Technically the topic this week is “Books From My Favourite Genre” but since that would probably be literary fiction, it felt a bit broad and somewhat of a cop-out. So instead I’ve chosen memoirs, as it’s a genre I have been reading more of lately, and have definitely found some of my favourite books in!
Memoirs about health and mental health:
Patient is one of my favourite reads of the year so far, and is a memoir of serious physical illness by Ben Watt, Tracey Thorn’s other half and one of the members of Everything But the Girl. The next two are also favourites of mine. My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward is written by the husband of a woman who ends up hospitalized for an episode of psychosis, and not only discusses that harrowing experience but how they deal with the aftermath. Furiously Happy is a first-person account of living with multiple mental health issues (anxiety, depression, etc.). I just finished Brain On Fire, and while it didn’t stand up to the others in terms of writing and emotional connection, I nonetheless thought it was well worth reading and an important story to be shared.
Travel Memoirs
I love travel memoirs. Peter Mayle’s A Year In Provence and Frances Mayes’ Under the Tuscan Sun were two of the first books that had me wanting to move to Europe and never come back. They both evoke a sense of place as well as providing amusing anecdotes of what it’s like trying to navigate a foreign culture as a new local. I love Bill Bryson’s travel memoirs, but In A Sunburned Country is probably the funniest. Travels isn’t strictly speaking about traveling – it includes some travel sections, but also some straight up memoir about his life. The whole thing is equally entertaining and thought provoking, though. A few others I would highly recommend are Nothing to Declare by Mary Morris, Along the Inca Road by Karin Muller and The Size of the World by Jeff Greenwald.
Music Memoirs
Neither of these are strictly music memoirs, but both are by musicians and include at least some consideration of creativity. I feel like they belong side-by-side, though, because in addition to being by musicians, they also share a tone of quiet introspection and a delicacy in writing style that puts them together in my mind.
Coming of Age
This book was by turns hilarious, awkward, infuriating and educational. It’s definitely one I’d recommend to young women just heading out into the adult world, or for anyone who is a fan of Lena Dunham’s hit show, Girls.
Family memoirs
These are all about family, but very different. Life Among the Savages is Shirley Jackson’s account of the hilarity and confusion of raising a young family on very little money while trying to carve out a moment or two here and there to write. Love, Nina is Nina Stibbe’s account of her time as a nanny for the editor of the London Review of Books (one of their neighbours was Alan Bennet) and is in equal parts a portrait of the family and an account of her struggles to find her own place in the world. And finally, The Corfu Trilogy is Gerald Durrell’s series of memoirs about his family’s time spent on the island of Corfu in Greece in the 1930s. Charming, hilarious and full of information about the natural world (he grew up to become a naturalist and zookeeper), there’s nothing I don’t love about this. The last two are also British TV series.
Journalism/Narrative Non-Fiction
I’m not sure if Newjack really counts as memoir – it is, but it straddles the line between memoir and narrative non-fiction or journalism. But I loved it, and will take any chance to mention it. It’s about Ted Conover’s year spent working as a prison guard at Sing Sing after being refused access to interview employees. Full of important information about the US prison-industrial system, as well as discussion of how this work affects the guards.
Reading and Education
Q’s Legacy is one of my all-time favourite books. While most readers are more familiar with Hanff’s epistolary novel, 84, Charing Cross Road, this one was actually my favourite as it gave more insight into Helene’s life. I wish more than anything that I could have been her friend, because I think we would have gotten along famously!
That’s it for my favourite books from the memoir genre. I’d love to hear your favourites, and if you’ve read any of these, tell me whether they were favourites of yours and why or why not!
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
Great list! It’s been a while since I’ve read a good memoir.
Thanks! Hopefully something on this list inspired you to pick one up soon! I do tend to think they make good summer reads.
I really like how you chose different types of memoirs and not just one type. I especially liked how your first one was on mental health as that’s something that I feel isn’t talked about as often as it should be. I love your post!
Thank you! I completely agree re: memoirs on mental health. It’s something that hits very close to home for me, and I’m searching for touchpoints in the literary world that I can relate to or learn from. I feel like there have been more books on this subject in recent years (also on motherhood, another issue I’ve recently become much more interested in due to my own life) and I’m encouraged by that. I hope you found something here to add to your TBR!
I haven’t read Furiously Happy yet, but I did read Jenny Lawson’s first book – Let’s Pretend This Never Happened – and loved it. She’s such an amazing writer. I laughed and cried so much.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
I read Let’s Pretend first as well, and it was why I went on to pick up Furiously. Of the two, though both are fantastic, I actually enjoyed (if that’s even the right word) Furiously a bit more. So I’d definitely recommend that you give it a try when the mood strikes, because I think you’ll enjoy it just as much as the first one!
Memoirs aren’t something I tend to pick up very much! I recently read and loved Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, so maybe I’ll have to try more in the future.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/06/04/top-ten-tuesday-214/
I’ve heard fantastic things about Becoming! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I think that with both memoirs and non-fiction, it’s all about the topic and/or person writing. I’ll only read ones that are on areas of interest (women’s issues, travel to specific places, motherhood, mental health) or by a person I admire. It could be the best book in the world, but if I’m not interested in the topic or the author, it’s not going to pull me in! I hope you manage to find some others that appeal to you, because with memoirs, when you do find those, it’s like making a new friend.
I love how you subdivided memoirs into various subgenres. I would have enough books on my Goodreads Read shelf to create a subcategory of Memoirs of a Writer and Rough Childhood Memoirs. Certainly one of my favorites is Travel Memoirs.
Many of my favorite nature books are memoirs.
Thank you! Yes, I feel like those two categories would definitely be prolific! I haven’t read either in a while, and I also felt conflicted about rough childhood memoirs, because while I generally am glad to have read them, I do find them quite harrowing and don’t usually want to return to them again! (Thinking of Angela’s Ashes here.) I loved your post on nature books this week, and noticed a few memoirs I’ve either read or want to read on your list! Lab Girl is one I’ve heard absolutely fantastic things about.
I loved Furiously Happy. Such a great read.
My TTT.
Strongly agree! I have adored Jenny Lawson since I first discovered her a few years before her first book came out (if memory serves). She’s one of those people you feel like would be your best friend if you got a chance to meet her!
I`ve been meaning to read Furiously Happy for ages. Glad to see it made your list, I have high hopes for it.
I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say they didn’t like it. It definitely is one that, if you suffer from any kind of anxiety disorder or mental health issue, will connect with you deeply. But even if you don’t, her tone and writing style are wonderful, as is her sense of humour. I really think you would enjoy it!
Liked tour twist today 😊 These all are new to me but I totally hoped to see Educated by Tara Westover here 😃 If you haven’t read it yet, I would totally recommend it 😊
I actually thought about including a section of memoirs I want to read, but thought the post was getting a little long. If I had, Educated would have been on it. I’m a bit unsure of it because while I’m interested in her life as an adult once she found a way to pursue her dreams, I’m less interested in her childhood. So I’m not sure if it’ll work for me or not! If you have any input on whether I’d like it given my lack of interest in her origin story, please let me know!
I haven’t read any of these but you 100% reminded me that I WANT to read Furiously Happy. I’ve always been sucked in by that cover!! Some of my favourite memoirs are Life on Air by David Attenborough, Believe Me by Eddie Izzard and Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry. I find it so interesting reading more about celebrities/public figures who I admire!
My TTT
Ooooh I highly recommend any of Jenny Lawson’s writing! She’s just so damn funny. And relatable. And tough. And vulnerable. Just… yeah. Read it! I have Believe Me and Moab Is My Washpot on my TBR (what does that title mean, anyway? If that is answered in the book I’ll definitely move it up my TBR) but wasn’t sure if either would live up to their authors. So glad to hear positive feedback on both!!
I picked up Under The Tuscan Sun the other day because it looked good. I lived in Italy for a few years. The cover to Furiously Happy always makes me smile.
It’ll be interesting to see what you think of Under the Tuscan Sun having lived in Italy. I’ve never even visited so I have absolutely no sense of its accuracy and how well she captures Italian life. I loved it when I read it as a teenager, but that said, I haven’t read it as an adult. No idea how it would hold up to a re-read. It did make me really want to visit, though! I love that cover too! I read it when I was going through a rough time, and I could often be found just sitting and looking at that cover rather than reading. Raccoon Therapy really should be a thing.
Ooh I like that you went for memoirs! 🙂 I loved Furiously Happy!
Thanks! It was the only thing I could think of, because I’ve mostly been reading LitFic lately! I adored Furiously Happy too. I read it during a time when I wasn’t active on my blog (partly because of some mental health issues – I had terrible post-partum anxiety and depression, so that pretty much killed all my creativity) so I haven’t written a review of it here, but it is one I am very grateful to have discovered. I find Jenny very inspirational!