The Trajectory of Today’s Topics

• Hot off the press, repressed memories, or fabrication to get sales?

• What if Waffle House was located in space?

• Interview with everyone’s favorite character.

Hot Off The Press

Can We Even Trust Memoirs Anymore? 

I’ve learned that memories can be slippery, fuzzy things that we have to take with a grain or two of salt. At the same time, there are circumstances and events that we’ll never forget. Your favorite pet, your first car, your first kiss, major life events, and life-altering memories are hard to get wrong. The problem seems to be that when someone needs to sell a bunch of books, mundane, everyday events don’t sell. Drama with a capital D, abuse, drugs, and scandal are what sell memoirs. 

Amy Griffin, founder of G9 Ventures, venture capitalist, and major investor in female-founded brands such as Bumble and Spanx, is in the hot seat now over her recent memoir, The Tell. Reportedly, the book is about her journey through uncovered childhood trauma using psychedelic therapy. It was featured as an Oprah’s Book Club pick and became an instant New York Times bestseller. 

Griffin is now being sued by an unnamed plaintiff claiming the book descriptions match her own experiences of sexual assault by a different teacher, in a school bathroom during a middle school dance. “She immediately recognized that the character of Claudia appeared to be based on herself,” the lawsuit says. “She further recognized that a number of stories attributed to the memories of Defendant GRIFFIN that supposedly resurfaced during MDMA therapy were actually her own real-life past experiences.” The lawsuit continues to allege that the plaintiff was wearing a dress she borrowed from Griffin, and that the dress was returned with bodily fluids associated with the assault. 

One report, not associated with the lawsuit, brings up a damning point. The Tell was published in March of 2025, and since then, no other women or victims have come forward with complaints against the teacher named in the book. It’s disgusting to think, but abusers like this almost always target multiple people. Lawyers from Griffin’s side say they “look forward to exposing the meritless claims…”

I recently covered another bestselling memoir, The Salt Path, that contained false information regarding the author’s husband’s health diagnosis, among other key details. Here are a few more that have faced similar scrutiny:

James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces, another Oprah Book Club pick, revealed fabricated sections. Readers sued Doubleday Publishing, leading to a class action lawsuit. 

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson, recounts a false tale where he got lost descending K2 and was rescued and brought back to health by a remote Pakistan village. He then promised to build the village a school. After all was said and done, Mortenson and his charity claimed to have built 171 schools, but after an investigation, it came to light that most of these schools were either empty, unverified, or not built at all. Mortenson had to pay $1 million to the charity CAI and step down as executive director.    

The TBR Files

In a Galaxy, With Waffles, Far, Far Away

Imagine a space-themed Waffle House on steroids! If you haven’t seen the memes or heard at least a few “Waffle House stories,” do yourself a favor and do a quick search, or just click that link to get educated. Now, back to the book; I’ll admit the name threw me off, and kept me from taking a chance on this book, but in reality, Galaxy Waffles is a sleeper hit. 

The manager, Jolene, is the manager of a waffle-shaped-spaceship-diner that serves the roughest ruffians space has to offer. To keep the patrons in line, she carries a taser-type blaster. And of course, this character ‘don’t take no 💩 from no one!’ At the same time, she has a heart of gold and works her butt off for her team. The cook, Boris, is a robotic, former assassin, who can whip up an omelette to die for while simultaneously fighting off a horde of hostiles. And then there’s Murph, the amorphous shifter who can mold its body into almost anything and has adopted a 1930s gangster persona. Yeah, that reminds me of a few Waffle Houses I’ve visited in the deep South. You don’t mess around with those places. 

The book begins as a “slice of life” as you get a firsthand look at the day to day challenges of running this ship. Along the way, you're introduced to a couple of corporate hacks whose sole purposes are making Jolene’s life as miserable as possible by sabotaging her at every step. Both O.D. (pronounced Odd) and Erabella, the corporate boot lickers, cranked up my blood pressure with their underhanded, middle management, unfair policies BS they always used against Jolene. (I may still have a little PTSD). And I think we’ve all experienced these kinds of people in our lives at some point…

It doesn’t take long for things to go horribly wrong, and the crew is forced to go on a recon mission to recover their stolen assets. Mounds of psychedelic sushi; their hottest seller. The blame is piled on Jolene, and she must get it back or either go to prison or become an indentured servant to the corporation for the rest of her life. This is when things get absolutely nuts. There’s action, adventure, subterfuge, internal sabotage, imminent danger, and failure is worse than death. It’s all delivered with snarky dialogue, dark humor, and intense action and fight scenes. 

My only complaint is that there were a few times when things happened, or descriptions missed their mark, that had me a little confused. During a few action scenes, the characters were escaping from a mob or murderous aliens, and suddenly they were in another room, but then, in the next scene, they had escaped. Maybe I just zoned out, or maybe I missed something, but even rereading, I was still a little confused. Aside from that, though, it’s a great book from a small-time, indie author. ☕☕☕☕ There’s a sequel in the works, and when it comes out, I will be continuing the story. 

If you’re looking for something new, fun, and weird that grabs you from the start, give Galaxy Waffles by Nikolai Wisekal a chance. 

…And Then This Happened

Exclusive Interview with Patrick Montgomery

Aaron’s Bookish Dealings (ABD): Hello, Patrick. I’m glad you took time from your current adventure to talk to us.

Patrick Mongomery (PM): This is great! Hey, thanks for the snacks in the… was that the “green room?” I’ve always heard of that, but it wasn’t green, so I don’t know. I mean, why call a white room the green room if it’s going to be white?

ABD: I take it the snacks were a hit then?

PM: Oh yeah! You don’t know how hard it is to get good snacks, or any snacks, where we are now. It’s not like there are Sheetz stations on every corner or grocery stores we can stop in and get some food. It’s real prim-a-tiv. That’s the right word, isn’t it? We have to really work for any food. Anyway, we’ve met this cool lady, and she has this, well, I probably shouldn’t say, but it’s kind of like Pyrite, but way different. Oh, and it has rock powers. Not rock like music rock, but real rocks. And I shouldn’t say much more about that. So, we’re on a really important mission, and even here, there are people who want Pyrite. It’s almost like everyone is stranded on a deserted island, and an ice-cold soda washed up on shore. The soda is Pyrite, just so you know. I happen to find it, but everyone else wants it so bad they’ll do almost anything to take it from me. 

ABD: Wow, that sounds frightening. How are you handling that?

PM: Jason really stresses about it, but then again, his sister is missing, and he’s stressed anyway. I try to stay positive and help keep him grounded and all, but it’s tough to stay positive all the time, especially when bad things keep happening to us. 

ABD: Right. The ending in Night of the Familiar was rough to say the least. Without spoiling anything, can you tell me how you felt at the moment?

PM: (He becomes somber, stares at the floor, and wipes his nose.) That was really hard. The hardest thing we’ve ever been through. We’re all still processing what happened. I mean, we had this big showdown, and we all thought we were winning, and then BAM! We were knocked to the ground so hard. It still hurts, you know? (swallows) Can I get some water? And then Jocelyn… but I can’t really say anything about that yet, can I?

ABD: Yeah, I think that might be a major spoiler for those who haven’t experienced all of your adventures yet. Do you need to take a moment?

PM: No. I just need to think about something else right now. I’ll never forget, and it will always hurt… But I still have to be strong for Jason and everyone else. 

ABD: That’s a heavy weight you’re carrying. 

PM: It’s what I do, (he plasters on a sad smile). I eat, and I carry heavy weights.

ABD: That you do. How about this—since you love quoting lines from movies and shows, tell us about your favorite movie of all time. 

PM: (He gets excited, does a little hop in the chair) When we get done with all of this, we’re all going to lock ourselves in the house and just binge some movies! No more adventures! Jason and Jocelyn haven’t seen many movies, and I’m going to be the one to introduce them to the classics! So, my favorite movie of all time has got to be The Goonies. No, wait, Terminator 2, that T-1000 is amazing and indestructible. All liquid metal, and can make swords with his arms and stuff! And when he got blasted, he was all like (flails arms in the air). Oh, but I love Star Wars too, but I can’t pick a favorite there, I even like the Skywalker Trilogy too, even though most people say they hate it, but I don’t get it, like, it’s Star Wars, and light sabers, and then Luke comes back and he looks like a grumpy old grandpa. And then there’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Picking a favorite movie is like trying to pick your favorite chip flavor. Sometimes you love plain original salty goodness, but then sometimes you need something packed with flavor like dill pickle, BBQ, cheddar and sour cream, or pizza flavored chips. 

ABD: Definitely! Well, it looks like this is all the time we have for now. Thank you, Patrick for joining us, and we all wish you the best of luck in the next adventure. Any last words of wisdom you’d like to share with our readers?

PM: Yes! These words come from an old philand— no, not that word, phil-a-sock-ra-tees. Um, an old smart person, he said, “Better out than in!” (Patrick belches loudly while exiting the room.)