Let’s say you just finished reading a classic that ended up not being as awesome as you’d hoped it would be, and you need a couple of page-turners to cleanse your palate. For that, I often turn to memoirs. I feel a little guilty reading sensational material about Bad Things That Happen To People. Some memoirs are really no better than an episode of Dateline NBC. But here are two that I have really enjoyed this summer:

Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter

This is one of many memoirs that fall into the “crappy childhood” category, but I really enjoyed this particular book. I liked the author’s insights into her family members, and her feelings about her own physical metamorphosis. I want to check out her second book, Fierce, which looks like it’s about the author’s growth into a visual artist. It looks like she uses archetypes from her childhood in her artwork, which I find fascinating.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

This is certainly not your typical memoir. Two recent college graduates travel to China in 1986, when the country has just opened to foreign travelers. The author provides great insight into the loneliness of travelers, paranoia from being a stranger in a very strange land, feeling humbled, dealing with crises, and much more that I can’t reveal or I will give away important plot points! There is a particular passage that really got me laughing—about douchey world travelers comparing notes on how much they have had to “rough it.” That hit a chord with me, because I have found myself in the middle of these one-upmanships and I just can’t tolerate it. This book does have funny moments, but it’s also a bit of a thriller, so definitely check it out.


Side note: I once read a book review in which the reviewer compared the memoir genre to fairy tales. I thought that assessment was spot on. Let’s face it, children are treated very badly in fairy tales. Peruse a copy of Grimm’s sometime, I mean, yikes. And memoirs often spotlight mistreatment of children. But the memoir and the fairy tale can also be all about resourcefulness. Hansel and Gretel? They were crafty as hell. And sometimes when people grow up in dire straights, they become all the more creative and capable for it. And then they grow up and write a memoir.

So what are some books you've liked this summer?