The Best Book I’ve Heard This Year

When my kids were little, we watched iCarly together. I spent my non-house husband hours composing apocalyptic fiction, so iCarly was a nice break. It was a silly, cozy, comfort watch curled up with the children on the couch. My bailiwick is crime fiction and dystopian stuff, but there’s definitely a place for low-stakes stories where you know everything will work out fine. That feeling is tarnished now that we know the truth about the abuse and controversy on the Nickelodeon set. However, I’ve discovered a great authorial voice in the finding-out phase.

I’m Glad My Mom Died was published in 2022. I’m late to the party on this, but I just finished listening to Jeannette McCurdy narrate her amazing memoir. It’s a fantastic book: stark, funny by turns, sad and infuriating. Jeanette’s manipulative and abusive mother was a monster who forced her child into a life she didn’t want. The author became laden with heavy burdens that damaged her self-esteem, her relationships, and her health. It was so heartbreaking to see Jeanette do all she could to please and appease her stage mother from hell. No matter how hard Jeannette tried, Mommy could never be satisfied.

From the description, you might pass on a crushingly sad celebrity memoir. Don’t. This book deserves to be on your shelf. Better, listen to the audiobook. The author narrates I’m Glad My Mom Died herself, and her performance is superb. She doesn’t want to act anymore, but she is a great talent. Besides a compelling narrative, Jeannette McCurdy’s relentlessly honest voice will keep you riveted. The author has such a fine gift for observation. Her ironic juxtapositions of the profound and the mundane made me smile while I still had tears in my eyes. This child star’s story is a journey to self-awareness and understanding. In the beginning, she’s so innocent in the ways of the world. She matures into a such a sharp and witty person that you’ll think of Dorothy Parker at her breezy, quippy best.

You’ll be glad to know Jeannette’s memoir ends on a clear-minded and hopeful note. She has declared her acting career is over, but I sincerely hope her literary career has just begun.