Some people wear their heart on their sleeves. Detroit author Scott Stabile wears his on his sleeve and in every chapter of, ‘Big Love: The Power of Living with a Wide-Open Heart,’ which is among the books on this year’s Christmas wish list.
One reader called it a rollercoaster of emotions, in all the most perfect ways.
‘I cried a bunch, I laughed even more, and between it all I learned a lot, not just about the author but about myself. That sounds weird I know, but this book made me consider so much about my life. It’s simple and profound at the same time. Half the time I was saying ‘yeah!’ and the other half ‘whoa!” said Christina Falante, in her review of the book for Good Reads. ‘This guy’s got some serious wisdom and some serious guts.’
No one would argue about that.
At the age of 14, Stabile was one of seven children born to a hardworking couple who owned a fruit market in Lathrup Village, where he occasionally helped out. Luckily, however, he was not there on the day an intruder murdered his parents.
‘They were shot to death,’ Stabile said, during an interview at Barnes & Noble in Grosse Pointe Woods.
He can talk about it now but when it happened he was speechless.
‘I was in such a state of shock,’ he said. ‘It all happened so quickly. I wasn’t even sure if it was real. That time in my life is very blurry, honestly.’
After his parents were killed Stabile went to live with his sister in St. Clair Shores, where he attended Lakeview High School. But tragedy followed him. Nine-years after losing his parents, his brother died of a heroin overdose. He joined a cult and wrenched himself out of it after 13 years. But all the while, Stabile managed to move forward, learning to do things such as forgive the man who murdered his parents, find compassion for his brother and believe in the power of love to create positive change above all else. After graduating from high school he attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a degree in English literature, before heading to San Francisco, California and then to Panama in pursuit of a happy life.
‘I could have done the ‘screw you world’ thing but instead I went the other way,’ he said.
How does one do that?
In each chapter of his book, Stabile shares a personal experience that shook him to the core and how he pulled himself together.
‘I hope that my resilience helps others to see that growth and healing are possible regardless of circumstances,’ he said. ‘There are gifts in even our greatest sorrows if we’re willing to acknowledge them, if we’re willing to work at seeing them.’
Stabile currently lives in Detroit, a block away from Eastern Market. His inspirational posts and videos have attracted a hug and devoted social media following including more than 350,000 Facebook fans and counting. For more information on his book, or upcoming author visits check out scottstabile.com.
Christmas wish list
Books make great gifts not only because they’re readily available but because there is a book for everyone on your list, be it someone in need of inspiration, love or a marvelous adventure. Here are a few suggestions along with some best-sellers from the Wall Street Journal’s latest hotlist:
Fiction
1. ‘The Getaway’ by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books)
2. ‘Wonder’ by R.J. Palacio (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
3. ‘The Rooster Bar’ by John Grisham (Doubleday)
4. ‘Origin’ by Dan Brown (Knopf Doubleday)
5. ‘Harry Potter…Prisoner’ by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine)
6. ‘Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker.’ by Shelly Johannes (Disney Hyperion Books, young readers)
7. ‘The Midnight Line’ by Lee Child (Dell)
8. ‘Past Perfect’ by Danielle Steel (Delacorte)
9. ‘Wonder’ (movie tie-in) by R.J. Palacio (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
10. ‘Hardcore Twenty-Four’ by Janet Evanovich (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Nonfiction
1. ‘The Pioneer Woman Cooks’ by Ree Drummond (William Morrow)
2. ‘Garth Brooks: Anthology Part 1’ by Garth Brooks (Pearl Records, Inc.)
3. ‘Leonardo Da Vinci’ by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster)
4. ‘Grant’ by Ron Chernow (Penguin Press)
5. ‘Obama: An Intimate Portrait’ by Pete Souza (Little, Brown)
6. ‘Audacious’ by Beth Moore (B&H Books)
7. ‘Guinness World Records 2018’ by Guinness World Records Limited (Guinness World Records)
8. ‘Elf on the Shelf’ by Aebersold (CCA & B)
9. ‘Killing England’ by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard (Henry Holt & Company)
10. ‘Promise Me, Dad’ by Joe Biden (Flatiron Books)
Fiction e-books
1. ‘Darker: Fifty Shades Darker’ by E.L. James (Vintage)
2. ‘Tom Clancy Power and Empire’ by Marc Cameron (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
3. ‘Past Perfect’ by Danielle Steel (Delacorte)
4. ‘The Midnight Line’ by Lee Child (Random House)
5. ‘End Game’ by David Balducci (Grand Central Publishing)
6. ‘The Hideaway’ by Lauren K. Denton (Thomas Nelson)
7. ‘Whiskey Beach’ by Nora roberts (Penguin)
8. ‘The People vs. Alex Cross’ by James Patterson (Little, Brown)
9. ‘Origin’ by Dan Brown (Knopf Doubleday)
10. ‘The Rooster Bar’ by John Grisham (Knopf Doubleday)
Nonfiction e-books
1. ‘Sapiens’ by Yuval Noah Harari (HarperCollins)
2. ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ by J.D. Vance (HarperCollins)
3. ‘Astrophysics for People in a Hurry’ by Neil deGrasse Tyson (Norton)
4. ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ by Bessel van der Kolk MD (Penguin)
5. ‘The Reason I Jump’ by Naoki Higashida (Random House)
6. ‘Of Mess and Moxie by Jen Hatmaker (Thomas Nelson)
7. ‘Quiet’ by Susan Cain (Crown/Archetype)
8. ‘The Girl with Seven Names’ by Hyeonseo Lee & David John (HarperCollins)
9. ‘Capital Gaines’ by Chip Gaines (Thomas Nelson)
10. ‘Simplify’ by Joshua Becker (Joshua Becker)
Bonus book: ‘Heaven Was Detroit: From Jazz to Hip-Hop and Beyond,’ edited by M.L. Liebler and published by Wayne State University Press. It’s a collection of great local stories that capture the full spectrum of Detroit popular music from the early 1900s to the twenty-first century.