Non-Fiction Saturday

These non-fiction books are not about murders, but near brushes with death and the consequences of surviving. In one book, an illness that keeps coming back haunts a woman, and her body. In the other, a family dissapears after they are threatened by a gunman. Both of these memoirs are told in brutal detail about the horrors of near-death experiences.


My One Night Stand With Cancer by Tania Katan.

When Tania Katan was 21 years old she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She survived, minus a breast. Exactly 10 years later it happened again. By age 31 Katan was a two-time breast cancer survivor with the scars to prove it and a sense of humor forged by the unthinkable. Her memoir, loaded with rage and blistering humor, tells the tale of living through two bouts with death and is woven through with stories of picking up women while bald, coping with her supportive but neurotic family, running in two 10K races, and pledging to never ever date a psychotic woman again. An unforgettable account of survival.

RED'S ALL STAR REVIEW: 3 1/2 out of 5. It's a really funny memoir, and it's very inspirational at the same time. Click here! to buy this book on Amazon.

The Year We Dissapeared by Cylin and John Busby

When Cylin Busby was nine years old, she was obsessed with Izod clothing, the Muppets, and her pet box turtle. Then, in the space of a night, everything changed. Her police officer father, John, was driving to work when someone leveled a shotgun at his window. The blasts that followed left John’s jaw on the passenger seat of his car—literally.

Overnight, the Busbys went from being the "family next door" to one under 24-hour armed guard, with police escorts to school, and no contact with friends. Worse, the shooter was still on the loose, and it seemed only a matter of time before he’d come after John—or someone else in the family—again. With their lives unraveling around them, and few choices remaining for a future that could ever be secure, the Busby family left everything and everyone they had ever known…and simply disappeared.

RED'S ALL STAR REVIEW: 4 out of 5. This memoir is told by both Joh, and his daughter, Cylin, and that's what makes it great. It was insane and amazing at the same time. Loved it. Click here! to buy this book on Amazon.