Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman

Orange is the New Black is a memoir of a period of experience (not a lifespan) and a commentary through that experience on the American criminal justice system. Relying on the assurance that what she relays about her own incarceration is truthful to her memory, Kerman embraces the authority of first person voice to tell a story that is personal, though not singular, a story that challenges the narratives of power and invites the reader to read beyond the words on the page to question the ramifications and implications toward which those words point.  Is there any room for restoration in our system? How close is our system of corrections to revenge?  Is our system about justice or about retribution?

 

Kerman’s writing reflects the uniqueness of her own intersectional identities: she is a white, educated, middle class woman, temporarily incarcerated, with means and resources to not only survive her limited sentence, but to move beyond it once her time is served. While Orange is certainly her story, Kerman’s writing gives voice to countless others who have no voice, and in such a way, through its telling, the personal becomes political.

 

A moving narrative that portrays the interwoven complexity of choices, consequences, circumstance, and identity, Orange is a worthwhile read for any who seek to find a place in their story for their past, and for those who wonder if the telling of one’s story really can make a difference.

Kerman, Piper. Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, Spiegel & Grau (March 8, 2011).

Following Atticus, by Tom Ryan

Following Atticus invites the reader into a story of self-discovery and personal transformation that grows out of an unlikely relationship between a man and his dog.  So much more than “a dog story,” Following Atticus draws the reader into an exploration of the geography of the soul that probes the connections between the choices we make for ourselves, the context in which we live, and the spirit with which we encounter life. Emotional and evocative, Ryan’s writing chronicles an inward journey through which, immersed in and challenged by the natural world, he meets himself by becoming more than he has been in the past.

 

Somewhat confessional in posture, Following Atticus artfully integrates memories and spatial descriptions so that the reader is not simply a passive observer of Ryan’s journey, but a companion along the way.

 

For anyone facing a crossroads – intentionally or unintentionally – of past and future, Following Atticus highlights the possibilities inherent in change, without romanticizing or glamorizing its challenges. It, therefore, is a thought-provoking read for any facing the climb of literal or metaphorical mountains.

Ryan, Tom. Following Atticus: Forty-eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship, William Morrow Paperbacks (August 7, 2012).

 

Becoming Odyssa, by Jennifer Pharr Davis

"Becoming Odyssa" is a pilgrimage memoir that probes the interwoven relationship between the trail, the hike, memory, the self, becoming, and God. It explores both the physical and spiritual journey of one young woman as she sets out to hike the Appalachian Trail out of a sense of calling to do so, and after the 2,175 mile journey finds that she is more certain of herself than she has ever been. She confronts her fears, wrestles with solitude, identity, and community, and grows into an acute awareness of her own experiences of the presence of God. In the process, she finds her way home – not to a physical place, but to a place of truly knowing herself and feeling at home with who she is.


Written in such a way that the reader joins with Jennifer’s steps, it unfolds not as a travelogue but as an inward journey that both parallels and grows out of the outward journey. The reader travels through a new physical landscape and into a new spiritual topic with each successive chapter.


For the reader who desires to explore the relationship between the physical and spiritual trials and triumphs of a pilgrimage-on-foot, Becoming Odyssa is an excellent read. However, the value of this book is not limited to those who will spend several months on an actual, physical journey: it also is an excellent resource for any who long for a story that will provide a means for reflection upon such topics as love, truth, home, generosity, and perseverance.


Pharr Davis, Jennifer. Becoming Odyssa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail, Beaufort Books, 2010.

56 Books in 52 Weeks

In 2013, I found myself on a pilgrimage.  It was a pilgrimage traveled primarily with a pillow behind my head, a stuffed teddy bear on my lap, and a little white dog snuggled up by my side. It was a journey to read a book-a-week for one calendar year. 

The previous year, I had read 26 books, but as 2013 began, I was in the middle of an unexpected divorce, changes were on the horizon, and I needed a new way to find my way.  And so I read, and read, and read, and the words and stories carried me both into the depths of myself and into beautiful new imaginations for my soul.

Many of the books I read were memoirs -- stories of challenge and survival, loss and new life, the unexpected and the blessed-ed unexpected.

Ever the over-achiever, I was not content when I finished my quest a month early. With four weeks left in the year, I read four more books in December.  So here they are my "56 Books in 52 Weeks."

Most of them, I would read again.  Many of them, you may enjoy. Because of that, look for reflections on at least some of them in the weeks to come.

2013 was the year of reading for me. Perhaps 2014 will become the year of writing.

---

Becoming Odyssa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail, by Jennifer Pharr Davis

Blueberry Summers: Growing Up at the Lake, by Curtiss Anderson

Breathwalk: Breathing Your Way to a Revitalized Body, Mind, and Spirit,  by Gurucharan Singh Khalsa

The Children’s Blizzard, by David Laskin

A Dog for All Seasons: A Memoir, by Patti Sherlock

Dog Years: A Memoir, by Mark Doty

Dogs of Bedlam Farm, by Jon Katz

Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship, by Tom Ryan

The Forgetting River: A Modern Tale of Survival, Identity, and the Inquisition, by Doreen Carvajal

The Freedom Writer’s Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, The Freedom Writer’s Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, by The Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell

Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino De Santiago, by Kerry Egan

Going Nuts!, by David W. Jones

The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother’s Hidden Life, by Jasmin Darznik

The Good, Good Pig, by Sy Montgomery

The Great Northern Express: A Writer’s Journey Home, by Howard Frank Mosher

Half a Life, by Darin Strauss

Healing Walks for Hard Times, by Carolyn Scott Kortge

Heart in the Right Place, by Carolyn Jourdan

Home by Another Way, by Barbara Brown Taylor

I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust, by Livia Bitton-Jackson

An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-old panhandler, a busy sales executive and an unlikely meeting with destiny, by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

Learning to Breathe: One Woman’s Journey of Spirit and Survival, by Alison Wright

The Little Bookstore of Bigstone Gap: a memoir of friendship, community, and the uncommon pleasure of a good book, by Wendy Welch

The Long-Shining Waters, by Danielle Sosin

Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, by Jennifer Chiaverini

Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs, edited by Rachel Ferschleiser and Larry Smith

Off Balance, by Dominique Moceanu

Open Secrets, by Alice Munro

Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, by Piper Kerman

Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint, by Nadia Bolz-Weber

The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom, by Paulo Coelho

The Practice of Saying No, by Barbara Brown Taylor

Prairie Silence: A Memoir, by Melanie Hoffert

Running with Champions: A Midlife Journey on the Iditarod Trail, by Lisa Frederic

Second Wind: One Woman’s Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents, by Cami Ostman

The Secret Life of Objects, by Dawn Raffel

Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet, by Catherine Friend

Shepherds of Coyote Rocks: Public Lands, Private Herds, and the Natural World, by Cat Urbigkit
 

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating” A True Story, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

The Story of Beautiful Girl, by Rachel Simon

Storycatcher: Making Sense of our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story by Christina Baldwin

Summoning the Mountains: Pilgrimage into Forty, by Amy Allen

Tell Me True: Memoir, History, and Writing a Life, edited by Patricia Hampl and Elaine Tyler May

Three Among Wolves: A Couple and their Dog Live a Year with Wolves in the Wild, by Helen Thayer

Two Feet, Four Paws: Walking the Coastline of Britain, by Spud Talbot-Ponsonby

Unicorns of Balinor: Night of the Shifter’s Moon, by Mary Stanton

Unicorns of Balinor: Shadows Over Balinor, by Mary Stanton

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce

Walking the Gobi: A 1600 Mile Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair, by Helen Thayer

Walking Through Cancer, by Elyn Aviva

Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl, by Stacey O’Brien

Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?, by Brian D. McLaren

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed

With Violets, by Elizabeth Robards

Without a Map: A Memoir, by Meredith Hall

Y,  by Marjorie Celona