In softcover nonfiction, Cheryl Strayed recounts her solo trek on the Pacific Crest Trail, Blaine Harden unlocks the secrets of a North Korean prison camp, and Leymah Gbowee reflects on becoming a Liberian peace activist. In fiction, Rachel Joyce's tale of an unexpected journey arrives in paperback.
This year's treasures include a heart-racing memoir, a fun first novel, a fascinating study of fraternal bonds, plus Toni Morrison's Home and Christopher Hitchens' last work. Critic Heller McAlpin has sifted through piles of new publications and panned for literary gold.
by Parul Sehgal
This summer, don't be a tourist — take a journey with these travel memoirs instead. Open these five books and meet a future First Lady, a one-booted hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail and a young Angela Davis. You'll encounter beauty, bravery, and chilling strangeness — without ever leaving the couch.
Wild author Cheryl Strayed, aka "Dear Sugar," shares her big-hearted relationship advice, while Elaine Sciolino investigates the French art of everyday seduction and Elissa Schappell delivers a story collection about the paradoxes of the feminine psyche.
After losing her mother to cancer and separating from her husband, Cheryl Strayed embarked on an arduous trek along the Pacific Crest Trail. Critic Michael Schaub calls Wild, her account of the journey, "one of the most original, heartbreaking and beautiful American memoirs in years."
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