MEMOIRS

In the last year or so, I've read a few memoirs, mostly cooking related--one leading to another--some with recipes, some not: Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential (641.5092 BOU), Susan Hermann Loomis'On Rue Tatin, Madeleine Kamman's When French Women Cook, and I've started Julie Powell's Julie and Julia (641.5092 POW). Memoirs seem to be more personal, more intimate than standard biographies or even autobiographies, and are usually limited to just a part of the narrator's life, not all of it. While sometimes controversial (usually because of "fictionalization"), most memoirs provide relatively short, readable experiences, just right for summer.

For anyone interested in this type of reading, EW.com has compiled an extensive list of suggested memoirs written since 1995, arranged by type, So You Want to Write a Memoir?. [via Reader’s Advisor Online Blog]