This was so fun to listen to! I love it when authors narrate their own books and even more when poets write memoirs. Lynn Melnick is a talent, someone I admire a great deal, and having grown up in Chattanooga, Dolly Parton was never far away from our community’s imagination. Glad to have gotten a chance to listen to these essays!

A beautiful and unique take on trauma and healing,

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARV in exchange for an honest review.

Melnick uses the framework of Dolly Parton's songs to weave together her memoir. Throughout, she focuses on how Parton's music seems to connect for so many people. Dolly Parton's lyrics hold a through line of overcoming adversity and being true to one's self - something Melnick connects to some of the more difficult times she has had to work through in her life. She also explores what it is about Dolly that makes her a beloved figure to so many. I think anyone who enjoys Dolly Parton as an artist would find this a worthy read that helps them to reflect on both Dolly's music and her stories.

I have mixed feelings about I've Had to Think Up a Way to Survive. It was not what I expected and found it to be just okay. Three stars.

I didn’t think I could love Dolly Parton more, but hearing Lynn Melnick’s detailed analysis of Dolly’s life and works in relation to her own made me a more thoughtful fan of both women. Highly recommended in audio read by the author. You may want to stream Dolly’s bluegrass albums before you start.

An interesting and deep at times dark memoir of survival, courage and the desire to become the best version of herself. The author shares her trauma, sexual assault, addiction, acceptance, getting healthy physically, emotionally and mentally, moving forward, strength and so much more all couched in her love of Dolly Parton. A difficult but important read.

As an avid Dolly Parton fan myself, this book resonated with me. Melnick weaves Dolly Parton’s history with her own trauma to present a moving memoir. I’ve read many memoirs on trauma, abuse, and mental health but this one stuck with me. Chapters are organized around various Dolly Parton songs that include album and track information. Songs included are chart toppers like Jolene but also sleeper hits like Just Because I’m a Woman. I especially appreciated the anecdotes Melnick included about her visit to Dollywood. I haven’t read Melnick’s previous works but I am going to search them out because it is clear she is a master at writing. This is a recommended purchase for public libraries with strong memoir collections. I appreciated the audiobook because it is read by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for the complimentary digital audiobook. All thoughts and opinions shared are my own. This book is available on August 1, 2023.

I've Had to Think Up a Way to Survive is a beautiful nonfiction and memoir blend about Dolly Parton and the author. At first glance Lynn Melnick seems an unlikely Dolly fan, but is that even possible? Don't most people love Dolly? And this book looks at why we love her without being overgenerous. Melnick is honest about Dolly's flaws and what makes her exceptional.

Told in chapters titled after Dolly's songs, Melnick begins each section with information about that song and its background and then moves into how the lyrics or context relate to her own life. Melnick began her fight with addiction as a teenager and she shares candidly what that was like and how it has impacted her as an adult.

I really loved this book and I can't help but also recommend She Come by it Natural by Sarah Smarsh which is a similar nonfiction mashup about the great Dolly Parton. Read by the author and naturally lending itself to a new playlist for you, this audiobook is not to be missed.

This narrative reads like a dear friend talking to you. A tragically beautiful story of strength amidst some of the deepest struggles. I highly recommend!

Ms. Melnick does a beautiful job of weaving together her journey working through her life trauma and Dolly's best songs. It was heart breaking and inspiring. I liked Dolly before but now I have a new respect for her and what she's been through.

Melnick did a great job of narrating and was a pleasure to listen to.

Yikes, what a weird book.

I was lured in by the mention of Dolly, but instead what I got was kind of a weird and ultra depressing super fan who talks a bit about Dolly, and then mentions a song and waxes on and on about how she felt about it and tries to make it relate to her own life. I understand wholeheartedly that we all relate to music, but oof. This felt very unsettling and weird to me.

I did enjoy that it wasn't just blind adoration for the legendary music star, but the whole thing was really drug down by weird and vague mentions of things she "doesn't want to talk about" but then beats to death the rest of the book.

This one is a hard pass for me.

I enjoyed this audiobook. I think it could probably be triggering for some, but Lynn Melnick's candor and honesty is captivating. I also learned a lot about Dolly Parton from this audiobook, so that was fun. Thank you to NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for this ALC.

this unfortunately just didn't work. it was mostly a dolly parton biography, which is fine, but it was false advertising. it doesn't seem like the author did much digging to deal with her traumas, because she talks about them in such a removed way and doesn't let us into them at all, or how dolly even relates to her story. it's fine if you don't want to excavate your demons for the public, but then simply, don't write a memoir about them.

Melnick endured rape at an early and later on sexual abuse as a babysitter. She became a drug addict and at 14, at a drug rehab clinic hears Dolly Parton's song and begins relating to the dichotomy that is Dolly's life. A feminist yet, a sex symbol.
Melnick relates Dolly's songs to parts of her life. This book is a self-actualization of the poet and woman she has become and a guide to anyone needing help with healing their traumatic wounds. This is a book about resilience and strength in adversity. Melnick brings to light, Religious duality and the norms of jewish culture clashing with what's hidden beneath the surface,
A great book for anyone wanting to learn how to come to terms with their demons and forge a life with meaning and strength.

Thanks OrangeSky Audio for giving me this chance to listen to this audiobook before it was released to the masses. I really enjoyed learning about Dolly Parton and how the author Lynn Melnick survived her trauma.

This provides good commentary on Dolly Parton & Lynn’s life through trauma and strength. It told stories of Dolly's life that I didn't realise and show the incredible strength of both women.

This book was too crass for me. At about an hour in I abandoned it. The blurb really pulled me in, but as I began the audiobook I realized the storytelling style wasn’t for me.

I’VE HAD TO THINK UP A WAY TO SURVIVE.
By Lynn Melnick

This is a story about how the author, Lynn Melnick, survived life up until now and how Dolly Parton and her songs have helped her through life. I love how the author has a Dolly song for every chapter and along with her own struggles through life she shares some of Dolly’s life struggles as well. Being a Dolly fan, but really who is not, I really enjoyed listening to Lynn’s rendition and comparison to Dolly’s life and how Dolly’s life enriched her and gave Lynn the strength at times when she needed it.

Lynn narrators her own story fabulously which brings a little something extra to her story.
Listening to Lynn’s story and the comparisons she makes to Dolly’s work, you learn a lot about Dolly which to me was amazing being a longtime fan.

I want to thank NetGalley and Speigel and Grau by OrangeSky Audio for the advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

4/5

This was a beautifully written memoir. It is unlike anything I have read before, so I have nothing to compare it to. The author tells her own stories intermixed with stories about Dolly Parton. It’s clear she has such an appreciation for Dolly and Dolly’s music. She explores the ways Dolly’s music and life have influenced her. Despite her love for Dolly, she is honest about and explores times and scenarios when Dolly has disappointed her. Parts of this book were extremely heavy and had sensitive subject matter, but it was written with such reverence and beauty to drive home the importance.

Raw, intense and beautiful. I loved this book and Dolly. I enjoyed getting to see what some of Dolly’s songs meant to the author, her story and more about Dolly!