Alan Cumming: Not My Father's Son

This is not a celebrity tell-all. You won't find any graphic sex scenes or lurid details of secret affairs. Alan's sexuality isn't the subject of this memoir. This is about a child, and the man he grew up to be healing from his experiences. It's about surviving.

 
If you lived your childhood in fear, you need to read this book. Alan puts into words the feelings many adult survivors of childhood abuse struggle to identify.

Traumatic childhood memories are intermixed with the filming of an episode about Alan for the BBC series 'Who Do You Think You Are?'. The story, and the actual program, are fascinating. There's a third thread woven in there and it's a great big, thick, red one. I won't reveal it here, but it ups the ante certainly.

This story touched me. I went to Alan Cumming's website and watched the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? after. I don't recommend watching it prior to reading the book. Watching the tv program doesn't reveal what Alan was going through at that time, but it is so surreal watching it after reading his story. I kept looking for signs of all that he was dealing with during the filming. It's incredible to imagine all the pressure that he was under at that time.

Link to Who Do You Think You Are? episode

I've heard good things about the audiobook. I love his voice, and he's a terrific narrator, so you can't go wrong there.

5 stars - a short but powerful and empowering read.

Another Great Adventure in History from Eric Larson

Dead Wake is as thrilling as any novel.

This past Christmas week I watched an amazing documentary series called Apocalypse:WWI and realized that I know so much less about the first world war than I do the second. And it's just as interesting! I've been reading bits and pieces since then, and put my name on the waiting list for Erik Larson's account of the sinking of the Lusitania.The 100th anniversary is approaching and it seems an appropriate time to read about it.

Dead Wake takes the events we've read about or watched in documentaries and puts them into a smoothly flowing narrative that  starts in New York City and ends off the coast of Ireland. It includes the American presidency, British code breakers of Room 40, German politics, u-boats, zeppelins, Ypres, the British Admiralty...I could go on and on. It's a lot of information, but Larson tells a logical story and all of the pieces fall into their proper places with ease.

The Lusitania pulling into New York Harbor

Passengers of the Lusitania are no longer an anonymous group. Rich details drawn from the letters and diaries of the dead and first person accounts from the survivors create a vivid picture of the voyage, surprisingly upbeat. Despite a published warning that vessels in British waters will be attacked, the passengers seem hearbreakingly unaware of their true danger.