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Be it about wearing the veil or their general place in society, discussion in the West about Muslim women — especially those conducted by non-Muslims — tend to portray them as silent, oppressed, and submissive victims. However, a new book titled "Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women" reveals the diverse and sometimes unconventional experiences of Muslim-American women in sex and romance. 

Academy Award-winning actress Shirley MacLaine tells us which things she is over dealing with in life, in love, at home, and in the larger world, and which things she will never get over, no matter how long she lives. I’m Over All That and Other Confessions is a collection of small observations and big-picture questions, and includes stories of some of the great people she’s known—Alfred Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, and the two Jacks (Lemmon and Nicholson).

Today, Dr. Yvonne Thornton is the first African-American woman to be board certified in the obstetrical sub-specialty of maternal-fetal medicine. But getting to this point wasn't easy. Her latest book, Something to Prove, picks up where her first book, The Ditchdigger's Daughters, left off, and charts Dr. Thornton's ascension to the top of her field as a physician.

James Gordon Meek, correspondent for the New York Daily News Washington bureau, and Anne Kornblut, national politics reporter for The Washington Post, discuss President Bush's new memoir, Decision Points.

Prize-winning biographer Antonia Fraser discusses her life with playwright Harold Pinter, one of the literary world's most celebrated marriages. Her memoir Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter is a love story and an insightful account of their years together, from their initial meeting through their shared devotion to their work, their crises and laughter, through his death in 2008.

Rosanne Cash talks about growing up as the child of country legend Johnny Cash, and of her relationships with her mother and her famous stepmother: June Carter Cash. Her memoir Composed is her account of her artistic development, recording her first album, and working her way to success. She talks about her marriages, the country music establishment, taking a new direction in her music, leaving Nashville to move to New York, and her process of songwriting.

Christopher Brownfield describes his early life in the Navy and how he, a submariner, ended up in Iraq. In My Nuclear Family: Coming of Age in America’s Twenty-first Century Military, he writes about his years serving on a nuclear submarine, his ship’s secret missions in the global war on terror, and why his faith in the entire operation began to erode. He also describes working with General Petraeus and developing plans for energy efficiency, development, and counterinsurgency in Iraq.

Michelle Norris, cohost of NPR’s All Things Considered, discusses “the hidden conversation” on race that’s unfolding in America. In her new book The Grace of Silence, she unearthed and confronted painful family secrets and came to terms with her own identity and the history of race in her family.

Legendary crime writer James Ellroy talks about his mother’s death and his obsessive search for “atonement in women.” The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women is about guilt and the power of malediction. Ellroy describes his shattered childhood, his delinquent teens, his love affairs and marriages, his nervous breakdown, and the beginning of a relationship with an extraordinary woman who may just be the woman he’s been searching for.

Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition, tells the story of how he and his wife found true love with two tiny strangers from the other side of the world. In Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption, he shares the anxieties, along with the joy, of adoption, and includes the stories of other adoptive families.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Maynard talks about his time playing with the New York Jets. You Can't Catch Sunshine tells the story of his transformation from laid-back Texan to the toast of New York, and how his unlikely friendship with a newly minted quarterback named Joe Namath, resulted in the most unlikely upsets in football history: Super Bowl III.

Daniel Asa Rose discusses the lengths he and his cousin Larry Feldman went to in order to get a kidney transplant. In Larry’s Kidney, Rose tells the story of helping his black-sheep cousin, who he hadn’t spoken to in 15 years, go to China and secure a kidney transplant, even though Chinese law forbids transplants to Westerners.

Micah Toub describes growing up with parents who were both Jungian therapists. His memoir, Growing Up Jung: Coming of Age as the Son of Two Shrinks, is a personal history and a survey of Jungian psychology, and looks at whether it’s possible for the child of two shrinks to reach adulthood mentally unscathed.

Rosanne Cash talks about growing up as the child of country legend Johnny Cash, and of her relationships with her mother and her famous stepmother: June Carter Cash. Her memoir Composed is her account of her artistic development, recording her first album, and working her way to success. She talks about her marriages, the country music establishment, taking a new direction in her music, leaving Nashville to move to New York, and her process of songwriting.

Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler shares his story of spinning out of control, enduring twenty-eight ODs, three suicide attempts, two heart attacks, jail stints, and a debilitating stroke. In My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, Drugs, and Guns N’ Roses, he recounts his years with Guns N' Roses, being banished by the band, and diving into nearly 20 years of addiction that eroded his mind and his health until he finally kicked his drug habits.

Beth Raymer tells how she wound up working for one of the biggest professional sports gamblers in Las Vegas. Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling is an account of her years in the high-stakes, high-anxiety world of sports betting and the cast of characters she met.

Daniel Asa Rose discusses the lengths he and his cousin Larry Feldman went to in order to get a kidney transplant. In Larry’s Kidney, Rose tells the story of helping his black-sheep cousin, who he hadn’t spoken to in 15 years, go to China and secure a kidney transplant, even though Chinese law forbids transplants to Westerners.

Music journalist Rob Sheffield discusses coming of age in the 1980s, the years of MTV and John Hughes movies, the era of big dreams and bigger shoulder pads. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut is his memoir of stumbling into adulthood.

Pam Grier, best known for her roles as Foxy Brown, Friday Foster, Coffy, and Jackie Brown, talks about her life and career. In her memoir Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, she discusses her relationships with famous men like Richard Pryor, her experiences as a backup singer and a blaxploitation star, and her battle with cancer.

Paula Butturini talks about the healing powers of sharing of food around the family table. After her husband John was shot and nearly killed by sniper fire while reporting on an uprising in Romania, the recovery process was complicated and difficult. She writes about it in Keeping the Feast: One Couple’s Story of Love, Food, and Healing in Italy .