Book discussion thread.

[Donna Sue]

I have the impression that in CDTD things have been sweetened. But the idea of Nedra as the hero no, I think that was real at the time.
I also have the impression she is even worse than she appears in NB...

I think Jewel had to be a bit careful what she wrote about Nedra in NB. A woman like that likely wouldn't think twice about suing her own daughter. 

[Lily]

Yeah, Jewel had to leave some parts out, it was discussed somewhere on the board.
I wonder what we'd think of Nedra if she didn't... 

[Ashley]

This book blew my mind and I need to read it 100 more times. Too busy with school to fullllllly indulge...... Can't wait for Christmas break! Soon!!

Ps- Nedra is bat shit crazy.

[Nobody]

This book blew my mind and I need to read it 100 more times. Too busy with school to fullllllly indulge...... Can't wait for Christmas break! Soon!!

Ps- Nedra is bat shit crazy.

It was extremely well written.  Excited for the new website.  I think, Nedra and Jacque need to be viewed seperately.

[Simon]

Am on disc eight (of nine) now, so nearly there - had a long binge this past weekend. Have to say, I'm surprised the craziness with her mom continued for so long into her career. I've never really known too much about it, but figured it all happened relatively early on. But the only times I've ever seen Jewel live were in 2002 and 2003, so it feels really weird to know it was all going on at that time.

As an avid Jackson Browne fan, I was really excited to hear her brief story about their time during Wizard of Oz. I think I once tweeted Jewel asking if she had fun working with him, but she didn't reply (which I wasn't really expecting) - and I've never heard her talk about him at all - so it was cool knowing that they got on and hung out at the hotel one night. Not really a hugely significant part of the book, but surreal knowing that two of my all-time faves crossed paths. And that he wasn't one of the many letchy guys discussed throughout her journey!

[jewelwiki]

Looks like the website is partially launched (unless I missed it earlier?)

https://www.jewelneverbroken.com/

[Simon]

I skimmed the self-help stuff, too, so we're bad fans together.  I imagine we'll get plenty of it when the jewelneverbroken.com site gets launched.

Whew, am glad it wasn't just me. I finally finished the audiobook a couple of days ago (hence catching up with this thread), and have to admit that, towards the end, I kinda tuned out when I sensed a 'self help' portion coming...

It was pretty full-on having to concentrate so hard and making sure I took everything in - especially at Jewel's frenetic reading pace - so when it was in the self help area, I gave myself a breather and didn't try too hard to take it all in. I mean, I did for the first half of the book, but I found it a little too much by the end.

[Jessica]

I'm not into self-help guru stuff.  I have one self-help book I like - Don't Sweat The Small Stuff - and all others are poo.

Well, actually, How To Win Friends and Influence people is p useful.  I like to go through that one real quick before business trips.

[Simon]

Take from the poll thread:

The latest chapter I listened to today was describing how the guy at the job wouldn't pay her because she'd turned him down the day before, and he then ignored her the next day. I was fully expecting that Nedra was going to march her back down there and demand she gets the money she rightfully earned, so was quite astounded (and frustrated) when she simply suggest they just live in their cars. Sheesh.

You know, this is one part I found curious. In Chasing Down the Dawn she mentions how Nedra was furious and demanded the money from Jewel's boss, but in Never Broken it's completely glossed over to make it seem as though Nedra simply suggested to move into their cars together without a second thought about the money. So what's the truth? Both, I guess? I don't know. It's just kinda odd how the same story is written in different ways. Well, not really odd as just jarring. I was expecting at least a passing comment about how Nedra went to confront her boss, but nothing.

Hey, thanks for the post on this, and sorry for my delayed reply (I'm clearly a slow listener!) 

I never got hold of a copy of CDTD, so it's interesting to hear that the story did play out somewhat less frustratingly - does make me wonder if other stories have been tweaked to make Lenedra look bad though? (Not that they'd have to be, mind you).

Is it worth reading CDTD now I've read the full autobio you think?

[Simon]

I'm not into self-help guru stuff.  I have one self-help book I like - Don't Sweat The Small Stuff - and all others are poo.

Well, actually, How To Win Friends and Influence people is p useful.  I like to go through that one real quick before business trips.

I'm a tad partial to a bit of self-help from time to time, and a lot of what Jewel says does make sense and has helped me a lot over the years - but by the end of the book, I thought there was just too much of it, and it began to wash over me.

It also felt a little forced or even 'preachy' at times, as if the book had a hidden agenda. At the start of the book, there'd be a whole long story with a brief moral at the end; but in the later stages, it had swapped around, with a brief story followed by entire chapters of advice.

[Jessica]

Is it worth reading CDTD now I've read the full autobio you think?

I thought it was p amusing reading the narrative change so dramatically.  It's not that the details of the stories change so much as the tone.  In one, Nedra's a knight in shining armor and in the other, she's a villain, so that's fairly compelling, but it's p redundant reading (skimming, lol) both if you're in it for the cold hard facts.

[Simon]

Is it worth reading CDTD now I've read the full autobio you think?

I thought it was p amusing reading the narrative change so dramatically.  It's not that the details of the stories change so much as the tone.  In one, Nedra's a knight in shining armor and in the other, she's a villain, so that's fairly compelling, but it's p redundant reading (skimming, lol) both if you're in it for the cold hard facts.

Cool, thanks. Thought that it may be a good source for more detailed accounts of stories from earlier in her career, but it sounds so different from NB that I'd probably end up getting quite confused (with my mind just merging both books into one messy grand narrative!)

 

[Nobody]

Is it worth reading CDTD now I've read the full autobio you think?

I thought it was p amusing reading the narrative change so dramatically.  It's not that the details of the stories change so much as the tone.  In one, Nedra's a knight in shining armor and in the other, she's a villain, so that's fairly compelling, but it's p redundant reading (skimming, lol) both if you're in it for the cold hard facts.

Cool, thanks. Thought that it may be a good source for more detailed accounts of stories from earlier in her career, but it sounds so different from NB that I'd probably end up getting quite confused (with my mind just merging both books into one messy grand narrative!)

 

It's pretty impossible to confuse the two.  CDTD, is an hour's read - at most.

I think I'm the only one that didn't mind the end of NB.  The self-help stuff, is built off a lot of spiritual practices and I do get into the new-age, fruit cakey stuff.  So, I guess I saw it as tame compared to a lot of other stuff out there on the market.  It sure is interesting to hear how the general public feels about it, though.

I think I personally (and this opinion) get sad about it because the world is so busy fighting over religion and spirituality is so different.   Probably just little pagan me.

[Simon]

Is it worth reading CDTD now I've read the full autobio you think?

I thought it was p amusing reading the narrative change so dramatically.  It's not that the details of the stories change so much as the tone.  In one, Nedra's a knight in shining armor and in the other, she's a villain, so that's fairly compelling, but it's p redundant reading (skimming, lol) both if you're in it for the cold hard facts.

Cool, thanks. Thought that it may be a good source for more detailed accounts of stories from earlier in her career, but it sounds so different from NB that I'd probably end up getting quite confused (with my mind just merging both books into one messy grand narrative!)

 

It's pretty impossible to confuse the two.  CDTD, is an hour's read - at most.

I think I'm the only one that didn't mind the end of NB.  The self-help stuff, is built off a lot of spiritual practices and I do get into the new-age, fruit cakey stuff.  So, I guess I saw it as tame compared to a lot of other stuff out there on the market.  It sure is interesting to hear how the general public feels about it, though.

I think I personally (and this opinion) get sad about it because the world is so busy fighting over religion and spirituality is so different.   Probably just little pagan me.

Hey! I'd never claim to be as new-agey as yourself (have enjoyed reading through your posts in this thread about it), but I generally welcome spiritual practices and philosophical thinking, and have even bought some books on these subjects in the past.

I think NB just caught me a little off-guard though. I'm generally receptive to that kind of thinking, but maybe because I wasn't expecting it to such an extent, it felt slightly out of place - or that it simply wasn't what I was hoping to get out of this book. In a different environment, I may really like the exact same material, but I think I really just wanted the cold hard facts here. And it felt like I was a captive audience to the other stuff.

Hate to make too big a deal of it though, because I did really love the book and this is only a minor gripe. Was just reassured that there were a few others who felt the same.

[Nobody]

I wasn't being accusatory.  I'm sorry if I came across that way.  I wasn't saying that anyone who didn't like the end of the book wasn't spiritual.  I think everyone has their own path and I have no issue with whatever works as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.  Me, yeah I'm lucky my feet hit the ground some days.  But it doesn't make me any more spiritual than anyone else.  My point was, I'm finding it interesting how people are reacting to the end of the book.  That's all. 

[Simon]

I wasn't being accusatory.  I'm sorry if I came across that way.  I wasn't saying that anyone who didn't like the end of the book wasn't spiritual.  I think everyone has their own path and I have no issue with whatever works as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.  Me, yeah I'm lucky my feet hit the ground some days.  But it doesn't make me any more spiritual than anyone else.  My point was, I'm finding it interesting how people are reacting to the end of the book.  That's all.

No, not at all - sorry if my response made it seem like you were being accusatory (I wasn't implying so). We're definitely on the same page, I probably just did a poor job of communicating. Everyone goes home happy! 

[Nobody]

I wasn't being accusatory.  I'm sorry if I came across that way.  I wasn't saying that anyone who didn't like the end of the book wasn't spiritual.  I think everyone has their own path and I have no issue with whatever works as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.  Me, yeah I'm lucky my feet hit the ground some days.  But it doesn't make me any more spiritual than anyone else.  My point was, I'm finding it interesting how people are reacting to the end of the book.  That's all.

No, not at all - sorry if my response made it seem like you were being accusatory (I wasn't implying so). We're definitely on the same page, I probably just did a poor job of communicating. Everyone goes home happy! 

 

I switched to decaf.  I need to go back to high octane.  It's impairing brain function.  I am interested to see how some of the topics go down on the NB board.  Sometimes, it's just not able to be related to unless you know where the philosophies come from and even then...

[Simon]

I am interested to see how some of the topics go down on the NB board.

Yep, should make for an interesting read, for sure. Not entirely sure what to expect, but will be keeping a close eye on it. I'm with you on the coffee too! Made the mistake of ditching caffeine myself for a week recently, and was surprisingly lethargic (even by my standards). Tolerance seemed to revert though, so was pretty buzzed when I cracked on again!

[Nobody]

I am interested to see how some of the topics go down on the NB board.

Yep, should make for an interesting read, for sure. Not entirely sure what to expect, but will be keeping a close eye on it. I'm with you on the coffee too! Made the mistake of ditching caffeine myself for a week recently, and was surprisingly lethargic (even by my standards). Tolerance seemed to revert though, so was pretty buzzed when I cracked on again!

I had a weird allergic reaction and stopped everything when my entire face blew up.  After a week, I started back on decaf but it really does mess with your brain if you're used to high octane.  I mean, I was screwin up the dog meds and food because I'm not a morning person and couldn't wake up enough.  I'm doing 50/50, but clearly that needs to change.  So much for being a clear vessel!   

[Donna Sue]

I'm not into self-help guru stuff.

I'm not really into this stuff either. I'm sure its very beneficial to some, its just a road I've never gone down. Wouldn't be against it if I thought it would help, however. I would def check out Jewel's take on it if I felt a need to.

The minute someone tells me I could turn off a light bulb with my brain, however....I'm outta there.....