Fans pick 100 books like The Mother of Black Hollywood

By Jenifer Lewis,

Here are 100 books that The Mother of Black Hollywood fans have personally recommended if you like The Mother of Black Hollywood. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity

K. E. Garland Author Of In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict

From my list on understanding female sex addiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is K. E. Garland, and I am a recovering female sex addict. I didn’t know it until I was 42. In 2014, I had a rock-bottom moment that forced me to confront my compulsions. I self-therapized through writing. As a blogger, I described ways I’d buried interrelated traumas. During the nine years it took for me to research and write my memoir, there were few books about female sex addiction. Now, there are several! The books I’ve recommended not only provide a well-rounded understanding of a little-known phenomenon, but they also help to demarginalize stories of how women live with behavioral addictions. I hope you’ll find them useful.

K.'s book list on understanding female sex addiction

K. E. Garland Why did K. love this book?

I really enjoyed this book because it was the first narrative I read about a woman who was only a sex addict. Sex addiction is primarily viewed as something men (and out-of-control celebrities) deal with. I thought I was alone as a female sex addict until I read about Cohen’s life.

Her book helped me feel less alone, and it showed me that I shouldn’t be ashamed to tell my story. I saw myself in each of her experiences, especially when she described being a sex-craved teenager. 

By Kerry Cohen,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Loose Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For everyone who was that girl.

Loose Girl is Kerry Cohen's captivating memoir about her descent into promiscuity and how she gradually found her way toward real intimacy. The story of addiction-not just to sex, but to male attention-Loose Girl is also the story of a young woman who came to believe that boys and men could give her life meaning.

For everyone who knew that girl.

In rich and immediate detail, Loose Girl re-creates what it feels like to be in that desperate moment, when a you try to control someone by handing over your body, when the touch…


Book cover of Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction

K. E. Garland Author Of In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict

From my list on understanding female sex addiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is K. E. Garland, and I am a recovering female sex addict. I didn’t know it until I was 42. In 2014, I had a rock-bottom moment that forced me to confront my compulsions. I self-therapized through writing. As a blogger, I described ways I’d buried interrelated traumas. During the nine years it took for me to research and write my memoir, there were few books about female sex addiction. Now, there are several! The books I’ve recommended not only provide a well-rounded understanding of a little-known phenomenon, but they also help to demarginalize stories of how women live with behavioral addictions. I hope you’ll find them useful.

K.'s book list on understanding female sex addiction

K. E. Garland Why did K. love this book?

I loved this book because it was the first memoir I’d read about a Mexican-American woman who struggled with sex and porn addiction. I liked that Garza didn’t experience a lot of trauma in her life, yet she still found herself addicted to watching porn.

A lot of times, we only hear about porn addiction as a young man’s problem, but Garza’s memoir illustrates how women can also live with this issue. Because of Garza’s memoir, I knew I wasn’t alone in my sexual experiences.

By Erica Garza,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Getting Off as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Erica Garza has written a riveting, can't-look-away memoir of a life lived hardcore...In an era when predatory male sexual behavior has finally become a topic of urgent national discourse...Getting Off makes for a wild, timely read" (Elle).

A fixation on porn and orgasm, strings of failed relationships and serial hook-ups with strangers, inevitable blackouts to blunt the shame-these are not things we often hear women share publicly, and not with the candor, eloquence, and introspection Erica Garza brings to Getting Off.

What sets this courageous and riveting account apart from your typical misery memoir is the absence of any precipitating…


Book cover of No Stones: Women Redeemed from Sexual Addiction

K. E. Garland Author Of In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict

From my list on understanding female sex addiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is K. E. Garland, and I am a recovering female sex addict. I didn’t know it until I was 42. In 2014, I had a rock-bottom moment that forced me to confront my compulsions. I self-therapized through writing. As a blogger, I described ways I’d buried interrelated traumas. During the nine years it took for me to research and write my memoir, there were few books about female sex addiction. Now, there are several! The books I’ve recommended not only provide a well-rounded understanding of a little-known phenomenon, but they also help to demarginalize stories of how women live with behavioral addictions. I hope you’ll find them useful.

K.'s book list on understanding female sex addiction

K. E. Garland Why did K. love this book?

I LOVED this book because the author does a great job of explaining and describing female sex addiction with anecdotes.

Ferree spent 30 years as a certified sex addiction specialist. As a scholar, I appreciated how she wove in her personal experience with what studies have shown. This approach made reading about sex addiction clinical yet relatable. I also liked that she gave advice on how to talk to family members about this type of addiction. These tips were helpful. I even photocopied some of the pages and gave them to my husband.

By Marnie C. Ferree,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked No Stones as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this book Marnie C. Ferree offers a unique resource for women struggling with sexual addiction. Taking her book's title from the parable where Jesus extends grace to the woman caught in adultery, Ferree bravely shares her own story of sexual addiction, recalling her years of shame from living a double life and the moment when she ultimately had to tell the truth. But more than just offering her story as a hopeful example of God's transforming power, Ferree distills her clinical expertise on female sexual addiction accessibly and gently, providing a much-needed resource for women struggling with any degree…


Book cover of The Return Trip: A Memoir

K. E. Garland Author Of In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict

From my list on understanding female sex addiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is K. E. Garland, and I am a recovering female sex addict. I didn’t know it until I was 42. In 2014, I had a rock-bottom moment that forced me to confront my compulsions. I self-therapized through writing. As a blogger, I described ways I’d buried interrelated traumas. During the nine years it took for me to research and write my memoir, there were few books about female sex addiction. Now, there are several! The books I’ve recommended not only provide a well-rounded understanding of a little-known phenomenon, but they also help to demarginalize stories of how women live with behavioral addictions. I hope you’ll find them useful.

K.'s book list on understanding female sex addiction

K. E. Garland Why did K. love this book?

I enjoyed this book because Golden is a Black woman, and rarely do Black women admit to being sex and porn addicts, much less write about their experiences. I also like that Golden is from the South; her book destroys the “prim and proper” American Southern trope with which I’ve been familiar due to living in the South for over two decades.

Also, although I am a recovering female sex addict, I’ve never been to therapy. Golden’s book showed me what that would have been like. Overall, her memoir helped me to know my life was not an anomaly.

By Maya Golden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Return Trip as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know

Sherman Alexie Author Of You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir

From my list on understanding bipolar disorder.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm an enrolled member of the Spokane Tribe of Indians. I grew up in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation. In 2010, I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 Disorder but I now believe that I’ve struggled with the disorder since childhood. I'm a novelist, poet, short fiction writer, and filmmaker. I've won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the PEN Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Sherman's book list on understanding bipolar disorder

Sherman Alexie Why did Sherman love this book?

This is the most concise and clear overview of bipolar disorder and the ways it which affects everybody around the identified patient. It also gives a great introduction into all the ways in which various forms of therapy and medication can help a bipolar person navigate the confusing and unpredictable symptoms of the illness.

By David J. Miklowitz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bipolar disorder is a lifelong challenge--but it doesn't have to rule your life. Find the science-based information you need in the revised third edition of this indispensable guide. Trusted authority Dr. David J. Miklowitz shares proven strategies for managing your illness or supporting a loved one with the disorder. Learn specific steps to cope with mood episodes, reduce recurrences, avoid misdiagnosis, get the most out of treatment, resolve family conflicts, and make lifestyle changes to stay well. Updated throughout, the third edition has a new chapter on kids and teens; the latest facts on medications and therapy, including important advances…


Book cover of The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

George Frederick McKay Author Of Creative Orchestration: A Project Method for Classes in Orchestration and Instrumentation

From my list on the life of a Master 20th Century Composer.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Frederick L. McKay, the youngest son of the composer and author George Frederick McKay (1899-1970), and I have re-issued and edited Professor McKay’s theory books and also authored his biography titled McKay’s Music: The Composer Chronicles. George Frederick McKay hoped to have more American music performed in the concert halls of our country and also involved cultural elements from around the world in his musical works, including poetry and whimsical pieces for young people studying music. His other works include Creative Harmony, How Music Begins and Grows, and Workbook for Creative Orchestration.

George's book list on the life of a Master 20th Century Composer

George Frederick McKay Why did George love this book?

An exciting and mysterious author illustrating a particular period of American literary history. The composer musically interpreted Poe’s times and personality in a major symphonic work.

McKay composed several dark and dramatic pieces during his career, including an arrangement of March to the Scaffold from a classical piece and an original work called To Bury the Dead for an anti-war stage play.

By Edgar Allan Poe,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Edgar Allan Poe is credited with having pioneered the short story, having perfected the tale of psychological horror, and having revolutionised modern poetics. The entirety of Poe's body of imaginative work encompasses detective tales, satires, fables, fantasies, science fiction, verse dramas, and some of the most evocative poetry in the English language. This omnibus edition collects all of Poe's fiction and poetry in a single volume, including The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Pit and the Pendulum,." "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," the full-length novel "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket", and much more.…


Book cover of Rosie Colored Glasses

Ericka Clay Author Of A Violent Hope

From my list on female protagonists from dysfunctional families.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a female writer, I love digging into the minds of women characters, especially in light of their family circumstances. I think we can sometimes underestimate the importance of a strong, loving family unit in terms of personal development. But what’s amazing is how a person’s story can be redeemed even if they were raised in a less-than-ideal environment. Even though I got pretty lucky in the parent department, I know not a lot of people have. And I love showing others through fiction that despite hardships they’ve had to face along the way, they are still loved and still wanted by a God who knows them better than anyone.

Ericka's book list on female protagonists from dysfunctional families

Ericka Clay Why did Ericka love this book?

I’m recommending this book because it made me cry, and I don’t cry. The warped triangle between two divorced parents and their daughter is tragic enough, but what really stirred me was the way Willow so fiercely wants to live life with her “fun” mom, not really understanding that not everything in life is as it seems.

By Brianna Wolfson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rosie Colored Glasses as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Little Miss Sunshine meets About a Boy in this piercingly bittersweet novel which shows how the most meaningful love can last a lifetime.

Willow's mother Rosie isn't like the other mums. She's wears every colour of the rainbow, has midnight feasts, and sends Willow to school covered in paint.

Meanwhile, Rex is the sort of father who checks Willow's homework, has a rule for everything, and would never dream of playing in the dirt.

Now Rosie and Rex live in different places, Willow knows her mum needs her even more. But Rosie's multi-coloured way of looking at the world can…


Book cover of Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness

Sam Rawlins Author Of Young Lincoln of New Salem

From my list on fascinating information about Abraham Lincoln.

Why am I passionate about this?

From the age of ten, I became enthralled with Abraham Lincoln. The story of his life captured my imagination. I had to know more about him. Through the decades I searched out little-known stories, eyewitness accounts, and letters thought lost. Becoming fascinated how he went from an almost illiterate young man to becoming the person we know from history; I went to the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield Illinois and to where he lived in New Salem to do additional research. After that, I started writing a three-year labor of love: my own Lincoln book, primarily focusing on one key period of his life. 

Sam's book list on fascinating information about Abraham Lincoln

Sam Rawlins Why did Sam love this book?

This is an insightful examination of Lincoln’s struggles with depression and thoughts of suicide. The author has done a masterful job of exploring Lincoln’s bouts of sadness, which began in his childhood and continued throughout his life, often closing in on him. My own research revealed much the same: from a cruel father with no real understanding of his son to the tragic loss of those he loved. It was always in the back of his mind, eating at him.

The National Mental Health Association and others have praised this book. If you want to get inside Lincoln, read this wonderful study of the man.

By Joshua Wolf Shenk,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lincoln's Melancholy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A nuanced psychological portrait of Abraham Lincoln that finds his legendary political strengths rooted in his most personal struggles.

Giving shape to the deep depression that pervaded Lincoln's adult life, Joshua Wolf Shenk’s Lincoln’s Melancholy reveals how this illness influenced both the President’s character and his leadership. Mired in personal suffering as a young man, Lincoln forged a hard path toward mental health. Shenk draws on seven years of research from historical record, interviews with Lincoln scholars, and contemporary research on depression to understand the nature of Lincoln’s unhappiness. In the process, Shenk discovers that the President’s coping strategies—among them,…


Book cover of Things Nobody Knows But Me

Alice Pung Author Of One Hundred Days

From my list on complicated mother and daughter relationships.

Why am I passionate about this?

My parents survived the Killing Fields of Cambodia and the aftermath of the Vietnam War, so their love for us was always tinged with anxiety, fear, and a large deal of paranoia and control. All of my books are about the complex relationship between parents and their children, and the things we knowingly or unknowingly pass down. I’ve also worked a number of years as a university student counsellor, where the same enduring themes play out in my students’ experiences. So naturally, I am drawn to stories that explore difficult but loving family dynamics. 

Alice's book list on complicated mother and daughter relationships

Alice Pung Why did Alice love this book?

Many years ago, because I’d written a book about my family’s experience surviving the Cambodian genocide, a talented author asked if I would mentor her through writing a book about the aftermath of the Bosnian conflict and her mother’s mental illness. The result of this is Amra Pajalic’s extraordinary memoir Things Nobody Knows about Me. Pajalic writes with raw candour about her mother’s bipolar and psychosis and growing up in the economically depressed suburbs of working-class Australia. Despite the horrors and hardships of having to constantly be an ‘adult’ in the parent-child relationship Amra’s memoir is full of humour, life, and love.

By Amra Pajalić,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Things Nobody Knows But Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When she is four years old Amra Pajalić realises that her mother is different. Fatima is loving but sometimes hears strange voices that tell her to do bizarre things. She is frequently sent to hospital and Amra and her brother are passed around to family friends and foster homes, and for a time live with their grandparents in Bosnia.

At sixteen Amra ends up in the school counsellor's office for wagging school. She finally learns the name for the malady that has dogged her mother and affected her own life: bipolar disorder. Amra becomes her mother's confidante and learns the…


Book cover of The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

George Frederick McKay Author Of Creative Orchestration: A Project Method for Classes in Orchestration and Instrumentation

From my list on the life of a Master 20th Century Composer.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Frederick L. McKay, the youngest son of the composer and author George Frederick McKay (1899-1970), and I have re-issued and edited Professor McKay’s theory books and also authored his biography titled McKay’s Music: The Composer Chronicles. George Frederick McKay hoped to have more American music performed in the concert halls of our country and also involved cultural elements from around the world in his musical works, including poetry and whimsical pieces for young people studying music. His other works include Creative Harmony, How Music Begins and Grows, and Workbook for Creative Orchestration.

George's book list on the life of a Master 20th Century Composer

George Frederick McKay Why did George love this book?

McKay loved the humorous aspect of Twain’s short stories and started composing an operetta based on a fantastic farce from this collection. 

The composer enjoyed Twain's ironic and sharp wit in exposing the foibles of people entangled in conventional wisdom concerning new inventions, police and fire departments, and get rich schemes.

By Mark Twain,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

These sixty satirical, rollicking, uproarious tales by the greatest yarn-spinner in our literary history are as fresh and vivid as ever more than a century after their author’s death.
Mark Twain’s famous novels Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have long been hailed as major achievements, but the father of American literature also made his mark as a master of the humorous short story. All the tales he wrote over the course of his lengthy career are gathered here, including such immortal classics as “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," “The Diary of Adam and…


Book cover of Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity
Book cover of Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction
Book cover of No Stones: Women Redeemed from Sexual Addiction

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in bipolar disorder, actresses, and actors?

Bipolar Disorder 41 books
Actresses 32 books
Actors 62 books