Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Veteran's Memoir
by Khadijah Queen

Longing to escape the cycle of her family's poverty, incarceration, and addiction, Khadijah Queen joined the US Navy—determined to earn money to finish college and make it back to her hometown of L.A. on her own terms. But soon after Queen completed her grueling training and boarded a doomed destroyer, she found herself faced with near-constant sexual harassment, demeaning labor assignments, and overt racism. Stuck on a ship with nowhere to hide, she looks to poetry, literature, and letters from home to get through the long days and maintain her dignity.

Baldwin: A Love Story
by Nicholas Boggs

Drawing on new archival material, original research, and interviews, this spellbinding book is the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, revealing how profoundly his most sustaining intimate and artistic relationships: with his mentor, the Black American painter Beauford Delaney; with his lover and muse, the Swiss painter Lucien Happersberger; and with his collaborators, the famed Turkish actor Engin Cezzar and the iconoclastic French artist Yoran Cazac

Things in Nature Merely Grow
by Yiyun Li

There is no good way to say this, Yiyun Li writes at the beginning of this book. There is no good way to state these facts, which must be acknowledged . . . My husband and I had two children and lost them both: Vincent in 2017, at sixteen, James in 2024, at nineteen. Both chose suicide, and both died not far from home. Vincent was and is and will always be Vincent. James was and is and will always be James. We were and are and will always be their parents. There is no now and then, now and later; only now and now and now and now.

10,000 Ink Stains: A Memoir
by Jeff Lemire

Featuring his brilliant work from Sweet Tooth, Essex County, Black Hammer, Descender, and so much more. Lemire takes the reader book-by-book, writing essays about the making of each project, showcasing artwork from all of them, details about his personal life during the creation of each book, sharing some never-before-seen process material on each book, and unpublished stories as well. This is the ultimate book for Jeff Lemire and modern comic book fans--

Hostage
by Eli Sharabi

On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed Kibbutz Be'eri, shattering the peaceful life Eli Sharabi had built with his British wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel. Dragged barefoot out his front door while his family watched in horror, Sharabi was plunged deep into the suffocating darkness of Gaza's tunnels. As war raged above him, he endured a grueling 491 days in captivity, all the while holding onto the hope that he would one day be reunited with his loved ones.

Tart: Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef
by Slutty Cheff

When Slutty Cheff finds herself bored and fed-up with her 9-5 job in corporate marketing, she turns to the only thing that she really likes to do: cooking. So she quits her job, swaps emails for emulsions, and sets off to pursue her dreams of becoming a chef. The world of London's fine dining restaurants is so much more than she imagined: it's more challenging, and more exciting too. This is a story about searching for your purpose, and experiencing and embracing life to the fullest along the way. The pleasure and the chaos too.

Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

The world knows Virginia Roberts Giuffre as Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's most outspoken victim: the woman whose decision to speak out helped send both serial abusers to prison, whose photograph with Prince Andrew catalyzed his fall from grace. But her story has never been told in full, in her own words—until now. In April 2025, Giuffre took her own life. She left behind a memoir written in the years preceding her death and stated unequivocally that she wanted it published.

Awake: A Memoir Shares Courage, Healing, and the Power of Starting Over
by Melissa M. Price

Beloved author and podcast host Jen Hatmaker opens up about the dramatic end of her twenty-six-year marriage and the unexpected journey of reclaiming her life. At 2:30 a.m. on July 11, 2020, Jen was jolted awake to a painful reality—her husband of twenty-six years whispering to another woman from their shared bed. It was the moment that shattered everything she thought she knew about her life. This is a book for anyone navigating change, looking to start over, or seeking to reclaim joy after the storm, this memoir is a powerful reminder that it's never too late to begin again.

How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir
by Molly Jong-Fast

Molly Jong-Fast is the only child of a famous woman, writer Erica Jong, whose sensational book Fear of Flying launched her into second-wave feminist stardom. She grew up yearning for a connection with her dreamy, glamorous, just out of reach mother, who always seemed to be heading somewhere that wasn't with Molly. When, in 2023, Erica was diagnosed with dementia just as Molly's husband discovered he had a rare cancer, Jong-Fast was catapulted into a transformative year.

Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope
by Amanda Nguyen

In 2013, the trajectory of Amanda Nguyen's life was changed forever when she was raped at Harvard University. Determined not to let her assault derail her goal of joining NASA after graduation, Nguyen opted for her rape kit to be filed under Jane Doe. But she was shocked to learn her choice to stay anonymous gave her only six months to press charges before the state destroyed her kit, rendering any future legal action impossible. Nguyen knew then that she had two options: surrender to a law that effectively denied her justice, or fight for a change--not only for herself but for survivors everywhere. From one of the most influential activists (and now astronauts) of our time, Saving Five is at once a tribute to resilience, a celebration of healing through action, and a resounding cry to change the world.

That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You
by Elyse Myers

Elyse Myers is known to her twelve million followers as 'The Internet's Best Friend,' sharing her relatable stories and comedic sketches and serving as an advocate for topics such as neurodivergence, impostor syndrome, body image, and more. Whether she's making people laugh with tales of disastrous dates or giving a voice to that awkward internal monologue many of us have, she has three simple goals behind everything she makes: To make people feel known, loved, and like they belong. In [this book], Elyse delivers a debut collection of deeply personal stories and hand-drawn illustrations, offering even more intimate reflections beyond what fans have seen on her social media

The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports
by Nicholas Thompson

For Nicholas Thompson, running has always been about something more than putting one foot in front of another—it was an activity that formed a rhythm throughout the ups and downs of his life and tied him to his father. Then, in his 40s, a chance offer gave him the opportunity to train with elite coaches. Giving himself over to the sport more fully than ever before, he discovered that aging didn't necessarily put you on an unbroken trajectory of decline. For seven years after his father died, Thompson transforms his body to perform at its highest capacity, and the profound discipline and awareness he builds along the way changes every aspect of his life.

Mother Mary Comes to Me
by Arundhati Roy

Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy shares vivid memories of growing up poor in India and her complicated relationship with her single mother, Mary. It is a raw account of living with a headstrong, volatile, and sometimes abusive parent, but one who also ignited the author’s dedication to Indian women’s rights, and whose death in 2022 left Arundhati overcome with grief.

Next of Kin: A Memoir
by Gabrielle Hamilton

The youngest of five children, Gabrielle Hamilton took pride in her unsentimental, idiosyncratic family. She idolized her parents' charisma and non-conformity. She worshipped her siblings' mischievousness and flair. Hers was a family with no fondness for the humdrum. Hamilton grew up to find enormous success, first as a chef and then as the author of award-winning, bestselling books. But her family ties frayed in ways both seismic and mundane until eventually she was estranged from them all. A personal account of one family's disintegration, Next of Kin is also a universal story of the emotional clarity that comes from scrutinizing our family mythologies and seeing through to the other side.

The Möbius Book
by Catherine Lacey

Adrift after a sudden breakup and its ensuing depression, the novelist Catherine Lacey began cataloguing the wreckage of her life and the beauty of her friendships, a practice that eventually propagated fiction both entirely imagined and painfully true. Betrayed by the mercurial partner and suddenly catapulted into the unknown, Lacey's appetite vanished, a visceral reminder of the teenage emaciation that came when she stopped believing in God. But through relationships, travel, reading, and memories of her religious fanaticism, she charts the contours of faith's absence and reemergence.

Joyride: A Memoir
by Susan Orlean

Joyride is a magic carpet ride through Orlean's life and career, where every day is an opportunity for discovery and every moment holds the potential for wonder. Throughout her storied career, her curiosity draws her to explore the most ordinary and extraordinary of places, from going deep inside the head of a regular ten-year-old boy for a legendary profile ("The American Man Age Ten") to reporting on a woman who owns twenty-seven tigers, from capturing the routine magic of Saturday night to climbing Mt. Fuji. Not only does Orlean's account of a writing life offer a trove of indispensable gleanings for writers, it's also an essential and practical guide to embracing any creative path.

Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America
by Beth Macy

From one of our most acclaimed chroniclers of the forces eroding America's social fabric, her most personal and powerful work: a reckoning with the changes that have rocked her own beloved small Ohio hometown. The result is an astonishing book that, by taking us into the heart of one place, brings into focus our most urgent set of national issues. Paper Girl is a gift of courage, empathy, and insight. Beth Macy has turned to face the darkness in her family and community, people she loves wholeheartedly, even the ones she sometimes struggles to like. And in facing the truth--in person, with respect--she has found sparks of human dignity that she has used to light a signal fire of warning but also of hope.

Our next discussion:
Thursday, January 8, 5:00pm
Meeting Room on Library Lower Level
If you're a regular memoir reader, consider joining our Memoir Book Club! The club usually meets on the second Thursday of the month at 5:00, but we do recommend confirming details on our events calendar in case of changes. Copies of our next book will be reserve at the Circulation Desk. We hope to see you there!

Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir
by Ina Garten

Ina Garten, the author of thirteen best-selling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and the cultural icon whose face has launched a thousand memes, shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table.