Official Review: A Bit of Earth by Wendy Crisp Lestina

[bookowlie]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Bit of Earth" by Wendy Crisp Lestina.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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A Bit of Earth by Wendy Crisp Lestina is a collection of essays that form a memoir of the author’s adventures throughout her life. Many of the chapters are newspaper columns she previously wrote for the Ferndale Enterprise. Wendy takes a look back at her life over several decades, including growing up in Ferndale, California, thoughts about her family, living in different cities around the country, and marrying several times.

The stories are not in chronological order and there are back-and-forth time jumps that are difficult to follow; in some cases, I had no idea what time period the author was discussing. As a result, it felt like there was an overload of information. It becomes fairly confusing when memories of Wendy’s first husband Dan are discussed at various points, as she had married several times after their divorce. The reminiscences are interesting, but there is a disjointed flow to the story. The essays seem more appropriate for newspaper columns, which most of them initially were, rather than awkwardly woven together into a book.

Some of the scenes are eye-rolling. After Wendy marries Clark, they decide to both quit their jobs in order to spend more time together. Unsurprisingly, money becomes an issue and they sponge off relatives. I have never heard of a couple quitting their jobs without a nest egg or plan. It just seems like the author ambled along with different men, often marrying them, and went from one situation to another aimlessly. However, she did fall into an opportunity at one point, leading to temporary success as the editor of a women’s magazine.

There are serious formatting issues with the ePub file I received. The page numbers and either the book’s title or what I assume are the chapter titles are placed between line breaks in the middle of sentences. This was very distracting. Since the chapters are not displayed properly, the book seems like one running stream of consciousness. In addition, there are several instances of incorrect line breaks in the middle of sentences, and line breaks after each word for several lines in a row.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The essays are well written and thoughtful, and I was given a nice peek into the author’s colorful life. However, the book doesn’t flow well from chapter to chapter. Also, many of the characters were briefly mentioned or pushed to the back burner for long periods, and frequent time jumps made it difficult to place certain events and people into a larger context. I would recommend the story to readers who enjoy memoirs even if the individual parts don’t gel smoothly.

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A Bit of Earth
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[jamesabr]

Very nice review! It was informative of the style and content, but managed to stay concise as you addressed what you found lacking and what you appreciated about it.

[bookowlie]

Thanks Jamesabr and welcome to the forums! I struggled with the rating because the essays were well written. Still, it's difficult to read a book when there are so many time jumps where it's not clear when different events happened within the course of the author's life.

[gali]

Great review! Too bad the book didn't meet your expectations. I also don't like too frequent time jumps.

Thank you for the well-written review!

[bookowlie]

Thanks Gali. I struggled with the rating on this one since the book was well written.

[Kdonegan91]

I agree that it can be difficult to read a book when the author doesn't define the periods of time well. Even though this sounds like an interesting read, I think the editing errors would be a deal breaker for me. Well-written and honest review!

[bookowlie]

I agree that it can be difficult to read a book when the author doesn't define the periods of time well. Even though this sounds like an interesting read, I think the editing errors would be a deal breaker for me. Well-written and honest review!

Thanks. I really struggled with the rating on this one. While the writing was good, the formatting errors drove me bananas. It's possible that the Kindle version doesn't have these errors. Still, I can only evaluate the file I was given. I even tried to convert the file to a few other versions on Calibre. The other versions had worse formatting than the file I had received and, in some cases, were almost unreadable due to this problem. I think the back and forth time jumps had more to do with the fact that most of the chapters were previous newspaper columns. They were fine as individual parts, but just didn't fit together as a whole book with the time jumps and lack of cohesiveness.

[erasmus]

This is not my kind of book, but I enjoyed your review nonetheless. I agree that formatting errors are distracting. They drive me crazy, and it just does not reflect well on the book and the author/publisher. Not only do formatting issues distract readers from the reading experience, but also good writing (at least for me).

Excellent review!

[bookowlie]

This is not my kind of book, but I enjoyed your review nonetheless. I agree that formatting errors are distracting. They drive me crazy, and it just does not reflect well on the book and the author/publisher. Not only do formatting issues distract readers from the reading experience, but also good writing (at least for me).

Excellent review!

Thanks for your kind words. It definitely took away from the good writing and didn't feel like a finished product. I assume/hope the Kindle book that is being sold is better. As I previously mentioned, I tried 3 formats - epub, MOBI, and PDF. The two I didn't use were much worse, with incorrect line breaks on every line - basically unreadable.

[Rachaelamb1]

Shame that the time jumps were confusing. I have a hard time reading memoirs that are not well-organized.

[bookowlie]

Shame that the time jumps were confusing. I have a hard time reading memoirs that are not well-organized.

I feel the same way regarding memoirs. If the reminiscences are not well organized, it's like seeing the individual trees...but not the forest.

[Heidi M Simone]

Another great review, bookowlie! I also like memoirs that are well organized. It's too bad that this one didn't flow well. Thank you for the honest review.

[bookowlie]

Thanks for the nice feedback. The author certainly had her share of adventures.

[Barend V]

Autobiographical writing always has its own challenges. But it is also the kind of topic on which authors are most knowledgeable on. Personal experience remains a fountain of inspiration for authors. But proper and thoughtful editing is critical and can make or break a book. I enjoyed this very honest review.