Official Review: My Life by Doug Shepardson

LivreAmour217 · Post by **LivreAmour217** » 17 Nov 2017, 14:27

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "My Life" by Doug Shepardson.]

4 out of 4 stars

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In My Life, author Doug Shepardson shares the true story of his friend Marie Tam (Zhong Jiao Chin), a Chinese-American woman who was born in California, but spent many years living in Hong Kong and China. During her time in these locations, Ms. Tam endured the brutality of the Japanese occupation during WWII, and later the horrors of the Communist uprising. Ms. Tam's story is one of happiness, heartbreak, and courage in the face of tremendous hardship.

My Life is a captivating tale of life during an extremely difficult period in recent history. Unfortunately, many Westerners are unaware of the atrocities committed by the Japanese during World War II, and are underinformed about the brutalities committed during China's Communist uprising. Ms. Tam's story provides a close-up encounter with these events and adds tremendous depth to the reader's knowledge of those times. Her story is shared in a forthright manner that is detailed, but not too harsh for more sensitive readers.

The book flows evenly and transitions from Ms. Tam's different living circumstances smoothly. The major events that unfolded--both on an international and personal level--in Ms. Tam's life were easy to follow and skillfully interwoven to provide a picture of everyday life during Ms. Tam's years in China and Hong Kong. The writing itself is good overall, and errors within are minimal and easy to overlook.

Although most of the events of the story are presented very matter-of-factly, this book did not fail to evoke an emotional response within me on many levels. I found it easy to empathize with the joy, fear, suffering, and hope experienced by Ms. Tam and her family members. I will not disrespect Ms. Tam's experiences by saying that I could identify with those emotions (I have never been through anything that comes close to what she endured), but I was deeply moved.

I only have one minor criticism of My Life, which is that some of the pictures within the book are extremely small and difficult to make out. I suspect a formatting issue with the e-book may be to blame, and although my enjoyment was in no way diminished by the photos, I would have liked to been able to see them better.

Formatting issues aside, My Life is a moving and informative book, and I award it 4 out of 4 stars. Ms. Tam's story reveals little-known facts about World War II and the country of China, and I feel that hers is one that people need to know about. Therefore, I would recommend this book to everybody.

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My Life
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esthernn · Post by **esthernn** » 18 Nov 2017, 01:38

Well reviewed, I'd truly love to include it in my shelf store.

Ibukunmi01 · Post by **Ibukunmi01** » 18 Nov 2017, 02:53

It a great book that I will like to add to my shelf and read

Ivony Fair · Post by **Ivony Fair** » 18 Nov 2017, 07:00

I love China's culture and traditions! I am also learning Mandarin at the moment so I think this historical and inspiring book may deepen my understanding of the Chinese. Will be adding it to my bookshelf

An excellent review!

Post by **kandscreeley** » 18 Nov 2017, 10:19

It's interesting. We focus so much on the Nazis in WW2 that we forget about everything else that was going on. Sounds like there's a lot to be learned from this book.

LivreAmour217 · Post by **LivreAmour217** » 18 Nov 2017, 16:39

Ivony Fair wrote:I love China's culture and traditions! I am also learning Mandarin at the moment so I think this historical and inspiring book may deepen my understanding of the Chinese. Will be adding it to my bookshelf An excellent review!

Thank you very much! I hope that you enjoy this book, and I wish you luck in learning Mandarin!

Connie Otwani · Post by **Connie Otwani** » 18 Nov 2017, 17:31

Amazing. I have never considered that Japan committed atrocities during WW2. This book sounds quite informative.

LivreAmour217 · Post by **LivreAmour217** » 18 Nov 2017, 17:54

kandscreeley wrote:It's interesting. We focus so much on the Nazis in WW2 that we forget about everything else that was going on. Sounds like there's a lot to be learned from this book.

You are very right, there is so much about WWII that isn’t well known. Thank you for reading my review!

-- 18 Nov 2017, 18:56 --

Cotwani wrote:Amazing. I have never considered that Japan committed atrocities during WW2. This book sounds quite informative.

Yes, this book is very informative. I don’t think that most people know about what happened in the Pacific during WWII. Thank you for stopping by!

Mercelle · Post by **Mercelle** » 20 Nov 2017, 12:09

Such deep content. I can't imagine what Ms. Tam went through but I am glad she shared her story. There's a lot to learn from it.

Gunnar Ohberg · Post by **Gunnar Ohberg** » 20 Nov 2017, 19:12

Very nice review. While the subject matter is a little outside of my wheelhouse, I have a family member who would love this book. Thank you for your informative analysis.

Ivy Davie · Post by **Ivy Davie** » 22 Nov 2017, 13:18

Very captivating

BookHausJ · Post by **BookHausJ** » 21 Jan 2018, 06:22

When my Mother is still alive she always talked about Japanese occupation (WWII). According to her it's too harsh and traumatic. But that was long time ago. I'm sure the Author of this Book were able to cope up easy. This is very nice book. Hope I can read this too. Thanks for the review. Very nice.