Category: memoir
Review: In the Shadow of Statues by Mitch Landrieu
I saw Mitch Landrieu on the Daily Show a few months ago and immediately put this book on my TBR list. It’s a fascinating look at race and the history of the American South, from slavery to Civil War to Civil Rights. As the…
Review: Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi
I expected a book about Padma Lakshmi to be fascinating, and it was. She’s interesting to me for a few reasons. She hosts one of my favorite series, Top Chef, a show that somehow avoids the dumb theatrics and contrived plots of most reality…
Review of Miss Ex-Yugoslavia by Sofija Stefanovic
This book wasn’t what I expected but I appreciated Stefanovic’s unique perspective. I especially liked that this book gave me a much better understanding of what happened in Serbia in the 1990’s, with a focus more on the politics of Slobodan Milosevic’s reign. I’ve…
Review of My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
I read this for a book club meeting; it’s not my usual type of read, but I love Greece, and reading a memoir about life on a Greek island definitely appealed to me, especially in the dead of winter. Gerald Durrell was a British…
Nonfiction November: My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
For anyone who is thinking about becoming a lawyer, or trying to make the most of their legal career, I highly recommend Sotomayor’s memoir. I also recommend it to anyone who simply wants to be inspired by this smart, caring, and dedicated woman. I…
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
I liked this book a lot more than I expected to, and I find myself referring to it often. It’s well-written and Vance tells his story in an engaging and meaningful way. More importantly, he humanizes the people living in the Appalachian area while…
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero
With the current news about deportations and ICE arrests, it felt important to me to read a book from the perspective of someone who has experienced it firsthand. Guerrero is not an immigrant herself, but her parents and older brother were born in Columbia. …
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah’s memoir of his childhood in South Africa is compelling reading for anyone who wants to know more about South Africa and apartheid. At times humorous, and at times devastating, Noah brings his unique voice to this story. He writes like he speaks,…
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
I was really saddened by Carrie Fisher’s death last month. It was so sudden, and she was only 60. And we had just seen her in Rogue One and Star Wars: A New Hope. I was especially sad for my husband, who grew up…
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer
I expected Amy Schumer to be clever and funny. I like her in-your-face style of humor and I like that she wants women to talk about sex. Let’s face it: we can be drunk, stupid screw-ups just as much as men. I can identify with…
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
This is Kaling’s second book, after Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And while I enjoyed the first one, this is a much better book. Kaling gives you a very good sense in this book of who she is as a person. The first…
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson
I loved everything about this book. You’ve probably heard of Jenny Lawson by now, but if you haven’t, she writes a blog as The Blogess and a couple of years ago published her first book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. Lawson’s writing is really…
