Wanting to finish [b:A House of My Own: Stories from My Life|25614824|A House of My Own Stories from My Life|Sandra Cisneros|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436979577l/25614824._SX50_.jpg|45028633] which has been on my currently reading list for a year and a half, I read all morning with pleasure. The delay was because it's a book to savor, each essay or talk dealing with a different topic but centered around writing, creativity, feminism and [a:Sandra Cisneros|13234|Sandra Cisneros|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1342038396p2/13234.jpg]'s seeking and finding "a room of one's own" be it in Chicago, San Antonio or Mexico. She entertains with stories of her parents, her six brothers, aunts and uncles, five dogs. She honors artists, musicians and writers. At some point in my own misspent life, I decided to collect only hardback books and got rid of many worthy paperbacks so now I reach for her treasured reading such as [b:The Time of the Doves|232937|The Time of the Doves|Mercè Rodoreda|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388862060l/232937._SY75_.jpg|225621], [b:Canek|1734581|Canek|Ermilo Abreu Gómez|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348121644l/1734581._SY75_.jpg|1732069] or [b:Days and Nights of Love and War|218181|Days and Nights of Love and War|Eduardo Galeano|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386914579l/218181._SY75_.jpg|33077], these titles are not there and need to be bought again because oddly enough the library doesn't have them. Cisneros' reviews of these authors and visits to their homes or graves are inspiring and richly described as in [b:Camellia Street|232940|Camellia Street|Mercè Rodoreda|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1172956157l/232940._SY75_.jpg|422965] in Barcelona where "the buildings are boxlike and ugly; walls a nubby gray like a dirty wool sweater" and there are no camellias. The plaza is "bald as a knuckle" "air throbbing with children, motorbikes, goofy teenagers hitting and then hugging each other, schoolgirls on the brink of brilliant catastrophes." When describing her attraction to Rodoreda and her work, Cisneros says "I fumble about like one of Rodoreda's characters, as clumsy with words as a carpenter threading a needle."

Her teenage discovery of sex yields "new discoveries in its depths: And, like writing, for a slip of a moment it could be spiritual, the cosmos pivoting on a pin, could empty and fill you all at once like a Ganges, a Piazzolla tango, a tulip bending in the wind. I was nothing, and I was everything in the universe little and large--twig, cloud, sky. How had this incredible energy been denied me!"

She travels to Greece, Yugoslavia, Spain, Mexico, France, Italy and in everything she writes about her poetic skill awes me. Books by poets have a special place in my pantheon as do talks about reading and authors. ( )

The chapter on book censorship in particular really spoke to me as a librarian. A beautiful book, and now I have 5000 other things to research from indigenous Mexican culture, and feel an overwhelming need to paint something Maya blue. ( )

I hoped for a bio but I got a collection of previously published short pieces, all with autobiographical elements. Not much about houses here. I’m a Cisneros fan and I must admit I was a little underwhelmed. ( )

I enjoyed most of the selections in this collection of miscellaneous writings by the author of The House on Mango Street. Lots of reflections on writers and the writing process, growing up as an American of Mexican descent, living in various places, and living alone (and liking it). Library book. ( )

A House of My Own: Stories From My Life by Sandra Cisneros is a collection of previously written works pulled together to create a "jigsaw autobiography." The topics range from personal stories to tributes to responses to criticism to social commentary. I read the book as individual, stand alone pieces without an expectation of cohesion or chronology. As is true of any collection, some pieces speak more to me than others.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/11/a-house-of-my-own-stories-from-my-life.... ( )