Skip to main content

Looking forward to reading...

I recently pick up a book called Bar Flower, by Lea Jacobson. I’m taking a class on writing memoir right now, and my instructor has told us to go out and find memoirs similar to the ones we’re writing. Bar Flower isn’t like mine, but I thought the subject matter is fascinating: the author talks about how, after being fired from her job teaching English in Japan, she got a job working as a hostess in a Tokyo nightclub. From the description, this was one book I simply could not pass up. Memoir’s not really a genre I generally go in for, but I’m intrigued by this one.

I also picked up a memoir called Target Underwear and a Vera Wang Gown, by Adena Halpern. It’s basically the story of a woman’s life as told through what she wore on certain occasions.

There’s another memoir out that I’ve been intrigued by: Please Excuse My Daughter, by Julie Klam, a book about a woman who grew up in privileged circumstances, who was forced to grow up after college and find her place in the world. I suppose her story is a lot like mine.

Comments

Laura said…
I don't normally read memoirs, but I'm doing a non-fiction challenge, so I plan to read at least one. The three you mention all sound really interesting--I'm looking forward to your reviews!
Chrisbookarama said…
Welcome to blogging! The clothes one sounds interesting.
Anonymous said…
I don't read alot of memoirs either. But, you're writing one? Wow, how's that going?

I kind of like the sound of the clothes one. That's a unique perspective.
Anonymous said…
back in the 90's (wow that was a long time ago) I was attempting to sell new homes, and was stuck in a show home from 11 am to 8 pm six days a week. this particular show home I was in for the summer had a family room, library combo that was showcasing the built in's. the bookcase was crammed full of hard covers that were probably bought at yard sales and auctions. all of the books were out of print and a large portion were memoirs. That was the best show home I ever had to sell out of, because I spent the summer reading the most interesting books I would never had otherwise even known about.

Popular posts from this blog

Another giveaway

This time, the publicist at WW Norton sent me two copies of The Glass of Time , by Michael Cox--so I'm giving away the second copy. Cox is the author of The Meaning of Night, and this book is the follow-up to that. Leave a comment here to enter to win it! The deadline is next Sunday, 10/5/08.

A giveaway winner, and another giveaway

The winner of the Girl in a Blue Dress contest is... Anna, of Diary of An Eccentric ! My new contest is for a copy of The Shape of Mercy , by Susan Meissner. According to Publisher's Weekly : Meissner's newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth—a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials—whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers—Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young—become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy's words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars

Six Degrees of Barbara Pym's Novels

This year seems to be The Year of Barbara Pym; I know some of you out there are involved in some kind of a readalong in honor of the 100th year of her birth. I’ve read most of her canon, with only The Sweet Dove Died, Civil to Strangers, An Academic Question, and Crampton Hodnet left to go (sadly). Barbara Pym’s novels feature very similar casts of characters: spinsters, clergymen, retirees, clerks, and anthropologists, with which she had direct experience. So it stands to reason that there would be overlaps in characters between the novels. You can trace that though the publication history of her books and therefore see how Pym onionizes her stories and characters. She adds layers onto layers, adding more details as her books progress. Some Tame Gazelle (1950): Archdeacon Hoccleve makes his first appearance. Excellent Women (1952): Archdeacon Hoccleve gives a sermon that is almost incomprehensible to Mildred Lathbury; Everard Bone understands it, however, and laughs