IGGPPC : Iggle BookWorms discussion

Hello! This is one of the pages for the 2015 PopSugar reading challenge, especially for the pick, 'A Memoir'. Post what you're reading for this one down below, and discuss with others, share your thoughts on your pick, give suggestions for others, etc.

Reading I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban for this.

Lydia wrote: "Reading I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban for this."

I loved this book! I hope you enjoy it, too. :)

I have got two to chose from Dawn French and Alan Carr...it is a toss up which one!

I am going to read Marley and Me

Yes Please

Going to read Bossypants for this.

I've got Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson for this

Just finished Yes Please.

Would an autobiography be classed as a memoir?

I have the Joe Perry book to read, and also Hunter S Thompson's Hells Angels but I don't know whether they fit.

Nerdish wrote: "I am going to read Marley and Me"

Oh Lord, good luck with that. It nearly killed me. Animals always make me cry.

Jennifer wrote: "Would an autobiography be classed as a memoir?

I have the Joe Perry book to read, and also Hunter S Thompson's Hells Angels but I don't know whether they fit."


I would imagine that it would count. Good choices too :) also thanks for the luck on Marley and Me!

Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography Though I do want to read I am Malala as well, we'll see how we go!

I read Up and Down in the Dales by Gervase Phinn. Light and humorous I really enjoyed it but know if it's a "Yorkshire" thing.

Amber wrote: "Going to read Bossypants for this."

i really enjoyed this book.

I just finished Felicia Day's "You're never weird on the internet (almost)".

What an interesting read. I know who she is but have never really seen anything of her's other than Tallis in DA2.

But I'll definitely be looking her up more.

What an honest and heart warming/breaking book.

The terms "autobiography" and "memoir" are often used interchangeably. It was my understanding that autobiographies/biographies take a long-view on a life history (often starting with birth or early childhood) and cover the majority of a person's life. Memoirs are usually shorter or period-based. For example, starting at birth and ultimately covering nearly all the material in between then and when it was published, Neil Patrick Harris' Choose Your Own Autobiography is aptly named. By that same token, Felicia Day's You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) would also qualify as autobiography as it covers early childhood through her life just prior to publication. Cary Elwes' As You Wish, though, is a memoir because it mainly centres around the filming of The Princess Bride.

Sorry, hit "post" too soon ;-) I read both NPH's and Felicia Day's Autobiographies this year, and am trying to get my hands on Sonia Manzano's Becoming Maria, which I think is more of a memoir.

I read Geisha, a Life for this. First, I would like to urge anyone who wants to learn more about geisha - READ THIS BOOK INSTEAD OF MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. The author of that, Arthur Golden, interviewed Mineko Iwasaki and twisted her tales into falsities, making it seem that geisha were high class prostitutes. This is not the case - oiran, a high class courtesan, sold their bodies, not geisha. In fact, Iwasaki was extremely upset when she realized Golden had twisted her facts on the life of being a geisha, and decided to write her factual and realistic account. Her memoir reads as a beautiful balance between her personal recollections and facts on geisha (or the term used specifically in Kyoto, geiko) life in the 60s-70s. I expected a pretty basic factual account, but was pleasantly surprised by Mineko's escapades - hiding in the closet as a kid, working her hardest to embrace her passion for dancing, chasing down the pervy men who harassed her. Put straightforward, Mineko Iwasaki is a bad ass, and I would love to meet her one day if possible. I highly recommend this memoir for anyone interested in personal stories, the lives of geisha or how Japanese society functioned in the 1950s through 1970s. Highly recommended!