Glass Castle Girls: Surviving a Shitty Childhood

Jan 232012
 

In the spirit of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, here are two memoirs I’ve recently read that focus on determination rather than victimization:

Breaking Night by Liz Murray. Liz’s story is about her drug-addict parents, her life as a homeless teenage runaway in NYC, and her determination to get an education leading to a New York Times scholarship, acceptance to Harvard University, and a Lifetime TV movie based on her life.

Hippie Boy: A Girl’s Story by Ingrid Ricks. (Note: only $2.99 on Kindle). Ingrid’s troubles mainly involve her father’s instability, her mother’s passivity, and her step-father’s exploitation of the male-dominated culture of Mormonism. Fortunately, Ingrid had more common sense than the adults in her life and manages to survive the consequences of her parents’ bad decisions.

Man, I love stories about people overcoming hardships and ‘beating the odds’. Don’t you?

Kindle and the Kindle Single

Jan 022012
 


I got a Kindle Touch for Christmas last week. I know, I know. I’m sentimental about books made of paper as much as anyone else. However, I’m really enjoying my new e-reader. I still can’t justify buying an e-book for $9.99 when I could find a used copy in print for a fraction of that. However, there are tons of books, short stories, essays, etc, for a lot less, not to mention the ability to borrow e-books from public libraries. There are a lot more perks from a writer’s perspective, but I’ll save that for another post.

I’ve been spending money primarily on Kindle Singles. Here are a few I’ve enjoyed so far: