#150. "Here I Am" by Jonathan Safran Foer

As Leo Tolstoy would say, every dysfunctional family is different in their own way. In the case of Jonathan Safran Foer's "Here I Am," he explores one in the middle of a variety of struggles. As a son is set to have a Bar Mitzvah, a Jewish couple is dealing with their own martial problems that come with a painful vulnerability. Everyone is at odds with each other, and there isn't any clear answer to be found. Foer's attention to detail allows for a clever spin on familiar domestic struggles, using the Jewish identity to convey the confusion of life and the quest for meaning amid ever-changing circumstances. The final journey is an entertaining and provocative journey that finds the author delivering another masterful slice-of-life character piece that may be a bit more muted but comes with its own amusement.

#149. "Pageboy" by Elliot Page

To a certain extent, memoirs are often boring. Unless the celebrity has a tell-all packed full of salacious encounters, it's often best left to the fans. In the case of Elliot Page's highly touted "Pageboy," it's a much different story. As a trans man who grew up being seen as the "it girl" of indie cinema, the struggle to be seen and accepted for himself was a journey that took him well into adulthood. That pathways to eventual acceptance weren't without some emotional turmoil and regret, and "Pageboy" delivers one of the most vulnerable and engrossing discussions of transmasculine identity that has hit the mainstream. Even in stories of more mundane familial conflicts, Page does an excellent job of painting the struggle to be yourself. This isn't everyone's story. It's just Page's. That may not seem like much, but it hopefully inspires readers to find their own journeys and not feel less alone in whatever they're struggling to achieve.