Reviews

  • the cover of Montei's book depicts an abstract drawing of a woman

    "Touched Out" by Amanda Montei

    "Though equality for women has improved, Montei shows us we still have a long way to go in prioritizing the needs of women, children, and families. It is not a pleasing, put-on-a-smile read, nor is that the intention behind its writing."

  • the cover of "mom rage" depicts a pot on the stove boiling over against a greenish background

    "Mom Rage" by Minna Dubin

    "Dubin’s skillful weaving of personal narrative and research offers a triumphant validation of the everyday reality of motherhood and an invitation for moms to see themselves plainly and without shame."

  • The cover, showing five elderly African women looking stern and determined, dressed in bright shirts, skirts, and tennis shoes

    "Soccer Grannies" by Jean Duffy

    “Through these inspiring African women, the author reveals the painful past of apartheid, cultural pressures and gender disparities, and the fight to overcome ailments, aging, and adversity.”

  • "Blissful Thinking" by L. L. Kirchner

    “She catalogs her journey through this tangled mess of wellness and capitalism—and her own trauma—in an attempt to derive something, anything, resembling healing”

  • "Outlive" by Peter Attia

    “Attia, known for his motivational medical podcasts, spins science with anecdotes to simplify research to layman’s terms.”

  • "The Other Family Doctor" by Karen Fine

    “[Fine] bears witness by sharing her own story in a moving portrait of the healing power of narrative“

  • "Growth" by Karen DeBonis

    “DeBonis’s frank, tender examination of her role in Matthew’s care and the subtle unspooling of her self-awareness reveals the ways that our most challenging circumstances can bring about profound transformation.”

  • The cover of Lunden's book features a picture frame split down the middle, with a yellow bird in a steel frame on the right half and a sepia photo of a woman in a gilt frame on the left half

    "American Breakdown" by Jennifer Lunden

    “By blending rich and raw narrative with medical, environmental, and political history, she tells a story about all of us, and its message is simple: No matter how healthy you feel today, we all live in danger of becoming sick.”

  • "Craving Spring" by Ann Batchelder

    “Batchelder’s emotive narrative reveals the feelings of suffocating nausea you endure after realizing that all you can do is still not enough to save your child, while at the same time blaming yourself for every mistake you’ve made.“

  • The cover of Bryan's memoir, which depicts a narrow path flanked by dark trees stretching to a wooded horizon and a clear blue sky

    "In Between Places" by Lucy Bryan

    “Bryan uses the lens of nature to wrestle with the grief of death, divorce, and ecological decay. Even while acknowledging an uncertain ecological future, she contemplates and delights in the beauty and spiritual wonder of nature.”

  • The cover of Camper English's "Doctors and Distillers," which features the title surrounded by skulls and cocktail glassware

    "Doctors and Distillers" by Camper English

    “Readers interested in history, medicine, or cocktails will be charmed by this book and will come away with a handful of compelling factoids for the next dinner party.”

  • The cover image for Paige Towers's book, various colored squares on a green background

    "The Sound of Undoing" by Paige Towers

    “The Sound of Undoing marks the emergence of a bold voice in creative nonfiction. It asks us to turn our collective ears to the cacophonous and the sonorous, the mundane and the sublime.”

  • The cover of Jeff Seitzer's "The Fun Master," which depicts a blue rollercoaster in a blue sky alongside the title of the book

    "The Fun Master" by Jeff Seitzer

    “Seitzer does deliver moments of levity throughout the book that are brief, intense, and as whiplash-inducing as the amusement park ride depicted on the front cover. However, the memoir focuses on the inescapable highs and lows of a family struggling to come to terms with a son’s birth defects and disabilities and a father’s neuropathology and social anxiety.”

  • "Plums for Months" by Zaji Cox

    “Her writing illustrates her struggles against the status quo—Cox is a neurodiverse woman of color, and even though she grew up outside of Portland, Oregon, a part of the country that is relatively culturally inclusive, Plums for Months is in part a book about stereotypes and how Cox defies them.”

  • The cover of Sherling's "Eat Everything" depicts a stack of french toast covered in berries on a round white plate

    "Eat Everything" by Dawn Harris Sherling

    “Though this book is less memoir and more general nonfiction, the writer does share intimate glimpses of her personal struggles with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and her journey to wellness”

  • The cover of Judy Bolton-Fasman's "Asylum," which features an image of a house crossed with diagonal lines

    "Asylum" by Judy Bolton-Fasman

    “Each chapter of Asylum peels back another layer of her sleuthing, with the author moving deftly back and forth in time to reveal the complexities and volatility of her childhood, but also the ripples that carry over into her adult life and her understanding of her own identity.”

  • The words The Yoga Prescription are stacked on graphic representations of bandages and pills on the cover of this book

    "The Yoga Prescription" by Cory Martin

    “For patients who find themselves seeking some treatment beyond the limited scope of medicine, Martin offers this ancient system of teachings that put the power into the patients’ hands by honoring their own bodies—helpful for any student of yoga, essential for someone with disease.”

  • A book cover depicting a cluster of blueberries in the shape of a heart atop a round white plate

    "Kitchen Medicine" by Debi Lewis

    “The traditionally structured narrative not only braids together Sammi’s illness and journey to eventual wellness, but also embarks on Lewis’s own exploration of learning to cook, trusting her instincts, and discovering what it means to nourish both herself and those she loves with sustenance and care.”

  • The cover of Young's memoir depicts a young girl in a tinfoil armor costume, with white rips across the photograph across her eyes and torso and legs

    "Uncultured" by Daniella Mestyanek Young

    “I see traces of the Children of God, with all its inherent cult-think and harmful behavior, in almost every group, organization, or team I have ever joined or studied,” Young writes. “And I’m always asking myself: Where does a cult end, and a culture begin? What is the difference between a good organization and a bad cult?”

  • The cover of Tajja Isen's book features the title "Some of My Best Friends" in bold capital serifs and an image of a green leaf that looks like smiling lips

    "Some of My Best Friends" by Tajja Isen

    “[Isen] examines how societal and systematic failures prevent us from solving the injustice that surrounds us, and how in our efforts to look like we’re fixing things, we often overestimate our ability—or desire—to do so.”

  • The cover of Emi Nietfeld's book, depicting a young woman sitting on a chair in black and white

    "Acceptance" by Emi Nietfeld

    “Nietfeld demonstrates writing with light, carrying a narrative through darkness by filling in shadows with the glowing embers of soft moments and the fires of victory—the unfettered breath in her lungs when she breathes the clean air in a psych ward, a smile from a friend, Ms. J’s mentorship, an excellent ACT score.”

  • The cover image of a cookbook

    "The Migraine Relief Plan Cookbook" by Stephanie Weaver

    “[A] gorgeous, honest, and generous book—more than a cookbook—that aims to change [the] way of life for people like me.”

  • The cover of Suzanne Roberts's book, "Animal Bodies," which depicts a face obscured by leaves and wings

    "Animal Bodies" by Suzanne Roberts

    “How do we reorient after tragedy destabilizes us? What do we do when there is no way to shield ourselves, our loved ones, from pain? How do we find hope for a future in this world full of darkness, death, and disaster?”

  • "The Sleep-Deprived Teen" by Lisa L. Lewis

    “Lewis makes her case for the importance of sleep with solid research, but this is still a very readable and accessible book.”

  • "Corrections in Ink" by Keri Blakinger

    “Blakinger’s memoir is an important addition to the library of prison memoir, illustrating that anyone can experience addiction and, consequently, end up in a correctional facility.”

  • The cover of Sonya Huber's book, featuring the title, Supremely Tiny Acts, and a hand holding a megaphone with a flower coming out of it

    "Supremely Tiny Acts" by Sonya Huber

    “Still, I think this is what Supremely Tiny Acts is: a book about what it looks like to try. It’s a book that knows exactly how hard it is to try, and how relentlessly, overwhelmingly complicated things get when you do.”

  • "Brace for Impact" by Gabe Montesanti

    “For Montesanti, the sport was meant to replace swimming—something she had competed in most of her life—but it becomes a way for Montesanti to find ‘a community, queer friendship, and something fun that felt as far away from my hometown as possible.’”

  • "Putting My Heels Down: A Memoir of Having a Dream and a Day Job" by Kara Tatelbaum

    “I am a dancer. No one can take that away. But I’m more than that, too.”

  • "Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir" by Aileen Weintraub

    “Aileen Weintraub’s debut memoir is an intimate and introspective story about her complicated pregnancy and the reverberating effects on her marriage, religious beliefs, and identity as a mother.”

  • "Ain't That a Mother: Postpartum, Palsy, and Everything In Between" by Adiba Nelson

    “Do not stay seated at a table where you are not being fed. Make your own table, fix your own plate, nourish your own soul.”

  • "My Body is a Big Fat Temple" by Alena Dillon

    “And from this realization, the premise of Dillon’s memoir was born: to shout the details of pregnancy that are too often whispered, to chronicle her own journey through pregnancy and early motherhood for ‘other women out there who are hungry for information, honesty, and community the way yogurt commercials depict us as being hungry for 100-calorie dessert substitutes.’”

  • "Cost of Living: Essays" by Emily Maloney

    “Maloney, too, would like to set the record straight in this compassionate and precise portrait of the American healthcare situation that we are all in collectively.”