Since today I made a list of nearly every memoir I've read, I thought, why not make a thread about this? Lots of these were via the book club. Memoirs I've read: Marching Powder by Rusty Young: 6.5/10: Book about the economy inside Bolivia's San Pedro prison. (They used to let tourists in for a tour, but sadly, don't do that anymore.) Scores: How I Opened the Hottest Strip Club in New York City, Was Extorted out of Millions by the Gambino Family, and Became One of the Most Successful Mafia Informants in FBI History by Michael Blutrich: 7.5/10:Owner of the notorious strip club, Scores tells his story about being extorted by the mafia and FBI in a way. (Finished this one quickly) Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick: 9/10: Mitnick was the FBI's most wanted hacker in the 90s. He tells his story. This was one of my favorite book club books. It absolutely fascinated me. Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Marteen Troost: 6/10: Troost is a talented writer, but he comes off as kind of a DB. This one let me down quite a bit, though I did finish. Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky: 9/10: Maybe because I read this right after I'd spent the previous 2 years living in hotels, but I couldn't put this book down. I loved it. It's about a guy who essentially "tells all" about working in a fancy NYC hotel. Recommend to anyone that spends a lot of time in hotels. Barbarian Days by William Finnegan: 8.5/10: Surfing and exotic travel memoir. Finnegan is a fantastic writer, and his story is pretty fantastic. It drags a bit in the middle, but otherwise is hard to pout down. Waiter to the Rich and Shameless: Confessions of a Five-Star Beverly Hills Server by Paul Hartford: 8/10: This one may not age too well, as it was written before Trump's presidency (and he's actually one of the celebs Hartford discusses), but at the time of reading, I couldn't put it down. You'll know almost all of the celebs he details all while having a very narrative driven story. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight: 9/10: Incredible book. Phil Knight's memoir. Took me only a few days to finish, and I gave it to my Dad the following Christmas and he finished it in less than 48 hours. Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado: 9.5/10: Book club book. He made the account of the Uruguayan Rugby team read like fiction. Top tier story telling here. All the Wrong Moves by Sasha Chapin: 8/10: Memoir of a chess lover traveling the world to play chess. Short book, but for whatever reason, I couldn't put it down. Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams: 6.5: Enjoyable read about going to Machu Picchu. It also tries to tell a bit of the history. Solid book to listen while trekking there, but not something I'd recommend unless you're going there. The Dirt by Motley Crue/Neil Strauss: 8/10: They were crazy. Really enjoyed this one. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain: 7/10: He was a great writer, but this book included too many kitchen tips that I could have done without. I'm with the Band: Confessions of a groupie by Pamela Des Barres: 6.5/10: Admitted groupie doing groupie things. She was also in a groupie music group called the GTOs which had some fun songs. Pale Faced Lie by David Crow: 6/10: Interesting premise about a kid growing up on an indian reservation, but the story ran a little slow for me Oasis: The Truth - My Life as Oasis's Drummer by Tony McCarroll: 7/10: I love Oasis, so I really enjoyed this. Tony McCarroll was kind of screwed, and too much of the book was based on that. This Love Is Not for Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in Ciudad Juárez by Robert Andrew Powell: 7/10: All about the city of Juarez and cheering for their soccer team when it was the murder capital of the world by a large margin. Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee - A Look inside North Korea by Jang Jin-sung: 6.5/10: Firsthand look at what it's like for someone in the military to defect from North Korea Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway: 5/10: Hemingway was a hell of a writer, but this book hasn't aged well. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson The Wonder Trail: True Stories from Los Angeles to the End of the World by Steve Hely Wolf of Wallstreet by Jordan Belfort Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into the Heart of Fan Mania by Warren St. James: 7.5/10: Title tells the story, this is a guy following around the RV fanatics for Alabama pre Nick Saban The Game by Neil Strauss: 8/10: I didn't know pick-up artists were even a thing when I started this book, so I found it fascinating. Doubt the book would be even half as fascinating now, but maybe, because Neil Strauss is a hell of a writer I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Maxx: 4/10 Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell: Book is fantastic and reads like nonfiction (though I believe some of it actually probably is). It's hard to pick a fav, because I loved a bunch of these.... Heads in Beds, Waiter to Rich and Shameless, Barbarian Days, Miracle in the Andes, Ghost in the Wires, Shoe Dog, and even All the Wrong Moves stick out (that was my most recent one that I finished in under 24 hours).
I don’t read a lot of memoirs. My favorite by far is Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps Roper Others that I have read and liked I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, by Michelle McNamara American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent by Tamer Elnoury Hilbilly Elegy - lol jk this was trash Gang Leader For A Day: A Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past, by Jennifer Teege
Finishing up a non-fiction, true crime book Killer's of the Flower Moon, so now I need help picking the next one. These aren't in order. Leaning Liar's Poker or Hollywood Park. Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7865083-liar-s-poker Rupee Millionaire's by Frank Kusy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18743632-rupee-millionaires Stories I Only Tell my Friends by Rob Lowe https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10211494-stories-i-only-tell-my-friends Long Way Down by Ewan McGregor https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/845322.Long_Way_Down Life on Foot by Nate Damm https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22174807-life-on-foot Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival by Dean King https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/408147.Skeletons_on_the_Zahara Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49235526-hollywood-park First the Killed my Father by Loung Ung https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4373.First_They_Killed_My_Father
I guess that one isn’t a memoir. Oops. Still though, it’s in the running. What made you only give it 3 stars on goodreads?
Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power. Former UN Amb now running USAID under Biden. A lot of great Obama stories in it.
This sucked. Heard he had an older one from the 70s or something that was good...he was a long way from rock and roll at the end though. Hanging out with Jerry Falwell telling people what to do
Maus by Art Spiegelman They Called Us Enemy by George Takei The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton A Stolen Life by Jaycee Duggard Basketball Junkie by Chris Herren The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Red and Me by Bill Russell My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
Not a memoir but I read "The Water Is Wide" by Pat Conroy -- story of him teaching school for a year on an island only reachable by boat where descendants of slaves live. It's good
Staring this today. As I said earlier, not a huge fan of memiors but heard about this on the NYT Book Review podcast and it piqued my interest. About a dude that was raised in a strict family where you never lied under any circumstance. Apparently it cause a lot of issues after he grew up and was brutally honest w everyone. How he taught himself how little white lies are necessary ect. It sounds pretty funny. Never heard of this dude but its short and something different
Y'all should really read the book club book, Ghost in the Wires I thought that was tremendous, and it's a former book club nomination. Not sure who nominated it, but thank you.