The Book: Ava’s Man, by Rick Bragg
The Story: After writing All Over but the Shoutin’, Rick Bragg was approached on multiple occasions and told that he just has to tell more about his family’s history.
In this book, he goes back another generation and delves into the life of his maternal Grandpa, Charlie and his wife [...]
The Book: Autobiography of a Face, by Lucy Grealy
The Story: When she was really young (9 or 10 I think) Lucy was diagnosed with a pretty horrible form of cancer. No one ever really told her flat out what was going on, but what she knew was that she had to go to the hospital [...]
The Book: Two Kisses for Maddy, by Matt Logelin
The Story: Two Kisses for Maddy is a memoir about how a 30 year old guy went from being a husband to being a father to being a widow all in just a few days.
Liz had a semi-complicated pregnancy and ended up on bed rest in the [...]
February 17, 2011 – 6:55 pm
The Book: Blankets, by Craig Thompson
The Story: This is Craig Thompson’s memoir of growing up in Wisconsin. With pictures and words he covers everything from sibling rivalry to his struggle with religion to his first love.
What I Thought: This was a re-read for me. I read this for the first time several years ago. It [...]
December 1, 2010 – 9:19 am
The Book: The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van, by Alan Bennett
The Story: This is actually two little mini-stories. They are not really as short as short stories or as long as novellas, so I guess “mini stories” it is…
The Clothes They Stood Up In is about an older couple, [...]
November 29, 2010 – 11:38 am
The Book: Wish I Could Be There, by Allen Shawn
The Story: Allen has struggled with his phobias for a long time. When he was younger, he could overcome them a little better but as he has grown older, his list of phobias has grown and with it, his ability to override his brain and get [...]
November 8, 2010 – 10:54 am
The Book: The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan
The Story: The Middle Place, in this book, is defined as a time between being parented and parenting. The author explains that it’s kind of this golden time where you are almost “playing house.” You have your own family and children but very much identify with and cling [...]
October 13, 2010 – 10:09 am
The Book: Model Patient: My Life as an Incurable Wise Ass, by Karen Duffy
The Story: So, apparently Karen Duffy is a B or C or something-list celebrity. She’s been in a handful of commercials, print ads, movies and was an MTV VJ (do they still have those?). She dated Chris Farley and out with George [...]
September 23, 2010 – 9:44 am
The Book: Jesus Land, by Julia Scheeres
The Story: I’ve been on quite the little memoir kick, huh? I guess it’s because it’s easy-access non-fiction and that’s kind of what I’ve been in the mood for. If you can think of any good ones that I haven’t reviewed, let me know. I’d love to get my [...]
August 2, 2010 – 12:24 pm
The Book: The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa, by Josh Swiller
The Story: Josh was born deaf. With the use of hearing aides, he was able to hear enough to get by and lead a “normal” life. By that I mean that he went to public school and did everything that his hearing friends [...]