Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
#MemoirGals
review
Megabooks
Fairest: A Memoir | Meredith Talusan
post image
Pickpick

Meredith is a transgender albino Filipina who often passes as white. This memoir covers her childhood there, her immigration to the US as a teen, her living as a gay man at Harvard, and her transition to female as an adult. There is A LOT to unpack in the memoir between culture and passing and opportunities afforded her due to white skin. There is also a lot about being transgender in Filipino culture and in US academic circles. Highly recommend!

Librarybelle Great pick for this challenge! 3y
Megabooks @Librarybelle thanks! I enjoyed it! 3y
See All 7 Comments
Megabooks @Cinfhen this one is up your alley! #MemoirGals 👯‍♀️ 3y
Cinfhen Did you read or do audio???? 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen audio, and the author does a good job of narrating. 👍🏻 3y
75 likes5 stack adds7 comments
blurb
Megabooks
Sick: A Memoir | Porochista Khakpour
post image

A memoir about chronic illness while I‘m going through an active phase of my chronic illness? I think so. We‘ll see if this works for me. #bookmail

I also got some new floating shelves in the mail...wonder why I need them...🤔😂

#memoirgals @Cinfhen

WorldsOkayestStepMom Chronic illnesses suck. I'm dealing with a massive pain flare too. 4y
Megabooks @WorldsOkayestStepMom I am so sorry! They do suck. My thoracic outlet syndrome is all flared up. 4y
JennyM Sending hugs, Meg 😘 4y
See All 25 Comments
Megabooks @JennyM thanks, Jenny! 💜💜 4y
Reviewsbylola I‘ll have to stack this. I‘ve realized recently that I just tend to ignore my own chronic illness, especially the hand it plays in my anxiety and mental health. 4y
Megabooks @Reviewsbylola yes, so far she‘s covering a lot of important bases from stress in childhood to the role that adult vices play to the struggle to get doctors to understand/believe. I‘m finding it very relatable. I‘d also be remiss not to mention this excellent book, which really helped me understand my pain and also the role being a woman plays in chronic illness. 4y
Megabooks @Reviewsbylola and also, I‘m sorry you have health problems too. It sucks it just f***ing sucks! 4y
Cinfhen This sounds like it could be helpful, Meg 💓💓💓sorry that you‘re all dealing with chronic pain @WorldsOkayestStepMom @Reviewsbylola 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks Cindy. 🥰🥰 I used to avoid pain memoirs but I‘m finding them more helpful than I used to. 4y
Reviewsbylola Mine doesn‘t involve pain, luckily. Just a lot of other funky symptoms. @cinfhen. It‘s Graves Disease, with my thyroid, and I‘ve struggled with it basically my whole life. I usually just ignore it but it‘s gotten to a point where I really have to examine the issues it‘s caused and try taking a different approach, I think. 4y
Reviewsbylola Thanks for the rec Meg! 4y
Cinfhen I know we‘ve discussed your chronic illness before @Reviewsbylola I‘m happy to hear you‘re thinking of dealing with it instead of ignoring it 😘 4y
Cinfhen Sometimes knowledge really is power, Meg. Although you are definitely an informed patient 💜 4y
Megabooks @Reviewsbylola it is so hard to do the right thing for your body sometimes because many times it is difficult to make life adjustments, etc. for whatever reason. Sending support! 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen yes, that‘s part of the reason I‘m happy to have so much medical knowledge! The author has CDC reported Lyme Disease plus multiple problems from car accidents. I‘ve always suspected I may have had erlichosis (another tick borne disease) based on a tick I missed for awhile and speciated based on my location and the tick‘s morphology. 🤷🏻‍♀️ when I became symptomatic, I got my doctor to call in the appropriate course of doxycycline, ⬇️ 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen but maybe it‘s stuck around. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ I probably know more about tick-borne illness than 95% of human doctors. Very well covered in vet school. 4y
Cinfhen You‘re like Dr. House ....I think you can diagnosis the hell out of most medical mysteries 4y
Reviewsbylola I think the hardest part for me is understanding how my anxiety ties into my Graves Disease and how to keep that balance between the two to mitigate symptoms on both fronts. 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen as far as parasites, yes! I always do well with those episodes. I‘m pretty good with tumors and odd symptoms too. But otherwise, no. Plus, I‘m nicer! 😉😃 4y
Megabooks @Reviewsbylola yes, the thyroid can be sneaky when it comes to moods. I think we‘re still discovering a lot about the endocrine system and how it effects other aspects of health, especially in women whose other hormones can fluctuate during the month and through pregnancy. Women are still deeply underrepresented in many, many health studies. 4y
britt_brooke Hope you‘re feeling ok, sweet friend! 4y
Megabooks @britt_brooke thanks Britt! I‘m doing better than I was last week, so that‘s good. 💜 4y
Anna40 💛 4y
102 likes7 stack adds25 comments
review
Megabooks
post image
Pickpick

Chris was a bright kid thriving in childhood until he was introduced to psychedelics & pot by his older sister at age 12 in the late 60s. This began years full of drug-fueled wandering throughout the Western US as he explored his bisexuality. Often not welcome in his NJ home, he latched onto a series of dealers and hippies through his teens & 20s. A sad look at the treatment of LGBT boomers.

Very compelling, but difficult read. #audiobook ⬇️

Megabooks ⬆️ I think this was supposed to be funnier, and maybe it‘s my current mood, but I felt really sad Chris got mixed up with such shady characters and received very little care and compassion at times. Definitely severe trigger warnings for homophobia and drug use. (edited) 4y
Cinfhen This book was WILD!!! I agree, his parents blatant neglect was so sad. I was just enthralled with the audio from start to finish 🎧 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I agree. Very enthralling audio. Well done memoir. I just reflected on it for several hours and realized I felt a lot of sympathy for all he went through, and I found myself wondering, “what of he hadn‘t taken that acid? What if his parents had been more accepting?” I think those are the impressions I was ultimately left with. 4y
See All 7 Comments
Cinfhen Yes, it‘s amazing how one act can potentially sway the rest of your life. Is it destiny or choice? Fate or birth? This book was just very memorable, as I read dozens of memoirs #MemoirGals 👯‍♀️ 4y
Bookwormjillk Age 12!! 😳 4y
Megabooks @Bookwormjillk right?!? So young! 4y
Reviewsbylola I bailed on this early on. I just wasn‘t in the mood. I need to try again. 4y
99 likes6 stack adds7 comments
review
Megabooks
Aftershocks: A Memoir | Nadia Owusu
post image
Pickpick

Nadia‘s stepmother drops a bombshell about her dead dad in this non-linear memoir that explores intergenerational trauma and healing. Her Armenian-American mother left when she was 3, and she was raised by her Ghanaian dad and stepmother until her dad‘s death when she was 13. She examines these events, her unusual upbringing across Europe and Africa while her father and stepmother worked for the UN, and her tumultuous adulthood in NYC. 4.5⭐️ #botm

Megabooks @Cinfhen I alternated this with the #audiobook from Libby, and it was really good! #memoirgals! 4y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Sounds good! 4y
Megabooks @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I‘d definitely recommend. I hope you‘re doing okay Misty. I‘ve been praying for you to stay healthy. 4y
See All 8 Comments
Cinfhen I read the #ARC awhile back/ I thought it was very powerful 🥰we are definitely #MemoirGals 👯‍♀️ 4y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Megabooks thank you 🙏🏻 I‘m going to get my vaccine today and I‘m really nervous 😬 thank you for the prayers 🙏🏻 I need them. 7 coworkers have it and one is intubated 😢 4y
Megabooks @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks so glad you got your vaccine. I hope you are feeling okay. It is terrible what is happening to our brave healthcare workers. I pray that all your coworkers recover and that people start taking precautions more seriously. Sending love as always! 💜💜 4y
8little_paws I think this is going to be my birthday add on in April! 4y
Megabooks @8little_paws I think you‘d enjoy this one. 👍🏻 4y
124 likes4 stack adds8 comments