I love food and travel memoirs. A recent favorite of mine is My Life in France by Julia Child. Julia's voice is wonderful - she writes in a matter-of-fact way, but also with so much joy. Another favorite is The Only Street in Paris by Elaine Sciolino. Paris is my favorite city, and this book made me feel like I was there. Sciolino is a journalist, so she shares some fun facts about her neighborhood in Paris, but she also shares delightful stories of the people who live there.
Oh, both of these sound wonderful, they are going on my TBR. Now to check Libby to see if my library cards have either of them. I love food memoirs as so many of them have a travel component or foreign county to them. I don't know that I'll ever travel internationally, so I like to live vicariously through writers and their travels. Thanks for the recommendations and for reading.
Thanks for reading Carol. If you are a podcast listener, did you know that Dani Shapiro also has a podcast where she talked to people that have found out similar things throughs their own DNA testing. I've listened to a few episodes and enjoyed them.
You write wonderful and engaging descriptions of the books and I learn something each time I read your posts. Thank you! The last very good memoir I read was "The Last Hard Time" by Timothy Egan. It is an older book so quite inexpensive to pick up on the secondary market. It revealed what the Dust Bowl was really like. I knew very little before (The Wizard of Oz) but learned a lot as he profiled 12 different families and their experience.
Thanks for reading Mark. I've never heard of that book or author. There is a novel called
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah which is fictional about the Dust Bowl era that I hear is very good. Very sad and realistic. I have it on hold, one of these days I might actually get to it.
I never thought about memoirs being different than autobiographies, but am glad to learn the difference! Garlic & Sapphires just went to the top of my list.
I didn't realize the difference either until I read something a few years back. Maybe this falls under a "genre" classification. There are fiction and nonfiction books and then I guess everything else is considered a genre. lol. I just read what I enjoy reading and write about those things that I think others will like also. Thanks for reading.
I also really like memoirs. Narrative nonfiction, they read like stories. I find (auto) biographies a bit dry, and they always seem too long. An excellent one I recently read with a friend is “Blue Sky Kingdom” by Bruce Kirkby. A family travels to live in a Tibetan Buddisht monastery for three months, to escape the trappings of technology in modern life. A journey, in every sense of the word. About adventure, family, community. He also draws attention to how that remote part of the world is changing due to outside influence.
I haven't heard of Blue Sky Kingdom but it sounds really interesting. A lot of nonfiction whether biography/autobiography or self help or whatever, is a lot of the time dry and boring. Narrative nonfiction is wonderful if it is written correctly. I wrote a newsletter back in August about narrative nonfiction for all ages and it also has many links to lists of other narrative nonfiction. Here is the link in case you missed it.
Thanks for reminding me how much I love memoirs and for your suggestions on what to read. I’m a particular fan of food memoirs and am inspired by the great writing and recipes of Ruth Reichl (“Tender at the Bone” and others I’d like to read). Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” is on my bedside table. I keep buying cookbooks as much for their memoirist aspect as for their recipes. You’ve given me some ideas for a future post, so thanks, Gayla!
Awe, thanks Ruth. I have so many memoirs that I want to read and in looking at them, I realize that so many are food or travel related. I subscribe to several Substack "food/foodie" newsletters even though I don't really cook anything that needs a recipe. I am just a foodie that likes how food writers write, I guess. Thanks for reading.
I love food and travel memoirs. A recent favorite of mine is My Life in France by Julia Child. Julia's voice is wonderful - she writes in a matter-of-fact way, but also with so much joy. Another favorite is The Only Street in Paris by Elaine Sciolino. Paris is my favorite city, and this book made me feel like I was there. Sciolino is a journalist, so she shares some fun facts about her neighborhood in Paris, but she also shares delightful stories of the people who live there.
Oh, both of these sound wonderful, they are going on my TBR. Now to check Libby to see if my library cards have either of them. I love food memoirs as so many of them have a travel component or foreign county to them. I don't know that I'll ever travel internationally, so I like to live vicariously through writers and their travels. Thanks for the recommendations and for reading.
I love a thoughtful memoir! I have so many favorites! The only one on your list I’ve read is Inheritance.
Thanks for reading Carol. If you are a podcast listener, did you know that Dani Shapiro also has a podcast where she talked to people that have found out similar things throughs their own DNA testing. I've listened to a few episodes and enjoyed them.
I didn’t know that! Thanks for the info!
You write wonderful and engaging descriptions of the books and I learn something each time I read your posts. Thank you! The last very good memoir I read was "The Last Hard Time" by Timothy Egan. It is an older book so quite inexpensive to pick up on the secondary market. It revealed what the Dust Bowl was really like. I knew very little before (The Wizard of Oz) but learned a lot as he profiled 12 different families and their experience.
Thanks for reading Mark. I've never heard of that book or author. There is a novel called
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah which is fictional about the Dust Bowl era that I hear is very good. Very sad and realistic. I have it on hold, one of these days I might actually get to it.
Both my wife and I have read Kristin Hannah and we both enjoy her writing. I remember the Nightingale specifically and it was very good.
I never thought about memoirs being different than autobiographies, but am glad to learn the difference! Garlic & Sapphires just went to the top of my list.
I didn't realize the difference either until I read something a few years back. Maybe this falls under a "genre" classification. There are fiction and nonfiction books and then I guess everything else is considered a genre. lol. I just read what I enjoy reading and write about those things that I think others will like also. Thanks for reading.
I also really like memoirs. Narrative nonfiction, they read like stories. I find (auto) biographies a bit dry, and they always seem too long. An excellent one I recently read with a friend is “Blue Sky Kingdom” by Bruce Kirkby. A family travels to live in a Tibetan Buddisht monastery for three months, to escape the trappings of technology in modern life. A journey, in every sense of the word. About adventure, family, community. He also draws attention to how that remote part of the world is changing due to outside influence.
I haven't heard of Blue Sky Kingdom but it sounds really interesting. A lot of nonfiction whether biography/autobiography or self help or whatever, is a lot of the time dry and boring. Narrative nonfiction is wonderful if it is written correctly. I wrote a newsletter back in August about narrative nonfiction for all ages and it also has many links to lists of other narrative nonfiction. Here is the link in case you missed it.
https://sonovelicious.substack.com/p/narrative-nonfiction-that-reads-like
Thanks for reading :)
Thanks for reminding me how much I love memoirs and for your suggestions on what to read. I’m a particular fan of food memoirs and am inspired by the great writing and recipes of Ruth Reichl (“Tender at the Bone” and others I’d like to read). Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” is on my bedside table. I keep buying cookbooks as much for their memoirist aspect as for their recipes. You’ve given me some ideas for a future post, so thanks, Gayla!
Awe, thanks Ruth. I have so many memoirs that I want to read and in looking at them, I realize that so many are food or travel related. I subscribe to several Substack "food/foodie" newsletters even though I don't really cook anything that needs a recipe. I am just a foodie that likes how food writers write, I guess. Thanks for reading.
Love memoirs, Gayla!