Rachel Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I'm looking for some new reading material for me. I enjoy true stories, especially ones that show overcoming hardship. What have you recently enjoyed reading? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthwestMom Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Wild by Sheryl Strayed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Wild was good! I just finished it. Contains some s#x and adult stuff, but it's mostly about overcoming the grief involved with her mother's death through hiking the PCT. I like her writing--not flowery, but really nice descriptions and one-liner summations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 This might be a bit out there, but I really enjoyed Ham Slices of a Life by Sam Harris. I had tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard. It's light weight reading, but enjoyable. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17571596-ham 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 A memoir that has stuck with me since I read it as a child is Eighth Moon, by Bette Bao Lord. It's about a young girl under Mao in Communist China. Just...wow. That's when I realized how much a person can endure and overcome. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 The Art of Soviet Cooking Cakewalk The End of Your Life Book Club Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's The Devil that Danced on the Water When All the World Was Young A Girl Named Zippy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 The Boys in the Boat Bonhoeffer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Passionate Nomad by Jane Fletcher Geniesse Pink Boots and a Machete by Mireya Mayor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I read this last year, and couldn't put it down: http://www.amazon.com/Wish-Could-Say-Was-Sorry-ebook/dp/B00CS8YG34 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 dh loved "the boys in the boat" about the UW crew team who went to the 1936 olympics. (he loved it so much, he had me get him a hardback copy because he had only borrowed the book from someone). I'm currently reading "jimmy stewart bomber pilot" by starr smith, about his wwii military career. (when Gen. Jimmy Doolittle says if the war had lasted one more month they would have made him a group commander - that's saying something about JS.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow It is what inspired the musical, which is sort of funny. But, he really did have a rough start in life and went far. http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0143034758?keywords=ron%20chernow&qid=1453918484&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderfilled Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 We are currently reading The Boys in the Boat as a read-aloud, so it's interesting to see it mentioned here a few times. I'm really enjoying it. We're reading the kids version because we have a wide age range, but it's still really good. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 I've read several of these but keep the suggestions coming. The Boys in the Boat was a recent read, when you finish, look up the YouTube footage of the big race. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I'll second (third?fourth?fifth?) Boys in the Boat -- a page turner even if you already know how it ends. Other books I loved that fit your criteria are: Unbroken and Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 A memoir that has stuck with me since I read it as a child is Eighth Moon, by Bette Bao Lord. It's about a young girl under Mao in Communist China. Just...wow. That's when I realized how much a person can endure and overcome. I think I may have read this, does the story start out before Mao took control? Was the author was sent to a Catholic boarding school? I don't have this book marked on Goodreads but it seems familiar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 The Art of Soviet Cooking Cakewalk The End of Your Life Book Club Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's The Devil that Danced on the Water When All the World Was Young A Girl Named Zippy A Girl Named Zippy is what got me into reading memoirs, I enjoyed the sequel as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 One of my very favorites - nothing to envy : Ordinary lives in North Korea 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieC Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 They're not recent so you may have already read them, but two of my favorites are Running with Scissors and The Glass Castle. Amazing what both of these people could accomplish given the situations during childhood. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I think I may have read this, does the story start out before Mao took control? Was the author was sent to a Catholic boarding school? I don't have this book marked on Goodreads but it seems familiar. Sounds like a different memoir. In Eighth Moon, the young girl is in school and they get sent to camps to work in rice paddies and such, and horror stories of what happens in their neighborhood as the people become more impoverished and desperate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 If it's possible you haven't read Unbroken, it's excellent. Also The Glass Castle. This book changed me. In fact I started a thread to discuss it (General Board maybe?) and many had read it and had strong opinions about it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Gotta agree with The Glass Castle. I read it due to recommendations on here as I doubt I'd have discovered it otherwise. Mom and middle son also read it and enjoyed it. Another good one I need to add is Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon. It also came from a recommendation on here. I ended up buying copies of that one for my mom/guys and both our library and ESL classroom at school. All who have read it in my circles (so far) have been impressed. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/becoming-dr-q-alfredo-quinones-hinojosa/1100083788 Not a whole biography, but The Lunatic Express: Discovering the World... Via it's Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains, and Planes was also a worthy read detailing out what a huge portion of the world experiences on a daily basis. Hubby gave that one to me knowing I enjoy travel books. It's one I also shared with the rest of my family, and again, they liked it. I actually don't recommend too many books that they don't end up liking. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6915507-the-lunatic-express 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I've read several of these but keep the suggestions coming. The Boys in the Boat was a recent read, when you finish, look up the YouTube footage of the big race. WHAT?! That didn't even occur to me! Ds will enjoy that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 (edited) I like the true-life based novels of James Alexander Thom, in particular Long Knife, based on the life of George Rogers Clark. For more of a straight-forward bio, anything by David McCullough Edited January 27, 2016 by JFSinIL 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upward Journey Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I'm currently reading This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader. Love it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 A memoir that has stuck with me since I read it as a child is Eighth Moon, by Bette Bao Lord. It's about a young girl under Mao in Communist China. Just...wow. That's when I realized how much a person can endure and overcome. Oh, I love that book! Bought it so my dd could read it, too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raifta Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Off the top of my head with some added from my 2013 book list: Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang Paddle to the Amazon by Don Starkell Below Stairs: The Bestselling Memoirs of a 1920s Kitchen Maid by Margaret Powell Wilderness Mother by Deanna Kawatski Red Azalea by Anchee Min 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter http://www.amazon.com/Rosemary-Daughter-Kate-Clifford-Larson/dp/0547250258/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453950842&sr=8-1&keywords=rosemary+kennedy+the+hidden+daughter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole, by Jerri Nielson It's the story of the lady physician who developed breast cancer while wintering at the South Pole. She did a biopsy on her own breast! It's an incredible story of friendship and overcoming incredible obstacles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) Peter the Great by Robert Massie (okay maybe not so much overcoming hardships). I 25th The Boys in the Boat and 10th Unbroken. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom was inspirational as well. ETA: Into Thin Air by John Krakauer was fascinating (and I have no desire to climb Mt Everest). Edited January 28, 2016 by bugs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Thanks for all the replies, I've requested several books from the library. It looks like I'll be expanding my horizons some. "The Hiding Place" and "Unbroken" are two of my favorite reads. I have read "The Glass Castle" from recommendations on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Another good one I need to add is Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon. It also came from a recommendation on here. I ended up buying copies of that one for my mom/guys and both our library and ESL classroom at school. All who have read it in my circles (so far) have been impressed. I know you didn't ask for recommendations but you may enjoy a book called "Spare Parts" about a group of undocumented Mexican high school students in Arizona. They built an underwater robot that beat MIT students in a competition. It also challenged some of my thinking about immigration. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 -All three Call the Midwife books by Jennifer Worth - best read in order but not completely necessary -Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape - Jenna Miscavige Hill -I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had:My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High - Tony Danza -Love, Lucy - Lucille Ball -If You Ask Me - Betty White - I listened to this one on audio book read by Betty White herself. I don't know how it reads in print or if listening to her is why I liked it so much. -Bossypants - Tina Fey -Stories I Only Tell My Friends - Rob Lowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 I know you didn't ask for recommendations but you may enjoy a book called "Spare Parts" about a group of undocumented Mexican high school students in Arizona. They built an underwater robot that beat MIT students in a competition. It also challenged some of my thinking about immigration. I haven't read that book, but we learned about that group in school via Channel One. There are plenty of intelligent folks out there living in places they'd rather move away from. Areas they go to could really benefit if they were given decent chances. Not all are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Winterdance by Gary Paulsen. It's not deep or complex, but it's so FUN! Also maybe not technically a memoir haha, but it is true, and very fun :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Off the top of my head with some added from my 2013 book list: Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang Paddle to the Amazon by Don Starkell Below Stairs: The Bestselling Memoirs of a 1920s Kitchen Maid by Margaret Powell Wilderness Mother by Deanna Kawatski Red Azalea by Anchee Min I absolutely loved the books by Alexandra Fuller! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Looked at some that I read from my goodreads account: - Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology - Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West - Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (he has several others as well) - Enslaved by Ducks (not hardship related, but hilarious, especially if you like animals...if you like it, he has several others) - A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout (this one had me on the edge of my seat much of the time) - Night by Elie Wiesel - Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Unbroken (loved this one so much!) - The Last Lecture (totally different than my other recommendations, but excellent) - Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (same author as The Glass Castle) - The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love - Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found by Jennifer Lauck I'm kind of addicted to memoirs, and will definitely add others on this thread to my list to check out! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Losing Mum and Pup by Buckley Wild - by Strayed Call the Nurse - by MacLeod Twelve Babies on a Bike - by Dunn (esp. if you like the TV show Call the Midwife) Lost for Words by Longden My Father's Paradise - by Sabar Facing East - by Matthewes-Green An Irish Country Childhood - by Walsh Enjoying some of the other recommendations, I love reading memoirs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 I'll suggest Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character which is a compilation of two of Richard Feynman's earlier books -- "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?". The edition I've linked above is wonderful because it includes a CD of Richard Feynman telling some great stories of his time at Los Alamos. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Sea Biscuit & Broken by Laura Hillenbrand True Spirit by Jessica Watson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 This thread is old. I'm just barely catching up on old threads. I love memoirs and have been reading quite a few lately. I didn't even notice that I was doing so until my daughter pointed it out. :lol: Here are some of the memoirs I've read, many of which I love, and some of which were just okay. I've rated/reviewed them all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 This thread is old. I'm just barely catching up on old threads. I love memoirs and have been reading quite a few lately. I didn't even notice that I was doing so until my daughter pointed it out. :lol: Here are some of the memoirs I've read, many of which I love, and some of which were just okay. I've rated/reviewed them all. Great list. I've got several on my audible list and others I'd never heard of. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 (edited) I love reading memoirs and biographies - have added several to my tbr list! Thank you! One that has stayed with me over the years is No Pretty Pictures:A Child of War by Anita Lobel - the wife of Arnold Lobel of the Frog & Toad books. Simply, but beautifully written. Edited May 28, 2016 by Mothersweets 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 This thread is old. I'm just barely catching up on old threads. I love memoirs and have been reading quite a few lately. I didn't even notice that I was doing so until my daughter pointed it out. :lol: Here are some of the memoirs I've read, many of which I love, and some of which were just okay. I've rated/reviewed them all. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Thanks everyone! I just found some vacation reads! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Here's another one I found super fascinating: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Swans-Three-Daughters-China/dp/0743246985 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 One I read recently (a book from the 1940s) & loved, loved, loved is Beryl Markham's West with the Night. Fabulous book. Beryl Markham's West with the Night is a true classic, a book that deserves the same acclaim and readership as the work of her contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and Isak Dinesen.If the first responsibility of a memoirist is to lead a life worth writing about, Markham succeeded beyond all measure. Born Beryl Clutterbuck in the middle of England, she and her father moved to Kenya when she was a girl, and she grew up with a zebra for a pet; horses for friends; baboons, lions, and gazelles for neighbors. She made money by scouting elephants from a tiny plane. And she would spend most of the rest of her life in East Africa as an adventurer, a racehorse trainer, and an aviatrix―she became the first person to fly nonstop from Europe to America, the first woman to fly solo east to west across the Atlantic. Hers was indisputably a life full of adventure and beauty.And then there is the writing. When Hemingway read Markham's book, he wrote to his editor, Maxwell Perkins: "She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer . . . [she] can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers . . . It is really a bloody wonderful book." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreen Claire Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Carry On, Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton was excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Travels With Charlie was indeed a good one! If anyone is a Little House fan (the show), Confessions of a Prairie B*tch was really good. It was interesting and hilarious. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted May 29, 2016 Share Posted May 29, 2016 We are currently reading The Boys in the Boat as a read-aloud, so it's interesting to see it mentioned here a few times. I'm really enjoying it. We're reading the kids version because we have a wide age range, but it's still really good. Not to thread-steal. . . but how do you find the kids version? I just see one Boy in the Boat at the library. Thanks! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.