DC Public Library discussion

We have a collection of four up-and-coming women's memoirs to give away to a lucky reader and DCPL member! These books are perfect for someone who enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love, travelogues, or memoir in general.

1. We'll Always Have Paris: A Mother/Daughter Adventure by Jennifer Coburn.
Release date: April 2014

2. Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod.
Release date: February 2014

3. Only in Spain: In Search of My Heart's Desire by Nellie Bennett.
Release date: July 2014

4. Shooting Stars: My Life as a Paparazza by Jennifer Buhl.
Release date: March 2014

Reply to this thread by midnight on Saturday, March 1 with a book recommendation to enter the drawing for these books.

We will randomly draw a name from those who reply to the thread, and the winner can pick up their books at any DCPL location.

Here's a little more info about the books themselves:

We'll Always Have Paris: A Mother/Daughter Adventure
Jennifer Coburn has always been terrified of dying young. It's the reason she drops everything during the summers on a quest to travel through Europe with her daughter, Katie, before it's too late. Even though her husband can't join them, even though she's nervous about the journey, and even though she's perfectly healthy, she spends three to four weeks per trip jamming Katie's mental photo album with memories. In this heartwarming generational love story, Jennifer reveals how their adventures helped relinquish her fear of dying...for the sake of living.

Paris Letters
“How much money does it take to change your life?”
Unfulfilled at her job and unsuccessful in the dating department, Janice MacLeod doodled this question at her desk. Then she decided to make it a challenge.
Over the next few months, with a little math and a lot of determination, she saved up enough to buy two years of freedom in Europe.
But she had only been in Paris for a few days when she met a handsome butcher (with a striking resemblance to Daniel Craig)—and never went home again.

Only in Spain: In Search of My Heart's Desire
A foot-stamping, full-on firecracker of a travel memoir, crackling with energy, dance, gypsies, love, food and the occasional donkey. Nellie Bennett fell in love with flamenco one hot summer day in a Sydney dance studio. Longing to get closer to the authentic experience, she packed her suede dance shoes and a set of castanets and travelled to the other side of the world, to Seville, to learn flamenco. What she didn't realise is that flamenco is not a dance, it's a way of life. In Spain, she fell in love three times - the first time with a smokey-eyed flamenco dance teacher, the second time, with a wild and tempestuous gypsy; and the third with a tall, dark handsome Basque chef - not realising that, all along, it's really Spain she's fallen in love with. A witty, passionate story of romance and discovery.

Shooting Stars: My Life as a Paparazza
As a young woman struggling to make ends meet in LA photographer Jennifer Buhl bumped into the paparazzi and soon found herself chasing down celebrities in her station wagon, earning thousands a day. Shooting Stars is the hilarious, whip-smart chronicle of her wild ride through this testosterone-driven business and shows how achieving glamour is not always so glamorous.
Balancing juicy celebrity anecdotes with a poignant story of heartache, love, and the ticktock of a biological clock, this irresistible book will leave you with an entirely new perspective on what life is like among the stars and on the men-and women-behind the money shots.

In honor of Presidents' Day, I recommend Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. It combines travel memoir, history lesson, and humor (if you appreciate a slightly morbid sense of humor). The audiobook is good too, with guest stars including Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart, and more.

I think I've discussed my love of Sarah Vowell on one of these threads before. "Assassination Vacation" is so good!

My recommendation is "In the Land of Invented Language" by Arika Okrent. It's probably in that same genre of part history, part story of the author traveling around to learn more. It's all about constructed languages like Esperanto, Klingon, and all the ones you've never heard of.

I recommend The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro. It's beautifully written and takes you to England, France, Monaco and New York.

I have two recommendations! The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and What French Women Know: About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind by Debra Ollivier. Wonderful memoirs about lessons learned as these two extraordinary women changed their lives.

Remember to reply to this thread by midnight tonight for a chance to win this set of four memoirs!

Congrats, Tonya! Using the randomizer at random.org, you have won this collection of memoirs. I'll send you a message about pickup.

To everyone else, thanks for the recs!