memoirs

  • Seattle Picks: Biography and Memoir

     There’s a great list of suggested biographies — Seattle Picks: Biography and Memoir — in our catalog, and most of them are available now or have short holds lists. We selected these six titles with a literary tie-in to feature here. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami After selling his jazz… Continue reading

  • Citation chase

    If I were to think of all the books I have read because they were mentioned in another book, why I would be thinking for quite a while here.  It is so often the case that I follow an author’s mention of a title and look for and read that title, that I don’t even… Continue reading

  • Life Stories: Memoirs of Remarkable Lives.

    The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson While some accounts of life in the 1950s can make that decade seem sterile and flat, Bryson’s account is alive with action, fondness and vivid detail about his imagination-filled childhood and quirky parents. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers… Continue reading

  • Life Stories: Biographies of Famous People

    My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme   The iconic chef of television and cookbook fame recounts her surprisingly saucy adventures with the French and their cuisine, from World War II onward.  The descriptions of food and place are mouth-watering.   The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown Our enduring fascination with the life of… Continue reading

  • Life Stories: Biographies of Challenging Lives

    Running with Scissors: A Memoir, by Augusten Burroughs Part madcap adventure, part coming-of-age story and part intense reflection on a difficult childhood, Burroughs’ memoir relates his years in an eccentric foster home where nothing is out of bounds. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s, by John Elder Robison Robinson, brother of Augusten… Continue reading

  • A New Craze in Memoir Writing

    Writing your life in six words… Is it too hard a challenge— or just the kind you like? Here’s a book with others’ examples (sequel to this timeless tiny tome): inspiring, hilarious, meditative, poignant, regretful, triumphant. Try it next time you’re free!              ~ Ann G Continue reading

  • Parenting in the Wired Age

    Parents today have so many networks and resources available to them. It can be daunting, but it can also be reassuring. There are so many decisions to make, so many styles to choose from. Do you breastfeed or bottle-feed, or both? What bottles should you use? Cloth or disposable? Co-sleeping or crib? Those first months… Continue reading

  • Growing Up Small

    A Girl Named Zippy: Growing up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel. This witty memoir about growing up in a small town in the 1970s is quirky, endearing and laugh-out-loud funny.  Although populated with some peculiar characters, this autobiography is not a depressing account of dysfunction. There is something joyful and uplifting, though certainly… Continue reading