Title: No Biking In The House Without a Helmet
Author: Melissa Faye Greene
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
Format: Paperback, 354 pages
Summary:
When the two-time National Book Award finalist Melissa Fay Greene confided to friends that she and her husband planned to adopt a four-year-old boy from Bulgaria to add to their four children at home, the news threatened to place her, she writes, “among the greats: the Kennedys, the McCaughey septuplets, the von Trapp family singers, and perhaps even Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev, who, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, gave birth to sixty-nine children in eighteenth-century Russia.”
Greene is best known for her books on the civil rights movement and the African HIV/AIDS pandemic. But she and her husband have also pursued a more private vocation: parenthood. “We so loved raising our four children, through birth and out of loss and bereavement: a relishing of moments hilarious and enlightening. No Biking In The House Without a Helmet is a loving portrait of a unique twenty-first-century family as it wobbles between disaster and joy.
My Thoughts:
I love reading a variety of book genres because you never know what your going to find and with No Biking In The House Without a Helmet by Melissa Faye Greene I struck gold! In this brutally honest and extremely personal memoir she talks about the love she and her husband have for raising their children and the decision to adopt more when feeling the dread of empty nest syndrome. This book is completely open and honest talking about the struggles of adopting and not just adopting (which I’m sure is hard enough) but adopting from another country. It takes special people to be able to do things like that and a special family. Which is exactly what you will find within these pages.
Melissa Faye Greene is an excellent writer using all the emotions you could ever imagine and making you feel them too. I don’t thing think that I have ever read a memoir that has made me cry, laugh or cry from laughing so much. I do recall getting sssh’d several time from my husband when he was trying to sleep.
My only complaint about the entire book is the last chapter. It was written weird. I get the intention but I just got tired of reading it and skipped to the last paragraph. But that is my only complaint.
Overall this book was amazing. Easily in the top 3 memoirs that I have ever read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming read that will make you laugh.
5 Stars
For more information about the book visit, www.melissafaygreene.com.
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I was provided a copy of this book free of charge for review but the opinions expressed are 100% my own. Please see the disclosure policy for more information. This post contains our Amazon affiliate link.
About Maegan
I haven’t read a good book in a while and this one sounds like a good one. I’ve heard that you have to go through a lot when adopting children from other countries. I am interested in finding out how their adoption took place and how it turns out.
This is a cute book. I do not know about parenting very much but this sounds amusing and helpful
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Thank you for the review. I haven’t read it but think I might. My neighbors recently adopted a little girl from another country. The adoption process is filled with emotional ups and downs. I hope that everything turns out well for all involved.
Sounds like a great book and hits a personal chord for me. I got very depressed as each of my children left the nest. With only my 15 yr old daughter I happened across a nannying (word?) job and it has been a huge blessing in my life. Not only does it fill that longing to be needed I feel like its a chance to redeem myself and do for her what I didn’t know how to do for my children. I would love to read this. I jump at the chance to read authors i have never read before
I’ve read this book and it is simply amazing. During certain parts of the book, I was wondering if this family would make it through. It is a must read!
I agree! It definately is a must read! I never felt so many emotions while reading!!
This book sounds good. I recently read an article in magazine on similar topic. It detailed the fact that many people are adopting kids from Ethiopia, this book also details facts related with adoption from different country.
I enjoyed reading this book.