Searching for normalcy

Reviewing my list of favorite books, as well as thinking of others not listed, demonstrates my affinity for books focusing on relationships and families. I was always searching for "normal" thinking a book would lay it out for me. Growing up in a tumultuous, chaotic environment, left me starving for a different lifestyle, but I desperately needed to know how.. It is the same reason I watched Leave it to Beaver and Eight Is Enough. Just to be clear, I never wanted to be a psychopath like Tom Ripley, but I loved Highsmith's writing and the ways Tom navigate society. Nick Flynn's This Is the Night Our House Will Catch Fire: A Memoir is one of the most recent additions to my list, I love it as Flynn's approach to a memoir is completely different from the so-called "norm", plus it detailed a chaotic upbringing to which I identified. Growing up, I would beg my mom to take me to the large, main library downtown - I could spend hours roaming the expansive rooms and brushing my hands along book spines. It felt like I belonged, but mom was always in a hurry so I would find a few tomes along with slim volumes and we'd hit McDonald's upon leaving. I learnt the need to go the library was unique in my family, neighborhood and friends, so it was never mentioned - keeping secrets was normal.