Growing Up Greenpoint by Tommy Carbone

The subject was 1970s Brooklyn on Episode 94 of the GSMC Book Review Podcast as I spoke with author Tommy Carbone about his memoir, Growing Up Greenpoint: A Kid's Life in 1970s Brooklyn.

Source

In Growing up Greenpoint, Tommy Carbone captures what it was like to be a kid during the 1970s and 80s in Brooklyn. This funny, and sometimes emotional, memoir follows the years Tommy was educated not only in the classrooms of St. Stan’s, but on the streets of Greenpoint. It was there, playing street games with friends, being cornered by muggers, playing kissing games with the girls, spending time with family, and constantly seeking out the best snack foods in the neighborhood, where Tommy learned a lot about life; although he may not have known it at the time.

A simple conversation, years later, about the New York City Blackout of 1977 sparks Tommy to recall his youth in the city he loved. His stories will bring you into the action of what it was like to dodge cars during a ballgame, to take a hike to another borough in search of a particular burger, to the hours spent playing pinball in a corner candy store, and how special it was to build traditions with three generations of Polish and Italian relatives in Brooklyn’s garden spot.

The vivid descriptions of his antics of what it was like to grow up during those years will transport you to the sounds and smells of living in the city during those trying years. Reading this book, you’ll be entertained, and at the same time, you may shake your head wondering how Tommy ever survived - Growing up in Greenpoint. (Source)

This book is a lot of fun. Tommy experienced some pretty major events in the life of New York City, including the  blackout in 1977 and a fairly significant blizzard in 1978. While these were stressful events for the adults who had to deal with all of the logistical issues, they were actually quite the adventure for the kids in Tommy's neighborhood. My childhood was vastly different than Tommy's, so it was fun to read about growing up in an urban environment. It was also amazing how many parts of the book I resonated with despite the differences in our upbringings.

Genres:

• Memoir
• Nonfiction
  

What I enjoyed:

• Reading about a childhood so different from mine. I grew up in rural Montana, Tommy grew up in Brooklyn. As a child I knew Brooklyn existed because a friend's mom grew up there and his grandma would come to visit every year, but I had absolutely no concept of what living in an urban area was actually like. It was fun to see childhood through a different lens.
• All of the stories about food. I jokingly asked Tommy how he didn't end up weighing 300 pounds because it seemed like he did nothing but eat growing up. Again, his childhood food experiences were very different than mine, but I still found similarities in some of the stories he tells that involve both food and family. I also now think I need to try and egg cream...and I want to know why it has that name when it has neither egg nor cream...
• Reliving aspects of my own childhood, especially different types of technology (or lack thereof).

Quotes:

• "Looking back, the Greenpoint of my youth certainly had an impact on my personality, my outlook on life, and how I view the city - both good and bad - until this very day."
• "More recently I have resorted to telling people I was just generically from Brooklyn, leaving out the Greenpoint part. I'm not happy about that, so the next time I am asked, I might just give them a copy of this book"
• "This was our type of street food - pickles from barrels, slices from hole in the wall pizza joints, knishes from candy stores, leftover pretzels, sausages from butchers, and smoked fish off a clothesline."

Where you can find Tommy online:

Website: http://www.tommycarbone.com/

Blog: http://tommycarbone.com/blog/

Facebook: @TommyCarboneAuthor

Twitter: @TommyCarbone212

Amazon Author Page: Tommy Carbone

GoodReads: Tommy Carbone

Author Bio:

Source

Tommy Carbone grew up in Greenpoint Brooklyn during the 1970s and early 80s.  He roamed the avenues, hung out in candy stores playing pinball, and dodged cars chasing spaldeens. Brooklyn was then, as it is now, the “4th largest city” in America.

He now writes from a one-room cabin, on the shore of a lake that is frozen for six months out of the year, and where moose outnumber people 3 to 1. (Source)

Do you want to read Growing Up Greenpoint? You are in luck because Tommy has been kind enough to provide 3 signed copies to give away! All you have to do is go to either our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages and comment on the post with Tom's interview. It's as simple as that: just comment on Episode 94 on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and you'll automatically be entered to win Growing Up Greenpoint! The last day to enter is July 14th and winners will be announced on July 16th.

To hear the interview with Tommy, please click here.

Not Just Me by Lisa Jakub

On today's episode of the GSMC Book Review Podcast I interview Lisa Jakub about her book Not Just Me: Anxiety, Depression, and Learning to Embrace Your Weird. I read her first book, You Look Like That Girl several months ago (on the train commuting to work where I got a LOT of weird looks because I was laughing, and occasionally snorting, while reading) and greatly appreciated not only humor but how open and matter-of-fact she was in writing about her issues with anxiety and depression.  so when I saw that she had written an entire book on the subject I knew I wanted to read.  When she agreed to be a guest on the podcast it was icing on the cake.

Source

Lisa Jakub has always been a little weird.

Sensitive. Emotional. Introverted.

What else would you expect from a former child actor turned writer?

But the issue wasn’t just an artistic temperament; Lisa was constantly trying to hide her debilitating anxiety and depression. She assumed that retiring from her eighteen-year acting career and leaving Hollywood was going to be the cure for all of her issues. Guess how that worked out?

Lisa was still having three panic attacks a day and found it hard to leave her house. But when anxiety-induced vomiting claimed the life of her iPod—she knew it was time to get help. It was time to talk about the things that are hard to talk about.

She started to embrace her weird.

In searching for a deeper understanding of mental wellness, Lisa explored her own history and reached out to others to learn how anxiety and depression impacted their lives. She interviewed Veterans with PTSD and ten-year-olds with sensory integration issues, people with eating disorders and cutting habits, those whose lives were saved by medication and those who found yoga to be the answer. She went to Colorado to learn about the effects of cannabis on anxiety, and attended a meditation retreat in North Carolina to sit quietly for hours and hours and hours in “noble silence.” Without a phone.

Not Just Me is a hopeful, entertaining, enlightening look at the root causes of anxiety, the latest research on mood disorders, and ideas for how we can all live authentically with more peace, power, and purpose. Part memoir, part journalistic exploration—this book reminds all of us that we are not alone. (Source)

 

The book description alone gives you a glimpse of how great this book is, equal parts humor and factual information.  As someone who has gone through my own struggles with both anxiety and depression I had so many "yes!" moments while reading.  It reminds us that no matter what that voice tells us, we aren't alone and we aren't weird in how we are feeling.

Genres:

· Memoir

· Non-Fiction

What I enjoyed:

· The way Lisa writes.  The book is full of humor, facts, and it gives a lot of incredibly helpful information while remaining engaging and entertaining.

· The stories of the people Lisa interviewed, who share their own difficult experiences and what they have learned from those experiences.  She interviews people with eating disorders, PTSD, those with substance abuse problems, former cutters, and more, so there is a wide range of struggles that readers might resonate with.

· Lisa's passion about this topic, her honesty about her own experiences, and her willingness to do whatever she can to help others who are struggling.  She gives concrete methods throughout the book of things to try, from yoga and meditation, to breathing techniques, to form letter that can be downloaded to help you talk to your doctor about your experiences.

Who should read Not Just Me?

· Anyone who is or has gone through anxiety and/or depression.

· Families, friends, and support networks of people with anxiety and/or depression.

· Anyone who has ever wondered what it is like to live with anxiety and/or depression.

Quotes:

• "But I've learned that there are actually a bunch of us that feel like this. And not one wants to talk about it. Until someone else brings it up. And then it's all they want to talk about. Anxiety is real."
• "What I really want is for all of us to go sit in a coffee shop and talk about our struggles so we feel less isolated, but there isn't a coffee shop in the world big enough to hold us all. So this book is the next best thing I could come up with."
• "Here's why it's okay for you to be okay: Happy, grateful people are good for everybody. It's more effective to help the world from a place of inner peace than to suffer in solidarity. Greatness does not need to come from suffering; it comes out of being awake to the intricacies of life."

Where you can find Lisa online: 

Website: https://lisajakub.net/

Facebook: @lisajakub108

Twitter: @Lisa_Jakub

Instagram: @lisajakub108

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsFKQdvnjZxTY94lEHsYh2g?view_as=subscriber

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Jakub/e/B00O86AB6K/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8442315.Lisa_Jakub

Author Bio:

Source

Hello. I’m Lisa – a writer, speaker, writing teacher, traveler, yoga teacher, and wife. I also make really good spinach gnocchi.

I began my acting career at the age of four in Toronto, Canada. For the next eighteen years, I worked consistently in the film industry in Los Angeles, in projects that ranged from Hollywood blockbuster to cutting room floor.

At the age of 22, I realized that there must be more to life than premieres and pretending to be other people. I suspected that there was something outside of movies that would feel more authentic to me. I left the film industry under the guise of following the man I loved to Virginia. Luckily, the man I loved really was in Virginia, so it all worked out and we lived happily ever after in our own version of a Hollywood ending.

While figuring out how to be a normal person, I have dedicated myself to my lifelong love of words and my profound respect for a well-told story.

My memoir, You Look Like That Girl, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or by requesting it from your favorite independent bookseller. Personalized signed copies are available here. It is the story of growing up in the film industry and making the decision to leave in search of some peace.

My second book, Not Just Me,  is a hopeful, entertaining, enlightening look at the root causes of anxiety, the latest research on mood disorders, and ideas for how we can all live authentically with more peace, power, and purpose. Part memoir, part journalistic exploration—this book reminds all of us that we are not alone. Personalized signed copies can be ordered here.

My writing has appeared in Newsweek, Today.com, Huffington Post, Yoga Magazine, US Magazine, Elephant Journal, Thought Catalog, Vanichi Magazine, ASPCA, and Hello Giggles, where I am a contributing writer. I’ve appeared on HuffPost Live, MSNBC, CNN, BBC, and CBC. I do speaking events at high schools, colleges, and conferences and run weekend workshops about writing, yoga, and living an authentic life. (Source)

To hear the interview with Lisa please click here.