On My Radar:

More Myself: A Journey
by Alicia Keys with Michelle Burford
Flatiron Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

As one of the most celebrated musicians in the world, Alicia Keys has enraptured the globe with her heartfelt lyrics, extraordinary vocal range, and soul-stirring piano compositions. Yet away from the spotlight, Alicia has grappled with private heartache—over the challenging and complex relationship with her father, the people-pleasing nature that characterized her early career, the loss of privacy surrounding her romantic relationships, and the oppressive expectations of female perfection.

Since Alicia rose to fame, her public persona has belied a deep personal truth: she has spent years not fully recognizing or honoring her own worth. After withholding parts of herself for so long, she is at last exploring the questions that live at the heart of her story: Who am I, really? And once I discover that truth, how can I become brave enough to embrace it?

More Myself is part autobiography, part narrative documentary. Alicia’s journey is revealed not only through her own candid recounting, but also through vivid recollections from those who have walked alongside her. The result is a 360-degree perspective on Alicia’s path, from her girlhood in Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem to the process of growth and self-discovery that we all must navigate.

In More Myself, Alicia shares her quest for truth—about herself, her past, and her shift from sacrificing her spirit to celebrating her worth. With the raw honesty that epitomizes Alicia’s artistry, More Myself is at once a riveting account and a clarion call to readers: to define themselves in a world that rarely encourages a true and unique identity.

BookSpin Review and Giveaway!

Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed
Michelle Knight with Michelle Burford
Weinstein Books
Hardcover

  Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows that I read nonfiction.  Making this deal with myself often involves reading books by or about people who are or have been in horrible situations.  Sometimes these books are “true crime”; sometimes they are memoir.  True crime stories are most often written by a third-party and allows a certain distance from the horror.  When the books are in the form of memoir, the horror is often too close.

  Such is the case with FINDING ME by Michelle Knight.  One is tempted to describe Ms. Knight as a victim of a horrible kidnapping and of the special torture of the evil that men do.  After reading the book, though, I prefer to call her the more accurate “survivor”.  This is not a small difference.  

  I think most of us think we have handled adversity in our lives. To read Michelle Knight’s story is to discover that some people go through things that make our troubles seem like a two-week paid vacation.  The horrors that Michelle and the other women faced during their captivity by Cleveland psychopath Ariel Castro were horrific, not just it their cruelty but in the length of time they were held.

  The book seems purposely written in a gentler way than we deserve.  If this tragedy had happened to me, I would have worn out my thesaurus, using every word for awful, horrible, and disgusting.  It is this low-key approach that serves to allow us to read along with less tendency to throw the book in anger. In a more covert way, the writing style subtly reveals what a survivor Michelle Knight is.  

  The word hero is thrown around a lot in modern society. Too often it is used to describe sports stars or entertainment figures.  Most of us whine when traffic makes us late for an appointment.  Our life is over if we can’t find free wifi.  To my mind, Michelle Knight is a true hero because of the example she sets for how to handle true adversity.

  Read this book to learn the savage details of that news story you remember about three women being kidnapped in Cleveland.  Get the added bonus of being surprised by a spunky lady with more coping ability than most Americans in this day and age.

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I have one copy of FINDING ME to give away.  To enter to win, please retweet the giveaway details.  My twitter name is @Book_Dude.  US entries only, please.