I have learned that every person in the world is on the spectrum of mental illness. Many people barely register on the scale, while others have far more than they could be expected to handle. Even specific disorders are incredibly individualized. Jenny Lawson found her tribe through her blog, The Bloggess, and went on to write a funny memoir of her childhood called ... Read More...
Tim Gunn: The Natty Professor
To say that I am a huge fan of Tim Gunn is an understatement. In the same way that a Chanel suit is on my bucket list (as revealed last week when I reviewed Mademoiselle Chanel) so is a week spent in New York City with Gunn reworking my style and taking me shopping for a new wardrobe. If we became great friends so much the better. The good news is that while I’m waiting ... Read More...
Life from Scratch: a memoir of food, family, and forgiveness
It’s often said that fact is stranger than fiction but as I’m a big fiction reader I don’t often test that theory. All that changed when I read Life From Scratch by Sasha Martin. Martin is well-known for her blog, Global Table Adventure, where, in the span of four years she cooked a meal from every country in the world. That alone is accomplishment enough to fill a memoir but ... Read More...
The Undertaker’s Daughter
Kate Mayfield takes readers into the world of her childhood in The Undertaker’s Daughter, a memoir that combines the unique circumstances of growing up in the 1960s in a small town in Kentucky while living above a funeral home. Through her we learn about a life and family held tight by the rituals of death. For Kate and her siblings, life was an odd combination of normalcy and ... Read More...
Slow Motion: A Memoir of a Life Rescued by Tragedy
I have always believed my mother would live forever. While I have never said goodbye to my father without the thought crossing my mind that I might never see him again, my mother has seemed indestructible, fixed in my consciousness like a gnarled and stately tree that has taken root there. If she is ripped away at this moment in my life, she will take her roots with her and I ... Read More...
The Madwoman in the Volvo
I don’t generally begin a review by telling people to stop reading but if you are a man hand the laptop/iPad to your better half and go watch ESPN because I’m about to talk about a book about m-e-n-o-p-a-u-s-e. And, really, not even we women want to talk about it so I’m saving you a world of hurt. Now go away. Yes, it’s a natural part of life but while pregnancy is something ... Read More...
