by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 5, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir
Good Boy, the latest memoir from Jennifer Finney Boylan, makes me want to go adopt a dog. And it also makes me glad I don’t have one. She tells a plethora of funny and poignant stories about dog ownership. Alternately, she tells about dogs who despise their owners and...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 18, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir
William Finnegan combines several genres in Barbarian Days, despite its subtitle of A Surfing Life. It’s part discussion of surfing theory, combined with travelogue, buddy road trip, and memoir. Finnegan covers a lot of his life, starting in his pre-teen years and...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 11, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir
Tara Westover tells the story of her unique upbringing in Educated. And that might be the most understated sentence ever used in a book review. Westover’s parents are Mormon, but also combined that faith with more fundamentalist beliefs. They stockpile weapons and...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 15, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir
Joanna Guest compiles and discusses the myriad notes she and her brother received from their dad, Bob. He created a note—with both writing and art—every day during most of their school years. Bob is an artist, a philosophic thinker, but most of all, he’s a dad. And...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Mar 6, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir
Lisa Anselmo had a good life in New York City. A good job, with family nearby, and regular vacations in Paris. Then her mother passed away from cancer, and Lisa felt utterly unmoored. She reached out to Paris, beginning to spend more time there. The time there helped....
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 26, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir
Terese Marie Mailhot bares it all in her memoir, Heart Berries. Nothing’s off limits—abuse, mental illness, dysfunctional family and relationships. I often say that a good memoir lets me slide inside the author’s skin. This is a rough skin to spend time in, and I give...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 17, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir, RESIST: Politics
Native New Yorker David Litt was politically aware enough in college to volunteer for Barack Obama’s first Presidential campaign. Then he moved to Washington, D.C. and tried to get a job after graduation. After an internship, he networked himself into Obama’s White...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 3, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir
Tessa Fontaine runs away to join a circus sideshow after graduate school. It’s dream fulfillment, and a chance to escape the reality of her dramatically ill mother. While many daughters would refuse to leave their mother’s side, Fontaine has a more complicated...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 29, 2018 | RELAX: Memoir, RESIST: Politics
It isn’t easy to be the 9 zillioneth reviewer of Becoming by Michelle Obama. But here I am, wondering how I’ll make this an original and meaningful review.Let’s get the basics out of the way. I loved this book, and am especially glad I listened to the audiobook. While...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 27, 2018 | RELAX: Memoir
River Queens is the story of a voyage through America. But more than that, it’s the story of Alexander Watson, Dale Harris, their dog Doris Faye, and their boat the Betty Jane. It made me laugh, learn, and even shed a tear.Watson and Harris are landlubbers from Dallas...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Oct 17, 2018 | RELAX: Memoir, RESIST: Politics
Beck Dorey-Stein is a charming and funny young woman, as is her book, From the Corner of the Oval. The day after I finished her book, I met Beck at the Harrisburg Book Festival. She joined former speechwriter and fellow author David Litt on the stage, while...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Aug 26, 2018 | RELAX: Memoir
Abigail Thomas has been writing and publishing for most of her adult life, which has been long. In this memoir, What Comes Next and How to Like It (WCNAHTLI), she opens up about a variety of personal experiences. It’s about her dogs, her children, her best friend, her...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 31, 2018 | RELAX: Memoir
Eric Ripert and his book 32 Yolks made me think about my own knife skills. And how pathetic they are. This enticing memoir, subtitled From My Mother’s Table to Working the Line, tells the story of his early life and career beginnings. It’s an enjoyable read, even when...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 2, 2018 | RELAX: Memoir
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story Of War and What Came After from Clemantine Wamariya is the moving memoir of a Rwandan refugee. In truth, it’s the story of Wamariya, her sister Claire, and a variety of other family members. But it’s told by Wamariya, who was...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 28, 2018 | RELAX: Memoir
Joni: The Anthology is a variety of articles, interviews, and reviews collected by editor Barney Hoskyns. It is all Joni Mitchell, all the time. And, even if you aren’t a rabid Joni fan, it’s an interesting collection. The “chapters” are individual, previously...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Mar 31, 2018 | RELAX: Memoir
Before my ebook hit 25%, Joe Biden’s family stories in Promise Me, Dad had me crying. There’s plenty of other content in this heartfelt memoir, but the focus is on Beau Biden’s fight with cancer. Beau is Joe Biden’s oldest son, technically Joe III. His life story is...
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