Mothers and Daughters

Warning -- Domenica Ruta's With Or Without You does not have a nice, neat, happy ending . . . but it doesn't have a bad ending either.  In fact, it really doesn't have an ending at all, just the honest depiction of a life in progress.  In this memoir, Ruta explores her relationship with her narcissistic, drug-addicted mother and how that relationship ultimately led her to both destroy and attempt to redeem herself.  At the same time darkly humorous and heart-wrenching, With Or Without You brings home the point that in at least some ways, we are all just like our mothers.  HM

Culture, Food, and Identity

Part coming-of-age story, part food memoir, Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang details the blogger and chef's childhood as the son of Chinese immigrants living in Orlando during the 1990s.  Huang learns form an early age (and from his ex-gangster dad) not to take insults from anybody, a lesson that gets him into trouble time and time again.  Fleshed out with references to hip hop, basketball, food, and '90s pop culture, Fresh Off the Boat explores issues of race, identity, and what it means to be American.  HM

Food As Identity

Wonder bread, Ding Dongs, potato chips, and Popsicles -- these are the constant cravings of Bich Minh Nguyen in her coming-of-age tale, Stealing Buddha's Dinner: A Memoir. A Vietnamese refugee in 1980s Grand Rapids, Nguyen struggles to reconcile her Asian family life with the Western culture surrounding her. Quickly, she comes to identify "being American" with eating American junk food, and finds herself torn between fried shrimp cakes and Kit Kats. Honored as a Michigan Notable Book in 2008, Stealing Buddha's Dinner is a fascinating look at childhood and the creation of identity through the eyes of an outsider. HM

Not Just James Bond

If you like Sean Connery, you will like Being a Scot by Sean Connery and Murray Grigor. The book is loaded with great photos and illustrations providing the story of Connery's life as well as many details of Scottish cultural life and achievements.