At the start of the new year, we often make resolutions to improve our health or learn new skills. Sometimes we reflect on our lives first, remembering certain times when we faced challenges or struggled to achieve our goals. If we are journaling, these times are written down for our own memories. Sometimes, people turn to a more structured writing in the form of a published memoir.
This definition of “memoir” comes from the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: a history or record composed from personal observation and experience. Closely related to autobiography, a memoir differs chiefly in the degree of emphasis on external events. Unlike writers of autobiographies, who are concerned primarily with themselves as subject matter, writers of memoirs usually have played roles in, or have closely observed, historical events; their main purpose is to describe or interpret those events. A memoir is considered a primary document.
Below are some memoirs available for checkout at our three campus and in digital format:
First Gen: A Memoir written by former White House aide to President Obama and Harvard graduate, Alejandra Campoverdi, comes a riveting and unflinching memoir on navigating social mobility as a first gen Latina, offering a broad examination of the unacknowledged emotional tolls of being a trailblazer. Available at Charleston and North Las Vegas.
My Remarkable Journey, by Katherine Johnson, the woman at the heart of the New York Times bestseller and Oscar-winning film "Hidden Figures" shares her personal journey from child prodigy in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia to NASA human computer and her integral role in the early years of the U.S. space program. Available at Henderson.
In Is Rape a Crime? A Memoir and An Investigation, Michelle Bowdler tells her story of rape and recovery while interrogating why one of society's most serious crimes goes largely uninvestigated. Available at North Las Vegas .
In Gentrifier: A Memoir, part investigation, part comedy of a vexing city, and part love letter to girlhood, artist Anne Elizabeth Moore, examines capitalism, property ownership, and whiteness, asking if we can ever really win when violence and profit are inextricably linked with victory. Available at Charleston.
In Borders and Belonging: A Memoir, Mira Sucharov shows what a search for political and emotional home looks like. Sucharov suffered from childhood phobias triggered by her parents' divorce, and she sought emotional refuge in Jewish summer camp. Available online. Click on the blue link within the record and log in with your Canvas credentials.
Crying in H Mart is written by Michelle Zauner, the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book. This is an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean-American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity. Available online and at Henderson.
You can find these titles and more by going to our Library Homepage, selectin “Find Books”, and entering the keyword memoir into the search bar. To request that a title be sent to another campus, be sure to sign into your account.