User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Reading Maya Angelou is like getting a big hug on a bad day. She has the most comforting voice, and may be the wisest person I can think of. I want to be like her when I grow up.
Favorite Quotes:
Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking.
I remind myself it is sufficient to know what I know, and that what I know, may not always be true.
[I] try to be present and accountable for all I do and leave undone.
Rating: really liked it
There’s part of me that just wants to hold onto this lovely little gem of a book, to just hold onto these words a little longer in the hopes they’ll more thoroughly permeate my soul. There’s the other part of me that wants to share her message, abounding in beauty, grief, tenderness, joy, life lessons overflowing with wisdom, faith. Most of all, her wisdom, the knowledge and understanding she shares on life; and while this book is a letter to the daughters she never gave birth to, she acknowledges the bond with these daughters of divine creation with the offering of these words.
Eighty plus years of trials and life lessons shared, only the ones she found to be useful, not her solutions
”knowing you are intelligent and creative and resourceful and will use them as you see fit.”In prose that is so quintessentially hers, I could hear her distinctive voice saying these words
"I came to understand that I can never forget where I came from. My soul should always look back and wonder at the mountains I had climbed and the rivers I had forged and the challenges which still await down the road. I am strengthened by that knowledge.” Her spirituality is touching without being divisive, her view of the world, of people worldwide.
Of all the many things she says, shares, teaches, the words that reached in and grabbed my heart the most was in the chapter
Keep the Faith”Whenever I began to question whether God exists, I looked up to the sky and surely there, right there, between the sun and moon, stands my grandmother, singing a long meter hymn, a song somewhere between a moan and a lullaby and I know faith is the evidence of things unseen.Highly recommended
Many thanks to my friend Candi, whose review prompted me to read this tiny book overflowing with love and wisdom. Candi’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Rating: really liked it
"I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you."This is a lovely series of Maya Angelou's essays dedicated to all women of the world. She shares some of her most touching life stories, divulges words of wisdom, and muses on those topics which stand as the most relevant and meaningful to her. I love her style and her humor – she was undoubtedly one classy woman who despised vulgarity and encouraged humility and simplicity. She was forward thinking, self-possessed and conveyed an attitude of hopefulness and positivity. Gosh, I know I could use an extra dose of some of these sentiments from time to time! This is the kind of book one should keep by the bedside, grab it on a bad day, and open up to a favorite passage for a bit of healing. I don't own this book, but that is exactly what I would like to do once I get my hands on my own copy. It's a quick read but also one that can be savored over a period of days as each snippet offers a distinct little lesson in life.
"The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow."
Rating: really liked it
“I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you. Here is my offering to you.”So speaks Maya Angelou in the Preface to
Letter to My Daughter, her third book of essays. The book is a slim volume, containing twenty-eight short pieces, which are titled by theme. Examples are
“Philanthropy”, “Vulgarity” and
“Violence”, which are full of nuggets of wisdom, couched in examples from her own experience. There are more personal memories too, such as
“Mother's Long View”, “Surviving”, “In the Valley of Humility” or
“Mt. Zion”. There are even specific anecdotes about the friends and people she knows, such as
“Bob and Decca”, “Fannie Lou Hamer” and
“Celia Cruz”. In these cases it is clear that she feels she has learned a great deal from her friendships with these people, and wishes to impart these insights she has gained. By relating an anecdote from her past, she gets our full attention. Sometimes it is even something painfully embarrassing, where she rather wishes it had not happened. In each case, she seems to hold nothing back. There is a truth which she has learned as a result, and she wishes to share it with us, her readers,
“Let's tell the truth to people. When people ask, 'How are you?' have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don't want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.”We feel as we read this, that Maya Angelou is wise in a truly ancient sense. In earlier times, many cultures respected the elders in a tribe for their experience, and the younger people looked to them when making their own life decisions. Largely we have lost this ability; this automatic sense of respect. Too often the voices of the elders are lost. But Maya Angelou takes hold of this power again. She is both commanding and humble. She is both searingly honest about herself, and brutally matter-of-fact in her advice,
“Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood.” This slight volume from 2008 became a bestseller; many people viewing it as an inspirational book. The idea was initially sparked off in the author's mind when she was going through some old boxes of notes and papers, full of ideas for future books and poems. From twenty years' worth of notes written to her friend Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou sifted ones which she felt deserved a wider audience, as the truths in them were so universal. They should be shared,
“I am convinced that most people do not grow up ... We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias.”The book can be read straight through, or taken as an essay a day. “Essay” is perhaps rather a grand term for what is often a personal anecdote with a bit of advice thrown in, but then the book does defy categorisation, being part memoir, part poetry and part a sort of guidebook. It is a book of advice, on how to live well, and how to live a life with meaning. It navigates the fine line between homespun philosophy and inspirational religiosity quite well. (Maya Angelou has a very strong faith.) Her skilled writing, her honest compassion, and her intriguing and many personal anecdotes means that this is an appealing read for all. Yes, she identifies and speaks strongly with a Black female voice, but this can be read with empathy, and with significant meaning, by everyone,
“All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us all that we are more alike than we are unalike.”I do have one quibble, and this may be with the publishers. The volume is slight - 162 pages in large print. Of these, 28 are completely blank. Each essay is separated, not only by the rest of the page, plus perhaps the reverse being left blank, but in addition there is a whole extra page in between too. Since some of the pieces are only a couple of pages long in total anyway, this makes the reader feel the page-turn is far too quick. It is distracting. Surely a slim volume is exactly that? Some volumes of poetry are very slight, yet we don't feel “cheated” by the small page-count! But this feels like an attempt to bolster it up. If the publisher really felt it needed more bulk, then perhaps it could have been doubled with an earlier book, or a selection of poems.
For this reason it remains at a three star read for me, although it could well be touching four, if more essays had been included - or its presentation had been more honest.
Although this book came towards the end of her life, with just one more part of her autobiography (making seven in total) and one more book of poetry afterwards, I would recommend it as an introduction to Maya Angelou's writing, for anyone who has never read any. It is a feel-good book; not as devastating as the first part of her autobiography, nor as complex as some of her poetry. Of course much of her work has this same beautiful conversational tone. The essays or chapters seem to follow her autobiographies, at least at first. It is like a reprise of some of her life events covered in those, plus new ones. She uses them to illustrate her advice for life, and to inspire her readers. In a sense, she seems to be writing a commentary on her autobiographies. This book is a very easy, straightforward yet worthwhile read. Here is my favourite quotation,
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.”
Rating: really liked it
2020 non fiction book 2 out 12 Letter To My Daughter is a short collection of essays by Maya Angelou. Dedicated to all her ‘daughters’ around the world, it combines personal anecdotes, motivational passages and general musings about the world.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author herself and that in itself was motivational. She is undoubtably a phenomenal woman, and hearing her read to me was like getting a
warm hug mixed with a pep talk. The book started off strong, but towards the end the message seemed to get lost and murky.
My main issue with this collection was that it seemed unorganised and a fair few essays felt irrelevant. The word
'essays' glorifies some of the 2-3 page ramblings of life lessons and advice being unsubtly shoved down your throat.
There were a few memorable essays, but overall I feel like there was not my much of worth.
This next problem might just be a me thing, but for a book claiming to be for her daughters
“Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native Americans and Aleut,” it seemed
quite American-centric. As someone who lives outside the US, I encounter this quite a bit but it doesn’t usually bother me. It makes sense, since Maya Angelou is American, that some stories would be patriotic, or aimed at her own people- but I think I was just
expecting it to be more universal. It really wasn’t that prevalent, just something that mildly irritated me, and I thought I should mention it. I might be overreacting and taking it too much to heart, but after a while it just felt as if I was being shut out of the story and the message wasn't
for me. Which completely goes against the message she intended to send, so I don't know.
(Just as an example:
“We must show ourselves as courteous and courageous well meaning Americans” It doesn't seem that difficult to me to extend that message worldwide, just swap it out for humans, or people etc.)
The stories that I liked-
I really liked, so I definitely have the potential to like some of her other works. I’ve never read anything by Maya Angelou before, but I’ve heard good things about
'I know why the caged bird sings'- so I might try that one next!
Rating: really liked it
4.5 Stars
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."
I listened to Maya Angelou, with her mesmerizing voice, read her inspiring and thought provoking words written for the daughters she never had throughout the world. This book is full of wisdom and deep insight, and you cannot help but to be moved by this woman's generous spirit.
I highly recommend listening to this book and I thought the essays were so powerful I will be purchasing a copy to own.
Rating: really liked it
Wisdom imparted, garnered from a lifetime of pain and joy, essays written to the daughters of the world, she had none of her own. Simply beautiful.
Rating: really liked it
Another Magnificent MayaOnce again I am blessed to read another book by this wonderful American hero. She gathers her important thoughts and concepts into a series of essays to a daughter she never had—amazing concept.
As usual her writing flows very nicely and welcomes the reader into the story. From this style the characters are easily believable.
This holiday season I have gifted myself with many Maya Angelou books. I am better for it and you will be to should you read them. My highest recommendation!!!
Rating: really liked it
Angelou's book, Letter to My Daughter caught my eye immediately as I was browsing the shelves at Barnes and Noble. I picked it up and settled in a comfy chair with my latte and my soon to be good friend Maya. I was ready for advice, wisdom, love and experiences from a woman who has lived many more lives than I could ever imagine. Not to mention one who puts it so eloquently.
It is a craving of 20somethings to be gently advised in life from those who have already gone through the same struggles. It is especially important to 20 something women reguardless of whether we admit it or not. It is the advice that doesn't tell us how to live but more or less how not to that is needed. I am not interested in passive people and have the utmost respect for passionate, strong women(ina non-feminist way=)...which of course has lead me to Maya Angelou's work.
Letter to My Daughter highlights experiences in Maya Angelou's life that have helped shape her. They range from topics such as ignorance, racism, education, love, faith, and upbringing. I was drawn in until I realized that a good portion of the chapters were taken from another work of hers , Won't Take Nothing for My Journey Now. Which I had just finished. It wouldnt surprise me if the remaining chapters were taken from other works of her's as well. Needless to say I was a little dissapointed. I wanted something new and fresh. More or less a book directed at women..( hense the title.) I can not hold it against Angelou of course I mean...shes Maya Angelou, perhaps I am just being selfish wanting more of her words when she has published so many pieces devoted to women
Rating: really liked it
I read this book for the Diversity in All Forms book club! If you would like to participate in the discussion here is the link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
"Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou’s path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: guidebook, memoir, poetry, and pure delight.
Here in short spellbinding essays are glimpses of the tumultuous life that led Angelou to an exalted place in American letters and taught her lessons in compassion and fortitude: how she was brought up by her indomitable grandmother in segregated Arkansas, taken in at thirteen by her more worldly and less religious mother, and grew to be an awkward, six-foot-tall teenager whose first experience of loveless sex paradoxically left her with her greatest gift, a son."
If you haven't read one of Maya Angelou's bios then don't! You don't need to. This book , I felt, was a summary and the best parts of all her other bios combined. I really enjoyed the read and how it really got to the "point" about about her life and her experiences. A lot of the information in the book I already knew because I've read so many of her autobiographies, but I still really enjoyed the read.
Rating: really liked it
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."
*Warnings for violence and abuse
I could feel the judgement in the writing towards the younger generation (like for piercings, our sense of style and fashion, appearance) while the whole book is trying to instill for acceptance of oneself and being supportive despite our choices and decisions.
Well, we aren't looking for approval from famous personalities and the learned (while I cannot say the same for them).
I find the discussion on rape/sexual assault too short, missing out on most relevant parts and as some kind of rant. I wish it focussed more on the law system, the likely victims and the consequences, the possible scenarios we must be careful about and not on why it shouldn't be socially acceptable. It isn't.
I am hugely disappointed with the book.
I felt annoyed at most parts of the book while reading it starting from the very beginning.
It's just that I do not want to indulge myself in a rant review or be too critical about someone's points of view and their lives when I do not know them, the circumstances they were in.
But I just couldn't agree with most parts of the book. It's limiting. It's not motivational for me. I was more irritated than feel the messages.
Most parts felt too incomplete. I just couldn't gain anything out of the book.
Rating: really liked it
Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.
There is a lot of wisdom in this little book. Maya Angelou gives us live lessons of her own to help guide us and make us understand why life is sometimes cruel.
She also added some beautiful poetry that gives this book a little extra something special.
I've never read any of her work before, but after this I'm definitely adding I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to my TBR pile.
Rating: really liked it
"When I find myself filling with rage over the loss of a beloved, I try as soon as possible to remember that my concerns and questions should be focused on what I learned or what I have yet to learn from my departed love. What legacy was left which can help me in the art of living a good life?
Did I learn to be kinder,
To be more patient,
And more generous,
More loving,
More ready to laugh,
And more easy to accept honest tears?
If I accept those legacies of my departed beloveds, I am able to say, Thank You to them for their love and
Thank You to God for their lives."
Rating: really liked it
“I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native Americans and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”Reading it felt like I was sitting in our front yard with my grandma, while she talked about the experiences that shaped her as a person and the lessons she learned along the way. 🖤
Some of my favorite quotes:
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." "Of all your attributes, youth,
Beauty, wit, kindness, mercy,
Courage is your greatest
Achievement."
"Since life is our most precious gift
And since it is given to us to live but once,
Let us so live that we will not regret
Years of uselessness and inertia."
Rating: really liked it
My rating of this is based on the content, voice, and my teary-eyed reading experience. Within a few hours, I was done reading this book and I felt as if Maya Angelou was sitting next to me, telling me her story, and giving me advice. She discloses a few things about her young adult (and adult) life, things relatable to most women. Admittedly, I did feel like her daughter when I read this (yes, I'm that sentimental).
