The silver lining in the time of Corona and quarantine? Folks are talking about books and sharing their beloved titles. I’ve been asked by more than a few friends for suggestions, so it seemed like a good time to share a “short list” of some of my all-time favorite reads. During this crazy, anxious time, many are worried about the survival of independent bookstores. After my April blog, book world icon and indie owner Roxanne Cody of R.J. Julia Booksellers (check out her book podcast) asked me to help spread the word on how to support America’s independent book stores. You can do this by using bookshop.org to order your books. I’ve included this link in each book image below to make it easy to order. Thanks for supporting America’s small business independent bookstores. We all need to stick together more than ever. Fiction Before the Fall by Noah Hawley This fast-paced thriller begins on a foggy night where a private plane from Martha’s Vineyard to New York crashes in the water. There are only two survivors, who will forever be connected. The fast-paced tale by the creator of the “Fargo” keeps your eyeballs glued to every page. The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne Set in Dublin in the 1940s, this gorgeous novel moves through time and across continents as a young adopted Irish boy comes to grips with life, love, sexuality, religion and his place in the world. I didn’t want this to end. The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud A masterful novel about the intersection of the lives of three friends making their own ways in New York City. Ten years out of college, each of the characters is facing different and unpredictable challenges in a post 9/11 world. The book contains insightful psychological observations about parents, children and the need for privacy and independence. Crossing To Safety by Wallace Stegner If I were trapped on an island with only a handful of books, this would be on the top of the list. A wonderfully aromatic slow-cooker story of friendship, love and the dings and dents of time, Stegner’s gorgeous prose makes this a timeless book that should be read and re-read. If you like this, don’t miss his Pulitzer Prize winning “Angle of Repose.” State of Wonder by Anne Patchett I’d pick any of Patchett’s books to be on this list. Her story-telling abilities and way with words puts her in a rarified category. This tale of an Amazonian tribe and the explorer’s who come to discover the secrets of the natural world hits on so many levels. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus In 1875, the covert and controversial “Brides for Indians program,” was intended to assimilate the Cheyenne Indians into the white man’s world. Through a series of fictional journals, the story depicts a colorful band of pioneer women as they travel across the American West and to the adventure of a lifetime. The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles In 1937 Greenwich Village, young Wall Street secretary Katey is about to collide with wealth, social standing and a world that was formerly barred to her. As choices are made, life’s disappointments come into sharper focus. One pivotal night changes everything and reveals the universal truths of regret and failure that lurk below the surface. Time and Again by Jack Finney If you’ve ever loved a place and tried to imagine what it would be like to go back in time, you will love this classic and beloved novel. Toggling between the 1970s and 1882, the military has devised a secret project to try to send people back in time and edit history. The iconic Dakota apartment building is a key setting for the book and I’m one of many still waiting for the movie to be made. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld Pick a book by Sittenfeld and I promise they just keep getting better. She has one coming out shortly that imagines Hillary Clinton if she never married Bill. I loved this re-imagining of Laura Bush’s life beginning as a girl and moving through time as she joins a prominent family and ultimately becomes first lady. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert You think of her for “Eat, Pray, Love” but this well-researched work of fiction takes us back in time to the era of Darwin with a female protagonist who seeks adventure, facts and love. If you love historical fiction, this is your book. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter In 1962, a beautiful blonde woman on the Italian coast almost engages in a love affair. Years later, during the filming of a Hollywood movie, past worlds collide. Beautiful writing and story-telling. The Most Fun We’ve Ever Had by Claire Lombardo The Sorensons met and fell in love in college in the 70’s. As we fast forward and buckle back in time, the story focuses on the divergent and messy lives of their four daughters and how their parent’s “ideal” affects their relationships. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doeher Desperate to survive the devastation of Nazi-occupied Paris in WW11 in France, a German boy and a blind girl’s paths collide in a seaside town. She and her father have a secret, something they have smuggled out of Paris to keep safe and this tale is shot through with goodness, illuminating the ways in which people try to help one another and search for goodness, against all odds. The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman Anything by Alice Hoffman is a home run, but I loved this novel set in1941, during humanity’s darkest hour, where three women must act with courage to fight back. Hoffman, the author of “Practical Magic,” infuses every book with a sprinkle of magic and fantastic and the mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, offers a kind of protection. Paths cross and fortunes are linked. In a world where loss and evil are found at every turn, we see the triumph of never-ending love. I also loved her book “The Red Garden,” a series […]