Memoir
BOSSYPANTS by Tina Fey
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Through humorous autobiographical vignettes, Tina Fey gives fans a glimpse into her life, including the challenges of being a female comedian in a male-dominated industry, being a working parent, writing 22-episode sitcom seasons, pursuing society’s standards of beauty, and going on a cruise for your honeymoon (she would not recommend the latter). You’ll laugh. You’ll rage at the patriarchy. And if you listen to the audiobook, you’ll be thoroughly entertained for over 5 1/2 hours! Highly recommend.
YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST) by Felicia Day
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Before “The Guild” and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Felicia Day was an isolated, home schooled kid who discovered a community and her own voice on the then fledgling internet. Her memoir goes beyond hilarious anecdotes from an unconventional childhood with the history of the Internet and online gaming from a user’s perspective, her experience with video game addiction, a glimpse into the life of an unknown actor trying to make it in LA, an account of creating a low budget Web series (“The Guild”), and her perspective on and experience with Gamergate. A truly gifted writer, Day divides her memoir into semi-chronological sections by topic, giving each individual part its own arc in addition to the overall narrative arc of the memoir, which encourages readers to pursue their creative passions.
I picked up this book as a Guild fan, thinking it would just be an interesting glimpse into Felicia Day’s life. Instead I found one of the most interesting and entertaining memoirs I have ever read and a new audiobook favorite! If you are not a Felicia Day fan already, the book may lack the “squee” factor it had for me, but if you are an Internet user who enjoys memoirs, you will probably still find her story engaging. Definitely listen to the audiobook!
TAKING FLIGHT: FROM WAR ORPHAN TO STAR BALLERINA by Michaela DePrince with Elaine DePrince
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
As a child, Michaela DePrince witnessed terrible violence in war-torn Sierra Leone. She survived the death of both of her parents, and escaped as a refugee to Ghana, where she was adopted by an American family. What kept Michaela’s hope alive through her years in Sierra Leone was a torn magazine cover with a photograph of a ballerina on it. It was the most incredible thing she had ever seen, and she hoped that one day she could become a ballerina too. Her adoptive parents supported her dreams, and Michaela overcame racial discrimination to become one of the world’s few black classical ballerinas.
Young as she is, Michaela’s memoir only covers her first 17 years of life. But her story is inspiring and very well-written. I read it in one sitting. Although marketed as a young adult book, her story will be of interest to teens and adults. I highly recommend it!
BRAIN ON FIRE: MY MONTH OF MADNESS by Susannah Cahalan
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Susannah Cahalan’s illness came out of nowhere. One day she was living a perfectly normal life as a New York Post journalist; weeks later she was strapped to a hospital bed, experiencing seizures, paranoid hallucinations, and catatonia. The doctors were ready to send her to a psychiatric ward, but her family insisted that there must be a medical cause. Something was wrong with Susannah, and it wasn’t mental illness. After a month of tests, procedures, and turmoil, doctors finally found a diagnosis just in time to save Susannah’s life. Although Susannah has nearly no memories of her “month of madness,” she has reconstructed her path through illness and recovery based on family recollections, journals, and hospital records. Her memoir is intense and fascinating, forcing readers to reexamine their perception of mental illness and reminding us how little we know about the remarkable human brain. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in memoirs or medicine!
RUNNING THE BOOKS: THE ADVENTURES OF AN ACCIDENTAL PRISON LIBRARIAN by Avi Steinberg
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Avi Steinberg did not plan on becoming a prison librarian. In fact, he once planned on devoting his life to the study of the Torah and Talmud. But after a Harvard education, a falling-off from Orthodox Judaism, and a brief career as an obituary writer, he finds himself on the staff of a Boston “correctional” facility. The experience challenges him in ways he could never have expected. He spends his day cracking jokes with pimps, scouring the library stacks for forbidden messages between prisoners (and secretly saving them), leading prison creative writing groups, and struggling to balance his professional work, his almost-friendships with inmates, his often-dashed hopes for the inmates’ futures, and his knowledge of the terrible crimes many have committed.
Running the Books is both funny and touching. It is entirely character driven, not always chronological, and occasionally confusing. But if you enjoy reflective memoirs and character studies, I definitely recommend this book. I greatly enjoyed it.
MAUS by Art Spiegleman
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Art Spiegleman’s parents survived a Nazi concentration camp before moving to America. Years after his mother’s suicide, Art decides to tell his parents’ story in words and pictures, hoping that the bonding experience might ease some of the tension in his relationship with his father. This Pulitzer Prize winning memoir captures Spiegleman’s struggle of growing up in the shadow of his parents’ past, as well as the poignant and heartbreaking story of Vladek and Anja Spieglman’s love and life in Nazi occupied Poland.
This is one of my favorite books, and I highly recommend it. It is written for adults, but I read it for the first time in 8th grade and appreciated it as much then as I do now. The reading level is not difficult, but the subject matter is heavy. I realize that some people do not like books in graphic novel (panel art/comics) format, but if you have never tried reading a graphic novel, or assume that graphic novels are limited to stories of superheroes or fantasy worlds, this is a superb graphic memoir to try. I cannot recommend it enough!
Spiegleman’s story is completed in Maus II.
STITCHES by David Small
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
David grew up in a house full of secrets. Some of the secrets were well kept and known by no one. Others, such as his grandmother’s mental instability, were known by everyone but never discussed. Although they never communicated with one another, everyone in David’s family had a habit of nonverbal self-expression. For his brother, drumming was a language. David’s language was illness. As an infant he had trouble breathing. As he became a teenager, a tumor began to grow in his neck.
But the family silence extended even to David’s medical health. After an operation that was never fully explained to him, David had lost a vocal chord and could no longer speak. As his teenage years continued, he struggled to sift through the family secrets and discover what actually happened to him.
If you enjoy memoirs about dysfunctional families, this is the book for you! It’s a graphic memoir (in format), and Small’s black and white drawings help convey his story in a powerful way.
Susan the Librarian 