Memoirs That Are Too Good Not To Read
Reading outside of the fiction genres can be really inspiring. At The Bookery, we love exploring and learning about someone else’s reality. That’s why we’re recommending these beautiful memoirs.
1.Recollections Of My Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit.
Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explain Things to Me, shares her formation as a writer and feminist in 1980s San Francisco, where women were still far from being accepted into society.
We recommend this one because it is mesmerizing. It gives us a glimpse into this famous essayist’s journey of coming of age as a thinker. It is a very powerful and thought-provoking book.
Buy this book and support local bookstores in doing so!
2. How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones
Haunted and haunting, Jones’s memoir tells the story of a young, black, gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears.
We recommend this book it is a great memoir. The author writes beautifully. It is a very intimate book that just touches your heart. You’ll be left wanting more after reading this one.
Buy this book and support local bookstores in doing so!
3. The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil
In The Girl Who Smiled Beads, Clemantine provokes us to look beyond the label of “victim” and recognize the power of the imagination to transcend even the most profound injuries and aftershocks. Devastating yet beautiful, and bracingly original, it is a powerful testament to her commitment to constructing a life on her own terms.
We recommend this book because it is simply beautiful. Clemantine reflects about her life and especially about her past with her sister Claire. It is powerful and heartbreaking, but so eye-opening and brilliant.
Buy this book and support local bookstores in doing so!
4. Stray by Stephanie Danler
Stephanie Danler’s Stray shares the heartbreaking story of the Sweetbitter author’s life that ends up taking a turn when she’s forced to return to Southern California. There she confronts her past and her relationships with her mother, who struggled with alcoholism and suffered a brain aneurysm, and her father, who abandoned her family when she was three.
We recommend this book because it is a beautiful read. Stephanie Danler narrates events of her life in such a clear and wonderful way. It is a raw story that will leave you breathless.
Buy this book and support local bookstores in doing so!
5. Everything Happens For A Reason by Kate Bowler
Thirty-five-year-old Kate Bowler was a professor at the school of divinity at Duke, and had finally had a baby with her childhood sweetheart after years of trying, when she began to feel jabbing pains in her stomach. She lost thirty pounds, chugged antacid, and visited doctors for three months before she was finally diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.
We recommend this book because Kate’s journey is just amazing. Through her writing, she navigates us through the aftermath of her diagnosis. It is beautiful and inspiring.
Buy this book and support local bookstores in doing so!
If any of these books caught your attention, or you’re looking for more, check out our Bookshop. We’ve made a list with various titles for you to shop and in doing so, you help local bookstores!
