MEMOIR

The Alpine Path, by L.M. Montgomery

An American Requiem, by James Carroll

At Home in the World, by Joyce Maynard

The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist, Shepherd, by Mary Rose O’Reilley

The Country Under My Skin, by Gioconda Belli

A Country Year, by Sue Hubbell

Cross Creek, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The Curve of Time, by M. Wylie Blanchet

A Drinking Life, by Pete Hamill

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou

In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time, by Peter Lovenheim – Domestic tragedy in Rochester, NY and one neighbor’s response. Fascinating.

The Island of the White Cow, by Deborah Tall

Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading, by Maureen Corrigan

The Liar’s Club, by Mary Karr

The Mistress’s Daughter, by A.M. Homes

My Life in France, by Julia Child

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, by Nina Sankovitch

Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy, by Frances Mayes

A Very Private Eye, by Barbara Pym

Wait Till Next Year, by Doris Kearns

A Widow’s Story, by Joyce Carol Oates

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed

MEMOIR WEBSITES

Memory Writers Network,   authored by Jerry Waxler, M.S.   An outstanding site. If you are writing a memoir, you’ll find this to be an excellent resource.

GENERAL NONFICTION

Back on the Fire: Essays, by Gary Snyder

From Where We Stand: Recovering a Sense of Place, by Deborah Tall

Proust Was a Neuroscientist, by Jonah Lehrer

Walk on Water: Inside an Elite Pediatric Surgical Unit, by Michael Ruhlman

SOCIAL CHANGE & FUTURISM

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, by Bill McKibben

The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring on the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World, by Paul Gilding

The Neighborhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block at a Time, by David Sloan Wilson – We need to pay attention to cultural evolution, says Wilson, and mindfully manage and shape it to improve the well-being of individuals, our towns and cities, and our society. Wilson is pioneering the application of these insights to bring about positive change in his own city, Binghamton, New York.

Reinventing Community: Stories from the Walkways of Cohousing, edited by David Wann

World as Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal, by Joanna Macy

PSYCHOLOGY & CHANGE

My Mother My Self: A Daughter’s Search for Identity, by Nancy Friday

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, by Mary Pipher

LETTERS

The Habit of Being, by Flannery O’Connor

MEMOIRS & NONFICTION BY SELECTED AUTHORS

ANNIE DILLARD

An American Childhood

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

ELIZABETH GILBERT

Committed

Eat, Pray, Love

The Last American Man

PATRICIA HAMPL

I Could Tell You Stories

A Romantic Education

Virgin Time

THERESA MAGGIO

Mattanza

The Stone Boudoir

ANA MARIA SPAGNA

Now Go Home: Wilderness, Belonging, and the Crosscut Saw

Potluck: Community on the Edge of Wilderness