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pacing was slow--detailing Lucy and Sam's (and their parents' long-ago) long journeys and extended memories

01 With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt In Leavitt's novel, published by Algonquin Books late last summer, Simon and Stella have been together for twenty years, living through the ups and down and joys and stresses of a decades-long marriage. Simon has been hoping all along that his struggling music career would someday take off, but it didn't look as though his dreams would ever come true. But right before Simon gets a chance to go on tour, and just as he's letting his hopes soar that this might finally be his big break, Stella falls into a coma. He should stay, but will he go? And what happens to their long-held dynamic when Stella wakes up with new and artistic gifts of her own? In With or Without You, Leavitt explores what happens to a marriage when the people in it change, and their dreams along with them. 02 Untamed by Glennon Doyle Doyle, the bestselling author of Carry On, Warrior and Love Warrior, writes again about her life's ups and downs in Untamed, here sharing lessons she's learned about being true to herself, loving herself and caring for others, bringing up her children, finding love, and not listening to outside critics. In Untamed, Doyle focuses largely on how women can "take up space in the world;" feel and express a full gamut of emotions rather than keeping the peace; reject the myth of the ideal martyrdom of motherhood and sacrificing everything for family; and generally rely on their inner voices to guide them into living honest, genuine, and fulfilling lives. I feel as though readers may be in or out on this author; I enjoy glimpses into Glennon's love story with Abby Wambach and how she strives to make the world a better place. 03 City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert In City of Girls, Gilbert writes about a young woman's coming of age in 1940s New York City. Vivian, now an older woman, is writing letters to a younger woman about her own youthful indiscretions and adventures in her aunt Peg's rowdy theatre with its many colorful characters, creative opportunities, and unending potential for mischief. So far Gilbert's old New York detail is wonderful, and young Vivian's carousing is entertaining, sexy, and an interesting take on feminism for the time. I'm listening to this as an audiobook. I generally find Gilbert (who is good friends with Glennon Doyle, mentioned above) to be a really lovely writer, as in the case of the nonfiction Last American Man and the novel The Signature of All Things. She also wrote the polarizing Eat, Pray, Love, which like many other readers, I had mixed feelings about, and which probably warrants inclusion on a Titles That Might Break Your Book Club list--hmmm, stay tuned for that blog post. What are you reading early in this new year? I have a stack of books from the holidays and the library (With or Without You, I see you staring me down) to read, yet I started reading the e-book of Untamed and listening to the audiobook of City of Girls because they were available as I was crafting my household's recent library hold lists, and most importantly because I have a serious problem of hoarding books in all formats. As we are likely all aware by now. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days?

In With or Without You, Leavitt explores fascinating angles related to memory and self.

And memory is not strictly mortal in its nature, either.

01 Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir by Lacy Crawford Crawford thought the trauma of her assault at St. Notes on a Silencing is a memoir in which Crawford, now a wife and mother, faces the challenges of asserting

His mother died when he was young, and he has no memory of her. The author also wrote the memoir Between the World and Me. 02 The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz This book

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

When he begins to have memory loss and other odd symptoms, he realizes it’s linked to his past time travel

wrote the exquisite All the Light We Cannot See, as well as The Shell Collector, Four Seasons in Rome, Memory

Lewis's transformation stirs up difficult memories and complex emotions surrounding Wren's mother's change

timelines; The Beekeeper's Promise, set in 1938 France with a second timeline decades later; and Sea of Memories

With the passing of the years, however, those memories become distant and malleable, and we shape them

What they were reaching back for weren’t your memories—they were their own.

She eschews any talk of Lucy’s children, marriage, real life, saying “I love you,” or of memories that reflections in a way that I was not, for example, with regard to Ann Patchett's characters and the memories

story structure, dark humor, and deeply flawed characters as main protagonist Lucy works to resolve her memory

She's built years of happy memories in their low-key beach house rental.

studies the rare striated caracaras, their origins, their story, their demonstrated capabilities for memory Part memoir, part travelogue, and part science writing, A Most Remarkable Creature is a book that feels

It's January 1889, and Veronica and her natural historian beau Stoker are working on a memorial exhibition

fiction, two historical fiction mysteries (one with magical elements at its heart), a fictionalized memoir Truth. 05 The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken McCracken straddles the line between novel and memoir The Hero of This Book straddles the line between fiction and memoir, as the letter feels deeply like The Hero of This Book is one way in which the author refuses to allow her many vivid memories of her

story structure, dark humor, and deeply flawed characters as main protagonist Lucy works to resolve her memory

captivating character here, although she exists largely off page and in the main protagonist's mixed-feelings memories

For my full review, check out Maame. 02 Solito by Javier Zamora Zamora's memoir of his grueling journey perspective, which also serves to keep us focused on moment-by-moment sensations and concerns and makes the memoir Newman's lets the reader into Edi and Ash's rabbit warren of private jokes and moments and memories,

For my full review, please check out The Everlasting . 05 This American Woman : A One-in-a-Million Memoir Her memoir is candid, poignant, funny, and always entertaining. I laughed out loud repeatedly while I was reading this charming memoir by this strong, funny woman. For more memoirs you might like, please check out these Bossy reviews as well as Greedy Reading Lists determine what they're made of as they consider friendship, betrayal, fear of failure, the power of memory

Rory Docherty has returned to rural North Carolina with a wooden leg and haunting memories of his time

01 Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon It's the last day of high school, and nemeses Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have battled bitterly for every title, position, honor, and moment of recognition during their high school career. They wake up today texting their usual taunts and challenges. But today will be different: this is the day they'll find out which of them has earned the desired title of class valedictorian. For the unfortunate one, the only hope of regaining glory would be to win the elaborate seniors' game of Howl, a challenging competition that spans the city of Seattle. And if Neil and Rowan look like they're teamed up for the game, it's only because they each intend to use their teammate to get into a winning position--and then take them down. But spending time working together for once allows Rowan and Neil to see sides of the other person that aren't so infuriating and off-putting after all. It sounds crazy, but in a way, they almost seem like the perfect match. Rachel Lynn Solomon's young adult novel Today Tonight Tomorrow feels like a smart, sweet read to start the new year. (For my review, see Today Tonight Tomorrow.) 02 The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins In Rachel Hawkins's mystery The Wife Upstairs, set for January 5, 2021 publication, the main players and their histories aren't what they seem. Jane is a young woman who is new to Birmingham, Alabama. She's seemingly trustworthy and nonthreatening, the perfect dog-walker for upscale Mountain Brook families. And if, while she's taking care of their beloved pets, Jane slips a few small valuables into her pockets, to sell for cash or just because she can, no one is likely to ever be the wiser. But Jane--who's taken on this new name and is desperate to leave her dark past behind her--has wormed her way into the idyllic community in the aftermath of a tragedy. Two of the neighborhood's cherished young wives, longtime best friends, died months earlier in a boating accident. When Jane places herself in the path of one of the widowers and he shows interest in her, she can't believe her luck. This could be a better new beginning than even she could have manipulated into reality. But is Jane doing the scheming, or is something more sinister going on? I received a prepublication copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. (For my review, see The Wife Upstairs.) 03 Here For It by R. Eric Thomas In Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas, the creator of Elle's sassy and smart "Eric Reads the News" column, shares his thoughts, experiences, and reflections about life and the world around us with honesty and humor. In essays that are sometimes heartbreaking, often inspiring, and that frequently make me laugh out loud, Thomas explores his sheltered youth, his growing realizations that he was different than most people he knew, his shame and fear about living as his authentic self, and his meandering path toward his current life circumstances, in which he is living as he once only dreamed: he is joyfully challenged professionally, he is unapologetically his own unique self, he is exploring his complicated relationship with religion, and he deeply loves and is loved by his (pastor) husband. My friend Katherine recommended this book to me last spring and I'm finally getting around to reading it--I'm actually listening to it as an audiobook, and I adore hearing Thomas's voice take me through his essays. This is refreshing and so playful yet thoughtful, I love it so far. (I finished! For my full review, see Here For It.) What are you reading to start the new year? I've just started Today Tonight Tomorrow, my book club's first title of the year, and I do like the idea easing into 2021 with a young adult nemeses-fall-in-love premise. The Wife Upstairs has been aging nicely in my Kindle for months, until my realization that its publication date was fast approaching. It's a fast and engaging read so far, which also feels just right for these gray days of winter. And I'm listening to R. Eric Thomas read his audiobook, which I highly recommend. His voice and delivery are fabulous. What are you reading at the start of this new year? I just picked up an armful of library holds, and along with the stack of books I received as holiday gifts, I am now in possession of all the books. I hope this weekend holds some cozy reading time with books you love.

She's built years of happy memories in their low-key beach house rental. For my full review, check out The Goddess of Warsaw . 06 In Memoriam by Alice Winn Alice Winn's account Alice Winn's gorgeous, brutal, captivating historical fiction In Memoriam  is set during World War I. In Memoriam is beautiful, frequently painful, and offers a layered, complicated version of happy ever I listened to In Memoriam  as an audiobook. For my full review, please see In Memoriam .

hallucinations and mental illness...until she realizes that the red door and visions of the past are real memories

When she flees to remote California, her ability to travel through memory to revisit the past secures

story structure, dark humor, and deeply flawed characters as main protagonist Lucy works to resolve her memory

hallucinations and mental illness...until she realizes that the red door and visions of the past are real memories

Isabelle can't stop searching for her son, but she begins to wonder if she's an unreliable source of memories

young woman figuring out her place in the world, Mary Jane; and Dave Grohl's irresistible music-mania memoir Whether Sedaris is reliving specific, offbeat memories and mining them for poignancy and also laughs, I listened to Dave Grohl's memoir, in which he tracks his youth in Springfield, Virginia; through his

her experiences through her childlike point of view, which allows for a painfully pure set of painful memories

determine what they're made of as they consider friendship, betrayal, fear of failure, the power of memory

Loved Last Year Six Four-Star (And Up) Science Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year, and Six of My Favorite Memoir scene in Kabul with the vivid sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the past that reemerge in Sitara's memories

When she flees to remote California, her ability to travel through memory to revisit the past secures

second chances take shape, a little retribution, and an attempt at a changed existence—but the haunting memories

The memories are beginning to slowly shift back into focus, but he needs them now.

reads of the past month, in no particular order: No Cure for Being Human, a funny, raw, thoughtful memoir Reading memoirs centered around cancer is not always a go for me, but this book was special. scene in Kabul with the vivid sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the past that reemerge in Sitara's memories

heart the very same--through their unspeakable loss, desire for revenge, search for meaning, haunting memories

I included an immersive memoir (check out my endless Greedy Reading Lists of memoirs for more in this In doing so, he traces old memories and tracks down details from his childhood, reliving moments, piecing I listened to Broken Horses: A Memoir by Brandi Carlile, and I can't imagine feeling the full emotions

Alice Winn's gorgeous, brutal, captivating historical fiction In Memoriam  is set during World War I. I listened to In Memoriam  as an audiobook. For my full review, please see In Memoriam . in books about mortality like I am, you might like the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Powerful Memoirs She's built years of happy memories in their low-key beach house rental. And for a bajillion other Bossy memoir reviews, check out the titles at this link .

referred to in the book's title, there is a captivating, dark, in-between world of floating, nebulous memories

His book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland was one of my Six of the

her parents' accounts hold merit, and begins to wonder with horror whether she can trust even her own memories

The memories are beginning to slowly shift back into focus, but he needs them now.

Reading memoirs centered around cancer is not always a go for me, but this book was special. scene in Kabul with the vivid sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the past that reemerge in Sitara's memories full review, check out Our Woman in Moscow. 08 You Can't Be Serious by Kal Penn ​Penn's thoughtful memoir Penn pulls his memoir into another gear when he adds the fascinating layer of accidental political activism

It asks us to consider who sets and shapes our shared national memory and what and who gets left out.

The memories are beginning to slowly shift back into focus, but he needs them now.

Alice Winn's gorgeous, brutal, captivating historical fiction In Memoriam  is set during World War I. In Memoriam is beautiful, frequently painful, and offers a layered, complicated version of happy ever I listened to In Memoriam  as an audiobook. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?