Listen. I have always been a self-help book skeptic.
But that’s before I was invited to cowrite one myself. (To be clear, that is not
the book of mine featured here — it’s a work-in-progress!)
To go from
self-help skeptic to self-help writer, I read about 15 books in two months. Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies was the one that
converted me. I had every intention of reading the free teaser online and
moving on, but from the first page I knew I needed more. I wanted this book on
paper. On my bedside table. With my morning tea. It’s a book I both devoured
and savoured—or attempted to savour. (The devouring impulse eventually won.)
Schuster’s writing is hilarious, honest, vulnerable, and warm. I wish I could
read it for the first time all over again.
Brutally honest, often hilarious, hard-won lessons in learning to love and care for yourself from a former vice president at Comedy Central who was called “ahead of her time” by Jordan Peele
“You’re going to want Tara Schuster to become your new best friend.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed
“Compelling, persuasive, and useful no matter where you are in your life.”—Chelsea Handler, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Life Will Be the Death of Me
By the time she was in her late twenties, Tara Schuster was a rising TV executive who had worked for…
I first encountered Selasi’s writing in a short story
she published in Granta over a decade ago. Her prose is entrancing.
Thick with mood, ambiance, danger, and beauty.
For some reason, it’s taken me
years to track down her novel, Ghana Must Go, but it did not
disappoint. Following the story of a Ghanaian/Nigerian family who emigrated
to America, this book was full of empathy and intrigue. As a reader—I
couldn’t put it down. As a writer—I admired Selasi’s deft handling of
structure and multiple points of view. A moving and impressive read.
A "buoyant" and "rapturous" debut novel (The Wall Street Journal) about the transformative power of unconditional love
Electric, exhilarating, and beautifully crafted, Ghana Must Go introduces the world to Taiye Selasi, a novelist of extraordinary talent. In a sweeping narrative that takes readers from Accra to Lagos to London to New York, it is at once a portrait of a modern family and an exploration of the importance of where we come from to who we are.
A renowned surgeon and failed husband, Kweku Sai dies suddenly at dawn outside his home in suburban Accra. The news of his death…
I never thought I’d write a True Crime book. But when
Krystal Senyk’s story landed on my doorstep (literally—see I Got a Name
for details), I couldn’t turn away.
True Crime is a genre that has a complex
relationship with writerly ethics—and Malcolm hits that nail sharply on the
head. The book opens with the assertion that every journalist knows their work
is “morally indefensible”—an intriguing if damning premise.
This book is a
seminal one in the world of journalistic ethics. It’s intelligent, painstaking,
and thoughtful. It has also helped me parse through what I most feared in
writing I Got a Name and informed my perspective on other books in this
genre as well.
'Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible'
In equal measure famous and infamous, Janet Malcolm's book charts the true story of a lawsuit between Jeffrey MacDonald, a convicted murderer, and Joe McGinniss, the author of a book about the crime. Lauded as one of the Modern Libraries "100 Best Works of Nonfiction", The Journalist and the Murderer is fascinating and controversial, a contemporary classic of reportage.
Krystal Senyk was the kind of friend everybody wants: a reliable confidant, a handywoman of all trades, and an infectious creative with an adventurous spirit. So when her best friend needed support to leave her abusive husband, Ronald Bax, Krystal leapt into action. But soon Krystal became the new outlet for Bax’s rage. Krystal was scared but reached out to the RCMP for a police escort. The officer brushed her off.
Bax’s threat had been all too real. At 29, the woman who seemed invincible was shot and killed at her home in the Yukon. Ronald Bax disappeared without a trace. Three decades later, Eliza Robertson has re-opened the case. In compelling, vibrant prose, she works tirelessly to piece together Krystal’s story, retracing the dire failings of Canadian law enforcement.
