Arden uses her signature blend of humour and poignancy to tell the story of caring for her mother through her final years. Her father lived with dementia before his death, and her mother passed away from Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to being one of Canada’s greatest singer-songwriters, Jann Arden is a talented writer (and actor, and painter, but who’s counting.) Arden lost both of her parents within a few years of each other. This debut novel explores race and privilege, the meaning of family and the complicated reality of being an adult, all in a smart, fresh and well-written package. All of Gay’s books are amazing, but this one is our favourite by far. Gay takes us on a journey from her early childhood, through her experiences at boarding school, and into her adulthood. In addition to discussions of weight and size, Gay describes how a violent sexual assault in her childhood shaped her view of her body and how she lives her life.
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Hunger: A Memoir of My Body by Roxane Gay As an added and delightful bonus, it’s narrated by Tom Hanks. A stunning story set over the course of five decades, Patchett’s latest is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. This novel follows a pair of siblings - Danny and his older sister Maeve - as they grow up midcentury outside Philadelphia. While it does have some of Cumming’s signature wit, Not My Father’s Son is also a stunning and heartbreaking tale of his traumatic childhood and complicated relationship with his father. If you are a theatre fan, you may know him as the wonderfully eccentric “Emcee” in Cabaret.
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#Roxane gay pass over my beloved movie#
If you are a 90s kid, you probably know Alan Cumming from the movie Spice World. (Even better, the memoirs are all narrated by their authors, adding a new depth to the experience.) We’ve “read” so many fantastic books, but these ones really stayed with us both for the writing and the narration. If you can’t force your brain to read, why not try listening to a great book? We love audiobooks and this list is a great mix of fiction, non-fiction and memoirs. But there’s no denying that it’s been extremely hard to focus these days. With extended time at home, you would think you’d have more time to read.