Howard Hom grew up in China with no money and little education. However, he possessed a sharp mind, a photographic memory, and a strong desire to make his mark in the world. When an opportunity to come to America arose, he grabbed it with both hands. Because she was born a girl, Janet Kong Hom almost didn't live to be more than a few days old. She was rescued by her mother from an "exterminator" who had been hired by her grandmother. Howard and Janet overcame their obstacles to find love, success, and happiness in Tucson, Arizona.The Hom Memoirstells their story.
Uprooting ourselves and putting down roots elsewhere has become second nature. Americans are among the most mobile people on the planet, moving house an average of nine times in adulthood. Mobile Home explores one family’s extreme and often international version of this common experience. Inspired by Megan Harlan’s globe-wandering childhood—during which she lived in seventeen homes across four continents, ranging in location from the Alaskan tundra to a Colombian jungle, a posh flat in London to a doublewide trailer near the Arabian Gulf—Mobile Home maps the emotional structures and metaphysical geographies of home. In ten interconnected essays, Harlan examines cultural histories that include Bedouin nomadic traditions and modern life in wheeled mobile homes, the psychology of motels and suburban tract housing, and the lived meanings within the built landscapes of Manhattan, Stonehenge, and the Winchester Mystery House. More personally, she traces the family histories that drove her parents to seek so many new horizons—and how those places shaped her upbringing. Her mother viewed houses as a kind of large-scale plastic art ever in need of renovating, while her father was a natural adventurer and loved nothing more than to travel, choosing a life of flight that also helped to mask his addiction to alcohol. These familial experiences color Harlan’s current journey as a mother attempting to shape a flourishing, rooted world for her son. Her memoir in essays skillfully explores the flexible, continually inventive natures of place, family, and home.
Inspired by Frances Schultz’s popular House Beautiful magazine series on the makeover of her East Hampton house, Bee Cottage, what began as a decorating book evolved into a memoir combining the best elements of both: beautiful photos and a compelling personal story. Schultz taps into what she learned during her renovations of Bee Cottage—determining how each area in the house and garden would be used and furnished—to unravel the question of how a mature, intelligent, successful woman could have made such a mess of her personal life. As she figures out each room over a period of years, Frances finds a new path in life, also a continual process. She comes to learn that, like decorating a home, our lives must adapt to who we are and what we need at different points along the way. The Bee Cottage Story is part memoir, part home decorating guide. Frances discusses the kinds of useful, commonsense design issues that professionals take for granted and the rest of us just may not think of, prompting the reader to examine and discover her own “truth” in decorating—and in her life.
RABBIT ON A BUMPY ROAD is Tom Hom's memoir'a story of courage and endurance in meeting life's challenges to achieve "The American Dream." Tom was born into a Chinese family in the year of the Rabbit in the 1920's when much of American society was segregated, socially and economically. He entered school in San Diego, like other children who lived in Chinatown, speaking only Chinese. As he grew older, he faced limited job opportunities and discrimination in housing. He never lost faith in the American dream and went on to achieve success for himself, his family, and the greater good of a diverse America, breaking age-old barriers of prejudice and segregation. Today, Tom Hom is a respected elder who has contributed to the success and growth of San Diego and has inspired a new generation of Americans to greater achievement in economic growth and civic responsibilities. His journey and words of wisdom offer encouragement to all who believe in the future of America.
Now a limited Netflix series starring Zoe Saldana! This Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller is “a captivating story of love lost and found” (Kirkus Reviews) set in the lush Sicilian countryside, where one woman discovers the healing powers of food, family, and unexpected grace in her darkest hours. It was love at first sight when actress Tembi met professional chef, Saro, on a street in Florence. There was just one problem: Saro’s traditional Sicilian family did not approve of his marrying a black American woman. However, the couple, heartbroken but undeterred, forged on. They built a happy life in Los Angeles, with fulfilling careers, deep friendships, and the love of their lives: a baby girl they adopted at birth. Eventually, they reconciled with Saro’s family just as he faced a formidable cancer that would consume all their dreams. From Scratch chronicles three summers Tembi spends in Sicily with her daughter, Zoela, as she begins to piece together a life without her husband in his tiny hometown hamlet of farmers. Where once Tembi was estranged from Saro’s family, now she finds solace and nourishment—literally and spiritually—at her mother-in-law’s table. In the Sicilian countryside, she discovers the healing gifts of simple fresh food, the embrace of a close knit community, and timeless traditions and wisdom that light a path forward. All along the way she reflects on her and Saro’s romance—an incredible love story that leaps off the pages. In Sicily, it is said that every story begins with a marriage or a death—in Tembi Locke’s case, it is both. “Locke’s raw and heartfelt memoir will uplift readers suffering from the loss of their own loved ones” (Publishers Weekly), but her story is also about love, finding a home, and chasing flavor as an act of remembrance. From Scratch is for anyone who has dared to reach for big love, fought for what mattered most, and those who needed a powerful reminder that life is...delicious.
Home Away from Home Lobsang Yonten Mentuh was born in the year of the Dragon (1939), in Dzongkar, Tibet. He was one of seven siblings which included three brothers and three sisters. Lobsang was approximately twenty years old when conditions forced him to flee Tibet without his family; he always hoped to reunite with them again in Nepal. He met and married his wife Chimi Dolma Phanche in Nepal, before deciding to move to Canada with his young family in 1971. My Home Away from Home recounts his life experiences as described through challenges and triumphs which shaped his strong work ethic and personal values of family, faith, and community service.
