Welcome to Litsy!

A compelling memoir from Lara Love Hardin. We meet “Mama Love” when she‘s arrested, follow her through her experiences in prison and how she dealt with the situations she found herself in following her drug addiction. Readers follow Mama Love from rock bottom to being exulted by Oprah. I listened to the audiobook which was great!

This was such an incredible memoir from an immensely talented writer. I can definitely see why Oprah picked it for her book club! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Full review at: https://erinkonrad.com/2024/03/18/the-many-lives-of-mama-love-book-review/

And I'm adding my copy to my Pango shop, if anyone wants to purchase it: https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/ekonrad

Hardin shows us how her life completely fell apart, but then shows us how she was able to claw her way back. Her addiction literally cost her everything: her home, her credibility, her freedom and her children. She was in the pit of despair, but her desire to get her children back and win their forgiveness was her driving force. Everything she did was for that one goal: being a dependable and loving mother to her boys.

I didn‘t realize that the author of this book co-wrote one of my favorite books of 2023 (The Sun Does Shine) until I got to that part of the story. While I felt there wasn‘t enough to explain why she turned to drugs when it seemed she had a good life I am also aware it‘s her story to tell however she wants to tell it. And her shame radiates in her story as does the question are we only the worst thing we‘ve ever done? Another excellent pick ⬇️

Oh my gosh. I listened to this over the past month and it just blew me away. Her writing is excellent, her story is so important, and she just seems like an amazing person. Just wow.

If you love memoirs, I recommend this one!! So well written and easy to follow the story. Addiction is so hard on a family but to read a book where one not only overcomes the addiction but succeeds with putting her family back together and herself is so inspiring.❤️

I went into this book with zero expectations as I didn't really know what it was about. What an excellent story! Such great writing. Full of real insight into how we think about ourselves but presented in a way that reads like a story - not self help. Highly recommend.

Finished listening to this last night. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It's about books, redemption, motherhood, and how fucked our whole justice system is.
#WinterGames #LitsyListen

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Read this in a single day thanks to a glowing rec from my friend Denise! From successful upper middle class mom to drug addict / thief / jailhouse “mama” to respected author. Emotional, frustrating, and ultimately uplifting. There are so many facets to this story. Many will find something relatable. Per the cover, Hardin helped pen The Sun Does Shine. If you haven‘t read that, highly recommend! And Just Mercy, too, while you‘re at it.

I‘m pretty sure I‘ve never had 3 memoirs in a single grid before so chances were good a memoir might win the grid this time. I have to give it to Mama Love!

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I gotta say, as this started out and for several chapters, I wasn‘t feelin‘ the love for Mama as her addiction to escape over took her ability to mother her children. But really, her ability to overcome her addiction, forgive herself, control her life, and make a positive difference in such an impressive way truly makes for a memoir well worth reading. Pic is from her Instagram.

Audiobook pick: I really alternated between being disgusted with the author and then being inspired. There's a lot of hard things to digest in this one, especially concerning her kids. Overall it touches on her redemption. I wish the author and her family the best. This had to be tough to write.

I work alongside people who are struggling with addiction and have witnessed many moments when people have shared their pasts, some in personal conversations with fear in their eyes that they would see judgement in mine and some publicly when they were in a place to give hope to others. Hardin‘s memoir about her journey with addiction, jail, and shame really touched me. Thank you @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks for sending it my way.

Hardin, who has ghost written dozens of books, is a talented author for sure, but at times her memoir about coming back from jail time and addiction lacked passion. She made important points about the difficulties for most women trying to complete probation requirements and get their children back in their custody. I have a great deal of respect for her journey back and the hard fought life she‘s built. #GoodNotGreat

“The worst thing I‘ve ever done is build an identity out of the worst thing I‘ve done.”

Profound, moving, courageous, honest, heartbreaking, compelling, insightful, inspiring, I could go on and on…

Sadly most of our society believes that people convicted of crimes can only be criminals. I never really thought about all of the hurdles and obstacles faced by people trying to rejoin society after incarceration.

Very readable. Hardin shares her story of addiction, incarceration and redemption. She shines a light on many issues with the US criminal justice system that lead to high rates of recidivism rather than successful reentry into society. As Bryan Stevenson says, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we‘ve ever done.” #BOTM

Parts of this woman‘s life have been a #disaster, but I‘m rooting for her!! 🫶🏻🙌🏻💪🏻

It‘s been so hot that I haven‘t been able to enjoy my porch, but it isn‘t too bad today! 🌞

#BookBinge

“Escape was always my real addiction.”

Fighting Tux for the last piece of watermelon 🍉 Does your cat eat anything odd?! I only let him have a little 😽

#Catsoflitsy
#Adayinthelifeoftux 😻

“I want wholeness. But want to live in truth—spiritual truth, emotional truth, psychological truth. Give me all the truths.”

He doesn‘t look guilty at all!! 😂👀🖤🐾

#Adayinthelifeoftux
#catsoflitsy
#LitsyLove

I have a love/hate relationship with #BOTM because their book selections have favored fiction for the past few years (that wasn‘t always the case). I snagged this memoir that wasn‘t even on my radar and WOW it‘s a fantastic read! It‘s an unbelievable true story that is equal parts grotesque and miraculous! #pageturner

“Reading was my first addiction.”

Diving into this one! Has anyone read it??

❤️📚💊 🧡 is not my color!!!

#LitsyLoveReads
#LitsyLove

My blue box arrived this week! I‘m a little behind with posting 💙 📦 📚 dang work 😂

#BOTM

I‘m very excited for my #BOTM picks! The tagged memoir was not on my radar but it sounds very interesting. I‘ve wanted to get my hands on Hello Beautiful for quite awhile now, and they got me with the new Gillian McAllister as an add-on! I also wanted Happiness Falls since I loved Miracle Creek by the same author, but I‘m unsure when I would get around to it so I will pick it up later.

#BOTM accidentally posted their main picks for a brief moment before taking them back down. I assume they'll go up for real tomorrow, but here they are in case you want to start thinking about it early!

(PS: the tagged book is a memoir that sounds really good! I know a lot of you always wish they picked more nonfiction 🤗)