When I teach fiction writing in the Online Novel Certificate Program at Stanford University, I tell my students all the time to read books that are similar to the ones they are currently writing. If you're writing a romance, find other romance novels. Crime/detective story? Find other ones similar to your own. Our books don't live in isolation. Books are in conversation with one another.

These past few years while writing Pieces You'll Never Get Back, I read and reread and reread other memoirs -- those about healing, about strokes, about women's empowerment, any theme similar to ones I was working with.

If you're writing a book, make sure to find model books to help you. You can study how dialogue works, how characters are developed, how to plot.

Under "Samina's Bookshelf," I've listed 6 memoirs that I turned to while writing Pieces You'll Never Get Back. I hope you see how my memoir is in conversation with each.