Maria Ahmad – Google

I absolutely and completely adore this book. I love how raw and vulnerable Mikel is in his writing and how explicitly he expresses his feelings, which is pretty unusual for a lot of men. I admire his drive to break the cycle of dysfunction in his family, leading him to become an accomplished writer and musician. I never thought I’d ever be able to relate to a famous musician until I read this memoir and now it’s in my Top 10 list. His perspective shifts creatively from a child’s, to a teenager’s, and to an adult’s, where he becomes more reflective. TATE is a band I wasn’t always keen on, except for their song “Sometime Around Midnight”, but after listening to “Come on Out” on Apple Music, I thought that I should explore the band’s music. I came across this book and fell hard and fast for it— now I love TATE’s music over everything else. Mikel Jollett is my idol. I had the opportunity to meet him during his 2022 tour , in Atlanta, where he graciously signed my copy of the book and was an overall charming and awesome person to be around. I’m a TATE fan for life!

One of the most well written and touching memoirs I’ve ever read. Maya Angelou describes her experiences of living in a Depression/Jim Crow-era sundown town in vivid, haunting detail. She exposes the harsh reality of racism in this book, where it didn’t matter how talented, educated, or experienced you were as a Black person, your worth would never measure up to even a “powhitetrash”’s status in Jim Crow society. Her childlike critique of church and religion is amusing and I like how she includes details of various mishaps in her church and the people who associated with it. Most of all, I love how she wrote about life in the Store, which I surmise was her “safe place” after enduring all the the trauma she had experienced from a young age. Similarly, she paints a descriptive picture of living in St. Louis where she fares slightly better (except for her rape *spoiler*) and is brought to life by her mother’s way of life and as always, her tight bond with her brother Bailey. The end of this book was quite unexpected, but at least this book has a sequel!

Where do I even begin with this book? This book singlehandedly cheered me up during 5th grade, when I was going through a rough time. I still find myself giggling at Dahl’s various shenanigans, such as the dead mouse and goat poop pranks. This was one of my first memoirs and I was intrigued how Dahl wove inspiration from his childhood into his children’s books. As funny as this book is, it was also somewhat depressing and depicts mean, tyrannical adults from a child’s perspective. It’s one of those books that make you sigh in relief that times have truly changed, somewhat for the better. I devoured Roald Dahl’s books, from the BFG, to Matilda, to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and this memoir was such a treat!

One of my all time favorite books and my introduction to the world of memoirs. I loved the Ramona and Henry Huggins books growing up and I was elated to discover that Beverly Cleary had written a memoir as well. I found this memoir a stark contrast from other authors’ biographies which took place in similar time periods, such as “I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing” by Maya Angelou. But it gave an in-depth look at what it was like to be a teenager and relatively well-off during the Great Depression, which I found fascinating. Regardless, I found some things, such as Beverly’s difficult relationship with her mother and her friendship with Claudine, relatable. I loved finding parallels from her children’s books in this memoir and look forward to reading its successor, “On My Own Two Feet”.