Here are 5 books that Steel Magnolias fans have personally recommended if you like
Steel Magnolias.
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My version of a gutsy life journey was to find work abroad, buy a one-way ticket, and not look back - one place after the next. Long ago, girls didn’t do this, but I did. A struggle and worth it. Great memoirs have a geographical and an inner journey. They make me laugh and cry, both. This is what I love to read, and it’s my aim as a writer. My books are love letters to these adventures, plus some joking around in order not to scream or weep at some of what’s out there. I’ve been a teacher, a film editor, a comedian, a librarian, and now a writer.
I was deeply affected by this, like she was confiding in me.
Whether her memories were tragic, ugly, hilarious, witty, classy, silly, poignant, or just plain practical, it was like we were sharing a glass of wine and she was telling me everything.
I loved that she sent me every feeling of the rainbow, and each was felt deeply. I love when a story makes me laugh and cry. It was inspiring and beautiful to spend some time with this poet, reminiscing about her early years, before she was the Maya we know now.
Also, I feel schooled in what it was like to be black in America at that time, and what a gutsy journey she was on. It was an important eye-opener, as well as a warm invitation.
Maya Angelou's seven volumes of autobiography are a testament to the talents and resilience of this extraordinary writer. Loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. As a Black woman she has known discrimination and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy,achievement and celebration. In this first volume of her six books of autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. She learns the power of the white folks at the other end of town and suffers the terrible trauma of rape by her mother's lover.
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Spending four years writing a memoir—and several more editing it—made me realize how selective and fluid memory is. Our stories shift over time, shaped by distance, perspective, and even small sensory triggers that can surface long-forgotten moments.
These five books blur the line between fiction and memoir, each exploring how lived experiences are remembered and retold. They examine not just events, but the author’s perspective on them—and what that reveals about their inner world. From a child’s heightened sensitivity, to the thrill-seeking of a war correspondent, to the lasting impact of a parent’s murder, each work shows how memory shapes both a life and the story we tell about it.
For me, what drives this book is perspective, the crazy, intense story of a deeply dysfunctional family as seen through the eyes of a child, and the title refers to a bar her father frequents, often accompanied, inappropriately, by his young daughter.
From the quality of the writing to the vividness of the characters and the nutty outrageousness of the family, this is simply one of the best memoirs I have read. Definitely a book I will read a second time, when I get a chance.
#4 on The New York Times' list of The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years
The New York Times bestselling, hilarious tale of a hardscrabble Texas childhood that Oprah.com calls the best memoir of a generation
"Wickedly funny and always movingly illuminating, thanks to kick-ass storytelling and a poet's ear." -Oprah.com
The Liars' Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, bringing about a dramatic revival of the form. Karr's comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J.…
I was raised in middle-class America by a strong woman and an alcoholic. I survived an abuser when I realized that I was the answer to my problems. I write about tough subjects but am an eternal optimist who believes a strong spirit will always ensure a happy ending.
A dual-timeline novel, about a family on the ‘Titanic of the South’, the Pulaski a paddlewheel steamer that sunk in 1838, and a historian today, who is creating a museum showing of the disaster.
She also has a huge decision to make—live in the past, in survivor’s guilt, or to grab an uncertain future she’s not sure she deserves.
"An atmospheric, compelling story of survival, tragedy, the enduring power of myth and memory, and the moments that change one's life." --Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Four Winds
"[An] enthralling and emotional tale...A story about strength and fate."--Woman's World
“An epic novel that explores the metal of human spirit in crisis. It is an expertly told, fascinating story that runs fathoms deep on multiple levels.”—New York Journal of Books
It was called "The Titanic of the South." The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah's elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten--until the…
Trapped in our world, the fae are dying from drugs, contaminants, and hopelessness. Kicked out of the dark fae court for tainting his body and magic, Riasg only wants one thing: to die a bit faster. It’s already the end of his world, after all.
I was raised by strong Southern women, including my Mamaw Myers, whose life inspired The Tobacco Wives, my debut novel. Mamaw was a hairdresser for the wives of RJ Reynolds tobacco executives in Winston-Salem, NC in the 1940s, and as a girl, I was fascinated by the idea of her glamourous, wealthy clients. I’ve always been drawn to stories about women who are “Steel Magnolias, a complex mix of strength and vulnerability” that writer Robert Harling so beautifully defined and brought to life in his play and film of the same name. His is one of the five stories that I recommend if you’re a fan of strong Southern women.
This novel by my new friend and fellow debut author, Caroline Frost, is a stunner. It’s one of those books that stays with you long after you finish it. It’s been described as “Badlands meets Paper Moon, a tale about a scrappy young woman and the partner-in-crime she can’t escape.” If you loved Tatum O’Neal in Paper Moon, you’ll love Kit Walker in Pecan Hollow.
"Paper Moon meets Badlands in this mesmerizing Texas backroads thriller, a twisty story of a runaway girl who finds a home and a desperate love on the road with an opportunistic criminal...told in a gritty, sensual prose."-Janet Fitch, #1 New York Times bestselling author of White Oleander
Set in 1970-90s Texas, a mesmerizing story about a fierce woman and the partner-in-crime she can't escape, perfect for readers of Where the Crawdads Sing and Valentine.
It was 1970 when thirteen-year-old runaway Kit Walker was abducted by Manny Romero, a smooth-talking, low-level criminal, who first coddled her…
I’m a book lover from in utero. My mom was an avid and very fast reader, and I grew up finding respite, insight, and understanding in the pages of books. When I went to college, I studied English, and then got a Masters in literature before going on to learn more about writing the books I loved in an MFA program. This formal education just built on what I already knew – books are my first love, my guide through life, and often, the things that save me from the darkest moments of this world.
I am a Southern woman, and I have been a part of many a book club full of Southern women. So Hendrix’s book and his spot-on but not stereotypical descriptions of the archetypes of women in these groups is what drew me in, but then, when he brings in vampires – I adore a great vampire book – I was hooked and determined to read through and find out exactly what was going on. Who is to blame? And how do we support – or not support – one another through things we don’t understand? Powerful themes in a captivating read.
"This funny and fresh take on a classic tale manages to comment on gender roles, racial disparities, and white privilege all while creeping me all the way out. So good."-Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl
Now in paperback, Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this New York Times best-selling horror novel about a women's book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town.
Bonus features: * Reading group guide for book clubs * Hand-drawn map of Mt. Pleasant * Annotated true-crime reading list by Grady Hendrix * And more!
