16 memorable memoirs in essays, stories, and snapshots

I Am, I Am, I Am

by Maggie O'Farrell

In O'Farrell's memoir-of-sorts, she tells the story of her life through seventeen brushes with death. I didn't quite believe the premise when I first heard it (Seventeen brushes? Really?), but O'Farrell doesn't mess around with this heart-pounding collection, in which she recounts near-misses with car accidents, murderers, anaphylaxis, a childhood bout with encephalitis, and more. There's obviously some sensitive content here, but I'd like to especially point out that O'Farrell's heart-rending essay on miscarriage is some of the finest writing I've seen on the subject (a subject that's not covered enough in literature).

My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South

by Rick Bragg

This is one of the best things I've ever listened to—which I did NOT expect from an essay collection. Bragg reads 70-ish pieces of his nonfiction work, most of which have been previously published. Some are just a few minutes long; the longest runs for about fifteen. He covers A LOT of ground: football, fishing, book tour, his mama's cornbread, wardrobe concerns, New Orleans cuisine, natural disasters. These stories are compact, wistful, funny, and poignant. So good.

Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say

by Kelly Corrigan

I adored this book; I wish I could download it into my brain. Kelly talks in depth about how after her friend Liz was diagnosed with cancer, they both pushed past the surface stuff to forge a powerful and enduring friendship. (The dedication page makes me cry every time: "I wish we could have done this together, Lizzard, though in a way, we sort of did.") This book will make you want to be a better friend, and also give you insight into how. Personal, heartfelt, and really really good.

I Miss You When I Blink: Essays

by Mary Laura Philpott

In her entertaining new essay collection, Philpott shares real, relatable stories that feel highly personal yet manage to encompass the universal experience of managing a life that, at times, grows unwieldy. The situations Philpott writes of will be familiar to many readers; after all, we’ve lived them ourselves. But she articulates her own experience in a way that makes you see it again, for the first time—and for that, I am grateful. Funny and poignant, smart and witty, and highly recommended for fans of Kelly Corrigan, Glennon Doyle, and Beth Ann Fennelly.

Black Is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine

by Emily Bernard

From the publisher: "In these twelve deeply personal, connected essays, Bernard details the experience of growing up black in the south with a family name inherited from a white man, surviving a random stabbing at a New Haven coffee shop, marrying a white man from the North and bringing him home to her family, adopting two children from Ethiopia, and living and teaching in a primarily white New England college town. Each of these essays sets out to discover a new way of talking about race and of telling the truth as the author has lived it. 'Blackness is an art, not a science. It is a paradox: intangible and visceral; a situation and a story. It is the thread that connects these essays, but its significance as an experience emerges randomly, unpredictably. . . . Race is the story of my life, and therefore black is the body of this book.'"

Here for It: Or How to Save Your Soul in America

by R. Eric Thomas

If you love heartfelt, thoughtful memoirs that also make you laugh, then you must pick up this collection of essays by pop-culture critic R. Eric Thomas. Eric shares stories from childhood to adulthood, detailing his coming-of-age with bracing candor and hilarious honesty. He writes about discovering his identity, feeling like an outsider, and finding his voice, all while injecting hilarious pop culture references, bits of wisdom, and his signature wit. While he relays plenty of difficult experiences, his tone is persistently hopeful. I highly recommend the audiobook version, narrated by the author, for full humorous effect.

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations

by Mira Jacob

Back in the summer in the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club members (and I) shared the best book we'd read at one of our Best Book of the season events. One Book Club member (hi, Mariah!) picked this as her favorite, saying it's "very appropriate for the conversations going on right now, but also just a great memoir." Mira Jacob deftly balances vulnerable reflections with humor while tackling racism, grief, 9/11, election anxiety, and more. Producer Brenna Frederick recommended this in Patreon Bonus Episode #79: Comics and graphic novels for the curious.

84, Charing Cross Road

by Helene Hanff

This is the true story of the twenty-year relationship between a New York writer and a gentlemanly London bookseller, as told through their correspondence. A must-read classic for bibliophiles, you'll feel compelled to discuss the heartwarming way books bring people together with all your book-loving buddies. If you're craving a gentle, warm, and witty read, this short book belongs on your nightstand.

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story

by Bess Kalb

In this unusual memoir, "matrilinear love story," Bess Kalb tells the story of her grandmother Bobby Bell's life, and their special relationship, in her deceased grandmother's voice. (On the second page of the book Bobby, speaking from her own funeral, is telling the readers, "It's a terrible thing to be dead.") I enjoyed this story so much: Bobby is spry and spunky, fiercely opinionated, a force of nature—and firmly invested in (or committed to meddling in, depending on how Bess is feeling at the moment) her granddaughter's life. Bobby's fierce and sometimes persnickety devotion to Bess shines on every page, from Bess's birth to Bobby's dying days at age 90. For most of Bess's life, the two spoke on the phone every day, and my favorite parts of the book were these phone conversations.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends

by Rob Lowe

I knew very little about Lowe's career before reading this; I had only seen St Elmo's Fire and The West Wing, and was constantly surprised by his unusual childhood, his early acting days, the scope of his current work, and how he seems to know everyone. My favorite stories were about JFK Jr and 9/11. Terrific on audio.

We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True

by Gabrielle Union

Gabrielle Union’s memoir-in-essays is a shining example in the sea of celebrity memoirs. She fearlessly shares stories about race, beauty standards, Hollywood, and her own history of sexual assault. The result is moving in many places and laugh-out-loud funny in others. Not everyone can strike the right balance but Union nails it. Her follow-up memoir, You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories, is out now.

Chirp

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

by Trevor Noah

The Daily Show star does a masterful job of alternating the deathly serious with the laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes even combining the two, in this collection of coming-of-age essays about his South African childhood. His mischievous childhood and unconventional youth provide wonderful fodder for not-quite-polite (thus the "scandalous" part of this juicy memoir) but always entertaining stories. I highly recommend the audiobook, read by the author.

Seeing Ghosts: A Memoir

by Kat Chow

From the publisher: "Kat Chow has always been unusually fixated on death. She worried constantly about her parents dying---especially her mother. A vivacious and mischievous woman, Kat's mother made a morbid joke that would haunt her for years to come: when she died, she'd like to be stuffed and displayed in Kat's future apartment in order to always watch over her. After her mother dies unexpectedly from cancer, Kat, her sisters, and their father are plunged into a debilitating, lonely grief. With a distinct voice that is wry and heartfelt, Kat weaves together a story of the fallout of grief that follows her extended family as they emigrate from China and Hong Kong to Cuba and America."

Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs

by Beth Ann Fennelly

I actually read this before our current Quick Lit window, but I haven't yet given it the attention it deserves here on the blog, and it's such a gem I wanted to make sure it was on your radar for the 2018 Reading Challenge, perhaps as "a book you can read in a day", or "a memoir, biography, or book of creative nonfiction." These 52 "micro-memoirs" are by turns quirky, witty, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny, and so different from pretty much anything else I've ever read.

Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood

by June Jordan

I so appreciate memoirs by poets; this memoir by poet and activist June Jordan’s is told in a series of short and vivid vignettes, detailing her tumultuous upbringing in post-World War II Harlem and Brooklyn, the only child of a father who desperately wanted a son. She captures her childhood voice and memories through rich details. I especially appreciated glimpsing Jordan's early love of words and rhyme, and the cadence of her storytelling, as she often juxtaposed difficult moments with snapshots capturing childhood delights, like her ardent love for orange juice.

16 memorable memoirs in essays, stories, and snapshots

Buckle Up!

summer reading starts May 16th