Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew

Reviewed by: Melissa Friedlund, Reference Assistant

Genre: Autobiography

Suggested Age: Adult

What is the book about?  Actress Kate Mulgrew came from a large Irish Catholic family in Iowa and was, quite literally, “born with teeth.”  In this memoir, the title is a metaphor for tenacity and determination. Mulgrew details how she took the reins of her life early on and created the career she wanted for herself.  Along the way, we learn about family dynamics, love affairs, career highlights, and a secret daughter given up for adoption in the late 1970’s.

My Review: Listening to the audiobook version narrated by the author was surprisingly engaging.  From the jarring way she cruelly blames herself for her baby sister’s death to behind-the-scenes glimpses of her acting career, I was sucked into the story of her life right away. I am a Star Trek fan and am most familiar with Kate Mulgrew’s character from the Star Trek: Voyager series. Her writing style and verbal delivery were enjoyable and not nearly as stiff and formal as Captain Kathryn Janeway. Filled with joys and sorrows, this book moved me to both laugh and cry.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Captivating, Charismatic, Unanticipated

Give This a Try if You Like…A Fine Romance, I Said Yes to Everything, How to Forget: A Daughter’s Memoir

Rating: 5/5

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The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher

Reviewed By: Rebecca Cox, Business Manager

Genre: Non-Fiction

Suggested Age:  Adults

What is This Book About?  Kara Goucher, an elite professional runner and Olympian, opens up about her experience on Nike’s special running team the Nike Oregon Project. The Nike Oregon Project was a “secret” and extremely well-funded group of Nike sponsored athletes that was disbanded in 2019 after coach Alberto Salazar was banned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for violations. Later Salazar was given a lifetime ban after being found guilty of sexually assaulting one of his athletes. This book is the first time that Kara Goucher came forward publicly as the woman behind the sexual assault allegations and fully told her side of the story from the beginning.

My Review: While initially this book doesn’t exactly sound like a feel-good type of memoir, I think it is such an important book to read. I am a runner but I related to what Kara was going through as a woman more than I did as a runner. The types of discrimination that women are subject to and the pressure to “keep their mouths shut” is something that we have seen as commonplace until the last several years. Kara’s story, while at times uncomfortable to read about, ultimately is one of her owning her own story and finding the courage to do something about it. I think everybody can learn from her example and find inspiration in her story.

It is also an interesting behind the scenes look at what it is like to work with a huge company such as Nike. Their ability to turn a blind eye to illegal practices since they are getting the results on the podium that they want is frankly sickening. The last several years of following this story and now especially after reading this book has made me sure that I don’t want any Nike clothing in my running wardrobe.

Three Words that Describe this Book: Inspiring, Informative, Eye-Opening

Give this a try if you like… Choosing to Run by Des Linden, Bravey by Alexi Pappas, Good For A Girl by Lauren Fleshman

Rating: 5/5

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Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly

Reviewed by: Becky Houghton, Reference Assistant

What is This Book About?:  Told from the perspective of three women during the U.S. Civil War and based heavily on fact and historical documents, Sunflower Sisters details the roles of women during the war from nurses to spies to slaves.  Georgianna “Georgy” Woolsey takes a very active role in the war by training and serving as a field nurse in Maryland, the Capital in Washington and the Gettysburg battlefield.  Georgy, her mother, and sisters all aid the Union war efforts in various ways as abolitionists. In contract, Anne-May Watson is a southern slave owner originally from New Orleans, but an inheritor of a tabaco plantation in Maryland.  Through a cruel, abusive overseer, Anne-May mistreats those working on her farm and does all she can to keep the institution of slavery alive and well in the south. Jemma, a young slave girl, and her family are Anne-May’s property and their efforts to escape slavery and serve to end the institution comprise the third perspective of the story.  Told chronologically through each of these women’s stories, a gripping, vivid tale of the Civil War years is revealed.

My Review: I loved this book! Kelly’s writing style of relating the events through the eyes of three different women from very diverse backgrounds gives a strong sense of accuracy to her accounts and draws the reader into the story that she tells.  While some events related are not pleasant, Kelly’s strong characters and how they handle the events kept me engrossed in story.  It is realistic because many of the characters and events portrayed actually existed as is revealed in the author’s note at the end of the novel.   I have always enjoyed both fiction and non-fiction about the civil war, so highly recommend this book to the lovers of historical fiction!

Three Words that Describe this Book: Gripping, Powerful, Realistic

Give This A Try if You Like… Martha Kelly’s previous titles Lost Roses or Lilac Girls or if you just enjoy books about the tumultuous Civil War years in the United States.

Rating: 5/5

Find it at the library!