Julia Stiles’ Favorite Nonfiction Books That Should Be On Your Bookshelf

Julia Stiles remembers trick-or-treating, parentless, through the Chelsea Hotel with Alexandra Auder’s sister — her classmate at the time — lending “Don’t Call Me Home” a personal charge. Raised by Warhol Superstar Viva in a one-bedroom whirlwind of performance and neglect, with pet goats and East Village nightlife as scenery, Auder captures the ache of loving a mother who is both magnetic and imposing, of raising a sibling while still a child herself, and the fear that, as a mother now, Auder might be carrying some of that same damage home.

Stiles’ second pick, Jessi Klein’s “I’ll Show Myself Out” touches on similar emotional terrain. Subtitled “Essays on Midlife and Motherhood,” the collection explores the strange cocktail of awe, exhaustion, and absurdity that defines early parenthood. Klein’s essays are wickedly funny, which offered Stiles a lifeline when she had given birth again. “I had just had my second child, so I was even more kind of overwhelmed,” she confessed to Bustle, but “she just made me laugh out loud and feel like, oh, okay, I’m not alone in this experience.”

Now that Stiles is directing films herself, it’s no surprise that director Susan Seeidelman’s “Desperately Seeking Something” (which easily could have ranked among the celebrity memoirs that are actually great, well-written books) struck a chord. A forerunner of indie cinema, Seidelman emerged from the creative chaos of 1970s New York, determined to tell stories about women who flouted convention. “Desperately Seeking Susan” — Seidelman’s breakout hit starring Madonna — “was a huge reference for me on ‘Wish You Were Here,'” Stiles said. “I was sending clips nightly to our production designer, costume designer.” She even slid into Seidelman’s DMs to get her thoughts on her 2025 directorial debut.