Last night at dinner a friend asked if I’d read any good books lately. Since you and I obviously have some common interests - otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this! - I decided to ask you the same question and share my answer. I hope we can help each other discover some great books we might not find otherwise!
I’ve shared before that I love Glennon Doyle’s books. I recently read Untamed and agree with those who said it is even better than Carry On, Warrior and Love Warrior. I highly recommend it, with the caveat that men may not find it as helpful as women do. If you’re a man who has read Untamed, I’d love to hear what you thought of it.
Lately, I’ve also gone back to reading fiction. There’s nothing like a good novel to help me escape to another world and forget about the problems in this one!
I have two favorite authors who have written multiple novels featuring the same main characters. Right now, I’m reading Livid by Patricia Cornwell, and enjoying returning to the world inhabited by Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her husband Benton, niece Lucy, and friend Pete Marino. They work together to solve murders and prevent the perpetrators from causing more harm. Before that, I read Listen to Me by Tess Gerritsen, the latest in a series featuring Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. While the TV series starring these characters was fun to watch, I prefer the books.
Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment about your favorite books and why you recommend them. I’d especially appreciate some recommendations for humorous books. I tried one of Erma Bombeck’s and was disappointed to discover just how dated her work is. It rarely made me laugh and reinforced cultural stereotypes about men and women that I reject.
One final note: I use the free “Libby” app to borrow all of the books I read now, and I read them on Kindle so that my highlights are saved after I return the books. I’ve also used it to borrow digital versions of magazines. If you prefer audiobooks, you can get those, too, and also reserve physical books to pick up at your local library.
So what do you suggest I read next? And please share this post with your friends and family so they can recommend more great books!
Oh so excited to hear that you read untamed!!!
I got back into fiction in the past few years and an curious about the Rizzoli series! I have been reading Lisa Jewell and B.A. Paris in that similar genre.
All my books right now are related to Sylvia Plath for research or related to grieving because of my own process around that.
Great post, Wendi!
I too loved Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels - it's been a while, so maybe those are for the 'reread' pile! I remember later reading Cornwell's book about Jack the Ripper and being rather frustrated by her early conclusion as to who the villain had actually been, but it was nevertheless a rip-roaring ride of a non-fiction exploration of a century-old set of grisly murders.
It sounds like I need to check out Tess Gerritson!
I've just started re-reading a book I'd read in the 1990s - 'House of Cards' by Michael Dobbs. I love a political thriller! I'd first come across it as a BBC TV adaptation and read the book pretty much immediately after that - all of which of course was before Netflix introduced us to a Kevin Spacey variation of the story around ten years ago.