Memoirs invite readers into the personal lives of sometimes famous, but often ordinary, people who write to share hard-won insights about their triumphs and pain. These memoirs are available to borrow from the Lititz Public Library.
Wondering Who You Are by Sonya Lea
After surgery to treat a rare appendix cancer, a woman’s husband emerged with no recollection of their life together and hardly able to speak, emote or create memories from moment to moment.
The Yorkshire Shepherdess: How I Left City Life Behind to Raise a Family and a Flock by Amanda Owen
A farmer’s wife with seven children shares amusing anecdotes and unforgettable characters that make up life on a 2,000 acre sheep farm in England.
Semisweet: An Orphan’s Journey Through the School the Hersheys Built by John A. O’Brien
The author, an orphan who lived at the school, helped to lead a successful alumni protest when the School’s Board of Managers tried to turn the refuge for needy children into more of a middle-class boarding school.
When the Roll is Called a Pyonder: Tales of a Mennonite Childhood by Diana R. Zimmerman
The author grew up in a traditional, conservative religious farm family in Lancaster, PA.
Fractured Not Broken by Kelly Schaefer
As a teenager in 1999, the author was rendered a quadriplegic after a drunk driver crashed into her car.
The Valley of the Shadow of Death: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption by Kermit Alexander
Former NFL star tells the devastating story of the horrific massacre of his family, his subsequent years of despair and the spiritual renewal that helped him to reclaim his life.
Elle & Coach: Diabetes, the Fight for My Daughter’s Life and the Dog Who Changed Everything by Stefany Shaheen
Trying everything to manage her daughter’s deadly disease, the author found peace through a medic-alert dog’s miraculous abilities to detect dangerous changes in blood sugar.
Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home by Jessica Fechtor
A twenty-eight-year-old food blogger cooked her way back to health after a near-fatal aneurysm and multiple surgeries left her without a sense of smell.
I Heard My Country Calling by James Webb
Former U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Navy describes himself as a “military brat” and recounts frequent military deployments during his early years, his four years at Annapolis and his experiences in Vietnam.
Whipping Boy: The Forty-Year Search for My Twelve-Year-Old Bully by Allen Kurzweil
The author spent years searching for his boarding school bully who tied him up and whipped him at the age of twelve and who went on to lead a reckless life of international crime and financial fraud.
It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario
War photographer has pursued images of clarity, beauty and candor in virtually every war in the twenty-first century.
The Tank Man’s Son by Mark Bouman
The son of a larger-than-life Neo-Nazi father experienced adventure-filled days with real-life war games and terror-filled nights marked by tirades, beatings and psychological torture.
My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege
A German-Nigerian woman recognized photos of her mother and grandmother in a book and discovers the horrifying fact that her grandfather was the vicious Nazi commandant depicted in Schindler’s List.
Head Case: My Brain and Other Wonders by Cole Cohen
Struggling with a series of learning disabilities, at twenty-seven the author underwent tests that discovered a large, mysterious hole in her brain that was responsible for her life-long struggles.
December 18, 2015