My Own Goodreads

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, Anna Quindlen

I tried reading this memoir some time ago; alas, the three unread novels on the chair called to me louder and it went back to the library barely begun. But I just finished the audio version, read by the author, and I loved it! Especially the first half or so (I got a little bogged down toward the end). It’s about a woman’s life, from childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, using the events of her life to illuminate ours. It’s funny and poignant and thought-provoking. I found myself in it, as I leave so much of life behind, and look ahead. And it’s short: you can listen to it driving around town.

The author: “It’s odd when I think of the arc of my life, from child to young woman to aging adult. First I was who I was. Then I didn’t know who I was. Then I invented someone, and became her. Then I began to like what I’d invented. And finally I was what I was again. It turned out I wasn’t alone in that particular progression.”

http://annaquindlen.net/lots-of-candles/