Throwback Thursday - Favorite Memoirs I've Read and Reviewed on My Blog

I didn't realize how many memoirs I've read and reviewed over the years here on my blog until I did a search!! I've always enjoyed reading memoirs and biographies throughout my entire life... I just didn't think I'd read so many.

There were so many great memoirs to chose from that I'd rated 4 stars or higher. However, I chose to stick to ten of them to keep my list from overflowing. 

I've listed the ten memoirs below in no order of importance. I've added links to each review I've written should you decide you'd like to read what I enjoyed about each memoir.

1. Toni Tennille: A Memoir by Toni Tennille

2. A Life In Parts by Bryan Cranston

3. Out Came the Sun: Overcoming the Legacy of Mental Illness, Addiction, and Suicide in My Family by Mariel Hemingway

4. Becoming by Michelle Obama

5. The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy

6. Life In Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland

7. Born A Crime by Trevor Noah

8. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

9. My Life On The Road by Gloria Steinem

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

Do you like reading memoirs and biographies? Have you read any of the above memoirs? Do you have a favorite memoir or biography? Please share in the comment section below.

A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable by Dan Gable

 

I am a University of Iowa graduate!! During my time at the University of Iowa, Dan Gable was the head coach for the wrestling team. I wasn't big into wrestling during my college days... However, Dan Gable was and still is a very legendary figure in the world of wrestling. Gable won a gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany while on the US men's wrestling team. In 2020, Dan Gable was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Plus, he has received many other accolades.

I decided to listen to the unabridged audio version of A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable because of Dan Gable's legendary fame and his ties to my alma mater. I enjoyed listening A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable by Dan Gable. It reads like a series of short stories about Dan Gable's life to include stories from his childhood and his early family life. How Dan Gable became a wrestler. Gable's older sister's rape and murder at the hands of a neighbor. Gable's college days as a wrestler, plus Gable's climb to the Olympics, and his life as a coach at Iowa. I enjoyed learning about his philosophy as a coach and his personal life. A good overall read. 

My only major complaint about A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable by Dan Gable is that I didn't care for the narrator's voice for this book.

Below is the publisher's summary for A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable by Dan Gable from Amazon:

What does it take to be an Olympic gold medalist and to coach a collegiate team to 15 NCAA titles? In A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable, famed wrestler and wrestling coach Dan Gable tells engaging and inspiring stories of his childhood in Waterloo, Iowa; overcoming the murder of his sister as a teenager; his sports career from swimming as a young boy, to his earliest wrestling matches, through the 1972 Olympics; coaching at the University of Iowa from the Banachs to the Brands; life-changing friendships he made along the way; and tales of his family life off the mat. A celebration of determination, teamwork, and the persevering human spirit, A Wrestling Life captures Gable's methods and philosophies for reaching individual greatness as well as the incredible amount of fulfillment and satisfaction that comes from working as part of a team.

I am giving A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable by Dan Gable a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

8 Memoirs Written By Women With Unconventional Careers

Memoirs aren't something I've read a lot of in recent years. Sure I've read a few in recent years, but I seem to recall reading memoirs and biographies more in my younger years.

Interestingly enough, I came across an article on Electric Literature's website titled, 8 Memoirs By Women With Unconventional Jobs by Vikki Warner, that had me curious to learn which books I'd discover about women with unconventional careers. 

Let's just say that all eight memoirs sound like awesome ones to read. I will be adding several of them to my ever growing reading wishlist.

So click on the above link to find out for yourself which memoirs made the list.