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A review by spaceonthebookcase
Growing Up Biden by Valerie Biden Owens
5.0
I was able to listen to an eARC Audiobook version of Growing Up Biden, by author Valerie Biden Owens, thanks to @netgalley. She also narrated the audiobook and I felt it gave authenticity to her stories. This isn’t an actor playing various parts within a story, these stories are about her life and experiences and the inflections and emotions in her voice were as real as if the events were happening that day. Whether I was listening to the book while driving my kids to and from school, cooking dinner or laying down to sleep, I felt drawn in by Valerie’s voice and her stories. It honestly made me feel like I was transported back to the days where I’d sit with my grandmother as she’d tell me stories about her life. Listening to Growing Up Biden was like warm chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven or wrapping up in a blanket fresh from the dryer; it felt comforting and nostalgic.
Our current President, Joe Biden and his siblings are not from my generation. In fact I looked up what generation he was classified under during the election cycle and was surprised to learn that he was not an elder Baby Boomer but instead a younger member of the Silent Generation. Valerie, only a few years younger than her brother Joe, is also a member of that generation. So listening to her stories that quite literally start at the beginning of her life and travel to the present; with more emphasis on the past, was like a history lesson for me. Not just about the Biden family, whom I only knew cursey information about, but also about a time in history that I’ve only ever heard about but never experienced.
I think it is very easy to hear the name Biden and immediately think of Joe, but Growing Up Biden helped teach me about other members of the family who are just as formidable, just as strong, just as smart as the one we elected to run our country.
Valerie was her own trailblazer as a campaign manager for her brother in a time where women were relegated to secretarial positions and answering phones. Her no nonsense approach to politics and being able to firmly stand her ground are why we, as Americans, know his name. My daughters would often pipe up with questions about why people would make the comments they did to Valerie or challenge her authority. Being raised as “no means no” tween/teens girls in the year 2022, this concept is foreign to them. This lesson in the trials women face has no boundary of age. The discussions that came from listening to this book, I think, would have made Valerie proud.
Obviously politics plays a role in this book, but I appreciated that Valerie didn’t go far into the Trump era Presidency. This book is about the Biden childhood, the Biden parents, the siblings and their relationships, their experiences as they aged and into the present with Joe’s victory. Are there some Republican/Trump comments, yes, but it shouldn’t distract from the whole piece regardless of what side of the aisle you sit.
A huge thank you to @netgalley, author @valeriebidenowens and @macmillian.audio for an advanced audiobook copy of Growing Up Biden in exchange for an honest review.
Our current President, Joe Biden and his siblings are not from my generation. In fact I looked up what generation he was classified under during the election cycle and was surprised to learn that he was not an elder Baby Boomer but instead a younger member of the Silent Generation. Valerie, only a few years younger than her brother Joe, is also a member of that generation. So listening to her stories that quite literally start at the beginning of her life and travel to the present; with more emphasis on the past, was like a history lesson for me. Not just about the Biden family, whom I only knew cursey information about, but also about a time in history that I’ve only ever heard about but never experienced.
I think it is very easy to hear the name Biden and immediately think of Joe, but Growing Up Biden helped teach me about other members of the family who are just as formidable, just as strong, just as smart as the one we elected to run our country.
Valerie was her own trailblazer as a campaign manager for her brother in a time where women were relegated to secretarial positions and answering phones. Her no nonsense approach to politics and being able to firmly stand her ground are why we, as Americans, know his name. My daughters would often pipe up with questions about why people would make the comments they did to Valerie or challenge her authority. Being raised as “no means no” tween/teens girls in the year 2022, this concept is foreign to them. This lesson in the trials women face has no boundary of age. The discussions that came from listening to this book, I think, would have made Valerie proud.
Obviously politics plays a role in this book, but I appreciated that Valerie didn’t go far into the Trump era Presidency. This book is about the Biden childhood, the Biden parents, the siblings and their relationships, their experiences as they aged and into the present with Joe’s victory. Are there some Republican/Trump comments, yes, but it shouldn’t distract from the whole piece regardless of what side of the aisle you sit.
A huge thank you to @netgalley, author @valeriebidenowens and @macmillian.audio for an advanced audiobook copy of Growing Up Biden in exchange for an honest review.