Nora Ephron, playwright, movie maker and author died June 26, 2012.

I was a fan.  I found her plays, books and movies lighthearted and fun. I was a fan of her as a person as well.  She was a devoted mother, loving wife and friend to many people whose work I admire and respect.  You may not know (or care), but Ephron founded the Divorce section of the Huffington Post, her way of coping with the difficult break up of her second marriage.  I respect someone who can not only work their way through a personally challenging time, but help others as she does it. I found myself annoyingly saddened when I read that Nora Ephron had died from leukemia on June 26. I proceeded to read everything I could lay my eyes on about Nora Ephron.  After doing so, I decided it was time to read the books she has written I haven’t yet read.  I started backwards in chronological order; I Remember Nothing being the final book she wrote. I have several more to go, which is okay, because they make great summer reading.

The title I Remember Nothing is slightly ironic for this lighthearted story.  A quick read, this book is a trip down memory lane courtesy of Nora Ephron.

The opening line of the book is simply “I have been forgetting things for years-at least since my thirties.” The story unfolds with Ephron sharing what she does remember.  She takes the reader back to her childhood, through the early years of her career, her family stories, her divorces and her friendships.  She shares the story of her relationship with the playwright Lillian Hellman. As a big fan of Hellman’s, this was especially interesting to me. The ending of the book mirrors the beginning, with Ephron telling the reader What I Will Miss and What I Won’t Miss, presumably when her memory is finally gone.  Some reviewers theorize that these very funny lists were hints from Ephron that her health was failing.  I Remember Nothing is the last book Ephron wrote. Her final thank you in the acknowledgements is to her doctors.

What are you reading this summer ?  If you are looking for something lighthearted, pick up I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron.  I think you'll be glad you did !