Elizabeth R. (esjro) -
Helpful Score: 6
This slim volume tells the story of adjusting to life as a newly-single mother, with the aid of 6 chickens. Catherine Goldhammer's story is not only about chickens; it is also about finding one's inner strength, re-entering the workplace, and becoming independent.... though it is mostly about chickens.
Anyone who has kept chickens as pets will find this book to be laugh out loud funny. Her observations about chickens are right on, and as a new chicken mom I can relate to the chaos of raising baby chicks. I wonder if this book would be as appealing to a reader who does not have or like chickens - perhaps, but they'd likely miss much of the humor. Highly recommended for chicken keepers!
Anyone who has kept chickens as pets will find this book to be laugh out loud funny. Her observations about chickens are right on, and as a new chicken mom I can relate to the chaos of raising baby chicks. I wonder if this book would be as appealing to a reader who does not have or like chickens - perhaps, but they'd likely miss much of the humor. Highly recommended for chicken keepers!
Shana R. (LynniePennie) reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 169 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
This book is a charming and quirky memoir. The author writes in a comical & at times sarcastic way & you'll find yourself chuckling along with her. I found myself looking forward to being able to sit down and read more of this tale!
As a backyard chicken mom myself- I understood just how Catherine' chickens gave her strength and brought her & her daughter through a very tramatic and stressful time.
Overall, this book is a fast, fun and touching read. There were only a few things I didn't like in this book. The comments where she was using Jesus' name in vain & when her daughter was bragging about how she was "agnostic" in front of a preacher when there was no call for this. I really didn't see how these comments added to this otherwise lovely book.
As a backyard chicken mom myself- I understood just how Catherine' chickens gave her strength and brought her & her daughter through a very tramatic and stressful time.
Overall, this book is a fast, fun and touching read. There were only a few things I didn't like in this book. The comments where she was using Jesus' name in vain & when her daughter was bragging about how she was "agnostic" in front of a preacher when there was no call for this. I really didn't see how these comments added to this otherwise lovely book.
Deirdre C. (deeda) reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
this was a wonderful book with a touching mother/daughter story in it. it also dealt with how people deal with divorce and change. heart warming.
Helpful Score: 4
An adorable little book about a woman newly separated and starting over in a small cottage by the sea. While she moved world's away from her current home in a posh neighborhood on the East coast, in truth she moved only a mile away to a small run-down cottage in a workman's neighborhood. Six adorable baby chicks were purchcased in hopes of enticing her 12-year-old daughter to move with her -- the daughter who did not want to live in a grey house in a ramshackle neighborhood! The story progresses from there and the adventures she experiences with the chickens are priceless. In the end she realizes that the chickens helped make the transition for her and her daughter into a new life.
Bonnie S. (Bonnie) -
Helpful Score: 2
I've just finished the delightful, little Still Life with Chickens. Another sort of back to the land where a woman divorces (very amicably, so this isn't a theme), and she and her daughter move from a high-falutin' neighborhood to a tiny rambshackle cottage in the next town on a saltwater pond.
A quick read of her leaving one home while raising and building shelters for the chicks, to arriving at and renovating her new home, and raising and building shelters for the chickens. As one who used to raise fowl, her little details brought back a lot of happy times with those birds, fond memories of catching a wet, warm egg in my hand as it was laid, to cleaning pasty butt off the babies. Great tidbits of info about living on the ocean and a saltwater pond.
I really recommend this very light, happy read if you are not looking for whining and badmouthing!
A quick read of her leaving one home while raising and building shelters for the chicks, to arriving at and renovating her new home, and raising and building shelters for the chickens. As one who used to raise fowl, her little details brought back a lot of happy times with those birds, fond memories of catching a wet, warm egg in my hand as it was laid, to cleaning pasty butt off the babies. Great tidbits of info about living on the ocean and a saltwater pond.
I really recommend this very light, happy read if you are not looking for whining and badmouthing!
SALLY W. (thameslink) -
Helpful Score: 2
Delightful memoir of starting life over again and all the challenges that entails. Quick, quirky read that I enjoyed cover to cover. Looking forward to reading her next book.
Coleen K. (indygo88) -
Helpful Score: 2
I don't know much about chickens, other than that when I see them, esp. running about in a farmyard, I laugh. They're just funny creatures. And so when a copy of this book found its way into my hands, I chuckled at the title & thought, "Why not?" You could easily read this in one sitting, although in my case, I carried it around with me for quite a while, reading bits here & there during breaks in my workday. I loved this little gem of a memoir. I loved Catherine Goldhammer's writing style. I laughed. I learned about chickens. And I grew to appreciate the task of "starting over", as the author did. I'd highly recommend this to anyone.
Helpful Score: 2
What a fun little book; easy to read in just one sitting!
Paulette R. (Zada-P-) reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Enjoyed it, just wished it was longer.
Lynn N. (thebookcrosser) reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 16 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Every page in this little book (176 pages) shines with wit, intelligence, insight, simplicity, grace, and a pragmatism that every woman, married or single, can appreciate. Catherine is a woman other women would like to get to know.
Starting over in ones 50s is daunting. Starting over in ones 50s with a precocious 12-year-old daughter in tow is enough to send any woman into terminal panic-attack mode. When Catherines marriage ended, she realized she would have to put her house on the market and move her daughter away from her childhood home. Her daughter was NOT happy about this turn of events, but was bright enough to recognize an opportunity when she saw one. All Catherine wanted to do was sit still in a quiet room for a few months. Sounds reasonable enough. What doesnt sound either reasonable or feasible is being pressured by ones daughter to adopt a brood of baby chicks, to raise as pets, while in the midst of relocating to and renovating a ramshackle residence in a nearby salty, soggy, seaside town. Reasonable it might not have been, but the chicken-care-taking learning curve became the arch that helped Catherine transition from her old, familiar life to her new one, full of unknowns. While Catherine renovates the house with the help of several skilled workmen she reinvents herself, re-establishing her relationship with her daughter, and rebuilds her life. Literally. The woman actually learned to use power tools!
Throughout the book Catherine includes tidbits of information worthy of note things she was learning herself along the way: everything from carpentry to poultry ailments on through the unusual ramifications of beach storms. This book was a delight from start to finish.
Starting over in ones 50s is daunting. Starting over in ones 50s with a precocious 12-year-old daughter in tow is enough to send any woman into terminal panic-attack mode. When Catherines marriage ended, she realized she would have to put her house on the market and move her daughter away from her childhood home. Her daughter was NOT happy about this turn of events, but was bright enough to recognize an opportunity when she saw one. All Catherine wanted to do was sit still in a quiet room for a few months. Sounds reasonable enough. What doesnt sound either reasonable or feasible is being pressured by ones daughter to adopt a brood of baby chicks, to raise as pets, while in the midst of relocating to and renovating a ramshackle residence in a nearby salty, soggy, seaside town. Reasonable it might not have been, but the chicken-care-taking learning curve became the arch that helped Catherine transition from her old, familiar life to her new one, full of unknowns. While Catherine renovates the house with the help of several skilled workmen she reinvents herself, re-establishing her relationship with her daughter, and rebuilds her life. Literally. The woman actually learned to use power tools!
Throughout the book Catherine includes tidbits of information worthy of note things she was learning herself along the way: everything from carpentry to poultry ailments on through the unusual ramifications of beach storms. This book was a delight from start to finish.
Shana R. (LynniePennie) reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 169 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book is a charming and quirky memoir. The author writes in a comical & at times sarcastic way & you'll find yourself chuckling along with her. I found myself looking forward to being able to sit down and read more of this tale!
As a backyard chicken mom myself- I understood just how Catherine' chickens gave her strength and brought her & her daughter through a very tramatic and stressful time.
Overall, this book is a fast, fun and touching read. There were only a few things I didn't like in this book. The comments where she was using Jesus' name in vain & when her daughter was bragging about how she was "agnostic" in front of a preacher, when there was no call for this. I really didn't see how these comments added to this otherwise lovely book.
As a backyard chicken mom myself- I understood just how Catherine' chickens gave her strength and brought her & her daughter through a very tramatic and stressful time.
Overall, this book is a fast, fun and touching read. There were only a few things I didn't like in this book. The comments where she was using Jesus' name in vain & when her daughter was bragging about how she was "agnostic" in front of a preacher, when there was no call for this. I really didn't see how these comments added to this otherwise lovely book.
Lisa A. reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A very sweet read about a woman learning to find and trust herself after divorce.
Vivian Q. (bellasgranny) -
Quite the charming little book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Catherine and her daughter's challenges post divorce. I really love chickens, so this made the book a little more special for me.
Evelyn B. (grannydingdong) reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 46 more book reviews
This is not only a delightful,entertaining book, but also a very informative one.
It has so many details about chickens woven into the story.
I loved this book and it was hard to let it go.
A great book when you are looking for a quick read......or thinking about raising chickens.
It has so many details about chickens woven into the story.
I loved this book and it was hard to let it go.
A great book when you are looking for a quick read......or thinking about raising chickens.
Jeannie H. (ilovebooksanddogs) -
Beautifully written from her soul, poetic, this book gave me hope that there is somthing better just waiting over the horizon for me. I found no whining in this memoir, just honesty and a sharing of her feelings. I love this author!! I love the title, cause even though there were chickens in her life, it really wasn't about the chickens, it was about her discovering herself. I found this memoir SO refreshing after reading so many mediocre memoirs, this one IS a GEM!!
Denise C. (teddybear) reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 38 more book reviews
I really wanted this book to be more about the adventure of fixing up a house and raising chickens but it was more introspective than interesting. I guess judging by the title I shouldn't have been surprised. The book was a quick read.
Jody F. (writetime) reviewed Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea on + 117 more book reviews
Sweet memoir by a women who is starting over after divorce...with chickens
Fast read -- turning point in life of recently-divorced middle-aged mom --very interesting story about starting over and of the unexpected joys and pitfalls of discovery.
