Book Review | Hassan El-Tayyab | Composing Temple Sunrise

Composing Temple Sunrise: Overcoming Writer's block at Burning Man

I received this book for free from publishers. This book was brought to my attention through a contact form on my blog. This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. 

Author: Hassan El-Tayyab

Title: Composing Temple Sunrise

Genre: Memoir, Biography, Autobiography, Music, Art, Festival, Relationships

Pages: 202

Price: £6.84

Started: 27th August 2016

Finished: 2nd September 2016

Synopsis: This is a memoir by musician Hassan El-Tayyab and recounts his trip across the US looking for that elusive muse. He arrives in Berkeley and hooks up with a group creating a metal sculpture called Fishbug. They go to Burning Man in the Nevada dessert and here he writes the musical piece Temple Sunrise. Hassan is a musician singer/songwriter with his group America Nomad. This is a book of travel, personal exploration, community, and that elusive finding of the creative source. A beautiful song comes of this journey as well as a beautiful, insightful book. Hassan El-Tayyab is an award-winning singer/songwriter, author, teacher, and cultural activist currently residing in San Francisco, California. His critically-acclaimed Americana act American Nomad performs regularly at festivals and venues up and down the West Coast and beyond. In addition to performing Hassan is also a music educator, having taught songwriting and guitar classes for the Freight and Salvage and The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. Hassan has also been a guest lecturer on song writing at the University of California, Berkeley.

Review: I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. When I received this book I was unsure whether I would like this book or not as I mostly read fiction and fantasy books. When buying or reading books I normally do not opt for memoirs so this book didn't jump out as something I would be gripped by. However, when I started reading this book I found that the adventures of the writer pulled me in and then I just could not break away from the pages. The author excellently portrayed his emotions in relation to the events that he wrote about in this book. When reading about the events he experienced and took part in I could almost feel exactly what he was feeling at these times or maybe what he was feeling when looking back on these memories. This was an excellent read and I am glad that I accepted this book for review. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, whether they are a reader of fiction or enjoy auto-biographies/memoirs. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Book Review | Shannon O'Leary | The Blood On My Hands

The Blood on My Hands: An Autobiography

This book was sent to me for free. This book was sent to me by the publisher. This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. 

Author: Shannon O'Leary

Title: The Blood On My Hands

Genre: Non Fiction, Autobiography, Biography, Memoir, True Crime

Pages: 258

Price: £8.10

Started: 19th August 2016

Finished: 27th August 2016

Synopsis: Shannon O'Leary grew up in Australia in the 1960's and 70's, in a seemingly upstanding catholic family. The Blood On My Hands is the story of the horrific abuse and terrifying murder that played out behind the scenes, hidden by the authors extended family and all but sanctioned by the nuns the author confided in as a child. This story of violence and suffering is also the memoir of a strong, resilient little girl who grew up to be an accomplished woman. Readers will quickly become engrossed in this riveting story as they follow the author from the tragic circumstances forced upon her as a child to the life she made for herself as a survivor. 

Review: I would like to thank the publisher and Shannon O'Leary for allowing me to receive this book. The synopsis made me very intrigued about this book and that is why I opted to receive this for review but I must be honest and say that I was unsure that I would enjoy this book as I have also swayed towards fiction novels. However, as this book seemed extremely interesting I thought that I would give an autobiography a chance and I was not disappointed. This autobiography shares many horrific events that the author had to experience at the hands of her own father. This little girl was very brave and resilient; I know that if I experienced even a quarter of what Shannon O'Leary had to I would have broken very early on in life. I found myself truly gripped with this autobiography and could not stop reading. Parts of this autobiography made me feel physically sick at what the girl had to endure. I can't imagine how she managed to stay so strong and survive to adulthood and a better life. I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone; reader or non-reader; enjoyer of autobiographies or fans of fiction. This is a truly amazing read and I believe that everyone should experience amazing along with the strength that the author had even at such a young age. As I came to the end of this book I felt that I had connected with the author along with helping her share in joy at how she survived such an horrific ordeal and how strong she and all her family were to get away from her father. That being said I could not imagine the terror that she experienced throughout her childhood as my childhood was perfect in comparison to hers. Any issues that I had in my childhood are silly and irrelevant in comparison to what Shannon O'Leary went through. As horrible as her experiences where they made her who she is today; the experiences made her stronger. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars