Book picks similar to
Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother's Journey by Karen Salyer McElmurray
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Kiss the Sunset Pig: A Canadian's American Road Trip With Exotic Detours
Laurie Gough - 2005
Heading towards a half-remembered cave on the Pacific coast where her younger, more adventurous self once stayed, she recalls adventures in Sumatra, the Yukon and many places in between—and wonders what compels her to keep moving through life while everyone else has found a place to belong.
Gone Boy: A Walkabout
Gregory Gibson - 1999
Ths story of a father's search for truth after his son's murder, "Gone Boy" offers a commanding inquiry into guns, violence, and manhood in America.
Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers
Matt Kellogg - 2006
. . yet.
Here, for the first time, current twentysomethings come together on their own terms, in their own words, and begin to define this remarkably diverse and self-aware generation. Tackling an array of subjects–career, family, sex, religion, technology, art–they form a vibrant, unified community while simultaneously proving that there is no typical twentysomething experience.In this collection, a young father works the late-night shift at Wendy’s, learning the finer points of status, teamwork, and french fries. An artist’s nude model explains why she’s happy to be viewed as an object. An international relief worker wrestles with his choices as he starts to resent the very people who need his help the most. A devout follower of Joan Didion explains what New York means to her. And a young army engineer spends his time in Kuwait futilely trying to grow a mustache like his dad’s.With grace, wit, humor, and urgency, these writers invite us into their lives and into their heads. Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers is a rich, provocative read as well as a bold statement from a generation just now coming into its own.Praise for Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers“Being in your twenties is weird. The world tells you you’re a grown-up, but damn if you feel like one. With 29 sharply observant and well-written snapshots of life between the ages of 19 and 30, Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers couldn’t have captured this more perfectly.”–Nylon“You’ll devour this compilation of essays by funny, smart, insightful young writers in just a few hours.”–Jane Magazine
“[Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers offers] a wide variety of experience. . . . If we are still looking for a voice for this generation, I’d nominate this eclectic choir instead.”–Orlando Sentinel“[Ranging] from playful and absurd to poignant and earnest . . . [Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers is] a bold reminder that this generation is extremely diverse and very capable. . . . These essays will speak to you no matter your age.”–Austinist.com
“Delightful . . . Whether admitting they are only just beginning to see their own parents as people or struggling to balance graduate study and parenthood, the essayists blend morbid irony and idealism. . . . This highly readable collection of voices is more assured and memorable than one might have expected from such a venture.”–Publishers Weekly “Earnest, honest, and well-written . . . a propitious look at writers coming of age right now, and it’s a pleasant surprise.”–The Phoenix (Boston)“A slice of Gen Y life: everything from OCD, rape, and depression to a nude-art-class model, online communities, and how to find (and keep) a drummer. Pick up your copy.”–stuff@night (Boston)“The essays . . . have an urgency, an immediacy, even as the subject matter runs the gamut from sex to death.”–Los Angeles Times Book Review
Klondike House - Memories of an Irish Country Childhood
John Dwyer - 2012
This was Ireland of the 1970s and 80s before the arrival of the short-lived economic riches of the Celtic Tiger.Dwyer's vivid and colorful prose describes his hard but happy life as part of a isolated but close-knit community:Early school days spent in a building with no running water or electricityAn encounter with a violent sheep that literally turned his world upside downThe days spent cutting the turf and saving the hay by handAn Irish Christmas where nearly everything on the table was sourced from the farmHis exciting family history that brought his relations to the Klondike Gold Rush in CanadaComplemented by a collection of evocative photographs, each story tells of a way of life that has now largely disappeared.Sprinkled with a selection of fitting works by some of Ireland's best-known poets such as Seamus Heaney and Patrick Kavanagh, this gem of a book is a chronicle of the simple but happy life of an Irish farmer boy.
The Fire She Set
Leigh Overton Boyd - 2020
They did not talk about their mom's extended absences or why their dad put Scotch tape on the backdoor frame. To cover up the chaos, they kept their clothes neat and got good grades. But when they were teenagers, an arson fire destroyed their home and killed their parents. Rumors were thick that summer that smart, angry, fourteen-year-old Lisa set the blaze. Then, adult powers they did not understand squelched the investigation. As teenagers accustomed to keeping silent, they packed up and moved on.Forty years later, Leigh, the oldest, decided it was time to find out who killed their parents. She obtained copies of the police and fire investigations and began unwrapping the past. This memoir is the story of that investigation as Leigh tried to piece together the truth, but found more lies instead. With the help of her sisters, Leigh was able to reconstruct much of what happened to them in the beach towns around Atlantic City in the early 1970s. After the fire, one sister turned to heroin and another to alcohol; Leigh became Miss Atlantic City. Then, one by one, they each moved to California and shut the door on their past, even though they privately wondered whether one of them killed Frank and Nancy Overton. It's funny. They never wondered whether one of their parents was trying to kill them.
Honey from Stone: A Naturalist's Search for God
Chet Raymo - 1987
As he wanders the land year upon year, Raymo gathers the revelations embedded in the geological and cultural history of this wild and ancient place. "When I called out for the Absolute, I was answered by the wind," Raymo writes. "If it was God's voice in the wind, then I heard it." In poetic prose grounded in a mind trained to discover fact, Honey from Stone enters the wonder of the material world in search of our deepest nature.
Shotgun Angels: My Story of Broken Roads and Unshakeable Hope
Jay Demarcus - 2019
You'll follow his intensely personal journey through big breaks and broken dreams, desperate dashboard prayers, and limelight glories. Along the way, you'll find the same constant source of strength that he has--hope that is powerful enough to hold you up through whatever trials come your way.
A Lesser Photographer: Escape the Gear Trap and Focus on What Matters
C.J. Chilvers - 2018
Less gear. Less anxiety. Less stress. Less fear. A Lesser Photographer is the missing guide you've always wanted to the only gear that really matters: the gear between your ears. In under an hour, you’ll be able to identify the myths you’ve been taught about photography and embrace useful creative habits that will set you apart. Praise for previous editions: “For something beautiful and well-said, check out A Lesser Photographer.” — David duChemin “Amazing read…I really recommend everyone get a copy.” — Chris Marquardt “CJ Chilvers reevaluates what it means to be a photographer in this manifesto. Most of the points apply to virtually any creative endeavor or obsession. ‘The real show is outside the viewfinder.’” — Jim Coudal “I have to say, CJ has a great attitude. If you care at all about photography, he’s a must read.” — Patrick Rhone “Every photographer should follow CJ Chilvers.” — Eric Kim
Glittering a Turd: How surviving the unsurvivable taught me to live
Kris Hallenga - 2021