Calling all bookworms! Welcome to the L.A. Times Book Club newsletter.
Calling all bookworms! Welcome to the L.A. Times Book Club newsletter. I’m Meg. I write shut up and read, a book newsletter. I’m also on BookTok.
I just flew through Amy Griffin’s “The Tell.” Her memoir — a powerful investigation of repressed memories, sexual trauma and the quest for perfection — took me less than two days to finish. Instead of walking to the gym, I took the train, just so I could have more time to read. Then I picked up Lauren Christensen’s “Firstborn.” My waking hours were at the mercy of the memoir, a moving account of the loss of her first child, Simone. I fought off sleep to keep reading and when I awoke, the book was the first thing I reached for.
I turn to the stories of other people’s lives to make sense of my own. There’s no memoir I won’t read, except for Melania Trump’s. I’m a glutton for the juicy celebrity tell-all, but there is nothing like being surprised by an unexpected or unknown author. As we approach the decade’s halfway mark, I thought I’d share some of my favorite memoirs from the past 5 years, as well as the titles I’m looking forward to getting my hands on this year.
10 memorable memoirs
Michelle Zauner’s buzzy “Crying in H Mart” is being adapted into a feature film.
(Tonje Thilesen)
“The Meaning of Mariah Carey” is best experienced as an audiobook. Carey’s memoir is an incisive deep dive into her elusive persona. Come for the reflections on her long-spanning career — and the true account of her rags-to-riches story — but stay for Mimi bursting sporadically into song.
André Leon Talley’s “The Chiffon Trenches” is also a wonderful audio experience. His distinctive voice oozes charisma and authority, and his front row seat to the fashion world provides 50 years’ worth of stories—about Karl Lagerfeld, Diana Vreeland, and of course, Anna Wintour.
Dr. Michele Harper pulls back the curtain on life as an emergency room physician in her debut memoir, “The Beauty in Breaking.” Through her patients, Harper discovers how to heal, all while contending with the racism and sexism in an overwhelmingly white and male-dominated profession.
“Minor Feelings,” Cathy Park Hong’s book of essays, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Memoir. In her collection, Park Hong blends cultural criticism and memoir to examine the covert racism that is pervasive in our country. Her work is a celebration of her identity as an Asian American artist and a call to question white colonialist notions.
A member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Elissa Washuta unpacks the commodification of Native American spirituality in “White Magic.” Through layered essays, Washuta explores the effects of colonialism on sacred practices, as well as her heritage, and her struggles with men, drugs and alcohol — and how magic runs through it all.
When I first read “Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner, I stayed up all night to finish, and I wept the whole way through. In her debut memoir, Zauner (who performs under the alias Japanese Breakfast) celebrates mother Chongmi’s life, and mourns her early death. Zauner’s tender tribute — and reckoning of who she is without her mother — is transformative.
Suleika Jaouad’s “Between Two Kingdoms” is one of those memoirs that will knock the wind out of you. Jaouad’s world turns upside down when she receives a leukemia diagnosis at 23. Four years later, she has survived, but is unsure of how to reenter the world, so she set out on a 100-day road trip to find out.
My copy of “In Love” by Amy Bloom is stained with fat teardrops. After Brian Ameche, Bloom’s husband, receives an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, he decides to end his life on his own terms. Bloom details their journey to Switzerland, where a nonprofit offers legal suicide, and paints us full vignettes of their love story along the way.
Ina Garten’s “Be Ready When the Luck Happens” is a a four-course meal — plus dessert. Garten’s words sing off the page. Reading her memoir makes you feel like you’re in the kitchen with her, and Jeffrey! Getting a glimpse into Garten’s life story is fascinating, and her cheerful demeanor and can-do attitude will galvanize you to chase your dreams.
“Grief Is For People” by Sloane Crosley grapples with the complexities of loss. She shared a piece of advice in an opinion piece she wrote for The Times in 2024: “Give the grieving person a reprieve from the interrogation, the lion’s share of which they will conduct themselves. Give them this for the same reason you would offer to do their dishes or run their errands: so they can get some rest.”
Honorable mentions:
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The Week(s) in Books
Some of the biggest names in entertainment, politics and culture will be at the 30th annual Festival of Books.
(Evan Agostini/Invision/AP; Akili-Casundria Ramsess/AP; Evan Agostini/Invision/AP; Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Anyone who’s anyone is going to be at The Times’ Festival of Books next month, including National Book Award winner Percival Everett, “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu and aughts pop icon Joanna “Jojo” Levesque. Scheduled for April 26 and 27, the 30th anniversary of the annual literary festival brings more than 550 storytellers to the USC campus across seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor venues.
Itching for a mystery? Here are the four best crime novels to read right now, taking you everywhere from Alaska to Maine to Kaua’i to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is pressing pause on his press tour for his new book following his vote to move forward with Republican spending legislation last week.
In “A Better Ending,” James Whitfield Thomson looks back on the events of summer 1974, when his younger sister Eileen died at the age of 27 from a gunshot wound to the chest. His sister’s death was quickly ruled a suicide, although it bore all the hallmarks of murder.
10 memoirs we’re looking forward to
Tina Knowles upcoming memoir, “Matriarch,” is due to hit bookshelves next month.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
There have been so many noteworthy memoirs released in the last five years, and the next five promise to make this a decade filled with notable works. Here are 10 due out in 2025 we can’t wait to read.
See you in the stacks — or on Goodreads!
