Five Memoirs For Your Summer Reading List
1. BRUTALLY HONEST by Melanie Brown--This memoir details former Spice Girl, Mel B, and her roller-coaster life. It covers her working-class childhood and adolescence in the UK; her introduction to the music industry when, as a teen, she answered the newspaper ad that led her to join the famous girl band; her years on tour; and her struggles with her obsessively controlling, abusive Svengali-like husband. An engrossing read.
2. ONE DROP: MY FATHER'S HIDDEN LIFE by Bliss Broyard--A fascinating, well-researched, and well-written memoir, ONE DROP depicts the "double life" of NY Times writer Anatole Broyard, who 'passed' as white for most of his adult life. I found it interesting
that the author embraced her "one drop" of African ancestry with little to no distress. Other people in the same or similar situation have not reacted favorably. Ultimately, ONE DROP ends up being an amazing example of how to investigate one's ancestry and grapple with the results. This book is a worthy homage to Ms. Broyard's father.
3. NOTHING LIKE I IMAGINED by Mindy Kaling--A collection of six personal essays that expound on the actress' life as a new mom ("Help Is on the Way") or as a secular Indian-American ("Kind of Hindu"). The essays are funny, revealing, witty, entertaining and upbeat--a fun read.
4. THE TURKISH LOVER by Esmeralda Santiago--A cautionary tale, this memoir depicts how the author 'eloped' at age 20 with Ulvi, a Turkish filmmaker seventeen years her senior, whom she partnered with for the next eight years. By the book's end, Ms.
Santiago severs her tumultuous relationship with Ulvi and graduates magna cum laude from Harvard University.
5. THE OPPOSITE OF FATE by Amy Tan--This wonderful collection of essays is chock full of scenes from the author's life--from childhood and adolescence to her life as an "author" (a moniker she dislikes). My personal favorite is "My Love Affair With Vladimir Nabokov." A few of the essays depict Ms. Tan's mother, who almost seems a character in a tragic opera.
--Yolanda A. Reid
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For more memoirs, click here: https://www.pinterest.com/shakespeare...
2. ONE DROP: MY FATHER'S HIDDEN LIFE by Bliss Broyard--A fascinating, well-researched, and well-written memoir, ONE DROP depicts the "double life" of NY Times writer Anatole Broyard, who 'passed' as white for most of his adult life. I found it interesting
that the author embraced her "one drop" of African ancestry with little to no distress. Other people in the same or similar situation have not reacted favorably. Ultimately, ONE DROP ends up being an amazing example of how to investigate one's ancestry and grapple with the results. This book is a worthy homage to Ms. Broyard's father.
3. NOTHING LIKE I IMAGINED by Mindy Kaling--A collection of six personal essays that expound on the actress' life as a new mom ("Help Is on the Way") or as a secular Indian-American ("Kind of Hindu"). The essays are funny, revealing, witty, entertaining and upbeat--a fun read.
4. THE TURKISH LOVER by Esmeralda Santiago--A cautionary tale, this memoir depicts how the author 'eloped' at age 20 with Ulvi, a Turkish filmmaker seventeen years her senior, whom she partnered with for the next eight years. By the book's end, Ms.
Santiago severs her tumultuous relationship with Ulvi and graduates magna cum laude from Harvard University.
5. THE OPPOSITE OF FATE by Amy Tan--This wonderful collection of essays is chock full of scenes from the author's life--from childhood and adolescence to her life as an "author" (a moniker she dislikes). My personal favorite is "My Love Affair With Vladimir Nabokov." A few of the essays depict Ms. Tan's mother, who almost seems a character in a tragic opera.
--Yolanda A. Reid
______________
For more memoirs, click here: https://www.pinterest.com/shakespeare...
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