Category Archives: memoir

Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity by Joseph Lee

12 Friday Dec 2025

Posted by in Biography, History, memoir, nature, Non-fiction, United States

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256 pages, lively , crisp new knowledge and perspective about our favorite Massachusetts summer island’s history and oldest residents.

“With lucid intimacy, Lee traces the story of the Aquinnah Wampanoag across centuries and shorelines, anchoring sweeping histories in the particular texture of lived experience. The past is not background here—it presses forward, unresolved. At its core, this is a book about how to stay in relationship with a land, a people, and a culture that colonialism has scattered and strained. What begins as personal memoir opens into a broader reckoning with Indigenous identity in motion. Lee writes not to restore some lost purity, but to chart a map forward—one that embraces contradiction, survival, and the quiet force of continuity. Few books manage to feel this intimate and this expansive, this tender and this unflinching. It’s not just beautifully told—it’s deeply earned.”—Morgan Talty, national bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit

“Nothing More of This Land is written with scrupulous attention to nuance and ambiguity. It is an exploration of a complex heritage that is self-searching, deeply intelligent and honest. But it is also a book about America, the public realm, what an Indigenous identity means in this country, and how this has molded the life of Joseph Lee, who is a brilliant and sensitive chronicler of his own destiny and that of his community.” —Colm Tóibín, bestselling author of Brooklyn and Long Island

“A wise meditation on belonging, Lee offers the reader a global perspective on what it means to be Indigenous. Lee’s desire for reciprocity and community will move readers to think about our planetary future. A journalistic feat, heartfelt, well-researched, and vital.”—Deborah Jackson Taffa, author of National Book Award finalist Whiskey Tender

“A potent exploration of what it means to be Indigenous. . . . A deft combination of affective memoir and keen journalism, this profound examination on identity and place impresses.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy

27 Monday Oct 2025

Posted by in Biography, memoir

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The author of the God of Small Things (2008) reveals her complicated relationship with her mother and surviving a destitute childhood. written as beautifully as her masterpiece with remarkable wit and humor.

“Booker Prize–winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy recounts a life of poverty and upheaval, defiance and triumph in an emotionally raw memoir, centered on her complicated relationship with her mother…Her candid memoir revives both an extraordinary woman and the tangled complexities of filial love. An intimate, stirring chronicle.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Roy turns inward to reflect on a complicated relationship with her late mother, herself an activist, whose barbed love of Roy and her brother could by turns sustain and devastate.”—NPR.org

“This book pulses with compassion and moral outrage…Ms. Roy acknowledges that her difficult mother shaped the free-spirited, headstrong, risk-taking writer she became…It’s clear from this memoir that while Ms. Roy has lost her chief adversary, she hasn’t lost her fire.”—The Wall Street Journal

“The prizewinning novelist’s unsparing memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, captures the eventful life and times of her mother, a driven educator and imperfect inspiration.”—The New York Times Book Review

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Brothers by Alex Van Halen

23 Monday Jun 2025

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I enjoyed the stories of family, friendship, and brotherhood. Throughout the book Alex Van Halen commented on quotes written about the band. This writing style made the memoir feel  conversational. 

“Most importantly, Brothers is a love letter to the music they created and Eddie, who has been called for decades one of the greatest guitarists of all time.” — NPR‘s Fresh Air

“A poignant love letter from Alex to his brother and bandmate Eddie.” — People

“The tome is undeniably emotional, with some passages written directly to his late brother.” — Billboard

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Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope by Amanda Nguyen

29 Thursday May 2025

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Nguyen writes about her ambition to become an astronaut and the attack (rape) while a student at Harvard that interrupted her plans. While she doesn’t describe the assault in graphic detail, she does describe the aftermath as well as her experience advocating for her and other victims’ rights. This book is very well written, but might be triggering for survivors of sexual assault or their loved ones. 

“I am in awe of Amanda Nguyen’s courage in sharing her story and her fight to support survivors. As a survivor, I know how painful it is to revisit and recount the horror of rape and sexual abuse, along with the shame, stigma, and doubt that comes with it. Today, Amanda is more than just that story―she’s an astronaut, an author, an activist, and a champion for all.” ―Nadia Murad, recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize

“If Saving Five doesn’t inspire you, check your pulse. It is an extraordinary testimony of resilience, persistence, and ambition. While Amanda’s history-making journey alone could have carried this memoir, it’s also a feat of formal invention, lyrical prose, and a gifted storyteller’s sense of suspense. I was mesmerized from page one to its triumphant ending.” ―Mitchell S. Jackson, author of Survival Math, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“Saving Five is an extraordinarily moving account of Amanda Nguyen’s pursuit of justice and healing for herself and for millions of survivors around the world. Amanda’s story―innovatively told by versions of herself at different ages―underscores the lasting power of speaking your truth, building a movement, and never losing sight of your dreams.” ―Melinda French Gates, philanthropist and founder, Pivotal

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From Here to the Great Unknown: a Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough

07 Monday Apr 2025

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Before she died, Lisa Marie Presley asked her daughter Riley Keough to help write her autobiography. After Lisa Marie passed, Riley used hours of her mother’s recordings to complete the book. Without knowing much about the Presley family before reading this, I was moved by Lisa’s story and her family bonds. I recommend the audiobook.

“Instead of tap dancing around the hard parts, we’re drilling into the bedrock. We hear less from Presley and more from Keough, who comes across as level headed, valiant and kind. . . . Keough approaches the episode with respectful levity, the best tool available to members of a dysfunctional family. . . . Presley still gets a word in here and there, and these passages show how determined she was to stand up to her demons.”—The New York Times

“When her actor daughter, Riley Keough, writes that she wants Lisa Marie to emerge from the pages of the memoir as a ‘three-dimensional character’, she’s not kidding . . . it’s clear that Presley was nothing if not radically honest. It’s also striking how Keough seems to almost plead with the reader to understand and love her mother as much as she does. Ultimately, this is a book built on grief: Lisa Marie Presley’s for her father and son, but also a daughter’s for her mother.”—The Guardian

“The book is of two minds: It’s an unadorned, conversational memoir that’s more matter of fact than gossipy, little interested in preserving what her father’s biographer Peter Guralnick once called ‘the dreary bondage of myth.’ And it’s a frank, almost unbearably heavy meditation on grief. . . . Stunningly candid . . . Both women write gracefully about the unbearable, immovable heaviness of grief. Keough’s portrait of her mother in her final months is especially indelible. ‘I had mistakenly thought she was so strong-minded that nothing could ever truly hobble her,’ she writes. ‘But of course it could. Enough pain can hobble anyone.’”—The Washington Post

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Three Wild Dogs (and the truth): A Memoir by Markus Zusak

14 Friday Mar 2025

Posted by in adventure, anecdotes, Biography, memoir, Non-fiction

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“Now in paperback, this poignant, funny, and brutally honest memoir by one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book Thief, tells the story of his family’s adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs—a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of dogs, family.” – Amazon

“Heartrending…With a soft heart and a fluid pen, Zusak delivers an elegy for three misfit creatures that will resonate even with those who’ve never picked up a leash.” — Publishers Weekly

“A self-deprecating tale of dog-ownership mayhem that is sure to win over many a reader.” — Kirkus

“Zusak’s garrulous style gives appropriate spotlight to his furry subjects (a few cats are involved too), celebrating their indomitable spirits in a convivial, all-but-exasperated tone. [His] innate humor jostles readers throughout, creating a wholly different page-turning experience from the epic nature of his fiction. Dog lovers will surely find a lot to chew on here as Zusak mines for the truth the title intimates that those touched by a dog will all agree: we are changed for having known them.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth) will be enjoyed by readers of the best dog tales, such as The Art of Racing in the Rain, for its ability to evoke both the aggravation and deep love that dogs foster in those who build their lives around these creatures.” — BookPage

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The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw

06 Wednesday Nov 2024

Posted by in adventure, anecdotes, Biography, memoir, Non-fiction, Travel

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Ruth Shaw runs two wee bookshops in remote Manapouri in the far south of New Zealand.  In her memoir, she weaves together remarkable sailing adventures, a yearning to be independent, characters who she meets on the sea and in her book shops, and the books you’ll want to read that she collects and sells.  Never a dull moment in Ruth Shaw’s full life.

‘Compelling. Shaw tells her own story free of oversentimentality or self-pity; she’s straightforward, frequently humorous, but, understandably, sometimes guarded and reluctant to overshare. Her resilience, optimism and willingness to always help others is to be admired; her remarkable story is to be read and reflected upon as it adds another vital perspective to a New Zealand life.’ Dionne Christian, Sunday Star Times – –

‘Utterly charming and filled with equal measures of heartbreak and humour, Ruth Shaw’s memoir will have you booking the first flight to New Zealand to share a cup of tea at her Wee Bookshops. Shaw has been a cook, a nurse, sailor and world traveller, and endured
immeasurable loss. But with Lance, the love of her life, Shaw has found her place bookselling in Fiordland.’ Booksellers’ Choice Australia

‘Shaw can write about these peaks and troughs [of her life] without a skerrick of maudlin introspection or mawkishness. Battered and emotionally bruised, she marches on. In a word, dauntless, and it’s exactly this quality that makes this memoir so readable.’ Chris Moore, NZ Listener

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The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin

09 Monday Sep 2024

Posted by in Biography, memoir, United States

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This was one of the best memoirs I’ve read in a while. While raising their kids in a California suburb, the author and her husband are arrested for a series of crimes stemming from their drug addiction. In jail and in recovery, Lara finds the power of her voice in this compelling story.

“Grips you as suddenly as any psychological thriller… Readers will experience the lows and highs of addiction, incarceration and rehabilitation as Love Hardin assembles the pieces of her shattered life into something beautiful again in this inspiring chronicle.” —BookPage

“A hilarious and heartbreaking confession that will not let you go until it is done—and then it will haunt you. It will give you hope in what is possible for each of us if we allow others—and ourselves—to move beyond our shame, find redemption, and write a new, more inspiring story of our lives.” —Lori Gottlieb, author of the New York Times bestseller, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

“A compelling and timely rebuttal to the perverse and unjust notion that people who are convicted of crimes can only be criminals. This critically important idea is essential for a nation that has been so derailed by destructive “law and order” narratives that have left us both less just and less safe.” —Bryan Stevenson, author of the New York Times bestseller Just Mercy

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An Unfinished Love Story : a Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin

08 Wednesday May 2024

Posted by in Biography, History, memoir, Non-fiction, United States

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In their last years together, Doris and Dick Goodwin tackle the 300 plus boxes of historical documents, pictures, and memorabilia collected over the years only to discover they had an  “unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference”.  If you lived during the sixties, you will find this to be a riveting, enlightening and tender read.

“A touching invitation to eavesdrop on a long marriage between two people who had an unusual level of access to presidential policy and personality.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Just as An Unfinished Love Story is a testament to the Kearns Goodwin marriage, so is it a love story of the United States and its democratic government. The many speeches written by Goodwin, the writings of Kearns Goodwin and both their reflections demonstrate that words do indeed matter.”—The Columbus Dispatch

“An intimate political history….about the love of historical research, in this case demonstrated by a joint examination of 300 boxes of documents, drafts, and the personal flotsam accumulated over the course of a marriage played out in the arena of American politics. And about the love of America, its past and future, its struggles and promise”—The Boston Globe

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This Boy’s: Life: a Memoir by Tobias Wolff

24 Wednesday Apr 2024

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, memoir

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Nice to read a “oldy but goody” every now and then.  First published in 1989, this memoir has become a classic of the genre, as notable for its artful structure and finely wrought prose as for the events it describes. The book essentially launched the memoir craze that has been going strong ever since. It was made into a movie in 1993.

“Wolff writes in language that is lyrical without embellishment, defines his characters with exact strokes and perfectly pitched voices, [and] creates suspense around ordinary events, locating the deep mystery within them.” –Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Wolff’s genius is in his fine storytelling. This Boy’s Life reads and entertains as easily as a novel. Wolff’s writing and timing are superb, as are his depictions of those of us who endured the “50s.” –Oregonian

“A work of genuine literary art . . . as grim and eerie as Great Expectations, as surreal and cruel as The Painted Bird, as comic and transcendent as Huckleberry Finn.” –Philadelphia Inquirer

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