HOLIDAYS AND FAMILY are the theme of these short essays on seasonal themes.  Equal parts snark and sweet!

APOSTATE FROM THE US’s Christian Right Frank Schaeffer looks at his childhood’s mixed messages on sex, love.

EMMY-WINNING COMIC actor Jane Lynch’s memoir! Candid, dryly funny; maybe a bit too detached for some readers?

COMIC WRITER AND ACTOR Mindy Kaling’s hilarious observations are a delicious cocktail of whimsy and snark.

EXTRAORDINARY, POETIC, EVOCATIVE memoir by Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina is powerful, unforgettable.

POET AND WRITER Diane Ackerman’s lyrical, heartbreaking memoir of her novelist husband’s stroke and recovery.

FUNNY, FUNKY, CUTE, and sometimes bittersweet memoir from an “Art Star” of the Lower East Side’s arts heyday.

A YOUNG WRITER’S MEMOIR of her mother’s disappearance eloquently conveys the impact of uncertainty and loss.

A YOUNG WOMAN’S MEMOIR of losing her sense of smell and (spoiler!) regaining it is intriguing, well researched.

JOAN DIDION’S LATEST memoir is a raw and deeply affecting cry of grief at her daughter’s untimely death.