Last year we wrote about how writing a book is the ultimate long-form for journalists. We wanted to take it a step further and round up some books by journalists that are either out now or will be published later this year.
This is by far not an exhaustive list — just seven we thought are interesting and noteworthy to our audience. Read on (pun intended) for more.
We Were Once a Family
By Roxanna Asgarian
In March 2018, Jennifer Hart drove herself, her wife, Sarah Hart, and their six adopted children off a cliff in Mendocino, California. The story shocked the country, especially because of the portrait the Harts portrayed to others of a loving couple who adopted. In reality, there was a pattern of abuse and neglect and, in 2019, a coroner’s jury unanimously ruled that the Harts intended to die along with their six children: Markis, 19; Jeremiah and Abigail, both 14; Devonte, 15; Hannah, 16; and Ciera, 12.
Roxanna Asgarian, a Texas-based journalist who covers courts and the law for The Texas Tribune, dives into the systemic failures that led to this murder-suicide in “We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America.” Publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux describes it as a “revelation of vulnerable lives” and a “shattering exposé of the foster care and adoption systems that produced this tragedy.” The book is out now.
The Teachers
By Alexandra Robbins
In the forthcoming “The Teachers,” investigative reporter and speaker Alexandra Robbins tells the stories of three teachers as they navigate a year in their classroom. According to publisher Dutton, there’s “Penny, a southern middle school math teacher who grappled with a toxic staff clique at the big school in a small town; Miguel, a special ed teacher in the western United States who fought for his students both as an educator and as an activist; and Rebecca, an East Coast elementary school teacher who struggled to schedule and define a life outside of school.”
Robbins also interviewed hundreds of other teachers nationwide who opened up about all they go through as the educators of America’s youth. Publishers Weekly calls “The Teachers” a deeply researched and impressive study that reinforces that the U.S. underinvests in children’s education.
When Crack Was King
By Donovan X. Ramsey
Journalist Donovan X. Ramsey explores the crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s in his forthcoming book, “When Crack Was King.” Out on July 11 by One World, the former Los Angeles Times journalist calls it a “people’s history”. In a video posted by the publisher, Ramsey said he was inspired to write it after years of covering Black communities, communities of color and the criminal legal system.
“When Crack Was King” follows four individuals: “Elgin Swift, an archetype of American industry and ambition and the son of a crack-addicted father who turned their home into a ‘crack house’; Lennie Woodley, a former crack addict and sex worker; Kurt Schmoke, the longtime mayor of Baltimore and an early advocate of decriminalization; and Shawn McCray, community activist, basketball prodigy, and a founding member of the Zoo Crew, Newark’s most legendary group of drug traffickers.”
Collision of Power
By Martin Baron
Marty Baron, who retired in 2021 as The Washington Post’s executive editor and who helped lead journalists to the Pulitzer Prizes in three newspapers, has a book out this October. “Collision of Power” is described by publisher Flatiron Books as “a monumental work of nonfiction that gives a first-row seat to the epic power struggle between politics, money, media, and tech.”
Like other books by high-profile journalists, such as Maggie Haberman and Bob Woodard, “Collision of Power” may be of great interest to fellow journalists and media watchers.
“The Girl in the Window” and Other True Tales
By Lane DeGregory
You may remember the story about Danielle, a Florida girl who was found alone in a roach-infested room by police officers. She had suffered abuse and neglect and was described by experts as a “feral” child. Tampa Bay Times journalist Lane DeGregory uncovered Dani’s story, which went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2009.
That memorable feature story by DeGregory joins 23 others in “‘The Girl in the Window’ and Other True Tales”, a part-anthology and part-craft guide that’s set to be released in April by The University of Chicago Press. It’s DeGregory’s first collection of just a sliver of her more than 3,000 stories from her three decades as a journalist. “Each of the pieces gathered here — including the Pulitzer Prize–winning title story — is accompanied by notes on how she built the story, plus tips on how nonfiction writers at all levels can do the same,” the press’ website reads.
Gator Country
By Rebecca Renner
National Geographic contributor Rebecca Renner’s “Gator Country” tells the story of alligator poaching through reporting, nature writing and personal narrative.
“Broad in scope and vivid in detail, Gator Country is a fast paced tale of the risks people will take to survive in one of the world’s most beautiful yet formidable landscapes and the undercover investigation that threatens to topple the whole scheme,” publisher Flatiron Books wrote.
The book, out on Nov. 14, promises to uncover the real causes behind the destruction of Florida’s Everglades and other ecological treasures.
The Mythmakers
By Keziah Weir
Vanity Fair senior editor Keziah Weir’s debut novel is the only fiction title in this list, but we found it an interesting pick because it’s about journalism — sort of. “The Mythmakers” (out on June 13 by Simon & Schuster/Marysue Rucci Books) follows Sal Cannon, a young journalist whose life is near rock bottom when she stumbles upon a short story by an author named Martin Keller. She met Martin years ago at an event and is shocked when she realizes the story is about her and when they met. Sal then sets out on a quest to read the full manuscript by the now-deceased Martin, leading her to become entangled with his widow, Moira.
“As Sal sifts through Martin’s papers and learns more about Moira, the question of muse and artist arises — again and again,” the novel’s synopsis from the publisher reads. “Even more so when Martin’s daughter’s story emerges. Who owns a story? And who is the one left to tell it?”
