Memories
I have a friend who doesn’t think a person should write a memoir unless that person is old. “A twenty-something hasn’t earned the right to write a memoir,” she says. “They aren’t old enough. They haven’t lived their entire life yet.” She has a point, however, plenty of people write memoirs before they are old. Jen Hatmaker, an author and podcaster, wrote Awake after a devastating divorce from a man she had beem married to for over 25 years. The book may be a little much for some people because Hatmaker discloses every vulnerability she has. The book may also be just what someone needs if that person is going through a personal struggle and lifestyle change.
Imagine this–Marie Kondo has written a book that is about her and not just her methods of organization. This petite woman from Japan has written books and starred on a TV series–all about tidying up. Some of you may embrace her ideas. Some of you, like me, just strug our shoulders and defiently think “Not me. I’m not doing that.” As Kondo became more and more popular, her fans longed to know more about Marie the person. So, with the help of a friend Marie Iida, she wrote Letter from Japan. Reviewers write that the book it is a delightful testiment to the values that guide Kondo’s work and reflect the Japanese customs she relies on in her daily life.
I just learned about the following memoir from my friend Becky Peace who has an Instagram blog called beckyonbooks. After investigating the story and author a bit, I decided to include it in this entry because I think you will find it as intriguing as Becky did. She said she started reading the book one morning and could not stop until she had finished it! A true story, Karen Palmer tells about how she assumed a new identity and basically ran away so that her ex-husband could not harm her or her children. Follow her tense escape and efforts to evade detection in this gripping story.
Papergirl by Beth Macy is a memoir of sorts that reflects on Macy’s childhood in Ohio and how she ‘finds’ the town she grew up in when she returns forty years later as a noted reporter. Don’t expect Hillbilly Elegy because this book takes an unbiased but hopeful look at what really happened in the town of Urbana, Ohio–a town that reflects so much of what our society is grappling with. Poverty, poor health care, addiction and political polarization are situations that are not limited to Appalachian America, of course. Written with a love for her hometown, Macy tackles what was probably the hardest assignment of her life.