A Treasure of Titles

There is no friend as loyal as a book.

— Ernest Hemingway

What kind of reader are you?

Don’t read. Read on occasion. Read a fair amount. Voracious.

What’s your pleasure? Fiction or nonfiction? E-books, audiobook listening, or print? Do you have a special place where you read? Which genres do you prefer?

Before you finish your book, do you have another waiting in the wings? Do you read multiple books at the same time (you know what I mean – ha!)?

Do you write or highlight in your books? Do you read to The End, even though you’re not really enjoying it just for the sake of finishing it?

My responses: I’d say I read a little more than a fair amount, but not voraciously. Surprisingly, I read e-books, can’t believe I gave up print. I try to have one waiting in the wings. Mostly fiction.

My favorite place to read is in bed, but sometimes you’ll find me in the big blue chair in my room by the window. Not a highlighter. Genres are suspense/thriller, a little mystery, historical fiction, dramas, art and artists, legal and medical.

I do have a 35-50 page rule. If I’m not in to the book by then, it’s curtains. On rare occasion I will read two books simultaneously.

A little research

http://www.pewresearch.org “Three-in-Ten Americans Now Read E-books” January 6, 2022. Andrew Perrin, Research Analyst.

• Overall 75% of adults say they have read a book in the last 12 months in any format, whether completely or part way through.
• Print books remain the most popular format for reading, with 65% of adults saying they have read a print book in the past year.
• Adults ages 18-29 are more likely to read books than those 65 and older.

Without further adieu . . .

Book Recommendations from Family & Friends — Fiction and Nonfiction

From my friend and former yoga mate — a voracious reader:

1. Night Road, Kristin Hannah
2. The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
3. The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
4. And the Bridge is Love, David Bird
5. The Personal Librarian, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray 👍
6. Pale Morning Light of Violet Swan, Deborah Reed
7. The Song of the Jade Lily, Kristy Manning
8. The Gilded Years, Karin Tanabe
9. The Address, Fiona Davis
10. A Curve in the Road, Julianne MacLean
11. The Cellist, Daniel Silva
12. The Lincoln Highway: A Novel, Armor Towles
13. Rebel: My Escape from Saudi Arabia to Freedom, Rahaf Mohammed (NF) 👍

From a good friend who is an audiobook listener:

1. The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris
2. Wish You Were Here, Jodi Picoult 👍
3. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig
4. The Forest of Vanishing Stars, Kristen Harmel (May BC)
5. Apples Never Fall, Lianne Moriarty
6. People We Meet on Vacation, Emily Henry
7. The Lying Room, Nicci French 👍 (Y note – This really is a good one! 👍)
8. The Paris Library, Janet Skeslien Charles 👍
9. The Lost Girls, Jessica Chiarella
10. An American Marriage,Tayari Jones 👍
11. Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr
12. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Alice Feeney 👍
13. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid (June BC)
14. Three Sisters, Heather Morris
15. The Beauty of Dusk, Frank Bruni (July BC)

From a wonderful sister-in-law who has been reading much longer than I have known her:

“What a challenge you gave me. I have loved recalling so many of the books I have read and loved. Most of my list is from the past and I can’t help but wonder if I re-read them today would I feel the same.”

1. A Gentleman in Moscow, Armor Towles (her #1 recommendation, the rest in no particular order) 👍
2. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story, Donald Miller (memoir)
3. Educated,Tara Westover
4. Loving Frank, Nancy Horan
5. Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult
6. Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough
7. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingslover
8. Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans

From my hubby, Paul:

1. The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah 👍
2. Winter Garden, Kristin Hannah
3. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Daniel James Brown (narrative NF)
4. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
5. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, Stephen Ambrose (NF)
6. Naturalist, Edward O. Wilson (NF)
7. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
8. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, Dee Brown (NF) 👍
9. Slavery by Another Name, The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, Douglas A. Blackmon (NF) 👍

From a new friend in the neighborhood — we’re walkers and talkers:

“Hey! I’d love to share my faves. Here’s a beginning.”

1. A Gentleman in Moscow, Armor Towles 👍
2. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett
3. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr 👍
4. Migrations, Charlotte McConaghy
5. The Ruth Galloway Series, Emily Griffiths
6. The Midnight Library: A Novel, Matthew Haig 👍

From me, happy blogger of TheBrunoPapers.com:

1. Lust for Life, Irving Stone (about van Gogh) 👍
2. The Agony and The Ecstasy, Irving Stone (about Michelangelo) 👍
3. Claude and Camille, A Novel of Monet, Stephanie Cowell (beautiful love story) 👍
4. The Last Rose of Shanghai, A Novel, Weina Dai Randel
5. A Piece of the World, A Novel, Christina Baker Kline
6. Saving Simon, How a Rescue Donkey Taught Me the Meaning of Compassion, Jon Katz (NF)
7. The Art Forger, B. A. Shapiro 👍
8. Dear Edward, A Novel, Ann Napolitano (inspired by true story)
9. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, A Novel, Robert Dugoni
10. Under the Wide and Starry Sky, A Novel, Nancy Horan (about Robert Louis Stevenson & his spirited wife, Fanny)
11. Georgia, A Novel of Georgia O’Keeffe, Dawn Tripp
12. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, Therese Anne Fowler
13. A Common Struggle, A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction, Patrick J. Kennedy and Stephen Fried (NF)
14. Oil and Marble, A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo, Stephanie Storey 👍
15. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch (NF)
16. Under Her Care, Lucinda Berry

From another good friend who walks and happens to be an excellent yoga instructor:

“Hi again: May I add one more? 👍 Shine on!”

1. Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence
2. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shield
3. A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman
4. The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wolleben
5. The Colonel of Tamarkan, Philip Toosey & The Bridge on the River Kwai, Julie Summers
6. Mystery: Almost anything by Laura Lippman EXCEPT Dream Girl
7. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, John LeCarre 👍
8. The Little Drummer Girl, John LeCarre 👍
9. Almost anything by John LeCarre
10. The Secrets We Kept, Lara Prescott (historical fiction) 👍

From Paul’s beloved aunt and my cherished friend, an e-reader:

One of her favorite writers: Stuart Woods

The following are all written by Stuart Woods:

1. L.A. Times
2. Chiefs (his first book which launched his career) (Y note – just finished reading, definitely worth your while)
3. Stone Barrington Series 👍 (Y note — These are unputdownable. Fast read.👍)
4. Holly Barker Series 👍
5. Teddy Fay Series
6. Will Lee Series (political)

From a good friend, who happens to be our cat sitter:

“Books I Like! These are all nonfiction. I wish I could think of more but I read soooo many that I just move on to the next one.

I don’t like fiction anymore because there are sooooo many stories of real people that are just amazing.”

1. In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, Neal White (sent to prison for white collar crime and it’s part of the old leper colony)
2. Honeymoon With My Brother, Franz Wisner (breaks up with fiance right before wedding so he takes his brother so he doesn’t lose the trip)
3. Curse of Beauty, the Story of Audrey Munson, James Bone (New York model 1910-1915 – incredible life)
4. Race Around the World – Nellie Bly, Nancy Castaldo (reporter with NY World 1889, wants to beat the Jules Verne story traveling 80 days to beat the record — more to it than just this)
5. Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, Terry Ryan (housewife of 10 kids enters contests to help support the household)

From friend and next-door neighbor:

“I know I’ve enjoyed many other books but since I refuse to keep a record …!! Looking forward to what other folks like.”

1. The Martian, Andy Weir
2. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig
3. A Gentleman in Moscow, Armor Towles 👍
4. Memory Man Series, David Baldacci
5. Where’d You Go, Bernadette,? Maria Semple
6. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
7. The Death of the Black Widow, James Patterson
8. 11/22/63, Stephen King
9. Under The Dome, A Novel, Stephen King
10. The Cell, Stephen King

If I were a betting woman

Going out on a limb here. I am recommending a book I have not read. It released July 19, 2022. The title is Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva. It is a book about art forgery. It takes place in Venice and other venues.

It’s the latest in Silva’s Gabriel Allon series. It’s hefty at 448 pages. I am so excited to read this. I live for these kinds of books. It’s hard to go wrong with a Daniel Silva novel. His research is beyond compare. If you read it, I would love to hear your thoughts.

The End

Thank you to those who shared their book likes and recommendations.

To those readers who are not readers (oxymoron ?), please accept my apologies for not having something more interesting for you this time around. This is a one off.

I have endeavored to have the titles correct. Same goes for the authors. Please indulge me for being incorrect here and there.

Hope you find a title or two that piques your interest.

Namaste 🙏

Thank you for reading! As always, comments are welcome. Would love to receive more book recommendations — now or in the future. People are often on the lookout for a good read.

💙💛