Craigslist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers

Have the box of tissues at the ready when you dive into Craigslist Confessional you will need them! I absolutely loved this book, even when I found myself ugly crying through certain chapters. Each personal story is told with such honesty and openness, that at times I felt like I was intruding on someones life. I tried to imagine what it must have been like for each person sharing these intimate details of their life with Helena and often wondered if they felt relief after these sessions with her. At times I felt my own deep connection with someones story and understood exactly how they felt. Other times I could not imagine what certain people must have felt or how they endured certain tragedies in their life. In the end, Craigslist Confessional is a stark reminder that we may not all be as different as we think. While we all have different experiences and situations that we need to live through, we often have some type of pain, regret, or deep love that we carry around with us. Reading this book, I was also reminded that we never really know the weight that may be resting on someone elses shoulders. It also showed me that sometimes all a person needs is a space with no judgement and a little compassion; those two seemingly simple things can go a long way when someone is working through any number of emotions or past experiences.

I thought Helenas writing was superb as she told each persons story. The change in tones and the style of writing really helped to contribute to the narration from story to story. I could immediately tell the care and delicacy that Helena took to compile each story, which made this book even more special to read. I also liked that Helena ended the book with her own personal story and that she was willing to share that with her readers.

I will be recommending this book to every person I encounter. I would highly suggest reading this book with an open mind though and trying to refrain from passing judgement on certain stories. Reading and discussing this book reminded me that we as humans are often quick to pass judgement and it is more difficult to take a step back and try to see something from a different perspective. I also believe that reading Craigslist Confessional will remind each of us that we are never truly alone in whatever we may be feeling and that may be one of the most powerful takeaways after reading this book.

The synopsis for Craiglist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers says, “For fans of Humans of New York and PostSecret…” I have not read Humans of New York (it is on my “to read” list now), but I have read most of the PostSecret books, and I use to frequent the website during college to kill time between classes. I would agree that Craiglist Confessional would be suitable for fans of PostSecret except that at least PostSecret breaks up all the heavy, depressing stories with an occasional shot of humor. Not so in Craigslist Confessional. When you think the stories cannot get any more depressing, you read the next one. I am a huge advocate of treating everyone with kindness because you never know what they are going through at home, and this book brings that home in a big way.

Here is how I would recommend reading Craigslist Confessional. I would have a second book that is humor based close at hand.

Craigslist Confessional has five sections: Love, Regret, Loss, Identity, and Family. Each section has eight to ten confessionals that only take a few minutes to read. I think most on my Kindle said five minutes in length, with the longest being about eleven minutes.

I read this book from cover to cover and was able to finish it in a couple of days. I don’t recommend this at all. If I was to reread it, or if a Craigslist Confessional 2 was released, I would read one section, and when I finished, I would read a couple of chapters from my humor based book just to lighten the mood.

If you could get something off your chest with no consequences and repercussions, what would you divulge?

Forty stories are shared by anonymous confessors. A unique idea, sure, but what elevates the stories above this device is the author, Helena Bala. She masterfully captures their stories, preserving their voice, and presents them in first person (which I didn’t realize until I started reading). What results is a well written, powerful glimpse under the facades that many of us have built. Each story is relatively short, 4-5 pages, and can be read in a matter of minutes, making the book very digestible. More importantly, these short stories leave an impact and some have kept me thinking many days after.

This book is a must read in our current times. With an ever more polarized world, what we often lack in discourse is empathy to our perceived “opponent”. Craigslist Confessional illuminates the human condition for 40 strangers and reminds us all that there is often much more under the surface than what we present to the world.

This book is written by a first-time author, yet it reads like it was written by a seasoned one with many books under her belt. The book consists of 40 short stories. These are stories of hardship and pain from strangers’ real lives. A lot of us do not like to talk about painful events in our lives. We try to give the impression that we have it together. Yet I am sure that every one of us will find at least one story in this book that we can relate to. It is a liberating feeling to know that we are not alone and that some of the things that we have gone through in our life are very similar to the ones that strangers have gone through too. The stories we cannot relate to make us feel grateful for the lives we have. They make us feel lucky to have been spared the pain that some others have sadly had to endure.

What a thought-provoking concept… What would people share if they knew that the person listening had no agenda? Craigslist Confessional gives us a glimpse into the minds and hearts of people who chose to reach out to the author with a simple goal: to get something off their chest and be heard by one person. Helena Dea Bala does a great job of telling these 40 individual stories and channeling their voices. Highly recommended!

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member