Author: Paula Becker

Audiobook Review | “Looking for Betty MacDonald” written and narrated by Paula Becker

Posted Friday, 28 April, 2017 by jorielov , , , , 3 Comments

Audiobook Review Badge made by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Digital Audiobook by: I am a new blog tour hostess with Audiobookworm Promotions wherein I have the opportunity to receive audiobooks for review or adoption (reviews outside of organised blog tours) and host guest features on behalf of authors and narrators alike. The Egg and I blog tour marks my second tour wherein I have become quite happily surprised how much I am now keen on listening to books in lieu of reading them in print. My journey into audiobooks was prompted by a return of my chronic migraines wherein I want to offset my readings with listening to the audio versions.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Looking for Betty MacDonald” via the publicist at Audiobookworm Promotions (of whom was working directly with the narrator/author Paula Becker) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I wanted to listen to this biography of Betty MacDonald:

I suppose I wanted to give myself a capstone to my listening hours spent inside the world of Betty MacDonald; as the narratives were capturing of my attention for the past several months. I had a rough start with them before the close of 2016 (mostly due to personal circumstances which took me away from books in general) but by the time I entered The Plague and I; I had found my footing. I had a feeling it might be a good idea to listen to this biography if only to have closure on the journey and to listen to someone else trying to find Betty of whom I think has remained a bit shadowed in history. Her memoirs have remained in print but how much of the real Betty do any of us really and truly know!? I wondered if she might have kept a few things hidden; private and away from the eyes of the public.

I was originally supposed to host an interview attached to this review – somewhere along the way, I completely forgot about it. When I had three weeks of struggling through a bout of pollen allergies (late March/early April) all hope of sorting this interview out went out the window as I missed the deadline. I can only hope the author would understand if she sees this note now on my review. Just getting back to a place where I could pick up books again without fear of sneezing half a lung out of my chest was a joy in of itself! Pollen is such a horrid allergy but sometimes it provides a blunt entrance to Spring. Thankfully, I could find something else to appreciate about Spring this year and that was a renewal of balance and of finding my way with reading and blogging once again.

I am unsure what drew my interest into the MacDonald memoirs initially; it’s so long ago now since I first queued them into my schedule. One thing is for certain, I won’t soon forget my time listening to her quirkified memoirs and her resilience to get through everything which came across her path to overcome. There is strength in listening to someone’s story which grew bolder in adversity to recognise there are moments that will test our resolves but it’s how we rise to greet those obstacles and surpass them that gives us a proper sense of what we can humbling say was a period of growth and learning.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Audiobook Review | “Looking for Betty MacDonald” written and narrated by Paula BeckerLooking for Betty MacDonald
Subtitle: The Egg, The Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and I
by Paula Becker

Betty Bard MacDonald (1907-1958), the best-selling author of The Egg and I and the classic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle children's books, burst onto the literary scene shortly after the end of World War II. Readers embraced her memoir of her years as a young bride operating a chicken ranch on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, and The Egg and I sold its first million copies in less than a year. The public was drawn to MacDonald's vivacity, her offbeat humor, and her irreverent take on life.

In 1947, the book was made into a movie starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert, and spawned a series of films featuring MacDonald's Ma and Pa Kettle characters.

MacDonald followed up the success of The Egg and I with the creation of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, a magical woman who cures children of their bad habits, and with three additional memoirs: The Plague and I (chronicling her time in a tuberculosis sanitarium just outside Seattle),Anybody Can Do Anything (recounting her madcap attempts to find work during the Great Depression), and Onions in the Stew (about her life raising two teenage daughters on Vashon Island).

Author Paula Becker was granted full access to Betty MacDonald's archives, including materials never before seen by any researcher. Looking for Betty MacDonald, the first biography of this endearing Northwest storyteller, reveals the story behind the memoirs and the difference between the real Betty MacDonald and her literary persona.


Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

ASIN: B01LW1RMM9

on 14th September, 2016

Length: 8 hours 10 minutes (unabridged)

Published By: Post Hypnotic Press (@Post_Hypnotic)

About Paula Becker

Paula Becker

Paula Becker is a writer and historian living in Seattle, Washington. She is the author of the book Looking For Betty MacDonald: The Egg, The Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and I (University of Washington Press), and co-author (with Alan J. Stein) of the books The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair And Its Legacy (Seattle Center Foundation, 2011) and Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition: Washington’s First World’s Fair (History Ink/HistoryLink in association with University of Washington Press, 2009).

More than 300 of Paula’s essays documenting all aspects of Washington’s history appear on HistoryLink.org, the online encyclopedia of Washington state history, where she is a staff historian.

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Posted Friday, 28 April, 2017 by jorielov in Audiobook Narrator Interview, Audiobookworm Promotions, Blog Tour Host, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Vignettes of Real Life