I read a lot of memoirs and prefer them over fiction because real-life challenges and triumphs feel more compelling to me, even though I know great fiction exists.
I find memoirs through a number of different sources: new-release lists and newsletters from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, BookPage, Book Riot, plus podcasts like Let’s Talk Memoir with Ronit Plank and Writing Your Resilience with Lisa Cooper Ellison.
I also sometimes check the stacks in bookstores and libraries, but have to wade through many biographies and autobiographies to find a memoir.
Lately, I’ve seen more and more famous novelists writing their life stories, which include a lot about their writing lives. I recently read Margaret Atwood’s memoir, Book of Lives. Vlog episode #165 focuses on my reading of her memoir.
Now, it’s your turn. How do you find your next great read? Tell us about it in the comments section below, so we can discover new ways to find books?
But whether you search out your next read or wait for it to come to you, always remember, the only way to do this wrong is to not do it at all!
I read memoirs, as well as, historical fiction and non fiction. I read memoirs by authors I know or best sellers.
Currently, i am listening to On Writing by Stephen King. While it’s not a how to on writing, it’s a good growing up story. I’m enjoying it.
Necessary Turbulence: Fifty Years, One Unbreakable Sisterhood Forged in the Crucible of the Air Force Academy Arriving June 23. I cannot wait to read it. For fifty years, an extraordinary story has been hiding in plain sight. Necessary Turbulence is a collective narrative of women who came of age inside systems that were not built for them and learned, in real time, how to live, lead, and redefine themselves anyway. In 1976, 157 young women marched beneath the words “Bring Me Men” at the top of a ramp leading into a world that had never imagined them. They, and the… Read more »
I start with the person. I recently bought a memoir after watching a podcast where an author talked about dealing with her mom’s dementia.
I bought a writing book/memoir after reading an article by the author. I dont read book reviews often, but I do like to watch when authors talk about themselves, for those me too moments.
All of the above…lol. I’m forever looking for a good book to read and keep a “may be interesting” list. Current releases are difficult to get at my local library (many holds) so not many of them make the list.