Memoirs with Melissa, my new Substack publication, shares bimonthly memoir reviews intended to expose readers to diverse authors and life experiences. To see more of what I’m reading, browse my reading activity on The Story Graph.
Recent Reviews
Inverse Cowgirl, by Alicia Roth Weigel: “The coolest shit in life exists on the border…”
Heavy: An American Memoir, by Kiese Laymon: Who are we writing to and for?
The Handmaid’s Tale as Fictional Memoir: A master class on how real stories get gaslit and buried
The Crane Wife, by CJ Hauser: Deconstructing the love stories we’ve been sold
Hijab Butch Blues, by Lamya H: In lieu of Father’s Day, THIS.
Lost & Found, by Kathryn Schulz: Can we mainstream LGBTQ+ memoirs, please?
Biting the Hand, by Julia Lee: A reminder that categories are slippery
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer: Remembering things you didn’t know you’d forgotten
My What If Year, by Alisha Fernandez Miranda: Embodying the intern spirit at 40 and beyond
Happening, by Annie Ernaux: A true account of illegal abortion through the pen of a Nobel laureate
Solito, by Javier Zamora: Transcending the politics of migration
Memorial Drive, by Natasha Trethewey (+4 more memoirs I’m reading by Black authors)
The Secrets that Change Who We Are to Each Other: A conversation with Jessi Hempel, author of The Family Outing
2022 Reviews
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures, by Sabrina Imbler
Uncultured, by Daniella Mestyanek Young (+ Bonus Author Interview!)
See No Stranger, by Valarie Kaur
Cost of Living, by Emily Maloney
Burning Butch, by R/B Mertz (+ Bonus Author Interview!)
Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement, by Tarana Burke
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami