RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: iluleah on Saturday 18 March 17 16:19 GMT (UK)
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As FH researchers we are nosy ::) by nature, needing to find out details long lost and left in the past all the unknown and forgotten details, bringing them back to life to document them. We hear family stories and feel the need to investigate and prove them right or wrong and the excitement is the chasing down and finding records to prove the real story of our ancestors.
So do you also read 'True Life Stories' written by everyday people as well.
If so what makes you pick up a book in the first place?
What attracts you, is it the cover, the title or is it the attention grabbing preface or foreword you look at and read?
So do you buy a hard copy, use kindle or loan from the library to read factual life stories written by normal everyday people ( not famous/infamous)?
Or is it the era that interests you or maybe the part of the country the story is set in?
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I tend to read more social histories than biographies simply because they are easier to find. However, if I find an autobiography or journal relating to a location or occupation I will often buy it (whether it is relevant to my ancestors or not). The content is what attracts me, not the cover or blurb. A tatty second-hand book is more exciting to me than a glossy new book (and can cost more!).
As for the format - I always read books - I can't get comfortable reading masses of text on a screen.
Philip
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I don't read ANY biographies/autobiographies at all! ;D
Just not my thing, I suppose?
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I don't read ANY biographies/autobiographies at all! ;D
Just not my thing, I suppose?
Admit it - you're far too busy helping other Rootschatters to have time for reading! :D
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For me
I do read books I must admit
The cover is the first port of-
Call for me (has to be eye catching) :o
As for autobiographies I did use to enjoy the T.V Show
With Eamonn Andrews
This is your Life
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I have changed the title to 'True Life Stories' rather than 'biographies/autobiographies'
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I'm particularly interested in the history of the home, so I've read a few autobiographies of domestic servants. I really like reading about the sort of work they had to do.
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Iluleah,
I wouldn't put myself in the category 'reader' although I do read a lot about different things for different reasons i.e. I have a wide range of preferences for that reason.
However, I noticed you changed the 'subject heading' & as it happens I have read Biographies/Autobiographies/True Life Stories.
Usually the Biographies/Autobiographies are of people I have seen in the public eye....George Best, Princess Di, Lorraine Kelly etc. but the 'True Life Stories' I have enjoyed are of normal everyday people & their experiences which were very interesting & captivating!
2 of which I recall from memory of a 'True Life Story' as 'normal people' are:
The hostage John McCarthy & how his fiancee Jill Morrell campaigned for him over several yrs, a delightful read although not an autobiography/biography;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Some-Other-Rainbow-John-McCarthy/dp/055213953X
This one is somewhat very different & about a little boy brought up by an alcoholic father which was an 'eye opener' & a good read as it gives an insight into abuse being possibly ignored by neighbours/friends/family or was it a case that people were just unaware?
Again, a delightful read although not an autobiography/biography;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Nipper-Heartbreaking-Violent-Childhood-Working-class/0007292597
If in a Library then everything is set out in categories although in Charity shops/Carboot sales etc. that may not be the case but if I can't see a category, I do look at the Title & Picture then read the preface (sometimes this is on the outer back cover).
I look for a quick read, not too drawn out with unnecessary interruptions going off track although I like to know where in geographical terms to give me a picture in my head to relate to.
I think if you can't relate to the person as you would with someone famous/infamous then having a focal point (area) helps me to understand better rather than someone from nowhere ::) (not sure that make sense)?
I have enjoyed short 'True Life Stories' too which I have read in magazines such as Takeabreak, Readers Digest, People's Friend etc. all of which relate to many different aspects of peoples lives/suffering/shocks (like finding unknown siblings) & many other different topics, some of which we ourselves have suffered/enjoyed/been shocked/surprised etc.
If it says 'True Story' that initially is what interests me although I do tend to look for that written on the front cover.
Annie
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They are generally not my thing I'm afraid. ;)
I have never read an autobiography, but would consider a biography depending on the subject (someone preferably long gone).
I am however quite interested in historical diaries for the insight they give into the social history of the times in which they were written.
Though it doesn't fit in the category under discussion I did enjoy this book by one of our rootschat members:
https://www.amazon.com/Daddy-All-Mysteries-Parents-Secret/dp/0993177808
(I read the kindle version) It is easy to read and quite compelling - recommended. :)
(I think you would like it Annie ;) )
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Ruskie,
You know me too well ;D
Yep, that's my kind of thing for sure!
I love 'True Life Stories' especially 'unknowns' as everything in the content is interesting because there's no previous knowledge of those people having been highlighted in careers/television etc. which adds to the mystery.
I don't see a 'cheap' used version of this one but I may search on ebay!
Looks to be a good read too, thanks for the link ;)
Annie
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Do you have kindle Annie? Or a tablet? :-\
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Do you have kindle Annie? Or a tablet? :-\
Ruskie,
I'm an 'Old School' person ::)
Kindle = Coal/Logs/Peat, & Tablet = Anadin/Paracetemol ;D
Neither & if I read that sort of thing, I like a Book which has large writing which I can turn pages, mark them, take with me anywhere I go & not have to worry that my battery will run out at an exciting point or having to scroll up/down/across, not for me as I like to read in full sentences not like poetry with no rhyme ;D
Annie
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Do you have kindle Annie? Or a tablet? :-\
Ruskie,
I'm an 'Old School' person ::)
Kindle = Coal/Logs/Peat, & Tablet = Anadin/Paracetemol ;D
Neither & if I read that sort of thing, I like a Book which has large writing which I can turn pages, mark them, take with me anywhere I go & not have to worry that my battery will run out at an exciting point or having to scroll up/down/across, not for me as I like to read in full sentences not like poetry with no rhyme ;D
Annie
;D
I understand what you're saying Annie. ;)
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Good afternoon,
The book given in the link by Ruskie looks fairly interesting. Being out of print or not readily available secondhand doesn't mean it is completely unavailable.
Try your local library, West Sussex for instance has an archive of books not generally for issue. But can be taken out if you ask, it takes a couple of days because they have to locate it (storage is in Chichester on the industrial estate). Then put on the van that goes around all the libraries each day.
I think most library services offer something similar.
John915
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I adore social history books but I also find them frustrating sometimes if they don't cover the one highly obscure subject I want covered. :)
Many social history books are too London centric or too rural centric. I have often thought that I'll have to write the book myself if I want to read it.
BTW does anyone know a good book on 17th century social history?
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I adore social history books but I also find them frustrating sometimes if they don't cover the one highly obscure subject I want covered. :)
Many social history books are too London centric or too rural centric. I have often thought that I'll have to write the book myself if I want to read it.
BTW does anyone know a good book on 17th century social history?
;D ;D ;D ;D
Someone loaned me a book several years ago, it was written by a Scottish guy, who was writing based on the diary/ life of his great grandmother who was the teacher in a tiny village of Exton Rutland in the 1800s.
I would never have picked it up myself as it was an all mustard yellow cover with a sketch picture and the title told me nothing.
He had changed the village name but used all the children's nicknames, gave descriptions of life there and the children and people in the village and once I got around to reading it ( knew I had to as I was going to be asked about it by the person who loaned it to me) it was fascinating and all about my ancestors, their neighbours and friends, "the people at the Hall" and things like " 'Dalbies' not attending school again as his father was convicted of deer stealing at the Park" something I was able to research and found records of
I hate to say I can't remember the name of the book or who wrote it so no chance of finding it again as I would really love to own a copy of it.
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I just loved Mrs Milburns Diaries: An Englishwoman's Day to day Reflections 1939 - 1945.
Set in Coventry and surrounding countryside.
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As - if desperate - I'll read ANYTHING, even the sauce bottle, I can't say I'd never read anything labelled "true life" - but I'd find it a non-attractive label.
I read fiction, and also often biographies, very occasionally autobiographies, many books about areas of life I'm interested in for one reason or another - for example, have read several biogs/ autobiogs of BBC Directors general from period of Broadcasting history I'm interested in, but not really interested in their personal lives! Read loads of factual books, history, architecture, Art History, etc. Always in real print, on paper.
Simply can't get interested in most of the "Misery Memoirs" as a local librarian calls them, started a few, found them depressing - as soon as I found something else to read, picked that up instead.
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What I find frustrating about diaries, is that I always want to know what happened next in these people's lives, but they generally stop abruptly.
Most diaries are written by upper and middle classes so we learn about their worlds rather than that of the less affluent or the poor. Still, very interesting. There are a surprising number of dairies which have survived and been published. What always amazes me is the amount of walking the characters did, how sociable they were (always in one another's houses) and in the case of Thomas Turner, how his friends often slept over and shared his bed!
Some sleuthing around the internet will probably find Jess Welsby so if anyone is interested in reading her story she should be able to point you in the direction of where to purchase. Second hand .... probably not, though some of the online auction sites might be worth a look.
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What I find frustrating about diaries, is that I always want to know what happened next in these people's lives, but they generally stop abruptly.
Ruskie,
This brought back memories of being a teenager with diaries which seemed to be the 'in thing' then!
I don't know what happened to them but whoever found/finds them will need a code book to decipher them ;D
I wrote everything in acronyms for my own use & if anyone had ever looked at them they'd have thought I was a 'nutcase' but I knew what letters stood for what ;D
Of course, if I was to read them myself now they would be Gobbledigook ::)
Annie
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Another book I've read;
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Yellow_on_the_Broom.html?id=f_8KAAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y&hl=en
although I can't remember if I read the follow up;
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EIUEAAAACAAJ&source=gbs_similarbooks
So I don't stick to one type of story as people's lives/how they lived (differently) interests me.
Annie
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Good afternoon,
The book given in the link by Ruskie looks fairly interesting. Being out of print or not readily available secondhand doesn't mean it is completely unavailable.
Try your local library
Hi John,
Yes, I will certainly ask at the library as that's where I have ordered in a few of the 'very few' books I have read although I have bought some too :)
I live in Scotland but we do or at least, used to be able to get books delivered from elsewhere.
Annie
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Yes i love true life stories .I like every kind but often autobiographies are written in a dull way as the people concerned are not writers .
I like insights into the early ,20 th century how grandparents lived ....Ordinary people and poor people's lives interest me more than the aristocracy .
Specific interest would be people who have travelled and lived in different cultures or came to GB from another culture.
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I came across one in a charity shop recently "The Road to Nab End" by William Woodruff.
As it described the author's experiences of poverty in the early 20th century in the town where I went to school, I snapped it up. I knew many of the places described, though they are much cleaner now!
Having a "hook" is probably essential for me to enjoy this type of book. If it had been about a place I knew nothing of, I would probably have given up in the early chapters.
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I enjoyed reading "Empty Cradles" by Margaret Humphries which is a true story of the search for Families of orphans who were sent to Australia believing that they had no living relatives:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004RPINXK/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
I tend to read stories of people's lives who have made a difference such as Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth and Dame Vera Lynn, also Kate Adie but I don't do the celebrity genre.
Carol
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I've read the "Nab End" book - certainly forwarded mine to a Charity Shop. All the "Eeee by gumm, we 'ad it bad back then" memoirs are very worthy, but rarely worth reading more than once. Better content than style.