"Tell me about yourself."

The beautiful and tragic thing about humans is that we often struggle with being open and honest with our loved ones, but it's easier to open up to a stranger. I spent countless hours as a teenager on PostSecret, scrolling through people's anonymous confessions in the form of a postcard. Now, I consume stories from Humans of New York avidly, always refreshing my feed to see if the latest story has resolved across so many posts.

Craigslist Confessional was the perfect book for me. The project started in 2014, with a simple prompt: Tell me about yourself. The author, Helena, has talked to or corresponded with various strangers who open up and tell their worst stories, their pains, their hopes, their fears, all as a form of catharsis. Their stories aren't always easy to read, but they're a reminder of how we are all alike, capable of surviving horrible tragedy and looking towards a better potential future.

Adored this book. The stories were so compelling, interesting, and emotional. I had to go slow with this one because the words were very powerful. I would encourage everyone to try this out to understand humanity better and to gain empathy.

I'm not sure why, but there's always something a little exciting about reading other people's confessions. At times, I absolutely felt a little uncomfortable.... but I also laughed and felt compassion, and above all, felt compelled to continue to read this book. Summed up in a word: juicy. I'd be interested in reading similar books in the future.

A wonderful display of stories from real people navigating life. The stories are raw and give an insight into the daily struggles, joys, and celebrations of everyday people. Reading the stories will make you think about what is hiding under the surface & increase your empathy towards strangers. Stories are categorized into themes which can help readers read as they please. Great book!

Interesting subject matter, hard not to enjoy true crime stories, but just wasn’t as captivating as I had hoped.

"... I haven't read Humans of New York, but I have read most of the PostSecret novels and used to visit the website to kill time between classes in college," according to the synopsis for Craiglist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers. Craiglist Confessional is excellent for PostSecret readers, but PostSecret adds some levity to all the dark, depressing stories. Then you read the next story in Craigslist Confessional, which is even worse. Everyone deserves kindness because you never know what they are going through at home, and this book beautifully conveys that message.

My recommendation is to read Craigslist Confessional. I'd bring a funny book with me.

Love, Regret, Loss, Identity, and Family are the five sections of Craigslist Confessional. Each section contains eight to ten confessionals that are only a few minutes long to read. According to my Kindle, the majority were five minutes long, with the longest being eleven minutes.

I read this book from beginning to end in a matter of days. This is not advised. If a Craigslist Confessional 2 was released, I would reread one section before reading a couple of chapters from my funny book to lighten the mood.

I'm a huge fan of Humans of New York and PostSecret, so I knew this book would be right up my alley. Helena listens to strangers she meets on Craigslist and shares their stories in this book. These collections of short stories show that no matter what is going on in the world, you are not alone. We all have secrets and battles and are trying to get through life the best we can.

I have never read a non-fiction book like this and have a deep appreciation for the author taking on this project. These were stories that needed to be told and elicited so much emotion. This book was raw, beautiful, and so needed. I will keep this on my shelves forever and have been recommending to everyone.

I think it should have been called Craiglist Confidential, but that's me.
The book has lots of first person stories of happiness but mostly of sadness and tragedies.
What makes the book interesting is that the author has heard each of these stories.
She has place an ad on Craigslist that says she will listen to what anyone wants to say.
And people have lots to say.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. When I first came across this book I was instantly reminded of Post Secret by Frank Warren. Warren's book provided an anonymous way for complete strangers to share their secrets, judgement free, via postcards. . Craigslist Confidential by Helena Dea Bala used this concept, but provided more in-depth encounters using a novel format. Bala's project/book began after sharing lunch and conversation with a panhandler met on the street. Sharing her frustrations with life, encumbered by student loan debt, she left the conversation with a freeing feeling. She then had the idea to post an ad on Craigslist offering to to listen anonymously, and freely to anyone who wanted to talk. She was flooded with responses and this book features forty of those. Ranging from addiction, relationships, heartbreak, and hope, Bala's book is quite the portrayal of the broad range the human experience entails. I highly recommend this book.

In a time when Americans cannot bridge divides or listen to each other's opinions, this book was incredible refreshing and honest and touching. There were so many stories that were thought provoking and interesting and ultimately, very human.

I’m feeling completely overwhelmed after reading this book. The raw emotion and power in these stories is palpable, I’ve smiled and I’ve cried. I loved this book (despite the tears!). What a fascinating concept. Thanks the the publisher and NetGalley for an egalley.

These were all good stories but I felt like something was missing. I never felt like I connected with any of them in a meaningful way.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was an interesting read, albeit a bit slow at times. 3/5 stars for me.

This was such an interesting premise for a book and it worked so well! I couldn't believe how honest people were to a complete stranger. Kuddos to this author for taking the time and having the ability to listen to these stories with no judgement. It was a reminder to me that you truly have no idea what another person is dealing with in life. A person is often defined by what we see, but there is so much more under the surface that we have no idea about, good and bad. I would definitely read another volume of these stories.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review.

I am an incredible nosey person and want to know about people all the time, specifically the secrets they keep. I am the friend everyone turns to when they need to vent or discuss something with no judgement. This book was right up my alley. The only bad thing I have to say is, Im jealous I had not thought of this first.

Each story was relatable. There were stories on love, loss, affairs, sadness, happiness, etc. I could read many more books like this by Helena.

DNF at 22%. This is a really powerful read - each person’s story feels real and raw and true and full of emotion. And I think I could really appreciate reading this at a different time. But right now with everything happening in the world, I can’t read this. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

I loved that they were all broken up into individual stories. So that they were quick to read, you could read one waiting in the car or waiting on hold.

Some of the stories felt familiar as I have lived through some similar things. Some were also heartbreaking and tearful. While others made ya smile in the end.

Really interesting compilation of stories. Almost feels like Post Secret or an anonymous website. Some of the stories were so tragic I almost couldn't believe they were true. In some cases, I wish I knew who belonged to the story and whether they were able to get past their problems. This is a good book to read if you feel like you are alone with your problems. Gives you the sense that even if you feel your situation is unique there is always someone with worse issues or a similar story

I didn’t know much about this book going into it and kind of expected it to be light-hearted (clearly I didn’t read the synopsis closely). I couldn’t have been more wrong. These stories are the take-your-breath-away kind that I remember from Tiny Beautiful Things…just without the advice element (Dea Bala chose to strictly listen). They’re deeply raw and unfiltered and cover issues ranging from infidelity to addiction to racism to abuse to terminal illness to identity to mundane marriage issues. Just like life, some stories end on a hopeful note and offer life wisdom…and others don’t really have an ending and / or don’t leave the reader with much hope. I was riveted. Each story is relatively short, so you could easily read this in snippets or take breaks if the stories become too emotionally overwhelming. And, Dea Bala’s personal story (which she shares in the Introduction) of immigrating to America from Albania with her successful parents (a doctor and an Ambassador) who then worked at Home Depot and cleaned houses to make ends meet in the U.S. is astounding in and of itself. A 5 star book that came out of nowhere for me! P.S. – check out my podcast episode with the author!