Tag Archives: memoir

August 2022 Reading Recap

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August saw me flying from New York City back to Texas and spending a bunch of time recovering from psychic damage I’m not going to get into. I also did a bunch of painting, had a weird episode with my Instagram, and just. What a ride of a month it was!

I am nearing the end of my revision journey, and then I’m going to be doing more focused reading lists that I may or may not share as part of the recovery phase after finishing an intense project.

This month’s blog interviews were:

September is off to a hype start, with me getting to announce a short story with the inaugural edition of the Best Served Cold zine.

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Review: I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy (2022)

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Genre: Adult Memoir
Year Release: 2022
Source: Audible

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Listened to the audiobook
Trigger warnings: anorexia, bulimia, vomiting, child abuse, death of a parent, cancer, alcoholism, sexualization of minors

Jennette McCurdy is best known for playing Sam Puckett on the Nickelodeon show iCarly. I had not grown up watching the program, so what drew me to this memoir is its evocative title. And I found an incredibly frank and intense personal story within its pages.

Exploring the pain of and recovery from being raised by a narcissistic and abusive mother, McCurdy brings humor and frankness to a discussion on the aftermath of parenthood that often gets buried under the sentiment, “Do not speak ill of the dead.”

Content note: This review will mention specifics of the abuse.

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February 2022 Reading Recap

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February is a month where I largely took off from writing my own fiction in preparation for Futurescapes this weekend. Like, I dabbled a bit, mostly played video games. Still did some reading. I finally can go back to listening to audiobooks, which is great for my brain buzz.

Here is a round up of my February reads. I got to interview two fabulous authors to kick off the month:

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January 2022 Reading Recap

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Happy New Year from me and my very strange perception of time. January felt very long, and it’s only barely almost over. What also doesn’t help is that my goals for the year are still quite nebulous aside from the reading goals and fitness goals. Which is fine, really. Time has been strange since March 2020, and I’m sorry to remind you how far away that date is.

Anyway, here is what I read this fine January! There has also been one blog interview:

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December 2021 Reading Recap

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December went by like a flash. I attended Dis Con III, visited my family for Christmas, and write you from Chicago. Please enjoy this final reading recap of 2021. What a year it’s been.

Tomorrow, we have my annual recap coming up. I hope you’re excited.

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Review: SEX CULT NUN: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult by Faith Jones (2021)

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Genre: Adult Memoir
Year Release: 2021
Source: Audible

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Listened to the audiobook
Trigger warnings (all of these are graphic): Child sexual abuse, rape, sexual assault, incest, suicidal ideation, murder, isolation, gaslighting, manipulation, abuse, trauma in the name of religion

I finished listening to this book days ago and have finally figured out how to talk about it. It’s not an easy story or an easy read. But the author’s note at the beginning outlines what Jones set out to do: tell a coming of an age story from the point of view of a girl who grew up in a religious cult. In that, it is successful. Heartbreakingly successful.

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Author to Author with Elsa Sjunneson

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Elsa Sjunneson’s debut memoir, Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism, is one part personal history, one part sociology, one part media criticism, all wrapped up in an inclusive package that invites the reader to examine the ableist world around them. In this interview to celebrate her debut, the author discusses the origins of the memoir, the process of putting it together, and what we can look forward to next.

Buy Links: Bookshop | Unabridged Books | Audiobook

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ARC Review: BEING SEEN: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism by Elsa Sjunneson (2021)

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Genre: Adult Memoir
Year Release: October 26, 2021
Buy Links: Bookshop | Unabridged Books | Audiobook

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Read an eARC from NetGalley
Content warning: ableism, depression, suicidal ideation, medically-assisted suicide, assault (sexual and physical, mentioned), child abuse, spousal abuse, eugenics, Nazis

Elsa Sjunneson is an award-winning writer, professor, and media critic. She is also Deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids. This memoir takes the reader through her personal history while also seamlessly incorporating critique of popular works featuring disabled characters and dispelling myths about the disabled experience through a combination of lived experience, history, sociology, and pop culture.

Infused with intersectionality, dry humor, and passion for the media critiqued, this is not one to miss.

The author Elsa Sjunneson will be featured on the blog tomorrow, October 26th, release date.

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Review: I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (2018)

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Genre: Adult Crime Nonfiction
Year Release: 2020
Source: Library Audiobook

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Listened to the audiobook
Trigger warning: graphic discussions of murder, sexual assault, and home invasion

Being the fan of true crime that I am, I had heard so many amazing things about McNamara’s work. With my recent interest in nonfiction, especially, i thought it was finally time to dive into this piece of true crime canon.

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Reading Recap: December 2019

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Dec2019RR.pngIn December, I made it a small goal to get my Currently Reading List down to zero. While I failed at that, I got most of the way there, even reading two additional books. I start 2020 with a four-book-long backlog, which honestly, it pretty good. Anyway, here is the last recap of the year.
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