I received this book from the publisher through netgalley.com I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really liked this book. I wish Chris had narrated the audio book but the narrator was engaging and really good. Chris came from a very creative family. His mother was always painting murals, walls, furniture with colorful picture. They didn't always have much but they were happy.

After his mother's mental illness worsened he and his brothers went to live with their dad. Wild and used to being out running around the woods being in a city brought with it drugs, mischief and chaos.

After having his daughter Chris took stock of his life and realized that coming to terms with his past and staying true to himself led him to fulfill his dreams. You can find his work at @underyourthumbtattoos

I was very engaged by this book and while Chris's story is filled with ups and downs its a lesson on endurance, survival, and finding your passion.

I've got a huge respect for tattoo artists as my daughter is one. Breaking into the field is not always easy and finding your voice in your art is a process. You have to be determined and grow a thick skin to deal with the public and their ideas on what they want and where they want it.

Excellent book. Well-written and well-narrated. I’m not one for autobiographies as I find most to be some combination of the following: an attempt at establishing (usually salvaging) a public image, arrogant bragging of accomplishments and strife endured, or sanctimonious preaching of a unrealistic lifestyle. Chris MacDonald’s The Things I Came Here With was everything but that. It was what all autobiographies should be: the game, the cards played, and the payoff (or lack there of.)
I walked away with a better insight into the turn-of-the-century Canadian punk-rock scene, a deeper appreciation for tattoos and tattoo artists, and the knowledge that life is what you make of it despite the circumstances. This book felt less like a book and more like the intimate conversations that form friendships.
4.5 stars but I have to round down for a few reasons:
This book was great but not great enough to read it again. 5 star books you want to read/hear again and again and each time you learn something new and profound.
I would have liked for more to be shared of Chris’s mom’s illness and the search for her. Maybe that was too private but reader’s appreciate the impact that lifting the veil of privacy provides..

I’m grateful to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing the audio version.

““Does it hurt?” When you’re a tattoo artist, that’s the most universal question. For Chris MacDonald, the answer is simple: hurts less than a broken heart. Those words are painted above the entrance to his shop, Under My Thumb Tattoos, as a reminder.”

This books was an impulse read. Memoir? Canadian artist? Tattooist?

Sure. Why not?

Zero percent sorry I followed that squirrel.

Once you get beyond the clunky title (I know, I know, Stephen Fry would be ashamed of me) the book provides one beautifully crafted story after another.

Did I find them all riveting and necessary?

Not really. Other than to paint a sad-childhood picture, nothing much happened.

It doesn’t even really matter, though.

MacDonald has enough talent – both with skin and with words – that you don’t much care if there’s a cohesive thread between stories. You’re just interested in the next metaphor. The next simile.

Seriously, I’d line up to read any urban fantasy this guy cares to write.

Bonus points for the Point Break reference.

7.5/10

Thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for this ARC.

The Things I Came Here With by Chris MacDonald and narrated by: Max Lloyd-Jones is a Memoir and what a wonderful audio book this was. I loved it. The narrator's voice was perfect for this audiobook and had you gripped from the beginning till the end. This is a book about Chris MacDonald's memoir, it examines what tattooing means to them all, and traces the connection of his artistic motives have to both his family and childhood.

The Things I Came Here With is about how crucial our past is to understanding our future. It is also a beautifully written love letter to his daughter about the importance of expression, life’s uncertainty, and beauty. and how art saved his life through his love of Ink in becoming a Tattooist.

This isn't a book I would of read or listened to but the cover just drew me in.

I highly recommend this book it was beautifully written and was just a wonderful audiobook/book.