Written from a life lived on the edge of society, Spinning in Circles and Learning from Myself, by author Tsara Shelton, offers an insightful and powerfully uplifting collection of ideas and stories. She shares writings on a range of subjects spanning several stages of her life with topics including women's issues, marriage, prejudice, abuse, mixed-race relationships, equality, culture, and more.

Shelton--a mother of four--opens up about the difficult elements in her past, but offers a positive, realistic perspective on those events and more. As the oldest of eight children, she...