2011: Book 38

Torch by Cheryl Strayed

336 pages

Completed 4/23/11

The tale of a family left in the wake of their young mother's sudden death, Strayed manages to turn a work of fiction into a story that could easily have been ripped from middle America. From a step-father's disloyalty, to run-ins with the law, affairs, and crippling depression, the family left behind struggles mostly on their own; you have to wonder what they could have accomplished had they come together.

Rarely moved to tears, I found myself heartbroken for every member of the family. Rather than close it out with an atypical-to-the-family happy ending, the disjointedness revolving around the siblings at the end was so well-thought and ended the story in a great way.

2011: Book 32

Juicy: Confessions of a Former Baseball Wife by Jessica Canseco


256 pages

Completed 3/27/11

This book was not great; I should've put it down two chapters in, but I just could not stop reading it. Is that not the case of all trashy reads? Canseco tells the tale of how at 19, working at Hooters, she falls for MLB great Jose Canseco. With woes of a terrible sex life, his countless affairs, plastic surgery, steroid abuse, and the code of silence upheld by the baseball wives and girlfriends, this was an interesting, if terrible, read.

I couldn't help but feel for Canseco throughout the first half of the book; with her emotionally absent parents throughout her childhood, Jose didn't seem so bad. But after filing for divorce what seemed like 25 times, and yet still returning to his abusive, belittling, and disrespectful ways, I found myself just annoyed. After she brings a child into this odd union, I lost all respect. This was one of the rare memoirs I read and had no desire to research the author further.

2011: Book 26

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas


192 pages

Completed 3/18/11

I have had a lot of extra reading time these past two months, and this may be the last time I do for a while, as my life in NYC seems to finally be taking off. But thinking that this memoir is my half point of my year's goal and it's only mid-March, I feel good!

Abigail Thomas' memoir following the debilitating accident of her husband, Rich, is interlaced with tales of her three pooches, making a life of her own, and her own grief dealing with her husband's brain injury. Honestly, the title was what first attracted me to this book, but then I was afraid to pull it out of my shelf in fears that the book would feature a death of one of her beloved pets (it did not). I finally got around to it, and my interest was piqued when I noticed Stephen King had said it was "the best memoir I have ever read." I did not share his feelings.

It was well written, and told an interesting, if brief, story. But that was it. I wasn't feeling any emotion, was not moved to further read about the author or her husband when I finished; I was just left uninspired. Luckily, it was a short read, but one I would not recommend for those seeking a tell-all memoir.

2011: Book 25

The Truth Shall Set You Free by Sally Lowe Whitehead


272 pages

Completed 3/17/11

The memoir of a sixteen-year-old newlywed turned mother-of-six with a gay husband, you cannot help but be moved by this book. Knowing ahead of time that it was a book that revolved deeply around religion, I nonetheless was exhausted by all the talk of God. Nearly a decade immersed in Fundamentalism, the reader cannot help but forsee the judgement to be thrown down upon Sally and her outed husband.

That being said, this is one of the first books in a long while whose writing instilled emotion; if nothing else, Whitehead can put on paper true feeling. The epilogue was an extra I was not expecting, but oh-so-glad was included. If anything, I wish the memoir would have continued from one of their children's point of view.

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 10

Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace by Ayelet Waldman


224 pages

Completed 2/12/11

I've been a fan of Waldman's since reading Daughter's Keeper, and this memoir/short-story format reveals the author's true self - good and bad. I had actually wanted to read this book since the controversy surrounding Waldman regarding her blog comment that she loves her husband more than her children made it all the way to Oprah. As someone who does not care for children, I was intrigued that someone who actually had their own children could express such things - especially in a public sector.

Offering a glimpse into each of her four children's psyches and personalities without being a book about children, Waldman maintains a humorous perspective, all the while keeping a non-annoying stance that she is just not good enough to be mother to these children. With a family history of bipolar, a gut-wrenching decision to terminate a pregnancy, and her tougher-than-nails approach to the literary world - and its critics - I finished this easy read quickly, and with a newfound respect for Waldman.

2011: Book 8

Little Children by Tom Perotta

368 pages

Completed 2/7/11

Let me begin by saying that I am 95% positive I already read this book; as I got to a major turning point in the novel, I smacked myself when I realized that it was SO familiar, I must have read it. However, I'm also pretty sure I saw the movie with Kate Winslet...so, I couldn't really tell you. However, I guess I must have enjoyed both, because I read this cover to cover, barely pausing.

A town plagued by unhappy marriages, bratty kids, a paroled child molester, a vigilante, and illicit affairs, this novel was so, well, good. I really have nothing to complain about. Without giving away the story for those who have not read or seen the story, Perrotta somehow makes it possible to connect with all of the characters, good and bad.

2011: Book 7

The Almost Archer Sisters by Lisa Gabriele


272 pages

Completed 2/3/11

A novel about two sisters, their bond, and the unraveling of it after one betrays the other in an unthinkable way, Gabriele's talent made me forget that these were fictional characters. With one sister escaping to New York City and the other remaining on the family farm in Canada with her wise, hairdresser father, husband, and two young sons who need constant attention, the two sisters' world rarely mesh...until they do in an unpredictable way.

While the ending bored me, the novel itself was pretty good; nothing to rave about, but I enjoyed it well enough.

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.

LIZ: BOOK #35

Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman

352 pages

Completed 8/29/10

This novel about a young woman who marries her lover and gains a precocious stepson, Waldman makes the reader both related and love the main character while loathing her. When Emilia loses her newborn daughter, despair follows her everywhere.

As someone who is not a kid-person, I was hesitant to find any good in Waldman's five-year-old protagonist; the little know-it-all made me literally feel Emilia's frustration. By the end, predictably, I loved the little bugger, but Waldman does make it difficult.

I read fiction, although I do not often find something I love. This book was so real to me that I ad to check when I concluded reading that it was indeed a novel and not one of my new favorite memoirs. Waldman has a new novel out, and I am on the waiting list. An eloquent writer without overwhelming the reader, I recommend her.

LIZ: BOOK #34

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

198 pages

Completed 8/19/10

With a title like this, the memoir lover in me couldn't resist; gets straight to the point, now, doesn't it? So, believe it or not, this was an account of a young Yemen girl who, at 10 years old, was married off to a man many years her senior. While this is not uncommon in itself, the telling of Nujood's self-awareness and fight to escape and demand a divorce in front of the court is surreal.

Clearly, this book was translated, and it was an as-told-to story. That being said, I sped through this read. Young adult level, at most, and it left me wanting more information, instead of coming away with an amazing tale. In fact, I liked the writing in the epilogue the most; a Glamour magazine writer who introduced further details and stories of other girls who experienced similar account of Nujood's premature end to childhood.

If anything, this is a book for people who want a different perspective on arranged marriages. Not often does such a young girl have the gusto, courage, and heart to not only escape from such circumstances, but tell the story with -not depth- but truth.

LIZ: Book #32

Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desperate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor by Josh Wolk

*Be warned, I read an advanced reader's copy of this memoir, so things may be slightly different in the final published version than what I read.*

288 pages

Completed 8/13/10

This was a campy (no pun intended) kitchsy memoir about a man in his mid-thirties about to get married who decides to relive his childhood by returning to the camp he so fondly remembers. When I first began to read it, I thought it was going to be a sappy let's-discover-who-I-am throughout this book, but I was pleasantly surprised when it did not end up that way. However, this book is hard to categorize; equal parts midlife crisis, troubled adolescent boys, sleepaway camp expectations, and relationship problems, there wasn't enough about each for it to really matter to me.

If Wolk had chosen to only focus on his feelings of underachievement or only his relationship, I wouldn't have picked this up in the first place. But I feel like a lot of instances in which ironic humor could have been injected went to waste. Ten year old boys are a species of themselves; that's enough material to drum up some humor. Instead Wolk takes us along his woe-is-me problems with the boys of his youth - who are now fellow adult counselors - and his inner conflict over why his fiance is stressed. (Perhaps because two months before their wedding, he decides to up and leave for rural Maine?!)

This was one of those memoirs that took awhile to get through even though it wasn't heavy or deep. I just lacked the interest needed to read it in it's entirety before picking up a new book, so it took me some time. If you're looking for a humorous, gritty story of a man who returns to camp to relive his glory days...this is not the book for you.

LIZ: BOOK #30

Five Men Who Broke My Heart by Susan Shapiro

240 pages

Completed 7/7/10


This memoir was one I had wish-listed, but it had been so long that I had no idea what I was getting myself into when it finally arrived. I wasn't blown out of the water, to say the least. Chronicling Shapiro's short dive into her past and the lovers that accompanied said past, I found it a whiny and un-entertaining trip down memory lane.

Approaching 40 (why was I even drawn to this book?) and wanting a child (DEFINITELY confused as to why I chose this one...), Shapiro visits/emails/interviews five ex-boyfriends, all of whom annoyed me. Even her husband, who she seemed to be throwing under the bus the duration of the book, was obnoxious to me.

If you're feeling nostalgic about old boyfriends, are pining for a baby, or envy the lives of women who are, this is the book for you. For a twenty-something single girl who doesn't like kids or women whining about them, skip this one.

LIZ: BOOK #23

Crazy Love by Leslie Morgan Steiner

336 pages

Completed 5/6/10

The memoir of Steiner's fast-tracked relationship and subsequent marriage to the man of her dreams - who was physically abusive. Eloquently written and with the gift of retrospect, this book made me feel for the author. An intelligent, educated woman who ignored the signs of, and then the blatant domestic abuse at the hands of her husband until a near-death encounter made her leave.

The complicated relationship with her parents was not explained enough, in my opinion. Especially towards the end of the book, when a unthinkable betrayal occurs. Despite the horrific encounters with her battering spouse, I didn't feel very emotional until something unrelated to the troubled couple occurs.

This well-written account of abuse and subsequent escape is a good book for teens, in my opinion. Yes, a bit advanced and unrelatable to most teenagers (grad school rather than high school), but an account of things she missed, friends who betrayed, family who didn't understand, and strength in getting out would be indispensable for girls getting into new relationships.