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Starving: A Memoir by [Christen Bensten]

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Christen Bensten

Starving: A Memoir Kindle Edition

by Christen Bensten (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.7 51 ratings

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“This author has SO much courage!” – Adriana Jaymesauthor of Running From Bears

“Fantastic read with a powerful and triumphant ending.” – Reader Review

The Washington Post called her "A DIY furniture maven" when she built her small, women-owned business. However, the world was much bleaker as a young girl growing up emotionally and physically starving.

Like Tara Westover in her memoir, Educated, Christen was also caught in the confines of her upbringing. She grew up under the rule of an emotionally absent and critical mother, attended a cult-like evangelical church that practiced exorcisms and went to a school that publicly punished kids with paddling, duct-taping their mouths closed and tying children to their desks with rope.

Starving is a memoir by Blue Egg Brown Nest founder, Christen Bensten. You may know some of Christen's story through her popular blog, Blue Egg Brown Nest, but you don't know all of it.

Christen shares her painful story of growing up in a constant state of fear, managing her anxiety and depression on her own. As a fearful and quiet child, Christen did not have the tools to fight back against the people that tried to keep her small and she spent many years locked in her bedroom trying to manage her debilitating depression on her own. Her anxiety turned into daily purging at age ten and kept her from expanding into the world. It wasn’t until the birth of her first child that she was able mount the courage she needed to set up healthy boundaries, heal from the past and move into her bright future.

She has been published in The Washington Post , Cottage Living Magazine , Arlington Magazine, Romantic Homes Magazine , freshstyle Magazine and several other publications including the book Southern Style. She has shared her YouTube Tutorials to millions of people on her Blue Egg Brown Nest Channel.

Christen is a mom of three, a writer, painter, avid reader and Jesus-lover. She also fosters loads of homeless kitties.

Her audience is anyone seeking to move away from the prison of the past and toward mental and physical well-being.

Follow and subscribe at christenbensten.com

For her design site, follow and subscribe at blueeggbrownnest.com

Print length

291 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

April 7, 2021
File size

2811 KB
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Christen Bensten
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09235RXKW
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 7, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2811 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 291 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,127,979 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #6,411 in Motivational Self-Help (Kindle Store)
- #14,418 in Memoirs (Kindle Store)
- #26,020 in Motivational Self-Help (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.7 51 ratings

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Christen Bensten

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Christen Bensten is the author of Starving, a memoir about her childhood trauma and cult-like, religious education.

She is the founder of Blue Egg Brown Nest Interiors & Design, a popular design blog and interior design business. She has been featured in Southern Style (Hoffman Media) as well as The Washington Post, Cottage Living Magazine, Romantic Homes Magazine, Southern Living Magazine, Freshstyle Magazine, Vintage Living Magazine, Daily Candy, This Old House, and Arlington Magazine.

Christen lives just outside of Washington, D.C. with her husband, three kids, five cats and loads of foster kitties looking for good homes.

Crazy On You is the first book in her Huntwood Valley Murder Series. Fawn and the Giants, a literary novel, is set to launch 2023. Subscribe to Christen Bensten’s newsletter at christenbensten.com.

Follow and subscribe at christenbensten.com

For her design site, follow and subscribe at Blueeggbrownnest.com

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

51 global ratings

5 star		85%
4 star		7%
3 star		3%
2 star		5%
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Golden Retriever Girl

Fighting to keep going is a VERY BRAVE thing to do - and Christen does so beautifully!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 14, 2021

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I've "known" Christen for nearly 10 years. I've known her by her amazing smile and love for life and family through her Blue Egg Brown Nest blog but also through our emails throughout the years. I consider her a friend and jumped at the chance to buy her book. I'm so glad I did! Christen is amazing. She is small but fireworks come in small packages and she writes an explosive memoir about growing up in fear. Someone had a protective hand on her and she did what all fighters do... she kept going - day by day, often hour by hour or minute by minute... even second by second. It's a choice to keep going and sometimes it is the hardest choice we make.

Christen pours her heart beautifully out onto the page. Her dreams of becoming a writer are fulfilled daily with her blog and now her memoir. I have to admit I had tears streaming down my face through 90% of the book. She pulls the reality of life out of anyone - regardless of what they have or have not experienced in life. ANYONE can read this book and understand fear because we all have experienced fear at one time or another. Thankfully, for Christen she is working through it and lives a beautiful life with her children and husband. I just want to tuck her in at night as her friend and say, "You're beautiful, sweetie. You're amazing and loved... and seen." Well done, Christen. Well done! - Jill Joe / Daffodils Galleria

Helpful

Adrienne Volpe

The Truth Resonates Deeply in Raw Story of Pain , Love and Triumph.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 16, 2021

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This author has SO much courage! her story is so much like my own, the pain was acute for me. Having just wrote my own memoir, I did not display all of the dirt about my mother, in an attempt to be kind, a kindness she really does not deserve.
Having been a victim of religious abuse, it took me years to deprogram and develop my own spiritual understanding after being raised as a Jehovah's Witness with a fanatical, emotionally unavailable mother and alcoholic father.
I thought I was the only one with a story like this until I read Starving. I wonder how may of us live with cruel and unloving parents because we showed up unplanned, in my case, or as the "wrong" sex or something we are that she or they didn't want.
Unlike myself, the author was fortunate to find a loving and understanding partner. This is where my story went awry.
Christen, if you read this, I'd love to send you a copy of my own memoir, Running From Bears, A new Yorker's Wild Awakening in Alaska. We have a lot in common! My pen name is Adriana Jaymes.
You are so so so so courageous! My heart is with you and my hope is that you have the very best life!!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jason Cosmos

Interesting, Confronting, and Worth the Journey

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 22, 2021

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I was attracted by the title 'Starving'. I thought is was going to be about somebody starving for love. However, the book is about so much more. It's about physically starving for food, starving for emotional nourishment, starving for acknowledgement, starving for psychological support. Christen really puts it out there warts and all about the horrible things she endured from her family during her childhood and how she navigated a neglected life. The book goes down some very dark rabbit holes, however, through it all there are little morsels, lighthearted moments and love that enabled her to endure. Christen stood at the edge of disaster many times but managed to survive. It's truly amazing that she did and we have the privilege to experience her journey to find nourishment for her body, mind, heart and, soul. Do yourself a favor, read this book, walk a mile in Christen's shoes and see if you would have made it to adulthood. I highly recommend 'Starving', well worth the read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 29, 2021

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I have followed Christen for years, so charmed by her talent and oh that house! This book was a great reminder that we all have a story. I would never have guessed her life had been anything but perfect, which is ridiculous since there is no perfect life. What hit home to me the most was her telling of a bad and not-talked-about much damage from super religious, charismatic people or churches. Wonderful to read such a pure book. Wonderful to hear her healing journey. I highly recommend this book!

Helpful

Susan C.

Nothing Short of Triumphant

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 22, 2021

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Christen Bensten’s memoir lays bare the incredible obstacles and barriers to a healthy and happy childhood and adolescence, but she triumphs as an adult, thanks to her strong will, a loving husband, therapy, and friends.

I found myself choking up frequently when I read of her anguish … much of which resulted from being raised in an unloving childhood home.

Love helped her find happiness … and that’s a lesson worth learning and re-learning.

I’ve met Christen, and consider myself privileged to have some of her painted furniture in my home.

I always admired her and envied her many talents, skills, and ready smile. After reading her book, I admire her all the more.

What a triumph, what a woman!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Patricia Fuller

Good Read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

When I saw the ad for this book I didn’t know the author wrote a furniture blog. I bought the kindle version because it talked about an emotionally absent mother and the author having depression. I could relate to that. The book held my interest to the end. Maybe it was the emotional aspect that drew me; the story itself wasn’t exceptional. I understood when she talked about having a mother shaped hole in your soul that never gets filled.
On a practical level, the book needed better proofreading. There were several grammar/word mistakes. For example, confident was used when it should have been confidante.
On the whole I think this story will appeal mostly to those people who had/have an emotionally distant parent.

2 people found this helpful

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G-Reader

Fantastic Memoir

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

I was drawn to this book because the author is a similar age to me and also grew up in the same area that I did. I am an avid reader of memoirs and always think the best books in this genre are the ones where the author does not hold back. And Christen does not hold back! I was riveted reading the details of her childhood, including both her strained relationship with her mother and her skepticism with the church she attended. Christen excels at bringing the reader into her world at various stages of her life and detailing her raw emotions and struggles. She is a beautiful writer! Fantastic read with a powerful and triumphant ending.

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