2011: Book 22

Everything is Wrong with Me: A Memoir of an American Childhood Gone, Well, Wrong by Jason Mulgrew


240 pages

Completed 3/11/11

Honestly, I picked up this memoir because of my and the author's shared last name. I mean, come on, it's not a often seen last name. I was neither impressed nor disappointed with this tale from dry-humored Mulgrew. Stories of his Irish - read, drunk - family growing up in Philadelphia, his parents' torrid relationship, and his own poor choices, the memoir is relatively amusing, if not offering much of a story.

Maybe it's because I enjoy more dramatic and devastating memoirs, but this one was a bit uneventful. The dozens of occasionally humorous footnotes were annoying at best, and the pictures poorly captioned - I legitimately had no idea what they were portraying most of the time. Eh, should've skipped this one.

2011: Book 21

Happy Days by Laurent Graff


112 pages

Completed 3/9/11

This super short book focuses on Antoine, a thirty-something divorcee who decides to move into a retirement home. At eighteen, he buys his own cemetery plot, and spends the subsequent years engraving his epitaph plaque. Odd, yes. A great story, definitely.

I found out about this book through a magazine article featuring the best international short books. I don't know what led me to believe it, but I was sure this was a memoir. But there it is, right on the cover; a novel. I have to admit, I was disappointed when I realized this halfway through. Somehow, thinking it was a true story had made it more enjoyable.

2011: Book 19

The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard


224 pages

Completed 3/2/11

This disjointedly told memoir revisiting the death of her mother, the bonds of her friendships, her adolescence, and the falling in - and out - of love with her husband, Beard presents an interesting read. A great balance of humor and darkness, the emotion is raw throughout.

I was a bit confused by the ongoing stories interrupted by reflections of childhood, but realized it was a wonderful way of presentation for Beard's memoirs.

2011: Book 12

My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life: An Anti-Memoir by Adam Nimoy


304 pages

Completed 2/14/11

The son of Spock, Nimoy presents his memoir in simple, but enjoyable short chapters, revealing a not-so-surprising life of a Hollywood star's son. A recovering alcoholic and addict, Nimoy's year following his separation from his wife, and subsequently his two children, is full of self-discovery, recovery, and making amends. Confronting his shaky relationship with his father, also a recovering alcoholic, and dealing with the emotions that come along with the new changes in his life, Nimoy is likable and well-written.

His relationship with his children is most touching. If nothing else comes through to the reader, Nimoy is definitely a good father, despite his past faults. I do wish that more attention had been paid to his unsalvageable marriage, as I was unclear what really went on. All in all, a not-so-miserable memoir.

2011: Book #3

Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story by Isabel Gillies 

261 pages

Completed 1/9/11


Honestly, I was drawn to this memoir simply because it is written by the actress who plays a detective's wife on one of my favorite television shows, Law & Order SVU. Even more honestly, I really enjoyed this book; Gillies manages a well-written book and managed to hold my attention. The wife of a poetry professor who moves her and her two young sons to Oberlin, OH (read: middle of nowhere), she seems to be living the idyllic life. New friends, a gorgeous dream-home, dabbles in the college community, Gillies is content.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, her husband decides it's time to leave the family. The aftermath that results - despair, anger, relocation, denial, an investigation - lends itself to an intriguing book. Meshed with her Wasp-y upbringing and insistence that her husband stay to work things out, Gillies manages to present quite the good book.