In this week’s Inspired By, we’re featuring author of Global Mom, Melissa Dalton-Bradford! Melissa’s debut memoir is an intimate and colorfully-narrated peek inside the life of a family of four traversing across eight countries, 16 addresses and five languages. Here, global mom herself has chosen five memoirs that inspired her to write her own:

My Life in France by Julia Child

In her own words, Julia Child recalls the captivating story of her years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found ‘her true calling’–cooking.

Madam Secretary by Madeline Albright

The highest-ranking woman in American history shares her remarkable story and shares an insiders view into the world of US politics.

Nothing Was the Same by Kay Redfield Jamison

As Kay Redfield Jamison loses her husband to cancer, she decides to not let his memory go to waste in her memoir that chronicles the ups, downs and in-betweens of dealing with grief and loss.

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

Lamott’s memoir tells in exuberant detail how Anne learned to shine the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life, exposing surprising pockets of meaning and hope.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

With as much honesty and passion as you’d expect from Joan Didion, she explores the intensely personal yet universal experience of a marriage.

Pinterest PS – Take an international “staycation” with this Global Mom-inspired Pinterest board!