The genre this month makes me think of, 1

While I have enjoyed rotating through my original 4 Wednesday prompts (book series to TV show, books on my to-read list, book to movie, and judging books by their covers), now that I hit 25 of each of those prompts, I've decided it's time to change things up! The third of my new prompts is going to be the genre this month makes me think of and why.

November makes me think of memoirs.

Memoirs were my immediate thought, but I had to reflect a moment as to why. I think, it comes down to I associate November with family and the stories of families are often presented in memoirs.

Of course, the biggest holiday in the US is Thanksgiving. While the Thanksgiving myth is not really family-oriented, I do find having a harvest feast together to be very family-oriented. When I was younger, we celebrated with dear family friends (who are basically family), and in more recent years we have celebrated with a large family gathering.

November is also the month of my father's birthday and my brother's anniversary (they happen to be the same day). These are two potent markers in my family--especially since my dad's passing. When my brother got married in Pakistan in 2019, our father didn't end up attending because he left rehab against medical advice (and my pleading). Regardless, my brother's wedding was a joyous event that gave me treasured memories.

Last year, Thanksgiving fell on my father's birthday and it was the first Thanksgiving without him. While I can only remember celebrating Thanksgiving with my father once, I do remember being sure to see him around this time both for the years he was in a care facility and prior.

During the two Thanksgivings I spent in Ireland, I found myself missing my family most keenly. I was able to have tasty meals with friends, but it wasn't the same. I missed my community.

While memoirs can be many things, I do often think of them as telling, at least partially, the story of a family.

What genre does November make you think of?

A page from the manuscript of The Book of Margery Kempe, written in the late 1430s and discovered in 1934. "The Book of Margery Kempe, medieval memoir that is widely believed to be the first autobiography written in English."