Category Archives: memoir

Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 49)

Posted on February 26, 2021 by bseat

This was a hard book to read. It is one woman’s account of sexual assault and rape at an elite boarding school in New England. In it Crawford tries to answer the question, Why Now? which seems to be asked … Continue reading →

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Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Posted on March 29, 2019 by bseat

This book is the harrowing true story of one woman’s quest for truth, knowledge and self determination. It is one of the most powerful endorsements for the proposition that “The Truth shall set you free” and a chilling and heartbreaking … Continue reading →

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Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston

Posted on March 1, 2019 by bseat

When Zora Neale Hurston came to Plateau, Alabama in 1927, Cudjo Lewis was eighty six years old.  He was one of the last living slaves who remembered crossing the Middle Passage from Africa to the United States on the last … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, History, memoir, Non Fiction | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

A River in the Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa, translated by Risa Kobayashi

Posted on March 16, 2018 by bseat

Back in November when I saw that young soldier make his daring escape from North Korea , I began to wonder what motivated him to escape and also what his life would be like now that he is free. So when I … Continue reading →

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Between The World And Me Ta-Nehisi Coates

Posted on February 23, 2018 by bseat

Between the World and Me is ostensibly a letter from a father to his adolescent son. But really it is so much more than that. It is filled with stories and history and it is about the struggle of blacks … Continue reading →

Posted in memoir, Prize winner | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Posted on September 29, 2017 by bseat

Dr. Paul Kalanithi was on the verge of completing his residency to become the neurosurgeon he always dreamed of being, when he noticed that he was losing weight and a persistent back ache was making it hard to get through … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, memoir, Prize winner, Reflections, Spiritual | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Books to Read For an Alaskan Cruise! (Part One)

Posted on April 28, 2017 by bseat

This summer our extended family is going on an Alaskan cruise! There will be 20 of us and we will be celebrating some important milestones on this trip, from birthdays (80 and 90 years old) to a big 60th wedding … Continue reading →

Posted in Books to Read for an Alsakan Cruise, Children's Books, Fiction, memoir, Non Fiction, Prize winner, Series | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

Posted on October 14, 2016 by bseat

J.D. Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio and the Appalachian town of Jackson, Kentucky. Looking at just the outline of the author’s personal story:  His grandparents, “dirt poor and in love,” move to Middletown in order to escape the poverty … Continue reading →

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Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen

Posted on September 9, 2016 by bseat

Rhoda Janzen realized her marriage had ended when in the middle of the night the phone rang and her husband’s male lover asked to speak with him. Soon after that Rhoda was in a car accident leaving her seriously injured. … Continue reading →

Posted in memoir, Non Fiction, Self-help, Spiritual, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

Posted on February 26, 2016 by bseat

After her father died, Helen Macdonald seemed to die a little too. A naturalist and historian, she was completing her research fellowship at a university in England when her father’s unexpected death throws her off course, overwhelmed by her fierce … Continue reading →

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