So, sometimes we give away books that I personally haven’t had a chance to read for whatever reason (we get sent a lot of books, which is great, but sometimes I get really buried in them; sometimes the giveaway is for a book that isn’t my personal jam but which sounds like something other people would really enjoy; sometimes I’m not sent the book prior to the giveaway [which is fine!] so I literally wouldn’t have been able to read it, etc). HOWEVER, I have read this one and GUESS WHAT: It is GREAT.  It is beautifully written, and very moving, and also extremely interesting. It is incredibly worth your time; it comes out today. I’m thrilled to have three copies to give away!

Let’s read the back:

What does it mean to lose your roots—within your culture, within your family—and what happens when you find them?

Nicole Chung was born severely premature, placed for adoption by her Korean parents, and raised by a white family in a sheltered Oregon town. From childhood, she heard the story of her adoption as a comforting, prepackaged myth. She believed that her biological parents had made the ultimate sacrifice in the hope of giving her a better life, that forever feeling slightly out of place was her fate as a transracial adoptee. But as Nicole grew up—facing prejudice her adoptive family couldn’t see, finding her identity as an Asian American and as a writer, becoming ever more curious about where she came from—she wondered if the story she’d been told was the whole truth.

With warmth, candor, and startling insight, Nicole Chung tells of her search for the people who gave her up, which coincided with the birth of her own child. All You Can Ever Know is a profound, moving chronicle of surprising connections and the repercussions of unearthing painful family secrets—vital reading for anyone who has ever struggled to figure out where they belong.

THE TASK:  I’ll be picking the winners at random. But to enter, please comment and tell me what your favorite memoir is.

THE RULES: All entries must be posted in the comments of this post by 9 p.m. Pacific time on Friday, October 5th. FYI, if this is the first time you’ve commented here, the system will automatically kick you into comment moderation, but don’t worry, I will rescue you.  (Open to US readers only; all prizing courtesy of the publisher. GFY uses affiliate links when appropriate — like the one to Amazon in this post — which means we earn a little money when you click through and/or buy stuff. Thank you!)

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