Memoir Reading Challenge 2022

 

It's back, once again using a checklist. Some categories have been changed, however. To participate, you must read a minimum of five memoirs from any of the categories listed. One book can only count for one category. Re-reads are acceptable. All book formats count. 

Other Rules:

• Books must be read on or after January 1, 2022 to count.
• Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2022.
• Books may cross over to other challenges in which you are participating. 
• Books must be labeled as memoirs to count. 
• You do not need a blog to sign up.  You may keep tract of your progress on Goodreads, Amazon or other similar sites with a shelf dedicated to this challenge.  Or sign up on Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter. Sign up below in the comments.

If you need reading ideas, here are some links to get started:

Goodreads: Best Memoir/Autobiography

Goodreads: Memoirs by Women 

Amazon Best Seller Memoirs

B&N: 50 Essential Memoirs

Here are the categories:

1. Mental Illness Memoir: Easy Crafts for the Insane--Kelly Williams Brown  
2. Other Illness Memoir: Hunger--Roxane Gay 
3. Political Memoir: My American Journey--Colin Powell
4. Food Memoir: Kitchen Confidential--Anthony Bourdain
5. Animal Memoir: My Patients and Other Animals--Suzy Finchman-Gray 
6. Music Memoir: River of Time--Naomi Judd
7. Travel Memoir: The Wonder Trail--Steve Hely
8. Written by a person of color: How to be an Antiracist--Ibram X. Kendi
9. Written by a woman: Lean In--Sheryl Sandberg
10. Written by a person who identifies as LGBTQIA: It Never Goes Away--Dr. Anne L. Koch
11. Written by an actor or a comedian: Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama--Bob Odenkirk
12. Written by an author or journalist: You Don't Have to Say You Love Me--Sherman Alexie
13. Written by any other celebrity: Calypso--David Sedaris
14. Written by someone under 40: Somebody's Daughter--Ashley C. Ford
15. Written by someone over 40: The Rainbow Comes and Goes--Anderson Cooper & Gloria Vanderbilt
16. Written by someone from a country different from your own: My Invented Country--Isabel Allende
17.  One you find thought-provoking: Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood--Gary Paulsen
18.  Made into a movie: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil--John Berendt
19.  Graphic Novel memoir: Dancing at the Pity Party--Tyler Feder
20.  Bestselling memoir: Wishful Drinking--Carrie Fisher
21.  Humorous memoir: Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim--Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella
22.  Fictional memoir: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac--Gabrielle Zevin
23.  Won an Award: The Year of Magical Thinking--Joan Didion
24.  Published in 2022: Finding Me--Viola Davis
25.  Published in 2021 or earlier: The Wind in My Hair--Masih Alinejad
26.  Under 300 pages: Daring to Drive--Manal Al-Sharif
27.  Over 300 pages: Ordinary Hazards--Nikki Grimes
28.  One you want to re-read: Willow Weep for Me--Meri Nana-Ama Danquah
29.  On a favorite subject: Lit--Mary Karr
30.  By a favorite celebrity: The Anthropocene Reviewed--John Green
31.  Free choice: We Came, We Saw, We Left--Charles Wheelan
32.  Free choice: Tiger's Eye--Inga Clendinnen
33.  Free choice: Molly's Game--Molly Bloom

Challenge absolutely complete on December 7

Costume Decision

I was uncertain once again about dressing this Halloween, but found myself looking at Renaissance dresses. I'd even looked up how to do one myself. I found a navy blue graduation gown at Goodwill that i hoped to transform into a Renaissance-like dress, but just could not think of how I could do so. So I knew I'd have to buy one. 

I was considering going last Tuesday to the nearest Spirit or Party City to look for something. If I did not find anything Renaissance, I would hope to find something else I liked. But last Monday night before bed, I went onto Amazon and eventually ordered this costume:

Choosing a color was a little hard, as some colors were not available in some sizes. I went with the blue one seen above.

The costume was schedule to arrive last Saturday by 10PM. I'd been waiting all day for it to arrive, but by the time it got dark, I'd nearly forgotten it was supposed to come then. I tracked my package on Amazon, which said it had already arrived. I had not seen or heard any truck come by, so I checked to see if the package was on the porch. Sure enough there it was. I did not get around to trying it on until the following day and it fits perfectly.

Before I'd made this decision, I was considering redoing something else, as I had done last year, but was uncertain of this idea. Then I began looking a different sites for possible ideas. As a result of my searches, this one kept coming up on my Facebook feed, in an ad for Party City:

This looked like a fun one, too, so maybe another year.

Also before making this decision, I'd tried on a used Queen of Hearts dress at Goodwill, but it did not fit well. There's another possibility for another year.

On another note, on the costume racks at Goodwill, a lot of the usual stuff showed up such as the graduation robes and medical scrubs. I got a XXL scrub top to use at as a smock for painting. I also saw what appeared to be the leftover toddler Elvis costumes and Pugsley Addams costumes that were at the local Kmart before it shut down more than year ago. No one seemed to want these when they were new or even when they were 90% off (but who was thinking about Halloween in early February?) Now I wonder if anyone is buying them used.

The Elvis costumes for toddler at Kmart before
its closing in early 2020 that now appear to 
be at Goodwill.

As far as I have seen, none of this leftover

Halloween stuff from Kmart (above and below)

has turned up at Goodwill. No one seemed to want these lizard

 costumes when they were new either.

Also, the Northern California Renaissance Faire ends this weekend, but I'm pretty sure I won't be going. Even if I have the right outfit.

Two Weeks Till Halloween

And here is some humor for the holiday:

Halloween Decorations

After securing the foam gravestones and skeleton hands into to the front lawn was unsuccessful (they kept falling down), I chose to tape them to my window, and to move my scarecrow to under the window as well. And while at Goodwill yesterday, I got some sale spiderwebs and a crashed witch decoration.

Time for Sweaters?

That is how is seemed the other day, and I did put one on. But when I did so today, it got hot. And now this weekend's weather is expected to be in 70s and 80s. Is this already happening?:

I've already started wearing long pants again and am now wondering about the predicted weather for the coming weekend. And just how it's going to be at the end of this month.

Altered Paint Brush Art

Here are pictures of some of the paintbrush art project from work. Click here to see the one I did at home.

The last one in this photo was still in the process
of being completed when this was taken.

Apple Tree

This is the one I did at work.

SpongeBob SquarePants

The clay that was used  at work was a modeling dough found at Dollar Tree. It takes many days to become hard, something I did not know at first. 

It was a while before we got to do this project, trying to decide what to use and determine how many people wanted to join. I used my home made one as an example and printed various images found online. I did not find any specific rules or instructions on how to make one of these, so everyone just did as they chose. Not everyone wanted to do a face on the brush, as you can see. One example I'd printed was this one, which two people imitated with their designs (see in last photo above):

Old-School Costumes

 These came up on my Facebook memories yesterday. (I may have shared these on my blog in previous years):

Though I remember these things well, I cannot recall ever wearing one of these. I guess my mom was good at making me costumes. I was totally into Strawberry Shortcake and The Smurfs, so I wonder why I never went after either of these costumes. I never even chose to be either of these characters for Halloween, which is surprising to me. 

I saw one of these in a thrift store once, of a character I'd never heard of. It was  surprising because I have never seen any before or since then. 

This concept seemed weird  and is hard to imagine today, with characters like SpongeBob.