Autobiography Book Club

With the midterms right around the corner, we decided to take a superficial dive into the White House, autobiography style, with Unhinged by Omarosa Manigault Newman.  In this episode we talk a little politics, a little Judge Kegerator and a whole lot of Omarosa.  Tired of being mad and sad about what is this nightmare we call American politics? Then let's laugh...just a little. This episode also marks the end of season one.  Join us in a few months with some new books and new insights into the stories, lives and times of interesting women.  Don't forget to stop by HarpyMedia.com and drop us a line.

This month we ventured into the likes of an "Awkward Black Girl", courtesy Issa Rae, who in my opinion is anything but.  Her autobiography is a glimpse into her childhood misadventures and how she became the bad ass chick she is today.  This book might not have been our favorite so far, but doesn't change our love for Issa. We would love to hear from you in the form of a review.  If you are enjoying Autobiography Book Club, drop us a hint on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and keep in touch! Twitter | Website

In this bonus episode, book club heads to the theater to see the movie "Adrift".  This story is the harrowing tale of Tami Oldham Ashcraft and how she survived 41 days adrift at sea.  Starring Shailene Woodly and Sam Claflin, the movie is a small departure from the true tale, but still a good little representation of what lurks beyond serene beaches.  After reading the book "Red Sky in Mourning" a.k.a "Adrift" we had to see the movie.  Be warned, there are spoilers, but if you've read the book then you know what to expect.  Check back shortly when we discuss this months book, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae. We would love to hear from you.  Leave us a comment on our website HarpyMedia.com or leave us an iTunes review.  Also, stay in touch by following us on Twitter.  Autobiography Book Club is am independent podcast and member of the No Phony Podcast Network.  For more book club, check out our other available episodes wherever you get your pods.

This month we read Adrift, the harrowing tale of Tami Oldham Ashcraft who was floating at sea for 41 days.  Her story is one of resilience, survival, love and loss.  Join in while we discuss the 5 reasons why we would never survive 41 days at sea as well as one of our deep lack of navigational knowledge.  We also sip a makeshift "Sea Breeze" slapped together just like the rickety jib aboard Tami's wrecked sail boat. We would love to hear what you think!  Leave us a review on iTunes and wherever you listen to your podcasts.  For comments, questions and suggestions, contact us at HarpyMedia.com Follow us on Twitter!

This month we read the heart wrenching autobiography detailing one women's struggle with depression and mental illness as well as her fight for love.  Heart Berries is a poetic  book written in North American Indian prose, but with a modern flair.  Listen in while we discuss Heart Berries over a glass of berry garnished New Age on ice. If you enjoyed Heart Berries, you might want to check out last months read, Educated by Tara Westover.  In our latest discussion we will address some of the similarities between the two stories as well as their differences.  Thanks for listening and as always, we'd love to hear from your.  Leave us a comment or shoot us an email.  If you like what you hear, please leave us a review.  Listen up to learn about next months book.  We think you'll love it.  Happy Reading! Check out all the great podcasts on the No Phony Podcast network by following us on twitter @HarpyMedia or @PhonyNo or visit our network website at NoPhonyNetwork.com

This month we read Educated by Tara Westover, the story of a young woman living an unconventional, survivalist childhood in the mountains of Idaho.  This story gives free range children and childhood labor a new meaning.  Listen while we discuss the amazing journey of Tara and how she overcomes her familial shackles and rises up to become an amazing, talented and educated woman.  This autobiography has many layers, so join Jill and Leah while they dissect some of the more humorous aspects of Tara's story while also lamenting on the more serious. For more Autobiography Book Club, visit HarpyMedia.com and check out our past reads or subscriber wherever you like to listen.  Join the club at anytime!  Read as much or as little as your schedule allows, we don't judge.  So grab your cocktail and tune in once a month while we discuss our monthly reads. Follow us! Twitter | iTunes If you are enjoying this podcast then you might also like Complicated Women of History.  A podcast that tells the stories of some of the lesser known women of American history.  From socialites to cowgirls, these ladies lived a unique life.  Some might even say "it's complicated". Member of the No Phony Podcast Network

The day I was editing our feature for I'll Be Gone in the Dark, an arrest was made.  I couldn't believe it!  The first thing I did was get my girl Jill on the phone to dish.  In this bonus episode we talk about the arrest and the suspect in the case of the Golden State Killer.  If you have been living under a rock for the past month you might want to listen in for what you may missed regarding this case.  For more information about the book I'll Be Gone in the Dark, check out our feature episode. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark was a great read and the arrest of a suspect only added to the excitement. Hopefully now his victims can rest a little easier and get the justice they so deserve, but as they say the podcast must go on and we look forward to discussing Tara Westover’s memoir Educated. Which is shaping up to be a great book! Make sure and vote in our listeners poll!!  Follow the link and pick the book you want to read in June. Also, if you are enjoying book club then you might like a new podcast I am just about to release called Complicated Women of History.  Instead of reading about some interesting ladies, you can hear me tell their stories of triumph, love, loss…maybe some criminality.  You’ll just have to wait and see. Twitter | iTunes Thanks again for listening to Autobiography Book Club and we will see you June 1st.

This month we read the true crime book I'll Be Gone in the Dark.  If you are into true crime, you are going to love this book.  Michelle McNamara is a relentless researcher and a fabulous writer.  She tells the story of the Original Night Stalker aka East Area Rapist aka Golden State Killer with compassion and great detail.  Join us as we discuss the book, what does it really mean to be a "non-secretor" and if women  can really tell when men are "faking it".  If you are enjoying book club, we'd love to hear about it in the form of a review. Dive deeper into I'll Be Gone in the Dark with these great resources mentioned in the pod: I'll Be Gone in the Dark Podcast Reddit AMA with Patton Oswalt, Paul Hayes and Billy Jensen Thanks for listening and for more book club reviews and discussions visit us at HarpyMedia.com

So much to discuss and so little time.  Brave by Rose McGowan brings up a myriad of topics to cover.  Join us for our "bonus episode" that  digs a little further into Rose McGowan, her life and were she is now.  We've also got an update on her upcoming court date regarding those suspicious drug charges.  If you didn't hear the full length book club discussion on Brave by Rose McGowan we recommend checking that out first, but if you'd rather catch the short side of things, enjoy this bonus episode! We hope you are enjoying this month's book, I'll Be Gone in the Dark.  We look forward to chatting and awkwardly discussing the gruesome details of the "Original Night Stalker" aka "East Area Rapist" aka "Golden State Killer" next month. We would love to hear your opinion on book club and if you have any suggestions on books, please leave us a comment or shoot us an email.  As always, a review is supper helpful.  Leave us a review on Itunes or wherever you listen.  It is always appreciated. Happy Reading! Jill and Leah

I hope you are all finished Brave by Rose McGowan, but if you didn’t, don't worry.  We have a lot of things to talk about regarding her book, her career and her current activism.  If you didn’t finish, I encourage you to read on and hopefully find some inspiration in her fight and maybe some motivation to help with her cause…in whatever capacity you see fit.  Now let’s dig in. I sit down to organize my thoughts on the book and an hour later I’m thinking “oh my gosh, I’m writing a book report, synopsis…its just too much".  There is so much to process in her story, that I am just going to have to pick the big moments…and it’s hard to choose.  First off I should preface that I am a 90’s chick.  I remember Rose McGowan and I really liked her bad ass attitude…she always got cast as the trouble maker and she was so pretty and she is still sooo pretty.  I mean if I could rock a shaved head I would…for sure. I was interested in her story not only for her activism and her fight against the sexual assault, but also because I had wondered about her and where she went.  Where had she been for the last 20 years and what happened to her and Marilyn Manson, right?  Her story is beyond anything I could have imagined and some of it was hard to read, not because she frequently trails off into a rant, which happens a lot in the book, but because I felt so bad for her.  I felt bad for her and yet she rarely feels bad for herself.  In some instances, she is a casualty of her own doing and in others a victim of circumstance.  She didn’t choose to live in a crazy, abusive cult. Her parents put her there, however it seems that while a member of this crazy cult she develops her fight at a really young age.  This cult is called the Children of God, a California based cult born out of the 60’s which eventually spread around the world and is known for child abuse and exploitation, incest, child marriage…oh my gosh it just goes on.  There are other noteworthy former members such as River and Joaquin Phoenix’s family, which was a light bulb for me and explains some of their behavior/problems.  She escapes at about the age of 10…I mean how do you come out of that and live a normal life.  What is “normal” after living in a cult?  What is it? She comes to America, her dad is abusive and I would even call her mom abusive or at least neglectful and she runs around the west coast trying to find a place to call home.  Fighting for herself at the age of 10-11  and living on the streets.  She does a short stint at Hollywood High School and doesn’t really fit in.  It is a little too 90210, so to make money she takes a role as an extra on a movie, Class of 1999.  This movie is "B" to say the least, but if you watch the trailer, there are some actors that you will certainly recognize. At least I did. https://youtu.be/xOM2jgzBBhs Through some connections on this film she then gets a speaking role in Encino Man and anyone who was in high school in the 90’s knows this movie…Pauly shore, Brendan Frasier (who is also somewhat of a Hollywood casualty).   Maybe you remember it?  Rose's part is super small.  I scoured the internet to find it and its not really worth mentioning, but that was her "in" so to speak.  Then comes Scream in 1996.  I remember seeing it in the theater.  It was awesome and Rose was awesome.  I was haunted by her death via garage door for quite sometime and I think that was probably when I really started following her career.  She does the Ben Affleck movie, Going All The Way and then she does Jawbreaker, which I want to mention real quick.  She plays the lead in Jawbreaker and I loved it because it reminded me of Heathers and I loved that movie too, Winona Ryder was so bad ass. She is another Hollywood cautionary tale (however making a combat, I am cheering for Winona). Circling back, it was the year Going All The Way is at the Sundance Film Festival along with 3 other films Rose had done,

My initial thought going in to The Last Black Unicorn is that she’s a comedian.  Comedians are writers so it’s a slam dunk…this is going to be funny.  Although it did make me laugh,  let’s be honest, Tiffany is not about to win any awards for her literary prose.  As far as the writing goes, I would put this a couple steps below 50 Shades of Grey and a couple above Everybody Poops.  It’s not good.  That being said, I still really enjoyed reading about her life.  I had already fallen in love with her comedic persona and as I read on I could see that this book was written as if she was telling her stories to a good friend.  She writes like she talks, no bullshit, no fluff.  It follows right along with her image and after digging more into her personality, I get it.  This is who she is. So her story is one of survival, hard work, overcoming insane obstacles and outside forces  that are seriously working against her and as you read on she becomes an amazing example of how you can rise above your trials and move forward.  There are two paths you can take in life when presented with rough terrain.  One path being the crazy, self-destruction path and the other path being the resilient determined for success path and I would say Tiffany made the choice to take the latter.  She overcomes a mentally ill and abusive mother to be abandoned by family and sent to foster care to then being rescued and then later abandoned again by grandma, she continues to push on.  One thing I noticed throughout the book and that she never really holds a grudge or resentment toward anyone in her family, not even the man who molested her while in foster care.  She experienced trials that would make most people curl up in the fetal position, but she triumphs and follows her dreams of being a comedian and still today she wants to take care of her mom and she wanted so much to take care of her dad and neither were there to take care of her.  I find that amazing because I would be pissed.  I don’t know if I would be so gracious and forgiving.  It’s extremely interesting that many, not all but I’d say most comedians have some dark past and they find their way out, whether mentally or financially, by making other people laugh.  I would think that comedians would be some of the happiest and most fulfill people on earth, but they’re not.  They are often times the saddest. Over and over Tiffany says how she was told she was stupid or ugly…I mean, if you’ve seen her, you know she isn’t ugly…not even close and I know that I mentioned how juvenile the book was written, but it makes sense given the fact that she didn’t really learn to read until high school, but despite that revelation, there is nothing about Tiffany Haddish that makes me think she is stupid.  She might not be book smart, but she knows how to read people and entertain, and I truly believe it takes a huge amount of mental toughness and rational thought to live through what she did and not go bat-shit crazy.  That’s a different kind of intelligence and in some circumstances, much more valuable than book smarts.  I will say when it comes to her choice in men…yea she’s stupid.  It’s clear she has some insecurities that lead her to pick men who build her up just to break her down again and I truly believe that it takes a strong man to handle a strong successful woman and that’s what she needs because she is a force and most men are going to want to tame her.  Fu** that. I loved reading about Tiffany hanging out with Jada Pinkett Smith, oh to be a fly on the wall.  She writes about taking Jada and Will on a gator tour with a Groupon, because in case you didn’t know, Tiff loves Groupon.  She also writes about Jada trying to give her a Hollywood makeover.  Don’t do it Tiff, I like you just the way you are, down to earth and relateable.  We don’t need another Jada, we’ve already got one, but I get where she is coming from.  If you want to attract a certain business you have to command a certain presenc...

Welcome to your new favorite book club…ok so maybe we haven’t hit it off just yet, but I assure you this will be fun. So why autobiographies…. well for a number of reasons.  One, people are weird and interesting and they love to talk about themselves. We’ve all had the run in where we meet someone and thirty minutes later they’re telling you about how in high school all the girls hated them and they only got along with the boys and there dad was real strict and now their husband is real strict too and yada yada yada…wait what’s your name again. Two, people make for good stories, especially celebrities and crazy people, which go hand and hand because I think that most celebrities are crazy. For anyone out there  who believes in the bull that says, hey…these people are just like me, theyr’e not!  You might follow them on Instagram, but you’re not friends…so let’s read about them and then nicely talk about them behind their backs…wait, maybe we are really friends.  This sounds like we are friends. Last, Everyone wants to tell their story and share their opinion…especially rich people.  Us regular folks don’t get book deals, that’s what Facebook is for, but any celebrity with a little following gets a deal whether they deserve it or not…they get to tell their story and build their “brand”…I am using air quotes.  The ability to use literature as a marketing platform shouldn’t be taken lightly.  So lets take a peek behind their curtain.  They are begging for it and they like it, whether they admit it or not. Now for the rules of Autobiography Book Club…there are no rules.  Jump in at anytime.  Start with the intro and work your way through the books….skip the ones that don’t interest you…read once a month or just read whenever you can.  That’s the best part, you can stop and start whenever you want. Our first book for the month of February is The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish.  If you don’t know Tiff, then you’re about to get acquainted.  She is a comedian, a down to earth girl with a crazy upbringing that will inspire anyone to follow their dreams and over come any obstacle.  It’s a quick funny read and perfectly timely as Ms. Haddish was recently received a lot of buzz for her role in Girls Trip.  I think you’ll like it so check it out, however you like to read…. and check back 1st part of March where we will discuss The Last Black Unicorn and reveal the next book. Let me know what you think as you read along and make sure check back in March and we'll talk about The Last Black Unicorn and reveal our next book.  Happy reading!