Recommendations based on Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversationsby Mira Jacob

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Heavy

    by Kiese Laymon
    A memoir of a black man's struggle with weight, trauma, and identity in America.

    *Named a Best Book of 2018 by the, New York Times,, Publishers Weekly,, NPR,, Broadly, Buzzfeed (Nonfiction), The Undefeated,, Library Journal ,(Biography/Memoirs),, The Washington Post ... (Barnes & Noble)

  2. Tell Me More: Stories about the 12 Hardest Things I'm Learning to Say

    by Kelly Corrigan
    A memoir about the author's journey through life's challenges and how she learned to communicate more effectively.

    NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER • A story-driven collection of essays on the twelve powerful phrases we use to sustain our relationships, from the bestselling author of, Glitter and Glue, and, The Middle ... (Barnes & Noble)

  3. Dare to Lead

    by Brené Brown
    A guide to courageous leadership, emphasizing vulnerability, empathy, and self-awareness as essential qualities for success.

    In her #1 NYT bestsellers, Brené Brown taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers and culture ... (Goodreads)

  4. In the Dream House

    by Carmen Maria Machado
    A memoir exploring the author's abusive same-sex relationship, using various literary genres to convey the complexity of the experience.

    A revolutionary memoir about domestic abuse by the award-winning author of, Her Body and Other Parties, In the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado’s engrossing and wildly innovative account of a ... (Barnes & Noble)

  5. Know My Name

    by Chanel Miller
    A memoir of a sexual assault survivor, reclaiming her identity and sharing her journey towards healing and justice.

    A, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER,",Know My Name, is a gut-punch, and in the end, somehow, also blessedly hopeful.",—Washington Post, Universally acclaimed, rapturously reviewed, and an instant New York ... (Barnes & Noble)

  6. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

    by Susannah Cahalan
    A journalist's journey of survival and recovery from a rare autoimmune disorder.

    An award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her ... (Goodreads)

  7. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

    by Cheryl Strayed
    Collection of heartfelt advice from a wise and compassionate storyteller.

    Life can be hard: your lover cheats on you; you lose a family member; you can’t pay the bills - and it can be great: you've had the hottest sex of your life; you get that plum job; you muster the ... (Goodreads)

  8. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

    by Matthew Desmond
    An exploration of eviction’s devastating consequences on the lives of the urban poor.

    NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF, TIME,’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • One of the most acclaimed books of our time, this modern classic “has set a ... (Barnes & Noble)

  9. Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir

    by Ruth Reichl
    A memoir of Reichl's time as editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, detailing the challenges and triumphs of running a food publication.

    Trailblazing food writer and beloved restaurant critic Ruth Reichl took the job (and the risk) of a lifetime when she entered the glamorous, high-stakes world of magazine publishing. Now, for the ... (Goodreads)

  10. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

    by Robin Wall Kimmerer
    An exploration of the reciprocal relationship between humans and nature, utilizing both Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge.

    As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals ... (Goodreads)

  11. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

    by Bryan Stevenson
    A powerful true story of justice and redemption, exposing the flaws of America's criminal justice system.

    In 1989, idealistic young Harvard law graduate Bryan Stevenson travels to Alabama hoping to help fight for poor people who cannot afford proper legal representation. Teaming with Eva Ansley, he ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Be Prepared

    by Vera Brosgol
    A graphic memoir of a young girl's experience at a Russian summer camp and her struggle to fit in.

    "Beautifully drawn, brutally funny, brilliantly honest. Vera is such a good cartoonist I almost can’t stand it.” —Raina Telgemeier, author of Smile In Be Prepared , all Vera wants to do is fit in—but ... (Barnes & Noble)

  13. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

    by Daniel James Brown
    An inspiring story of a rowing crew battling against the odds to win gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

    This novel is about the University of Washington eight-oared crew that represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the gold medal. The ... (Wikipedia)

  14. One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter

    by Scaachi Koul
    A collection of personal essays exploring identity, culture, and family, with humor and honesty.

    A collection of essays about growing up the daughter of Indian immigrants in Canada, "a land of ice and casual racism," by the cultural observer, Scaachi Koul. In One Day We'll All Be Dead and None ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Truths We Hold: An American Journey

    by Kamala Harris
    Memoir of Kamala Harris, detailing her life and political career, and advocating for social justice and equality.

    From one of America's most inspiring political leaders, a book about the core truths that unite us, and the long struggle to discern what those truths are and how best to act upon them, in her own ... (Goodreads)

  16. Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything

    by B.J. Fogg
    A practical guide to creating new habits by starting small and celebrating progress.

    The world’s leading expert on habit formation shows how you can have a happier, healthier life: by starting small. Myth: Change is hard. Reality: Change can be easy if you know the simple steps of ... (Barnes & Noble)

  17. What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings--and Life

    by Laura Vanderkam
    A guide to maximizing productivity and achieving success by utilizing the early morning hours.

    Mornings are a madcap time for many of us. We wake up in a haze—often after hitting snooze a few times. Then we rush around to get ready and out the door so we can officially start the day. Before we ... (Goodreads)

  18. The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives

    by Dashka Slater
    Examines a single act of violence, exploring its impact on two disparate lives.

    A, New York Times, Bestseller Stonewall Book Award Winner—Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award,YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist One ... (Barnes & Noble)

  19. Small Wonder

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A family's journey of self-discovery as they struggle to redefine their lives and their relationships.

    Sometimes grave, occasionally hilarious, and ultimately persuasive, Small Wonder is a hopeful examination of the people we seem to be, and what we might yet make of ourselves. In her new essay ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

    by Jeffrey Toobin
    An exploration of the inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court and its justices.

    In The Nine, acclaimed journalist Jeffrey Toobin takes us into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, revealing the complex dynamic among the nine ... (Goodreads)

  21. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

    by Anthony Bourdain
    A humorous and unflinching account of life in restaurant kitchens, exploring the culture and camaraderie of the culinary world.

    A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute ... (Goodreads)

  22. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America

    by Jill Leovy
    In-depth examination of unsolved murder cases in inner-city Los Angeles, exploring themes of violence and racial injustice.

    On a warm spring evening in South Los Angeles, a young man was shot and killed on a sidewalk minutes away from his home, one of hundreds of young men slain in LA every year. His assailant ran down ... (Goodreads)

  23. The Empathy Exams

    by Leslie Jamison
    A collection of essays exploring empathy, pain, and human connection through personal experiences and cultural analysis.

    From personal loss to phantom diseases, The Empathy Exams is a bold and brilliant collection; winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize. Beginning with her experience as a medical actor who was ... (Goodreads)

  24. I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death

    by Maggie O'Farrell
    A collection of personal stories of near-death experiences, exploring life and mortality.

    We are never closer to life than when we brush up against the possibility of death. I Am, I Am, I Am is Maggie O'Farrell's astonishing memoir of the near-death experiences that have punctuated and ... (Goodreads)

  25. Heart Berries

    by Terese Marie Mailhot
    A memoir of a First Nations woman's journey through trauma, mental illness, and healing. Raw, poetic, and unflinching.

    Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to ... (Goodreads)

  26. Jerusalem: A Cookbook

    by Yotam Ottolenghi
    Exploring the vibrant flavors of Jerusalem through recipes, stories, and photographs.

    With Jerusalem, Ottolenghi re-teams with his friend and co-owner of his restaurants, Sami Tamimi. Both men were born in Jerusalem in the same year: Tamimi on the Arab east side and Ottolenghi in the ... (Goodreads)

  27. A Field Guide to Getting Lost

    by Rebecca Solnit
    Exploring being lost in the world, embracing the uncertainty of life, and finding new ways of being.

    Whether she is contemplating the history of walking as a cultural and political experience over the past two hundred years ( Wanderlust ), or using the life of photographer Eadweard Muybridge as a ... (Goodreads)

  28. Men We Reaped

    by Jesmyn Ward
    A memoir examining the death of five young African-American men, and the societal issues that contributed to their demise.

    Named one of the Best Books of the Century by, New York, Magazine, Two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward (,Salvage the Bones, Sing, Unburied, Sing,) contends with the deaths of five young ... (Barnes & Noble)

  29. Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

    by Irin Carmon
    Celebrating the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

    New York Times Bestseller Featured in the critically acclaimed documentary, RBG, "It was beyond my wildest imagination that I would one day become the 'Notorious RBG." — Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 2019 She ... (Barnes & Noble)

  30. The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

    by Michael Bungay Stanier
    Strategies for effective leadership, emphasizing the power of asking questions.

    Look for Michael’s new book,, The Advice Trap, which focuses on taming your Advice Monster so you can stay curious a little longer and change the way you lead forever. In Michael Bungay Stanier's The ... (Barnes & Noble)