Biography

Maya Angelou once again does not disappoint. She continues her series of auto-biographies with an incredibly well written book about her relationship with her mother. She writes with such eloquence and ease that I did not want to put the book down. The book illustrates the hardships in their relationship with respect and love and at the same time entertains.

Life and Death in Shanghai is Cheng’s first-hand account of her life during China’s Cultural Revolution. It is a haunting narrative of Cheng’s years of imprisonment for being wrongly accused of being an imperialist spy. During her imprisonment, Cheng never gave up and never gave in to lies and false denunciations. Her story is heartbreaking, courageous, and unforgettable.

A Captain in the US Army assigned to curtail arms smuggling at the border of Syria and Iraq, Montalvan returns home haunted by the war, in constant pain from a traumatic brain injury, physical wounds, and extreme PTSD, he got to the point where he couldn’t even climb a flight of stairs or face a bus ride to the VA hospital. He drank, he argued, and cut himself off from people he loved. He was sent an email from the VA about service dogs and them met Tuesday, a golden retriever trained to assist the disabled. This turned his life around. Told in his voice, Montalvan speaks about his feelings about the war, officials in the military and our government, and how he felt betrayed by them. Very compelling story in all of its aspects.