01 The Vanishing Half In The Vanishing Half, Bennett follows the history of the fictional Vignes twins, Desiree and Stella, as they grow up in a town made up of those who identify as light-skinned black people. As teenagers they run from a prescribed future as maids in the small town, where tragedy in the form of evil white men took their father from them and left their mother scrambling to provide for them. Upon reaching freedom, their paths diverge. One twin secretly passes at work for white, then vanishes into a life based upon this premise. The other twin marries a dark-skinned black man and lives as a black woman. The book explores the complicated implications of perception as reality when it comes to race and its meaning; the subjectivity of and intense power within race labels; and the tension of living under false pretenses. For my full review, see The Vanishing Half. #race, #historicalfiction, #siblings, #fourstarbookreview 02 Florence Adler Swims Forever ​ This lovely debut from Rachel Beanland takes place just before World War II in Atlantic City, and its giant hotels, piers, and general hubbub are the backdrop for this story of a few summer months in the life of an extended family. I loved watching the book’s events unfold. Anything that was wrapped up a little too neatly didn’t bother me at all; I was all in and satisfied. Beanland based some of the basic events of her debut novel on her ancestors’ experiences, which I thought was fascinating but didn't realize until the end. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and Simon and Schuster in exchange for a review. Click here for my full review of Florence Adler Swims Forever. #historicalfiction, #oldnewyork, #WWII, #fourstarbookreview 03 Blacktop Wasteland ​ Bug is a respectable business owner nowadays with a family. But some old acquaintances show up with an idea that might offer some financial breathing room--if the others on the job can keep their heads on straight, and that's looking like a big if. Blacktop Wasteland is a fantastic blend of realistic complications, mistakes, adjustments, and spunk. It's action-packed but character driven. I'm not inherently interested in the preparation and modification of vehicles or in skillful evasive driving, but S.A. Cosby wrote it so that I was all in. Bug is a wonderfully faulted character. The ending is a little abrupt and opaque, but not without hope. I received an advance copy of this book from Flatiron Books and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. See my full review of Blacktop Wasteland here. #mysterysuspense, #southern, #fourstarbookreview 04 Utopia Avenue ​ In Utopia Avenue, Mitchell takes us through the twists and turns of a fictional psychedelic British sixties band on its rocky rise to popularity, particularly through exploring its members' crises, joys, fears, and triumphs. The book contains endless imagined cameos, fictional adventures, and gems of wisdom from real-life musicians like David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Garcia, and members of the Rolling Stones--not to mention wild parties, betrayals, leaps of faith, breakups, and tragedy. But Mitchell expertly builds the band members into rich characters you're rooting for through their individual ups and downs as well as through the triumphs and setbacks of the band Utopia Avenue. Mitchell doesn't provide too easy or neat of an ending to this weird and wonderful book, but it felt fitting and left me satisfied. This was a really captivating story that kept me intrigued throughout. I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an unbiased review. For my full review of Utopia Avenue, click here. #historicalfiction, #london, #fourstarbookreview 05 When These Mountains Burn Ray has outlived his beloved wife in the mountains of North Carolina. He has a precious old girl of a dog, a fascination with (and healthy fear of) coyotes, a love of reading, and a no-nonsense manner that makes clear he doesn't brook fools. He has almost resigned himself to the heartbreaking idea that his addict son is too lost to be saved. There's an undercover cop nearby who's trying to help take down a robust drug ring, and then there's Ray, who uses old-fashioned methods and his knowledge of mountain terrain to address injustices in a straightforward way. I read this in 24 hours while wishing I were making it last longer. I received an advance reader's copy of this book from NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons in exchange for an unbiased review. For my full review of When These Mountains Burn, click here. #gothicnoir, #southern, #fourstarbookreview 06 This Is All He Asks of You ​ I just loved this book. Luna stumbles into encounters that shape her life dramatically, in unorthodox and heartbreakingly meaningful ways. I simultaneously wanted to scoop up Luna and take care of her and to follow the lead of this wise-beyond-her-years, intensely spiritual young person. She has a unique and lovely voice and is an irresistibly odd bird of a twelve-year-old girl. I received a copy of this book through John Hunt Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. For my full review of This Is All He Asks of You, click here. #comingofage, #heartwarming, #faith, #nordic, #fourstarbookreview What have been your favorite books published this summer, or favorite books you've read this summer? What should I add to my completely unmanageable master Greedy Reading List of books to read?

In her new memoir, the creator of the series Girls explores the years in which she went from an unkown Other Memoirs You Might Like You might also want to check out these Bossy reviews of other celebrity memoirs or these lists of favorite memoirs the years I read them: this one and also this one.

In case her books aren't already on your radar, French is the author of six Dublin Murder Squad books

Applegate's memoir is more focused on her personal life than her acting, which has created structure Applegate was open about her breast cancer diagnosis years ago, although in her memoir she laments having This is a brutally honest memoir, and in the audiobook, which is read by Applegate, the author repeatedly More Memoirs You Might Like You might also want to check out these Bossy reviews of other celebrity memoirs or these lists of favorite memoirs the years I read them: this one and also this one.

second chances take shape, a little retribution, and an attempt at a changed existence—but the haunting memories If you like books like those above, you might also like the titles on the Greedy Reading List Six Great If you like historical fiction mysteries, you might try the books listed here: Six Historical Fiction And for great historical fiction of all types, look at: Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved in the Past Year and Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year.

01 Apeirogon: A Novel This is beautiful, powerful, illuminating, and heart-wrenching. The first part felt a little slow, but I'm so very very glad I stuck with it. Apeirogon is structured into 1,001 (this sounds overwhelming, but the book doesn't feel that way) short segments in varied points of view surrounding a Palestinian and an Israeli family on two especially fateful days in their lives. The story builds to show how individuals on opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (and opposite sides of the wall) are at heart the same in their pain, their desires, and their love. It's 480 pages, and ultimately that felt like an appropriate length for settling into the points of view and experiences that are built over a lifetime. The subject matter is weighty and emotional, and McCann manages to make the story both personal and political, which perfectly suits the subject matter. Really a wonderful book. I love McCann's thoughtful writing. For my full review of this book, see Apeirogon. 02 The Light After the War ​ I’m dying to know how closely Anita Abriel’s book traces the inspiring events from her mother’s incredible experiences before, during, and after World War II. The author offers a vivid account of the fear and dread—intermixed with sparks of hope—that sustained Vera and Edith in Hungary and Germany during the war; in Naples as they adjusted to post-war floods of food, fashion, and joy; as they found themselves in more settled situations; and during the evolutions of their careers and love lives. Abriel introduces an enormous shift that shakes things up enormously for both young women before the book’s end. Vera and Edith are such a complementary partnership, and I loved spending time with these strong young women. I was completely engrossed. For my full review, see The Light After the War. 03 The Book of Longings ​ This was a fascinating story from the point of view of an imagined wife for Jesus, including an exploration of gender roles, a reimagined faith, the frustrations of societal expectations for women, great adventure, strong female loyalty and friendship, love, and lots of fantastic details of life at the time. Much of the fever pitch of support and hatred for Jesus occurs when the main character of Ana is off having other experiences (and often-dangerous adventures). This is an intriguing structure for the story: Jesus as a supporting cast member. Jesus's role in Ana's story is as a faithful man who disagrees with the politics of the faith at the time. He primarily serves as a character who cares for, understands, and supports the woman he loves. For my full review of this book, see The Book of Longings. 04 Florence Adler Swims Forever The Atlantic City setting just before WWII, with its giant hotels, piers, and general hubbub, is the backdrop for the story of a few summer months in the life of an extended family. There’s an undercurrent of concern about Hitler and his increasingly punitive behavior toward Jewish families’ businesses and emigration in Germany. I loved watching the book’s events unfold—even if I could predict some of them. Anything that was wrapped up a little too neatly didn’t bother me at all; I was all in and satisfied. Beanland based some of the basic events of her debut novel on her ancestors’ experiences. Fascinating. For my full review of this book, please see Florence Adler Swims Forever. 05 Call Your Daughter Home ​ I worried during the first chapter that Gertrude was going to feel like a caricature of a backwoods Southern woman. But she and the other characters were developed fully. And although the three interconnected female characters faced sometimes staggeringly tragic challenges, Spera injects moments of joy—often related to their relationships to each other. You can see where one of the storylines is going before the character involved understands it, and it might make your blood boil to see the evil situation go on unchecked. But the details of cooking, strong women's determination to survive, race relations, and life in 1924 South Carolina were wonderful, and I still think about this book although I read it almost a year ago (technically, at the end of last year). For my full review, see Call Your Daughter Home. 06 The Pull of the Stars ​ Set in Ireland in 1918, The Pull of the Stars follows a nurse, Julia; a doctor, Kathleen; and a young volunteer, Bridie, over the course of three tumultuous days as the fiery, complex, capable women work desperately to help the patients at their understaffed hospital who are about to give birth while suffering from the devastating new influenza. Donoghue immersed me fully in the moment-by-moment health and emotional crises; the women's determined, sometimes desperately creative attempts to preserve lives; and their occasional triumphs. The rest of the world fell away for me as I was reading, and I couldn't wait to get back to this book. The author of the disturbing, fascinating story Room knows how to craft a tale of survival and of finding hope in the most dire situations. For my full review, see The Pull of the Stars. What's some of your favorite historical fiction? I could make one meellion lists of my historical fiction loves (and I might). Any favorites I should add to my outrageously unmanageable to-read list?

In Olive, Again, she ambles through town and reflects on aging, on her life, and especially on memories

If you like to read memoirs, you might like to check out some of my Bossy memoir reviews , or some of my Greedy Reading Lists of favorites: Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Musicians' Memoirs that Sing Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality Six of My Favorite Memoir Reads Last Year

If you like books that play with timelines and realities, check out the Greedy Reading List Six Riveting you're looking for more great fiction, you might also want to check out the Greedy Reading List My Six

Turner's story is inspired by her family's memoirs, and her Sarah Prine is a strong woman living on the

Poet Maggie Smith's memoir traces the end of her marriage, weaving in the history and the future while For memoirs I've loved that you might want to try, check out these Greedy Reading Lists: Six Musicians ' Memoirs that Sing Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality

For great historical fiction of all types, you might like to check out Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved in the Past Year and Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year.

In Mother Mary Comes to Me , the author of The God of Small Things shares a memoir that in part explores More Memoirs, More India Arundhati Roy is the author of The God of Small Things and The Ministry of For more Bossy reviews of memoirs please check out the titles at this link , and you can find Bossy reviews

If you like to read memoirs like I do, you might be interested in the Greedy Reading Lists here: Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Musicians' Memoirs that Sing Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality Six of My Favorite Memoir Reads Last Year

01 I Killed Zoe Spanos I'll admit that this cover hooked me at first look, but the premise of this story is similarly irresistible. Anna arrives in a sleepy Hamptons village to be a nanny, but the community has recently been rocked by the disappearance of a young woman, Zoe Spanos. Strangely, Anna looks a lot like Zoe, so she's faced with the village's pain and suspicion everywhere she goes. By the end of the summer, Anna has delved into Zoe's disappearance and has attempted to untangle the truth of what happened. Eventually she herself confesses to having hurt Zoe. But not everyone is satisfied with her shaky story. #youngadult, #mystery 02 The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly ​ In Meredith Tate's newest book, Ivy and her wonderfully nerdy friends play in the school band and love board games. But her older sister Autumn is into a darker scene, and when Autumn is abducted by people connected to a drug ring, Ivy must plunge into the sinister underbelly of her sister's life to try to save her. If Ivy can unravel the snarl of dangerous clues and uncover the secrets Autumn's been keeping, maybe she'll be able to help her sister survive. #youngadult, #mystery, #siblings 03 A Good Girl's Guide to Murder ​ It's been years since a local young woman, Andie Bell, was murdered by Sal Singh. But Pippa Fitz-Amobi is becoming convinced that Sal didn't do it after all. What happens if the real killer is still on the loose--and what if the murderer finds out Pippa is stirring up suspicion about what really happened? Is this kind of a young adult fiction version of the Serial podcast? I'm really hoping so. #youngadult, #mystery 04 Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know Samira Ahmed offers two story lines of young women separated by centuries. Khayyam is in Paris with her parents, but her boyfriend has probably broken up with her and she didn't get into the college she wanted, and she'd just like to wallow. Two hundred years in the past, Leila is a young Muslim woman struggling to survive. As Khayyam eagerly discovers more of Leila's mysterious history, she begins to grow and change in this feminist coming-of-age story. #youngadult, #mystery, #historicalfiction, #dualstoryline 05 All Eyes on Her Tabby and Mark were dating. They went into the woods, but only Tabby came out again. L.E. Flynn presents a story told in everyone's point of view besides Tabby's, a tale in which her best friend, her sister, her ex-boyfriend, and her enemy attempt to cobble together what they think happened--and to assert that they know Tabby and her motivations best. "A frenzied psychological thriller, superbly paced." ―Booklist, starred review #youngadult, #mystery 06 The Inheritance Games ​ Avery is in high school, and all she's focused on is getting a scholarship and getting out of town. But when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne, a stranger, leaves his fortune to her, her life becomes a lot more complicated--and a lot more dangerous. She must move into the house to claim her inheritance, but Hawthorne's surviving relatives are bitter, determined to prove her a con woman--and they're still living in the house. Hawthorne has set out riddles and puzzles Avery must solve before coming into the money that could save her--or will the search for answers destroy her first? This is the first in the Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, who also wrote The Naturals series. #youngadult, #mystery, #series Any young adult mysteries you've enjoyed lately? There are many recent-ish young adult mysteries that sound intriguing, and I had a little trouble narrowing down this list. Where was this embarrassment of young-adult-mystery riches when I was actually a young adult? Thank goodness for Lois Duncan (Stranger with my Face!) or I would have been completely out of luck.

Ina's memoir is personal and thoughtful. specialty food shop in the Hamptons (and television show), Barefoot Contessa, offers a personal, charming memoir If you enjoy memoirs, you can find Bossy reviews of my favorites here . And check out some of my favorite foodie memoirs here .

Hsu's memoir remembers his friend Ken, who was tragically killed during college. Stay True in order to cope with his loss, explore the concept of belonging, face his own grief, and memorialize Over the course of many years, the author sorted through his feelings and memories, cherishing a folder

In her memoir In Love, author Amy Bloom shares the story of an impossible situation: the pending loss She notes that six million people in the United States are suffering from Alzheimer's at any given moment I listed other heartbreaking and beautiful memoirs about facing death and loss in the Greedy Reading List Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality, and Kate Bowler's No Cure for Being Human is another

In her memoir, Blair takes the reader through her childhood, where she is steadily called Mean Baby-- For more more more memoirs I've loved that you might want to try, check out these Greedy Reading Lists : Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality

Comedian Leanne Morgan's memoir traces her path from an attention-seeking, beloved young girl to a young But her memoir also traces her youth (when she imagined that she would find fame in some way), her first This is a relatively short memoir, and if you're already a fan of Leanne Morgan's, you'll likely enjoy Are you a fan of memoirs? What about celebrity memoirs? You can find Bossy reviews of other memoirs--and Greedy Reading Lists of my favorites by theme-- here

Michael Kosta when I began reading this book--I'm out of date on my Daily Show viewing-- but I love memoirs More Books about Comedy and Memoirs For more Bossy reviews of books about comedy, check out the titles And for more memoirs I've loved, take a look at these titles .

If you like to read memoirs, you might be interested in the titles on my various memoir-focused Greedy Reading Lists: Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Musicians ' Memoirs that Sing Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality Six of My Favorite Memoir Reads Last Year

I'm drawn to stories that explore issues around memory. In Ma's science fiction novel, China is the sole global superpower, and citizens' memories are valuable Memories can be manipulated, unacceptable memories can be used as evidence of traitorous intent, and More Books about Memory This is Yiming Ma's first book. For other Bossy reviews of books about memory, check out the titles at this link .

This classic memoir is told through letters between Hanff, living a passionate reader and writer's life wonderful book The Correspondent , Virginia Evans mentioned another epistolary book, the 1970 classic memoir The memoir's back-and-forth gems illuminate the evolving wartime struggles of British citizens such as The correspondence is only half Hanff's, but this epistolary memoir structure and its rich content allow

More memoir love I received a prepublication edition of the 656-page Lorne courtesy of Random House For more memoirs you may like, please check out the reviews of various titles at this link .

Wilson overcame tough childhood circumstances before setting her sights on becoming a performer, and her memoir I love to listen to the audiobook version of a memoir (if you haven't yet, you might want to check out the many stand-alone memoir reviews and memoir-focused Greedy Reading Lists  I've posted on Bossy Bookworm A friend recommended actress Rebel Wilson's memoir Rebel Rising , and I listened to the Australian's

Gould's memoir of her life as a paramedic is frank, captivating, often revolting, and disarmingly honest Sally Gould's memoir is named after a darkly humorous term of affection for paramedics in Australia ( In her memoir, Gould explores her early days of uncertainty, moments of panic, scenes of complete disgust might also be interested in Bossy reviews of books involving medical or health elements, or in Bossy memoirs

I listened to Perry's memoir as an audiobook. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? For memoirs I've loved that you might want to try, check out these Greedy Reading Lists: Six Musicians ' Memoirs that Sing Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality

Stanley Tucci is also the author of the cookbooks The Tucci Table and The Tucci Cookbook, as well as the memoir

Bob Odenkirk's memoir digs into fascinating elements of process, creativity, and collaboration, and he If you like memoirs, you might want to check out this Greedy Reading List, Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore--which links to six more memoir lists for you to dig into! (That's forty-two Bossy memoir suggestions for those of you as obsessed with memoirs as I apparently

Life of an Ordinary Man to be available through my library, I started watching The Last Movie Stars, a six-part But a memoir, read by the author? I typically can't say no. If you love memoirs, you might like some of the books on my many Bossy lists of favorites: Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, Six Illuminating Memoirs to Check Out, Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore, Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore, Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite, and Six Musicians' Memoirs

Lucinda Williams offers a gritty, honest, captivating, spare yet fully developed memoir in which she If you're interested in this title, you might also like the books on my Greedy Reading List Six Musicians ' Memoirs that Sing.

I listened to Henry Winkler read his irresistibly candid, funny, and poignant memoir.

her baby at nine months in utero and her experience living through grief in this stellar five-star memoir This is a heartrending memoir about losing a child. one of McCracken's short story collections, Thunderstruck & Other Stories, in the Greedy Reading List Six You might also be interested in the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Powerful Memoirs About Facing

Crosley's memoir traces a treasured friendship and the gutting loss of that dear friend. In Sloane Crosley's memoir Grief Is for People, she explores life after the loss of her closest friend I was intrigued by Crosley's mindset and the dark humor, devastating grief, and powerful memories she

tragedy that changed her life forever, but her general optimism and joy feel like the heart of her memoir Her memoir focuses largely on her younger years, including her youthful passion for acting and her path Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore, Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year, Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In, Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite , and Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality.

The playful tone and clever main protagonist in Olivia Waite's science-fiction novella make for an appealing mystery and lay the groundwork for subsequent books. In Olivia Waite's slim science-fiction mystery, Dorothy wakes up...in a body that's not her own. It's uncomfortable but not unheard of. Still, Dorothy was supposed to be in stasis for years after suffering an emotional loss. Yet even more concerning than her situation is the spaceship HMS Fairweather 's current state. An electrical storm has knocked systems offline, and even worse, it seems that someone has deliberately been sabotaging the Library, where the backup for each passenger on the ship is stored. In this outer-space-set mystery, Dorothy must figure out who's behind the destruction and how to save the ship's passengers from further danger. I'm somewhat in love with Dorothy's no-nonsense approach to the issues at hand, her striding manner, and her clever reading of a situation's nuances. She is often exasperated and very funny. The tone of this novella (it's 112 pages) is playful--it reminded me somewhat of Becky Chambers's science fiction --and it also addresses poignant, relevant aspects of the human condition while giving the (correct) impression that happy endings are at hand. I enjoyed this very much and wished it were a full-length novel. More Olivia Waite Olivia Waite is also the author of the Feminine Pursuits series and many other stand-alone novels. For more of my Bossy science-fiction favorites, check out the titles at this link .

ICYMI: Smith evokes a vivid sense of the regional South in her fiction, and in this memoir she traces In her memoir Dimestore, Lee Smith traces her beginnings in the Appalachian coal-mining town of Grundy What could have been simply a charming memoir about growing up in Appalachia and an account the incredible I mentioned this book in my Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore.

He develops methods to cope with his lapses in memory, inability to recall logistics, and suspicions

In Admissions, Kendra James explores race, friendship, ambition, and the absurdities and rhythm of daily life during her time at a New England boarding school. Kendra James was the first Black legacy to graduate from The Taft School, an elite boarding school in Connecticut. When she later works as an admissions officer specializing in diversity recruitment for independent prep schools, she finds herself examining her high school educational experience with a more critical eye, forcing herself to delve more deeply into aspects of her years at Taft that she largely glossed over at the time--and ultimately debating whether or not she should be advising families to pursue the same precarious path she herself followed. Digging into the past often seems a difficult undertaking, and as she looks back, Kendra James explains that her main goals when she attended Taft were not bringing to light racial injustice and leading a charge toward change, but typically teenage: to escape into role-playing video games and write fan fiction, to bond with a few classmates through watching favorite movies, and, primarily, to secure a spot in a college of her choice, then to (as is the goal for many high schoolers, for various reasons) get out of high school and get on with the rest of her life. James notes repeatedly that she felt largely unseen and unknown during her boarding school years. When she attends various Taft alumni events in the years following her graduation, they cement this same feeling. Her appearance in a Taft publication that lists her incorrect graduation year (and reunion year) grates on her as more evidence of this. The majority of page time is focused on aspects of James's boarding-school life, including its rhythms and peculiarities. James received financial aid to attend Taft, then $35,000 a year, and she then attended Oberlin for college, which, by her and her parents' design, was an admissions door likely opened more widely because of her Taft pedigree. But the book is not in large part about financial or class privilege. At times James laments the absence of frank discussions about race that she might have had with her parents, and she criticizes the lack of information she received from them on the topic. She wishes she could have learned more from them before entering Taft about the many ways she might have expected race to affect her life--especially considering the vastly white, elite circles her parents had either dipped their toes into or immersed themselves in: for example, Taft, Smith, Brown, and her father's banking job. The author notes that when she was a high schooler, in that place and time in our society, she didn't have an understanding of the power of daily microaggressions nor of blatant racism--nor did she have the language and perspective she now has to talk about such things--in order to sift through the many disturbing race-based incidents in her young life. James's evaluation of events of these years--including the racism she experienced at school; diverse, acute instances of disturbing behavior, whether race-based and class- and gender-based; and the social segregation of social groups by race--feels hesitantly explored at times as she attempts to dig into her raw teenage feelings while acknowledging her youthful lack of understanding and her early, unformed grasp of the myriad social, racial, and class issues shaping her experience. Regarding a situation in which the strict rule-follower James was accused of wrongdoing while at Taft, the author acknowledges that for years she largely glossed over not only the event, but the racial issues bubbling beneath the incident and her resulting emotional trauma, pushing all of this down until her reckoning with it in young adulthood. Late in the book, James shares select portions of a disturbing article a white student wrote for the school paper while James also attended Taft, in which the article's author largely blames the school's racial divides on the students of color themselves and mentions her discomfort about the existence of programs and events that put people of color at their center. James expresses anger and frustration at Taft's ineffective response--and at the many missed opportunities she sees before and after that event for the school to have shaped an effective approach to true inclusion. In Admissions, James offer a book that is partly a social critique, partly a recounting of the absurdities she experienced, and partly simply her unique story of living away from home and often feeling lonely and alone in her experience. I received a prepublication digital edition of this book courtesy of Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Kendra James was a founding editor at Shondaland, where she worked for two years. She has written articles for various publications and is the author of a romance novel, When Hearts Collide.

I recently mentioned my memoir love (again) and how I've been drawn to memoirs by funny people lately For more more MORE memoirs I've loved that you might want to try, check out the Greedy Reading Lists Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year, Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In, Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite, and Six Powerful Memoirs about Or simply search "Memoir" in the Bossy search bar on each page of this site.

I didn't know of the author before her memoir began garnering attention. Blood: A Memoir reads like her journal; Moorer sifts through memories, looks through photos, celebrates read as though Moorer is flogging her significant sorrow and anger or highlighting dramatic events for memoir I first mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Memoirs I'm Reading Now, 10/7/20 Edition You might also like the list Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year.

She has a perfect memory: she's able to recall events, surroundings, and information down to the finest She is found face down and unconscious in Prospect Park, with no memory of what has occurred. She experiences other instances of activity and agency without then having any memory of such; she has More Novels about Memory Karen Thompson Walker is also the author of The Age of Miracles . Please click here for more Bossy reviews of books about memory.

I listened to Katie Couric's memoir Going There, in which she traces her media career from its modest This isn't the crux of Couric's memoir, and I imagine it was difficult to manage how to address this : Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality

I listened to this audiobook and highly recommend immersing yourself in Michelle Obama's voice as she shares calm, wise, funny, or poignant reflections, personal practices, and gems of advice regarding retaining hope and being your best self. Many of us, I think, puzzle out our identities only over time, figuring out who we are and what we need in order to get by. We approximate our way into maturity, often following some loose idea of what we believe grown-up life is supposed to look like.... We make mistakes and then start over again.... We sample and discard different attitudes, approaches, influences, and tools for living until, piece by piece, we begin to better understand what suits us best, what helps us most. I read Michelle Obama's wonderful book Becoming, but after my wise friend Katherine mentioned having listened to it, I immediately wished I had heard Michelle's calming voice read it to me too. So I decided to listen to The Light We Carry and was instantly sure audiobook was the right format for me. Rather than pretending there are quick fixes for life's challenges and difficulties, Obama opens up her "toolbox" of emotional, meditative, and optimistic methods of coping, reminding herself of what's what, and ways in which she carries on in the face of adversity. While her White House circumstances are unusual and some of her related recollections are unique, her methods translate to the rest of us and daily life. She builds her book around pivotal encounters with others or aims to answer questions that have been frequently posed to her, along the way sharing more of the story of her family, marriage, political life, friendships, frustrations, hopes, goals, and joys. It sounds unfairly simplistic to summarize her practices with the short, catchy phrases she builds upon: "starting kind," "when they go low, we go high," and forming a "kitchen table" of friendships. While the ideas aren't complicated--which is the point of this book, after all: offering meaningful ways to be and to keep hope and be a light in the world--there are emotionally revealing stories and shining gems to dig into here. I didn't necessarily come away with new approaches (aside from entertaining the idea of incorporating a version of her friend's "Hey, Buddy!" morning self-greeting), but I thoroughly enjoyed and felt calmed by listening to this wise, kind, savvy woman read her gorgeously written thoughts and well-crafted reflections. Her writing--deep self-reflection with sometimes poetic phrasing--is just beautiful. I loved reading this and spending time with Michelle Obama. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Michelle Obama is also the author of Becoming and American Grown.

Immaculate Conception explores art and inspiration; how trauma shapes us; the fraught prospect of altering memories But the company's business is in cutting-edge technology tied to brain-altering treatments related to memory In this speculative fiction story, issues of memory, creativity, wealth and power, envy, fame, self-doubt More from this Author--and More Books about Memory Ling Ling Huang is also the author of the novel Natural For other Bossy reviews of books about memory, please check out the titles at this link .

McCracken straddles the line between novel and memoir in a work whose heart is a love letter to her extraordinary The Hero of This Book straddles the line between fiction and memoir, as the book feels like a deeply The narrator/McCracken states how much her mother detested memoirs, and The Hero of This Book even includes Perhaps you fear writing a memoir, reasonably. Invent a single man and call your book a novel. one of McCracken's short story collections, Thunderstruck & Other Stories, in the Greedy Reading List Six

Crawford's memoir lays bare systemic lies, gross injustices, horrifying abuses of privilege and power Know My Name by Chanel Miller is another memoir that thoughtfully reflects on sexual assault, societal

I prefer listening to my memoirs read by the author, and I loved hearing U2's songwriter and lead singer If you enjoy musicians' memoirs about the making of their music and their lives, you might like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Musicians' Memoirs that Sing.

I listened to Broken Horses: A Memoir by Brandi Carlile, and I highly recommend the audiobook. Broken Horses feels like a memoir for which I might actually need to experience the audiobook and the I often feel torn when I read celebrity memoirs, because while I understand that people must keep some If you like memoirs, you might try the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year, Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, and Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself