Category Archives: Memoir

Some Assembly Required

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

Last year, Teresa went to a book signing with Anne and Sam Lamott (she gets to do things like that all the time, because she lives near Washington, D.C. and not in the Inland Empire – no, I am not jealous, why are … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Memoir | 2 Comments

Stet: An Editor’s Life

Posted on April 1, 2013 by

An editor’s work stays behind the scenes. We see the finished product and laud the author—quite rightfully—for the skill and talent that brought ideas and people to life. But I don’t imagine we think much about the editor who coaxed … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction | 10 Comments

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

Posted on March 5, 2013 by

Perhaps the best indicator of whether you’ll enjoy this memoir by Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess) is whether you enjoy reading her blog. If you find her blog funny, you’ll find the book funny. If you find her blog overly … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction | Tagged | 18 Comments

Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White

Posted on November 11, 2012 by

One way that blogging has changed my reading is that I rarely just happen upon books I’ve never heard of. When I go to the bookstore or the library, most of the books that jump out at me are books … Continue reading →

Posted in Graphic Novels / Comics, Memoir, Nonfiction | 11 Comments

An African in Greenland

Posted on October 29, 2012 by

Tété-Michel Kpomassie was born in Togo. The first few chapters of his memoir, An African in Greenland, are spent establishing the everyday African life of his boyhood: palm trees, steamy heat, spicy food, catching lizards, snake worship, and the family … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction, Travel/ Exploration | 9 Comments

How to Be a Woman

Posted on October 20, 2012 by

A couple of months ago I was having a conversation with a group of smart, progressive women and the conversation turned to the differences between men and women. One of the women was recounting a story in which she was … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction | Tagged | 30 Comments

The Spiral Staircase

Posted on July 2, 2012 by

Karen Armstrong, the author of The Case for God and many other books about world religion, spent seven years of her young adult life in a convent, hoping to meet God. When her pursuit proved fruitless and even damaging, she … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction, Religion | 15 Comments

Enfance (Childhood)

Posted on June 6, 2012 by

This last semester, I was teaching the second half of our French literature survey course. (The first half covers the Middle Ages through the 18th century, and the second half just the 19th and 20th century.) There are lots of … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction | Leave a comment

Farewell to Manzanar

Posted on June 1, 2012 by

When Jeanne Wakatsuki was seven years old, she and her family, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans, were forced to move into Manzanar, an internment camp in Owens Valley, California. They lived at Manzanar from 1942 to 1945, ostensibly … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's / YA Lit, History, Memoir, Nonfiction | 13 Comments

A Girl Named Zippy

Posted on April 6, 2012 by

This short memoir by Haven Kimmel is subtitled, “Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana.” I think I was expecting that the author herself was small. (Well, smaller than most children, I guess.) In fact, the memoir is about growing up … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction | 5 Comments