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Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
I’m often heard saying, “Life is a story just waiting to be told.” Others have said similar things, like Melanie Moushigian Koulouris who wrote, “Everyone has a story to tell, a lesson to teach, and wisdom to share… Life is a beautiful masterpiece bound together by your experiences.” Lisa Creech Saleh quotes Koulouris in the opening of her book, #Sassool Tales: An Instagram Story, before sharing her own story, a love story that has spanned 37 years (and more). Initially shared on Instagram, using the popular social media app to reach out to the world, the author tells a story of how she met her husband, Mounir Saleh, from halfway around the world and how the two started up a successful business together, the Sassool Mediterranean Café. Through ups and downs, successes and failures, and the unexpected turbulence of Covid restrictions, the two have weathered each storm together and made a success both in business and family life.
It’s not surprising that social media is taking over the written medium format. Where once paper books were the norm, now ebooks and electronic methods of communication are the way to reach out and share stories. Lisa Creech Saleh has maximized the possibilities of Instagram, combining photographs and memoir stories to build her reading audience. It is interesting, too, because each Instagram entry is accompanied by comments from her followers. I have read memoirs written completely through the email medium and full of acronyms, both known and self-created to the point that only the author knew the meaning. That being said, I was hesitant as I approached an Instagram memoir, not knowing what to expect. But I was surprisingly lured into the author’s storytelling voice and enjoyed the snippets of stories and photographs that followed her life, romance, career, and booming restaurant business. A fascinating read!
