As the weather heats up, so do the book selections at She Writes Press. These sizzling memoirs and novels explore everything from drug abuse, diet and cult activity to historical reads, spiritual growth and more.
If you liked Tangerine by Christine Mangan, check out Beautiful Illusion by Christie Nelson
When the world is plotting war, follow brash newspaper reporter Lily Nordby as she falls in love with Japanese diplomat – and spy? – Tokido Okamura at the Golden Gate International Exposition. To stop her from spiraling, Mayan art scholar Woodrow Packard must help her uncover her family’s past.
If you liked When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön, check out Here We Grow by Paige Davis
When Paige Davis is diagnosed with breast cancer, she decides to take the opportunity to grow. She frames her physical journey through spirituality, warmth and friendship. She participates in a photo series, finds comfort in her “breast friend” and finds her new normal.
If you liked Ghost No More by Cee Cee James, check out Last Trip Home by Wanda Maureen Miller
When her controlling father passes, Grace Marie is hopeful that her trip home for the funeral will be the last to the impoverished Arkansas farm town. She had clawed her way out of there and away from her Klansman husband, and was determined to cut the last few ties. But can anyone really escape their past?
If you liked The Girls by Emma Cline, check out Mating in Captivity by Helen Zuman
When Helen Zuman moved to Zendik Farm in 1999, she was excited to learn an honest version of the mating dance. The Zendiks used go-betweens to arrange sexual assignations to avoid what they called “Deathculture.” But the truth was unspoken – any sparks of love were to be crushed.
If you liked Whole 30 by Melissa and Daniel Hartwig, check out Raw by Bella Mahaya Carter
This brave memoir chronicles Carter’s journey to holistically cure her anxiety and chronic stomach problems. She completely changed her diet to be 100% raw vegan, and while this healed her stomach, she still had issues with anxiety. To be completely healed, she needed to work all angles: mind, body and spirit.
If you liked Bill Bryson’s African Diary, check out Reclaiming Home by Lesego Malepe
This memoir is a sprawling, revealing journey, following Malepe as she traverses her home country 10 years after it became a democracy. Her travels take readers to locales such as Pietermaritzburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Thohoyandou, and even home to Pretoria for the official settlement of the land claim on her parent’s old property.
If you liked Everything is Horrible and Wonderful by Stephanie Wittels Wachs, check out Saving Bobby by Renée Hodges
Most stories about addiction are about the spiral downward, ending with rehab and the promise of things to come. Not so with Saving Bobby. Hodges’s story begins after rehab, when she takes in her nephew and helps him reenter the world.
If you liked Vanished Kingdoms by Norman Davies, check out The Odyssey and Dr. Novak by Ann C. Colley
This vivid portrait of Central and Eastern Europe during the time leading up to the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 began with a little girl named Ann meeting a Czechoslovakian man in England in 1946. The man, Dr. Novak, inspired an obsession in the author. Through personal experiences and interactions with colleagues, this snapshot in time comes alive.
If you liked A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley, check out The River by Starlight by Ellen Notbohm
When Annie leaves Iowa to join her brother on his Montana homestead, she has no idea what the future holds but is excited for a fresh start. When she falls in love with Adam and they marry, Annie’s depression, violent outbursts and inability to have a child will wreak havoc on their marriage.
If you liked Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Young, check out The Trail to Tincup by Joyce Lynnette Hocker
Joyce Lynnette Hocker experienced devastating loss – the deaths of four family members within the timespan of two years. As she follows the trail to their common gravesite, she recounts the lives, values, perspectives and qualities of each whom she loved.
If you liked The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, check out Who Are You, Trudy Herman? by B.E. Beck
Compared to concentration camps and Japanese internment camps, history has all but erased the presence of German internment. This coming-of-age novel follows Trudy before, during and after her time in a German internment camp as she learns who she is and how to fight for what she believes in.
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