Book cover of The Many Lives of Mama Love

Book description

“Once you start reading, be prepared, because you won’t want to stop.” —Oprah Winfrey

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • New York Times bestselling author Lara Love Hardin recounts her slide from soccer mom to opioid addict to jailhouse shot caller and her unlikely comeback as a highly successful ghostwriter…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Many Lives of Mama Love as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love this book because it reminded me that we are more than our worst mistake.

Good, smart people do bad, dumb things—and sometimes end up in prison. I heard stories like this every day when I ran a program for formerly incarcerated students on my college campus, but never told as eloquently as the one Love Hardin writes.

Her story is raw, and her transformation feels earned rather than tidy. Plus, she offers an important insider's view of the criminal justice system, one that left me fired up about how the system could do better.

I returned to Love…

This book is a freight train, and from the very first page I was grateful to be along for the ride. Lara writes so vulnerably about the challenges of being a mom of four, both as a pre-prison thief/addict and then after as a post-prison felon/ghost writer/author/literary agent. It didn't feel like I was reading, instead it felt like I was having an incredible conversation with a close friend. Typically I read a book over a span of a weeks, a little every night. But I tore through The Many Lives of Mama Love in two sittings, desperate to see…

If you love The Many Lives of Mama Love...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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