Far from stacks of required reading, usually full of books I had to force myself through in case there was a quiz on the first day back to class, I find myself enjoying being curled up to a good book this summer.

I finished Falling Apart in One Piece by Stacy Morrison a few weeks ago and absolutely adored everything about it. Morrison found such a beautiful and honest way to describe how she got through life after her divorce without absolutely despising her ex-husband. She begins to realize her own faults as well as the brutal fact that maybe they were never really right for each other to begin with. Though her story can be heartbreaking at times, I found myself really thinking about what makes me happy. I learned quite a bit about myself from reading it and would definitely recommend it.

Right now I am fully immersed in Eat, Pray, Love. I might be a little late on that bandwagon but when I saw the trailer a few weeks ago I knew I had to read the book before I saw the movie and so far, I can hardly put it down. The way Gilbert wrote it makes me feel like I am her sometimes. I mean, seriously—“I might be the most affectionate life form on the planet (something like a cross between a golden retriever and a barnacle)”—that might as well be me she’s talking about.

In any case, it’s books like these that make me take a step back and look at my life, something I largely prefer over novels about things like factitious vampires. What else should I put on my list of must-read memoirs?