Books for your Reading List

Dear Coach,

In the past, you’ve recommended books to your readers. I’m a bookworm who’s looking for recommendations from a like-minded woman of a similar age. That’s you!

Thanks in advance,

Bookworm

Dear Bookworm,

Thanks for asking. I truly enjoy sharing books and book suggestions. This past year I’ve been reading historical fiction because that’s what I’m currently writing. So, if you’re not a fan, this list may not be what you’re looking for.

Here are ten of the many books I’ve read so far this year. I found them to be well-written, interesting, entertaining, and informative. 

1. If you appreciate impressionist art, stories of struggling artists, or Paris, you’re going to love “I Have Always Loved You” by Robin Oliveira. It’s not a quick and easy read but it’s beautifully written and meticulously researched. This book brought to life the artists of the art I’ve enjoyed for years.

2. “A Woman of Intelligence” by Karin Tanabe takes place just after WWII in the era of McCarthyism. Set in New York City, it tells a woman’s journey from the United Nations to the cloistered drawing rooms of Manhattan society, to the secretive ranks of the FBI. Inspiring.

3. “The Last Romantics” by Tara Conklin is a sweeping, yet intimate, epic about one American family. The author explores the ties that bind families together. Don’t let the future start date in the opening scare you away. This isn’t fantasy. A beautiful story told by an older woman looking back.

4. “The Personal Librarian” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, brings to life the lost story of Belle da Costa Greene, personal librarian to J.P. Morgan, one of the most powerful men of the early 20th century. This book helped me to better understand the African American experience. 

5. “The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury” by Marc Levy is a charming story about a young woman who, with the prophecy of a fortune teller, discovers she has a whole other life in a foreign country. It’s also about love, friendship, and self-discovery.

6. Australian author, Karen Brooks, rewrites women back into history. “The Chocolate Maker’s Wife” is a sweeping, well researched tale of 17th century London set against the backdrop of the plague and the Great Fire. Beware - this story will make you reach for the chocolate!

7. Like many other readers, I also learned much from “The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah, a novel that brings to life the harsh realities of life during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

8. “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, was loosely based on the lives of actresses Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardner. This is a fictional book full of interesting relationships. 

9. Although it took me a while to get into this book, I’m still recommending “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell. Set in England in the 1580’s, this is the perceived background story of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It’s also the story of a marriage and the loss of a beloved child.

10. One departure I took from historical fiction was “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah. It’s a funny, yet serious, autobiography about the beginnings of Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show. His story begins with a criminal act: his birth.

Happy reading