powerful read.

Hale is a crafty wordsmith.

She pulls the reader into a perspective we never expected to experience.

We drift back and forth from her roles of daughter and mother, and sometimes even wife. Or ex-wife.

While the cover of the book does not have her face - we feel her before us. Open. Real. Raw.

The book is not an easy read.

If I'm being honest, I'm late in my review because it was not something I could simply skim through. It might not be the kind of read you enjoy, but for me the dynamic of a woman mothering adult children was something I could not pass up.

Some of it could be triggering. As described by an Amazon reviewer, it's "brutally honest" - and it is - in fact - that.

I only just noticed that she lives in Asheville. The irony in the timing of my realizing that? I was just there this weekend. And a huge topic of conversation? Tattoos.

Let me explain the irony in that, as the book begins by bringing us into the process of Hale obtaining matching tattoos with her grown children. The dynamic between Hale and her kids, her kids and each other, their separate relationships, the way they connect as a trio - it's all pretty tremendous.

A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice.

Just the title alone gives you all the feels.

It's powerful, isn't it? I'm not even 100% sure why it's so powerful. It just is.

Amazon describes this book as a "layered collage of memory within memory" and my goodness, those words speak to me. That's such a perfect description. The writer behind those words got this book. I don't know if it's from her press kit, or what, exactly, it's just really good stuff.

Anyway - I'm sorry to sort of ramble a lot and not describe the story in more detail. It's nonfiction, memoir, real, raw, honest, and it's probably not everyone's taste. But if you're looking for a new nonfiction story, one you can dive into fully and really feel? This is the book you need.

Grab your copy of A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice on Amazon today. 

And then be sure to let me know what you think when you finish. I'm already curious.

4 comments:

  1. Ok. you hooked me. going to look it up now. Gotta know more!

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  2. Totally intrigued! I may have to add this to my ever-growing book wish list!

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  3. Oh, this sounds SOOOO good, Andrea! Thanks so much!!

    ReplyDelete

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