The Best of Us by Joyce Maynard – Trigger Warning

I want to make sure several of you know Joyce Maynard’s memoir, The Best of Us, comes with a trigger warning. It’s about a tough battle with pancreatic cancer. I know cancer, and pancreatic cancer may be a rough subject for several of you. Don’t read...

Wandering through Life by Donna Leon

If you recognize Donna Leon’s name, it’s probably from the Guido Brunetti mysteries set in Venice. Now, at eighty-one, she looks back at her own life in Wandering through Life. She admits she never had a life plan, which is why it has this title. The book...

Pancakes in Paris By Craig Carlson

 While I enjoyed Craig Carlson’s memoir, Pancakes in Paris, I can only agree with his subtitle “Living the American Dream in France” if your idea of a dream is opening diners, dealing with French bureaucrats and laborers, and working yourself...

The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr

Mary Karr, who has taught classes featuring memoirs for thirty years, and written three award-winning bestselling memoirs herself, now turns her hand to instruction. Although the publishers originally suggested they just publish her syllabus, Karr turned her hand to...