In A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing, poet Daniel parses multiple identities and diverse family roots as she recounts her journey from Nigeria to England to the United States (75,000-copy first printing). The breakout star of Girls Trip and the first Black female stand-up comedian to host Saturday Night Live, Haddish proclaims I Curse You with Joy in offering an essay collection that ranges from her viral head-shaving video on Instagram to reconnecting with a father she hadn't seen for years (225,000-copy first printing). In Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Friends star Perry goes all out to discuss his struggle with addiction while offering backstage anecdotes about the mega-hit sitcom (one-million—copy first printing). Flying high as social media director at a publishing house, Sehee still felt anxious and exhausted—"I don't know, I'm—what's the word—depressed?"—and records her conversations with her therapist in I Want To Die but I Want To Eat Tteokbokki, a huge best seller in South Korea (75,000-copy first printing). Winner of the Hurston/Wright Crossover Award, Shakur's When They Tell You To Be Good unfolds the coming of age of a queer, Jamaican American freelance journalist/essayist who relates the impact of his family's emigration, the murder of his biological father, the willing-out of deep family secrets, and his own radicalization. Joining a rising tide of new titles examining workplace discontent, Private Equity recounts Chinese immigrant Sun's rapid disillusionment with the Wall Street investment job she landed after graduating from MIT and her breakaway to find a better life (65,000-copy first printing). As recounted in Lost to the World, Taseer was kidnapped in 2011 shortly after the assassination of his father, the governor of the Indian state of Punjab, and held for over four years by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a Taliban-affiliated Uzbek terrorist group horrified that he had spoken in defense of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy.

Sehee, a successful professional in the publishing industry, grew up in Korea with an abusive father and a hypercritical mother. Internalizing their behavior, she questioned and criticized herself to the point of depression and severe anxiety. The depression is disruptive but not so debilitating that she does not still want her favorite foods, such as tteokbokki, a spicy rice cake popular in Korean cuisine. After initiating therapy with a psychiatrist, the author began to record her sessions, and the bulk of this book consists of transcriptions of their discussions about her depression and pervasive self-criticism. Sehee is honest and authentic throughout, beginning each chapter with a brief essay that introduces a topic she wants to discuss with the psychiatrist and concluding with an essay reflecting on what she learned from the session. Chapters address topics such as honesty, self-surveillance, self-esteem, medication, physical attractiveness, and more. VERDICT This is a sincere attempt at self-discovery that will resonate with young people who suffer from similar forms of depression and anxiety.—Rebecca Mugridge

In A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing, poet Daniel parses multiple identities and diverse family roots as she recounts her journey from Nigeria to England to the United States (75,000-copy first printing). The breakout star of Girls Trip and the first Black female stand-up comedian to host Saturday Night Live, Haddish proclaims I Curse You with Joy in offering an essay collection that ranges from her viral head-shaving video on Instagram to reconnecting with a father she hadn't seen for years (225,000-copy first printing). In Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Friends star Perry goes all out to discuss his struggle with addiction while offering backstage anecdotes about the mega-hit sitcom (one-million—copy first printing). Flying high as social media director at a publishing house, Sehee still felt anxious and exhausted—"I don't know, I'm—what's the word—depressed?"—and records her conversations with her therapist in I Want To Die but I Want To Eat Tteokbokki, a huge best seller in South Korea (75,000-copy first printing). Winner of the Hurston/Wright Crossover Award, Shakur's When They Tell You To Be Good unfolds the coming of age of a queer, Jamaican American freelance journalist/essayist who relates the impact of his family's emigration, the murder of his biological father, the willing-out of deep family secrets, and his own radicalization. Joining a rising tide of new titles examining workplace discontent, Private Equity recounts Chinese immigrant Sun's rapid disillusionment with the Wall Street investment job she landed after graduating from MIT and her breakaway to find a better life (65,000-copy first printing). As recounted in Lost to the World, Taseer was kidnapped in 2011 shortly after the assassination of his father, the governor of the Indian state of Punjab, and held for over four years by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a Taliban-affiliated Uzbek terrorist group horrified that he had spoken in defense of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy.

In this candid if stilted debut, South Korean essayist Sehee documents the intensive therapy sessions that led her out of depression and anxiety. She starts from the first appointment she had with her psychiatrist, chronicling her struggles to find a medication that will ease her symptoms as she works, between sessions, to apply what she's learning, challenging herself to be more socially engaged with others, whether it be through attending a movie club or negotiating difficult disagreements with friends. Though heartfelt, the forced neatness of Sehee's diaristic installments feels unnatural when juxtaposed with the complicated interior life that she and her psychiatrist trawl for meaning. Sehee's emotional recollections of growing up in an abusive household, struggling with self image, and turning to books as she learns to embrace solitude lose their potential poignancy when reconstructed in dialogue with her therapist: "ME: I'm also obsessive about my looks. There was a time I would never leave the house without make-up.... PSYCHIATRIST: It's not your looks themselves that generate your obsessiveness." As a result, profound subjects like the stigma of suicide are lost in the weeds of the monotonous stretches that surround references to them. Sehee's mission to normalize conversation about mental illness is an admirable one, but this memoir fails to animate that goal. (Nov.)