Category Archives: Memoir

Review Hacklet: The Butterfly Mosque by G. Willow Wilson ~ Memoir about creating a space of love between two cultures

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The butterfly is not G.Willow Wilson

The butterfly is not G.Willow Wilson

Verdict: An illuminating glimpse into one American woman’s decision to convert to Islam.  Beautifully written and totally honest.

Perfect for: People who read the utterly wonderful Alif the Unseen and, like me, became fascinated about the author, G. Willow Wilson. People interested in spirituality or issues of cultural identity. Anyone who likes a good memoir.

Summary: (from Goodreads:) When G. Willow Wilson—already an accomplished writer on modern religion and the Middle East at just twenty-seven—leaves her atheist parents in Denver to study at Boston University, she enrolls in an Islamic Studies course that leads to her shocking conversion to Islam and sends her on a fated journey across continents and into an uncertain future. Continue reading →

Review Hacklet: Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres ~ A harrowing teenage memoir

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Jesusland_cover

Sister & Brother…..before the &h1t hit the fan

Verdict/Summary: Being a teenager is hard enough, but Julia and David Scheeres really had it rough. Readers will empathize with seventeen year old Julia’s honest voice as she remembers her strict upbringing in rural Indiana, her horribly dysfunctional childhood, her traumatic introduction to sex, her conflict between wanting to fit in at school and her desire to defend her beloved adopted black brother David from racial taunts, and her stubbornness of spirit after being sent to a totalitarian religious reform school in the Dominican Republic.

1 heartIt’s really hard to put this one down because you want to know if Julia and David turn out OK. Continue reading →

Review: Between Gears – by Natalie Nourigat ~ autobio graphic novel goodness

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Portrait of the Graphic Artist as a Young Woman – But not pretentious!

No Hacking Needed ♥

Verdict: Utterly charming graphic novel memoir.

Perfect for: High school students wondering what college might be like; college students wondering what other college students’ life is like; aspiring artists of any genre; lovers of comix memoirs; post-college peeps looking for a little nostalgia. So….pretty much everyone?

Summary: In 2009/2010 Natalie Nourigat chronicled her senior year at University of Oregon by drawing a one page comic for every day of her academic year. The title “Between Gears” refers to the sense of being in between two important stages of life. During the course of the year Natalie stresses about completing college and what to do with her life after graduation – all while balancing a full social life as well as her life as a graphic novel artist.

Find out how this book earned the coveted FIVE HEART rating