Memoirs/Biographies

[Night Fury]

I have recently discovered that I have a bit of a fascination with books that fall into the memoir/biography category.

I just finished reading the first 'Call the Midwife' book which follows the life of Jennifer Worth, a Midwife in 1950's East End London. I found it an absolutely fantastic read - thoroughly entertaining and informative, and at times gruesome and upsetting. I've just got myself the second book in the series and I can't wait to read on.

Anyone else like books like this? Any recommendations?

[Loony BoB]

I read some in my younger years and teens, but the only one I recall reading since leaving high school would be that of Sir Alex Ferguson, which was really interesting. I understand my uncle has written one, and perhaps some of my ancestors... so I hope to get hold of them someday and see how they lived.

[Jinx]

I'm currently reading Orange is the New Black, because I marathoned the show on Netflix and loved it. It's okay so far. Not nearly as sensational as the tv show, but a lot of it is pretty similar.

Back in the winter I read a book (there are three, but the second two are horrible, and really only lend to the idea that they're fake) called Princess, about a woman named Sultana (her name was changed, and her identity is anonymous) who is one of the hundreds of Saudi Arabian princesses. It really looked at the sexual abuse in Islam and was amazing. I cried several times. But there's a lot of controversy that the book is fake.

I do love memoirs, though. I'd love to read Running with Scissors and Girl, Interrupted.

[Chris]

My dad wrote a back a couple of years back, so you guys should totally check that one out.

I love reading memoirs. Other peoples' lives can be so fascinating! And to be honest, I love to judge their poor choices silently.

[Miriel]

I enjoy reading about other people's lives. A lot of times, truth can be stranger than fiction.

Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand is amazing. As is Seabiscuit which is a memoir sort of.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is lovely.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion is heartwrenching.

My Life in France by Julia Child is one of my favorite memoirs/food books ever. Along the same line, Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential and Bill Buford's Heat are both hilarious and wonderful.

Everything by David Sedaris is gold, but his stories are admittedly embellished and exaggerated.

Tina Fey's Bossypants is pretty good too. I'm almost finished with Craig Ferguson's American on Purpose and finding it hilarious and surprisingly deep.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is not strictly a biography in the traditional sense. But it is all about her life and death and the global impact she's had (and continues to have) on all our lives. Pretty fascinating stuff.

[noxious.sunshine]

I have Girl, Interrupted somewhere I think.

I read a 600 page biography on the Romanov family once. It was quite fascinating.. IDK what happened to it though.

Enrique's Journey is really good. It's not exactly an entire life's story, but it follows one boy's struggles getting to the U.S. from El Salvador to be with his mother. The author, Sonia Nazario, still keeps in contact with Enrique and gives updates on his life every so often on the website. She's even actually emailed me back the couple of times I've sent her a message. I have the most recent one somewhere. I forget which email account it's in though -_-;;.

Go Ask Alice by an anonymous writer (it's been uncovered who it actually is, but I can't remember her name) was believed for awhile to be the actual diary of a girl back in the 70's who fell into drugs and stuff. There's a tv-movie of it that came out in 1973 with William Shatner in it. XDDD

[Shorty]

I bought Bossypants! I am leaving it closed until I finish atleast a few other books I'm reading.

I haven't read many memoirs or biographies. Anthony Kiedis' Scar Tissue is my favorite of the ones I've read.

I had super high hopes for Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs because I love love love his fictional work, but it didn't deliver as I thought it would and ended on a sort of flat note. I understand that writing a person's own story as opposed to making one up will align differently, but I was still disappointed. Probably the most anti-climactic thing I've ever read. Up until the ending, though, I was completely interested and fascinated. The stories he tells of his broken home and insane mother are so intriguing. He has others that I'm interested in reading, though - Dry, Possible Side Effects, A Wolf A The Table. I am hoping they will be more interesting or end on better notes than Running With Scissors.

I tried reading When Rabbit Howls because it is technically a memoir, but I found myself loathing it and thinking it was such a load of trout and couldn't continue to finish it. I can empathize with Truddi Chase and her disorder, but the manner in which it was written did not seem believable at all, and seemed exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness.

Eat Pray Love is on my to-read list, among others, I'm sure.

[Miriel]

I had super high hopes for Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs because I love love love his fictional work, but it didn't deliver as I thought it would and ended on a sort of flat note. I understand that writing a person's own story as opposed to making one up will align differently, but I was still disappointed. Probably the most anti-climactic thing I've ever read.

Eat Pray Love is on my to-read list, among others, I'm sure.

I thought I would love Running with Scissors too but ended up hating it.

If you're gonna try Eat Pray Love, try the audiobook version. I listened to the audiobook and found it pretty entertaining. But when I tried reading the book itself, I found it to be horribly inane and entitled. Kinda weird how that works out.

[Jinx]

Gonna pull a Bluth family and only read the Eat Pray sections.

[Yerushalmi]

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman is one of my absolute favorites. The man is a personal hero.

[Flaming Ice]

Biographies are boring.



But I've been buying books that a company called DK makes...they have detailed encyclopedias on things like birds, battles, animals, the universe, all sorts of different ones...full of coloured pictures too !

[I Took the Red Pill]

The best one I've read is A Fan's Notes by Fred Exley. He claims it's fictional, so I don't know if it counts, but I get the feeling that most of it actually happened to him. Incredibly funny but also very depressing at times.

[noxious.sunshine]

Biographies are boring.



But I've been buying books that a company called DK makes...they have detailed encyclopedias on things like birds, battles, animals, the universe, all sorts of different ones...full of coloured pictures too !

Is it like that one thing that you get in the mail?

Fudge. What was that called?

It was a binder you got for free with some animal cards already in it and then a scratch off to tell you what you win... I had a few of these and I always got the big prize.

[Cuchulainn]

Just finished reading Stephen Fry's book. Absolute winner. Very honest about himself.

[noxious.sunshine]

Gordon Ramsay's autobiography is absolutely amazing.

I've respected him a lot as a chef - he speaks my language, and his passion for making great food is awesome.
He's a self-made man, and his story is one that proves if anyone has the desire to succeed, they can make it happen.

It may not be your original pick for a profession (his was playing English Football), but you can find something else that excites you just as much. He found that with cooking and running restaurants.. And he succeeded hardcore.

I've always loved watching him on T.V., because I understand his passion for food and everything going out perfectly, but this book made me respect him even more.