The Keystone's Summer Reading: Memoirs

(Keystone Graphic/Morgaine Ford-Workman)

By Patrick Abdalla

August 20, 2021

Editor’s note: The end of a Dean Koontz novel can shock and thrill you. Laura Wiesberger’s stories can draw you in. The grand scope of a James Michener tome can leave you in awe.

Our state has a rich literary history, from Louisa May Alcott to August Wilson, and it has also produced some of the biggest best-selling authors of fiction and nonfiction works, from Mark Bowden to Jennifer Weiner.

With that in mind, The Keystone has come up with a Summer Reading List of books by Pennsylvania authors or set in the Keystone State. Until the end of August, we will bring a different genre of books to you.

Pennsylvania’s deep tradition of storytellers including those whose memoirs captured the nation’s attention.

Blackout Girl: Growing Up and Drying Out in America

Allentown native Jennifer Storm discusses her experiences with addiction and sexual abuse in the LGBTQ community.

The honest and tender storytelling has gripped people for more than a decade.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific West Trail

Life had beaten down Cheryl Strayed when she set out on a 1,000-mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. She tells the story of how she found her way in life in this best-selling novel.

Strayed was born in Cambria County.

A Wild and Precious Life

Edie Windsor shows readers how she became a civil and gay rights icon. Her Supreme Court case helped open the door for same-sex marriage in the United States.

Windsor was born in Philadelphia. Windsor died as she was writing the book, and her co-author finished the memoir.