Around my house we have lots of bookshelves for books my husband and I read and want to keep. There are several criteria for a book making it to the shelves. That’s what we call it- “making it to the shelves.”

We bought Hillbilly Elegy because my husband’s maternal family is from the same place in Kentucky. I like books that describe American places within the context of a unique culture.

Hillbilly Elegy didn’t not make it to the shelves. It’s going to Goodwill the next time we bring them a box of stuff we don’t want. I didn’t hate it but I don’t want to read it again, there’s nobody I love that would enjoy it and it wouldn’t make me any money if I tried to sell it on Ebay.

I liked Jeanette Wall’s The Glass Castle: A Memoir. It is much more a story about people with a dysfunctional family history and their ultimate triumph than Hillbilly Elegy (I guess that is what Vance is pointing out in his book) and it is a far more entertaining and thought provoking read.

Another favorite in this genre is Rick Bragg’s All Over But the Shoutin’.

I find Bragg’s and Wall’s rise through their poverty inspiring, especially Wall who really didn’t have anyone in her corner.

Both of their books, not surprisingly, made it to the shelves and both have been re-read.

If Ron Howard makes a film from Hillbilly Elegy I would be all in. Because — Ron Howard.