Memoirs and Biographies We Love discussion

I would love to get any suggestions on any biographies that deal with different cultures, or people surviving difficult situations. I really enjoyed Someone Knows My Name by Laurence Hill.

The Hiding Place certainly covers the "surviving difficult situations" part...

Oh! And Seabiscuit: An American Legend -- every character central to the book, including the horse, is overcoming disaster in some way, most of them more than one. And the backstory of what the author was facing when she wrote it...

Thank you for your suggestions, I appreciate it

If you haven't read it already, is a very good memoir of Elie Wiesel a holocaust survivor. It's short and reads fast.

'What a Life! An Autobiography' has all you mention. Would appreciate an overall review of the book. Would be able to e-mail either .mobi; .PDF or .html version if you are interested.

Check out my interview on Thelma's blog. My memoir is on the "lighter side" but deals with multicultural issues, immigration, faith, and a long distance courtship.

http://www.widowsphere.blogspot.com/2...

A friend of mine gave me an advance copy of True North: The Shocking Truth About Yours, Mine and Ours. The true story of the large family depicted in the old movie with Lucille Ball.

https://www.facebook.com/TrueNorthbyT...
http://truenorthbytomnorth.com

I reccomend this great book for an award under the "History and Biography Nominees, Goodreads Choice Awards Nominees 2013". The young author with many talents is set to soar.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

by Logan Beirne

A great memoir The Sabi from South Africa - well written and highly recommended - has all elements of overcoming but not fairy-tale like .. which makes it real authentic

I second the recommendations for:

Night
The Hiding Place

I also recommend:

The Glass Castle
Angela's Ashes
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

pat wrote: "I second the recommendations for

Angela's Ashes
is a very good memoir of Elie Wiesel a holocaust survivor. It's short and reads fast."

Angela's Ashes is a memoir by the Irish-American writer Frank McCourt....

Pat, apologies. Sometimes the iPad app displays incorrectly, and it looked like you said:
Angela's Ashes is a very good memoir of Elie Wiesel a holocaust survivor. It's short and reads fast.

Obviously you didn't say that and were referring to Wiesel's classic work Night.

Hi Mike, thanks for clarifying the ipad problems. I did mean Angela's Ashes and Night as two separate novels I thoroughly enjoyed.. Pat

Ma,He sold me for a few cigarettes is a really great book. It is a lot like Angela's Ashes because it takes place in Ireland and has to do with a child's will to survive and make the best of life. Highly recommend this book.

Lauren wrote: "I would love to get any suggestions on any biographies that deal with different cultures, or people surviving difficult situations. I really enjoyed Someone Knows My Name by Laurence Hill."

Hi Lauren, I will put in a plug for my book Inside/Outside by Jenny Hayworth. I am running a Giveaway on it today and tomorrow but also uploaded the whole book as EPUB file that you can either download or read through Goodreads. You can find my book on here or through my Authors page To Read. It is a memoir of recovery from a religious cult and abuse. Ultimately inspiring and not depressing. If your interested?

I just finished reading "On Becoming Madame Mao." It's a fictionalized biography of Madame Mao and I found it very interesting.

Here's a memoir, definitely about surviving difficult situations in a different culture: Left to Tell, by Immaculee Ilibagiza. She writes about growing up in Rwanda and trying to escape from her neighbors in the middle of the genocide. Riveting, terrifying.

One of my favorites is "Even Silence Has An End" by INgrid Betancourt about her years in captivity by the FARC in Columbia.

whos keeping your children wouldn't you like to know

I am currently reading "On Gold Mountain" by Lisa See. It's the story of the Chinese part of her family and their immigration to America and history here. I found her fiction more interesting than this book but it is still enjoyable.