memoir

Diving into Dreams: Navigating Life’s Deepest Waters to Discover the Secret of Having Enough by Szilvia Gogh is a deeply reflective and surprisingly grounded memoir that blends high adventure with introspective wisdom. I was initially drawn to the book because the author, like my grandparents, is Hungarian, a connection that piqued my curiosity more than the diving aspect. I can say that while I still have no personal desire to dive beneath the ocean’s surface, I found myself completely immersed in Gogh’s world.

Her descriptions of the underwater realm are vivid and captivating, rich in sensory detail and emotional depth. She doesn’t romanticize her profession; rather, she presents both the beauty and the grueling realities of underwater work. From Hollywood film sets to remote dive sites, she takes readers on a global journey that’s as much about internal discovery as it is about external adventure.

What sets this memoir apart from many travel and adventure books is its maturity. Gogh isn’t just chasing thrills for the sake of them. She examines the cost of ambition, the drive to achieve, and the fine line between passion and restlessness. I’ve read numerous travel memoirs, and too often they focus on self-indulgence or youthful recklessness. Gogh’s story, by contrast, reflects hard-won wisdom and self-awareness. She questions herself constantly about why she keeps pushing for one more challenge, one more journey, or one more success.

Her evolution from a daring, risk-taking young woman to someone who understands the meaning of “enough” is moving and relatable. It’s an emotional deep dive into identity, satisfaction, and balance. Her achievements are remarkable and include building a unique career as an underwater stunt performer, designing jewelry inspired by her experiences, surviving cancer, and creating a balanced family life. Yet the true treasure of the book lies in her realization that fulfillment doesn’t come from what we do or own, but from who we become.

My favorite line captures the essence perfectly: “True happiness is not acquisition or accomplishment, but alignment—knowing that the life I’m living reflects who I actually am, not who I thought I should become.”

This memoir will resonate with anyone searching for peace after years of striving, or with readers who crave authenticity in an age of endless achievement. Inspiring, honest, and beautifully written, Diving into Dreams is a book to savor.

I received an ARC from Reedsy Discovery. You can find my review here.

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A Reason to Be: A Novel by Norman McCombs begins in the Scottish highlands with the great battle of independence of the MacTomas clan from Chief Mackintosh. After that rousing introduction, it’s quite a letdown to meet the main character Douglas McCombs who is struggling with depression. It wasn’t clear whether his wife Hope, who had Alzheimer’s, was removed to a long-term care facility or died. Later in the book, there’s an incident where Hope’s friend attacks Douglas for abandoning his wife, which seemed to imply she was still alive.

Regardless of what has happened to his wife, Douglas finds a new lease on life by investigating his genealogy. The segments that provide a glimpse of his ancestors were fascinating. However, the switch back to the present day, even with the blossoming love between Douglas and the librarian seemed stilted. There’s mention that Douglas is holding something back in the relationship, and it seems implied that it’s that his wife is still alive at some points of the story. (NOTE: The author says that the proof edition I read has been changed and the wife is no longer living in the final version.) Douglas believes the new love interest has something holding her back from the relationship. Never fear, though. The reader is magically transported into the librarian’s mind, so everything is clear to us, if not to poor Douglas.

I would have liked to have been given a family tree someplace in the book so that I could keep track of the jumps through history. The historical sections were prefaced with some information about the family member, but there’s nothing like a visual to help organize the timeline of events. It also would have helped to keep track of the variations in the spelling of the last name through the years from MacThomas to Macomb.

The novel is advertised as semi-autobiographical. Just as Douglas, the main character, the author Norman McCombs is a White House National Medal of Technology and Innovation winner. However, Douglas never seems to be as three-dimensional as the characters in the past, which is a shame, because the author would be an interesting fellow to meet.