Welcome to Litsy!

This is the final #AuldLangSpine I‘ll get to this month…an essay collection. I wasn‘t familiar with Sarah Polley (apart from seeing this book pop up on litsy). I learned that she‘s Canadian and was a child actor. Polley has had unfortunate experiences with the industry, including a #metoo situation and trauma on film sets at a young age. She also lost her mom young, became a mother and suffered a concussion. Solid collection though triggering.

A long quote but an essential one. Her writing, refections, sit within me. Thank you for this gift of this book Sue. 🧡💛❤️

Sunday morning coffee, cranberry muffin , & a book. Perfect way to start my day.

You may recall (yeah, ok, I get it! You probably don‘t, which is fine…) that I got the hardcover via ILL from the library! And then had to return it - ran out of time/priorities. And then! The Libby version became available! Exciting, yes? I managed to read it before it was due. Loved each essay more then the last one - which means: the Alice part notsomuch, so I skipped around and didn‘t read in order. I‘m a fan. 🌟

#Purslane #Aug2024 Book70

Library book!! #nonfic #toomanybookstoolittletime

I‘ve been looking forward this and wasn‘t disappointed: six excellent essays by Canadian actor and director Sarah Polley that eloquently address really complex themes. She looks at what it‘s like to be a disempowered young actor, navigating whether to speak or be silent as an assault survivor, dealing with chronic illness and injury, childbirth and parenting, balancing childhood fame with an adult career, and more.
#SheSaid
#Nonfiction2024 #Speak

#bookmail
Sue, Thanks do much for this wonderful surprise (tagged book) that came in my mail box today! I have seen the numerous positive reviews on Litsy & cannot wait to dive in. 📪 📗💛🩵 #porchlife

I was not very familiar with Sarah Polley before reading this collection of essays but now I am a fan. She covers a lot here, from her life as a child star in Canada, coming to terms with her celebrity, and in the last essay, her recovery from concussion. She‘s an engaging writer.

Thanks to the #SheSaid group for putting this one on my radar.

I‘m so glad #SheSaid chose this as one of their books and that my library had it when I checked for a 2nd time. I never would have read it otherwise, and that would have been a shame because this is amazing.

I didn‘t know anything about Sarah Polley going in. After recovering from serious injury she is told to “run towards the danger” and that is what she does in these 6 very personal essays covering different part of her life.

Hello #SheSaid!

What a different essay to wrap up the book!

Let me know what you thought of this last one and the book as a whole. See you in the comments!

June #SheSaid #ReadAway2024 This is not so much a memoir as it is a series of revelations this author learned about herself. And she shares information about Lewis Carroll and Lucy Maud Montgomery that definitely had me doing mental double and triple takes. I think the title essay was very enlightening. Her so-called friends and family who questioned whether she was “malingering” sound like people I‘ve encountered. I‘ve had “invisible”(cont)⬇️

#ReadAway2024

At the coffeeshop & I just finished this book for June‘s #SheSaid I was familiar with some of Canadian actress/writer/director Sarah Polley‘s work, but not her story & found this book of six essays absorbing. From her days as a child actress to staying silent as a survivor of sexual abuse to an accident that led to a serious concussion, Polley captures the “dangers” in her life with alacrity, strength & compassion for herself & ⬇️

Thanks to @Riveted_Reader_Melissa and the books selected for her #SheSaid readings I finally purchased and read this. I‘ve followed Sarah for years and was fascinated by all she shared. In particular, reading about her experiences following a concussion - a 4 year recovery period! She shares her experiences of being a child actor, her early childhood trauma, her scoliosis, and her frightening experience of giving birth. Well written.

I think i stacked this book thanks to a review by @Megabooks Meg, it was so good! Sarah Polley looks at six dangerous episodes of her life - from being on a film set as a child actor, to a difficult birth, to an accident causing severe concussion. In each episode she examines herself, her family, her memory - with intelligence, humility and grace. There is wonderful honesty and insight and i felt “seen” for my own vulnerable episodes. ⬇️

I love Sarah Polley. Always have.

#SheSaid @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I start looking for alternatives. I‘m not the type who‘s generally prone to buying snake oil, and I have a strong suspicion of anything that isn‘t backed up by random sampling trials or credible studies and isn‘t prescribed by a doctor. But my life is gone from me now. Doctors are offering me conflicting advice or not at all. And if someone is selling bottles of snake oil with the words “concussion cure” on them, I will buy in bulk. #SheSaid

Hello #SheSaid!

How is everyone doing this weekend?

Is everyone starting to catch up?

Hello #SheSaid! Sorry for the very late post this weekend! How are you all doing with the book and this week‘s essay?

Happy Father‘s Day to the Dads in the US today too (and elsewhere even if your Father‘s Day is not today 😉)

I pick up this book from the library yesterday and is ready for the catch up #SheSaid

@Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Hello #SheSaid! I hope you are having a good weekend so far!

I really enjoyed this. It‘s interesting to me how much of what happened to Polley when she was young was so wrong, but she viewed it as normal because that‘s all she knew. Her story, along with Wil Wheaton‘s and other child actors‘, makes me more convinced that there need to be very strict protections in place for them because clearly relying on the parents to provide that doesn‘t work at all. #SheSaid

I‘m listening to this for #SheSaid, and I thought I‘d get the most read if I also made it my new #audiowalk book. I don‘t know if I‘m behind, on track, or ahead of schedule because there‘s no chapter or section listing. Little George loves the heating pad, so I try to make sure it‘s never left on.

Hello #SheSaid!

This book started out with a very strong essay. How did you feel about it? Plus I learned a whole lot about Lewis Carroll that I wish I didn‘t know 🫣. See you in the comments ⤵️

repost for @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Hello #SheSaid

Next up for June! Pick up your library holds, interlibrary loans, or pick this one up on kindle (currently only 4.99 in the US).

original post:
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2738856

#BuddyRead

Hello #SheSaid

Next up for June! Pick up your library holds, interlibrary loans, or pick this one up on kindle (currently only 4.99 in the US).

This was an astonishing book. I loved it. Polley was a child actress and she has some horrifying stories. If you liked I‘m glad my mom died, you might like this. It‘s not exactly the same, the issues she faces are more of neglect and people looking the other way, rather than the abusive and manipulative nature of Jeanette mccurdy‘s situation. The interview with Sarah for the everything happens podcast with Kate bowler is incredible. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

De-Christmas-ing slowly but surely. Mug cupboard is back to normal with a few pops of upcoming Valentine‘s Day. This book was so good. I can‘t believe all the things SP has gone through. She‘s an amazing writer

Lego-ing continues #hyggetheeff

New year, new audio book - I have this autographed in print but I want to listen to SP so here we are

I love, love, loved this book. Polley's personal essays are beautifully written, vulnerable and reflective. She explores her experiences as a child star, a victim of sexual assault, a mother, and a person with a concussion. There's a real bravery and generosity to her work. Hearing her read it on audio enhanced the experience.
Pic from a recent hike. It's a beautiful October in NB. 🧡

Did some audiobaking today while getting ready for Cdn Thanksgiving. I have always loved Polley's movies and am enjoying the tagged book so far.

Great book about the challenges faced by Sarah as a child star with scoliosis and when her mother died when Sarah was 11 and her father became helpless. She also had a challenge having her three children. The best part is at the end after a concussion when she had to proactively cure it, which is in the title.

I could not resist starting this one (I put a hold on it) because I like Sarah Polley after watching “Stories” a while back.

I know e readers aren‘t for everyone, and I clearly see the downside, but here I am before an ice storm charging just in case. 🤞

A memoir in essays with lots of really rich insights.
In some ways it reminds me of I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell. A series of almost completely insane stories that shaped her life while giving the reader smart, funny, and courageous insights into experiences that clearly jolted her own life in frequently difficult ways.

#12Booksof2022 🎶On the sixth day of Christmas my true love read to me, essays smart and poignant🎶

For my twelve, I‘m highlighting my favorite audiobooks of the year. Great books that were all the more enjoyable thanks to outstanding narration &/or production.

My sweetie bought me this because of the final essay, which is also the title of the book. That essay is about Sarah Polley‘s experience with a severe concussion. I wept all the way through, reliving my own sadness and frustration of having a brain injury. All of the essays are brilliant but that last one wrecked me!

Sometimes, after a scenario like this one, my left eyelid sinks and covers half my eye as my head throbs in pain.

(Been there, Sarah Polley!)

I loved Polley‘s very personal 2012 documentary, Stories We Tell, and this is a great companion to that. I especially appreciated her intimate and honest account of her health struggles—scoliosis, endometriosis, high-risk pregnancies and a severe concussion. Conditions that are often invisible, overlooked and minimized. Really good listen.

Can‘t wait for her adaptation of Women Talking!

I couldn‘t move without pain for a long time. I read all of Charles Dickens, thought about writing books one day, and fantasized about being mobile enough to walk down the street to the hardware store to buy a nail. I had no idea what I would do with this nail, but the idea of being strong and mobile and free enough to get there to choose the nail was exhilarating to me.

5⭐/5⭐ I have been looking forward to this one, and it did not disappoint!

I like Sarah Polley as an actress (I know her from her late teens movies), so I was interested to read her book. It far exceeded my expectations. In each of these essays, she does a deep dive into a topic, informed by her life experiences, and thoughtfully explores things like sexual assault, child acting (her own experiences here are sobering), and more. This is really fantastic. I‘m glad @Megabooks put this one on my radar!

Excellent. Such an unconventional life/childhood. Feminist, political, just a great read.

I told myself I‘d read one essay a day for six days and read six a day for one day. Polley writes thoughtfully about motherhood, childbirth, child actors, sexual assault, living with a brain injury. She has a keen eye for self-observation and doesn‘t shy away from complexity.

Sarah said she never wanted to act, but instead write, and she has written six very thoughtful essays about the perils of being a child actor, assault in the pre-me too era, motherhood and difficult birth, and having a life-altering head injury. Her essays about acting were hard to read. I loved watching her as a kid, and I was sorry to read how much trauma the experience caused. It‘s not a pity party but a considered look at employing minors. ⬇️

I‘m so late on #NewReleaseTuesday that I‘ve already finished the tagged book!

My library rarely gets fiction books on audio that I‘m interested in, but I‘m really excited about these nonfiction titles.

Beauty of Dusk is really interesting so far. I couldn‘t imagine going partially blind in my 50s!

Never Simple I saw in the Goodreads newsletter for March. I‘m unsure about it, but I‘ll try.

Insect crisis really fascinates my inner scientist!