Favorite Books

"A haunting and beautifully written memoir about the creator of The Twilight Zone." --Robert Redford "Beautifully written ... I laughed and I cried. I plan to read it again once I catch my breath." --Carol Burnett

A book that instantly captured the hearts of readers across the country, An American Childhood is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard's poignant, vivid memoir of growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1950s.

I keep a copy of this in my office waiting room. I love Brian Andreas’ words: “feels like / some kind of ride / but it’s turning out / just to be life / going absolutely perfectly”

The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller A People Magazine Top Ten Book of the Year!"Intelligent and captivating. Don't miss it." - People Magazine"One of the best celebrity memoirs of the year." -The Hollywood ReporterRock Star. Composer and Lyricist. Feminist Icon. Survivor.Simon's memoir reveals...

Settling into the responsibilities and routines of adulthood, Dani Shapiro found herself with more questions than answers. Was this all life was—a hodgepodge of errands, dinner dates, e-mails, meetings, to-do lists? What did it all mean? Having grown up in a deeply religious and traditional family...

“Still Writing offers up a cornucopia of wisdom, insights, and practical lessons gleaned from Dani Shapiro's long experience as a celebrated writer and teacher of writing. The beneficiaries are beginning writers, veteran writers and everyone in between.” —Jennifer Egan

“Chilling. . . . There is a gritty honesty to her cautionary confession that will alert others to listen for and respond to wake-up calls of their own.” — New York Times Book Review “Shapiro does not sugarcoat her life; she writes with an eviscerating, raw honesty about the wrong turns and m...

Try her fiction, too!

The instant #1 NEW YORK TIMES BestsellerNamed a Hot Fall Read by USA Today, Vanity Fair, Newsday, O Magazine, the Seattle Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Mashable, Pop Sugar, and the San Antonio Express-NewsNamed a Best Book of the Year by Brainpickings and Book Riot"A must read for anyone hoping...

Fannie Flagg’s books make me laugh out loud some and smile most of the rest of the time I’m reading them; so I added it. I also read it at Christmastime, which made it extra fun. Plus any other Fannie Flagg books that might appeal to you. I find her characters always quirky fun. And her messages gradually unfold beautifully, treasures to find.

Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and inspiring leader—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of her life as a traveler, a listener, and a catalyst for change. Includes “Secrets,” a new chapter!

Gretchen Rubin is a young professional woman, wife and mother, who was aware that she was blessed in her life and thought she should feel more happy more often. In search of that, she studied happiness through the ages, and set monthly goals in her own life. Her book tells the story of her personal project, along with the research she did along the way. She inspired me to follow many of her leads and to think about all of them.

This is a lovely day book that I discovered over a decade ago. I read it daily for a long time and always felt touched by what I read. Recently I rediscovered it on the book shelf, and while I don’t pick it up every day, I do start the day with it often for the same reasons I read it long ago: it reminds me of my best possible self.

Anna Gagliano Gordon, who died in 2002 at the age of 94, was the personification of the culture of the mid-century American Catholic working class. A hard-working single mother – Mary Gordon's father died when she was still a girl – she managed to hold down a job, dress smartly, raise her daught...

Nancy is a brilliant woman and changer of the world. This is her second book about the importance and beauty of creating a thinking environment for oneself and the various worlds in which one lives. I have had the great honor of knowing Nancy personally as my friend, studying her work with her, and using it in my life. She has also published "More Time to Think" and "Living With Time to Think."

I love the colors of these paintings. Bright and lively and inspiring to me. My sister-in-law says that bright colors are the answer to feeling good about aging.

With insight, humor, and practicality, Natalie Goldberg inspires writers and would-be writers to take the leap into writing skillfully and creatively. She offers suggestions, encouragement, and solid advice on many aspects of the writer's craft.

Natalie Goldberg, author of the bestselling  Writing Down The Bones, teaches a method  of writing that can take you beyond craft to the  true source of creative power: The mind that is  "raw, full of energy, alive and  hungry."

Memoir has become the signature genre of our age. In this timely gathering, Patricia Hampl, one of our most elegant practitioners, "weaves personal stories and grand ideas into shimmering bolts of prose" (Minneapolis Star Tribune) as she explores the autobiographical writing that has enchanted or be...

An unforgettable odyssey of a legendary artist, told through the cafés and haunts she has worked in around the world. It is a book Patti Smith has described as “a roadmap to my life.”

This special updated version of the New York Times-bestseller, Kitchen Table Wisdom, addresses the same spiritual issues that made the original a bestseller: suffering, meaning, love, faith, and miracles.

Every time I came away from reading a chapter of My Grandfather’s Blessings, I felt a stillness, a quietness, as though I had been meditating.

A professional family man from the suburbs of New York City takes a road trip to middle America with a guru monk, giving the reader much humor and insight and a sense of possibilities. I wanted to carry this book around me when I finished reading it just to keep the tenderness near me. Also recommended: the rest of his Buddha books and Merullo’s Revere Beach books.

“If there is a doyenne of the parenting memoir, it would be Anne Lamott.”—Time In Some Assembly Required, Anne Lamott enters a new and unexpected chapter in her own life: grandmotherhood. Stunned to learn that her son, Sam, is about to become a father at nineteen, Lamott begins a journal about...

An indispensable book by writers who have experienced firsthand the rewards and challenges of crafting a memoir  Anyone undertaking the project of writing a memoir knows that the events, memories, and emotions of the past often resist the orderly structure of a book.

"A haunting and beautifully written memoir about the creator of The Twilight Zone." --Robert Redford "Beautifully written ... I laughed and I cried. I plan to read it again once I catch my breath." --Carol Burnett

A book that instantly captured the hearts of readers across the country, An American Childhood is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard's poignant, vivid memoir of growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1950s.

I keep a copy of this in my office waiting room. I love Brian Andreas’ words: “feels like / some kind of ride / but it’s turning out / just to be life / going absolutely perfectly”

The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller A People Magazine Top Ten Book of the Year!"Intelligent and captivating. Don't miss it." - People Magazine"One of the best celebrity memoirs of the year." -The Hollywood ReporterRock Star. Composer and Lyricist. Feminist Icon. Survivor.Simon's memoir reveals...

Settling into the responsibilities and routines of adulthood, Dani Shapiro found herself with more questions than answers. Was this all life was—a hodgepodge of errands, dinner dates, e-mails, meetings, to-do lists? What did it all mean? Having grown up in a deeply religious and traditional family...

“Still Writing offers up a cornucopia of wisdom, insights, and practical lessons gleaned from Dani Shapiro's long experience as a celebrated writer and teacher of writing. The beneficiaries are beginning writers, veteran writers and everyone in between.” —Jennifer Egan

“Chilling. . . . There is a gritty honesty to her cautionary confession that will alert others to listen for and respond to wake-up calls of their own.” — New York Times Book Review “Shapiro does not sugarcoat her life; she writes with an eviscerating, raw honesty about the wrong turns and m...

Try her fiction, too!

The instant #1 NEW YORK TIMES BestsellerNamed a Hot Fall Read by USA Today, Vanity Fair, Newsday, O Magazine, the Seattle Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Mashable, Pop Sugar, and the San Antonio Express-NewsNamed a Best Book of the Year by Brainpickings and Book Riot"A must read for anyone hoping...

Fannie Flagg’s books make me laugh out loud some and smile most of the rest of the time I’m reading them; so I added it. I also read it at Christmastime, which made it extra fun. Plus any other Fannie Flagg books that might appeal to you. I find her characters always quirky fun. And her messages gradually unfold beautifully, treasures to find.

Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and inspiring leader—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of her life as a traveler, a listener, and a catalyst for change. Includes “Secrets,” a new chapter!

Gretchen Rubin is a young professional woman, wife and mother, who was aware that she was blessed in her life and thought she should feel more happy more often. In search of that, she studied happiness through the ages, and set monthly goals in her own life. Her book tells the story of her personal project, along with the research she did along the way. She inspired me to follow many of her leads and to think about all of them.

This is a lovely day book that I discovered over a decade ago. I read it daily for a long time and always felt touched by what I read. Recently I rediscovered it on the book shelf, and while I don’t pick it up every day, I do start the day with it often for the same reasons I read it long ago: it reminds me of my best possible self.

Anna Gagliano Gordon, who died in 2002 at the age of 94, was the personification of the culture of the mid-century American Catholic working class. A hard-working single mother – Mary Gordon's father died when she was still a girl – she managed to hold down a job, dress smartly, raise her daught...

Nancy is a brilliant woman and changer of the world. This is her second book about the importance and beauty of creating a thinking environment for oneself and the various worlds in which one lives. I have had the great honor of knowing Nancy personally as my friend, studying her work with her, and using it in my life. She has also published "More Time to Think" and "Living With Time to Think."

I love the colors of these paintings. Bright and lively and inspiring to me. My sister-in-law says that bright colors are the answer to feeling good about aging.

With insight, humor, and practicality, Natalie Goldberg inspires writers and would-be writers to take the leap into writing skillfully and creatively. She offers suggestions, encouragement, and solid advice on many aspects of the writer's craft.

Natalie Goldberg, author of the bestselling  Writing Down The Bones, teaches a method  of writing that can take you beyond craft to the  true source of creative power: The mind that is  "raw, full of energy, alive and  hungry."

Memoir has become the signature genre of our age. In this timely gathering, Patricia Hampl, one of our most elegant practitioners, "weaves personal stories and grand ideas into shimmering bolts of prose" (Minneapolis Star Tribune) as she explores the autobiographical writing that has enchanted or be...

An unforgettable odyssey of a legendary artist, told through the cafés and haunts she has worked in around the world. It is a book Patti Smith has described as “a roadmap to my life.”

This special updated version of the New York Times-bestseller, Kitchen Table Wisdom, addresses the same spiritual issues that made the original a bestseller: suffering, meaning, love, faith, and miracles.

Every time I came away from reading a chapter of My Grandfather’s Blessings, I felt a stillness, a quietness, as though I had been meditating.

A professional family man from the suburbs of New York City takes a road trip to middle America with a guru monk, giving the reader much humor and insight and a sense of possibilities. I wanted to carry this book around me when I finished reading it just to keep the tenderness near me. Also recommended: the rest of his Buddha books and Merullo’s Revere Beach books.

“If there is a doyenne of the parenting memoir, it would be Anne Lamott.”—Time In Some Assembly Required, Anne Lamott enters a new and unexpected chapter in her own life: grandmotherhood. Stunned to learn that her son, Sam, is about to become a father at nineteen, Lamott begins a journal about...

An indispensable book by writers who have experienced firsthand the rewards and challenges of crafting a memoir  Anyone undertaking the project of writing a memoir knows that the events, memories, and emotions of the past often resist the orderly structure of a book.