Non-Fiction
Do the Work by Steven Pressfield. This is a little book. A very little book. But it’s the most wonderful volume for anyone with creative ambition. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? Thoughts for Moms and Other Tired People by Annabel Monaghan. “Wherever you are when you read this book, you will spontaneously burst into laughter. All the absurdities of raising a family in this day and age, the impossible expectations thrust onto mothers, are in there. In a series of essays, Monaghan renders with precision and wit our daily lives: the grocery store runs, school fairs, parent-teacher conferences, and playdates. You will see yourself in here but mostly those ‘other’ moms who ruin it for the rest of us! You will learn to celebrate your cranky selfish side who is craving ’me’ time”.
Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller. Don't go to the dogs, but do read this autobiography! Fuller is unsentimental, but tender in relaying her memories of her childhood in Africa. It is riveting, sad, intense and immensely readable. Her parents were hard drinking, sometimes neglgent, but loving in their way. And they were really tough, as they had to be, living in Africa at a time when the natives were trying to get out from under British rule and not happy with white settlers. It's remarkably agenda-less, which is nice (though it ticked off a lot of Amazon reviewers who clearly wanted her to have written a different novel than she did).
Dress Your Family in Denim & Corduroy, Holidays on Ice, Me Talk Pretty One Day, or anything at all by humorist David Sedaris. “I devoured them all on spring break.”
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe
Dreyer's English by Benjamin Dreyer. Dreyer is the Copy Chief of Random House and has written a snarky and precise guide to language use as it should be today. A delight.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection
Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee. One of you recommended this biography of an iconic American writer.
Educated by Tara Westover. "If you’ve read Hillbilly Elegy, JD Vance’s family will look like they were reared by The Tiger Mother. Tara Westover was raised in a militant Morman family. Her parents didn’t believe in birth certificates because it 'wasn’t the government’s business to know you were born.' The children were prohibited from going to school because 'The Illuminati' would ruin them. And despite repeated health crises and medical emergencies, the family avoided care by 'The Medical Establishment' and relied on herbal oil remedies the mother concocted. Despite all of these roadblocks, Tara taught herself everything that would have been covered in school, took the ACT, did well enough to secure a scholarship to Brigham Young, and then went on to study at Cambridge and Harvard. Absolutely amazing book".
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Issacson. I love his style of writing. This book starts off dense with Scientific stuff then becomes very readable and interesting.
Eleni by Nicholas Gage. "Investigative journalist Nicholas Gage reveals In the opening pages of the book that his mother, after whom the book is named, suffered a torturous death at the hands of Greek Communists in the years after World War II. Gage and siblings managed to escape when he was 9 years old and join their father in America, but his professional work inescapably drew him back to Greece, enabling him to meticulously research and recreate his mother’s young life and brutal death. An epic portrait of rural Greek life set amidst the Second World War and the subsequent brutal attempt by Greek Communists to take over their country".
Elephant Girl: A Human Story by Jane Devin. A memoir. From Amazon: “Born unwanted and raised without love, the child-author invents a rich inner life to see her through years of trauma. Leaving home at 16, the teen-author struggles to find happiness and a sense of place in a world that feels confusing and unfamiliar. Then, years after stumbling into an adulthood mired in tragedy and broken dreams, the woman-author finds herself at a crossroads. The choice she ultimately makes is as stunning as it is brave. Told in unflinching and often lyrical prose,Elephant Girl goes beyond a singular life story to speak of powerful, universal truths and the ability of the human spirit to redeem itself.”
Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarchby Sally Bedell Smith “Perfect timing for this one with the Jubilee”
Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne. “In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all. S. C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. So effective were the Comanches that they forced the creation of the Texas Rangers and account for the advent of the new weapon specifically designed to fight them: the six-gun. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of Cynthia Ann Parker, a lovely nine-year-old girl with cornflower-blue eyes who was kidnapped by Comanches from the far Texas frontier in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860. More famous still was her son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend. S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new.”
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman From Amazon: "Fascinating book about the wealthiest family in the US you've probably never heard of. The story of how the book ‘Empty Mansions’ came to be, in the words of Bill Dedman, one of its two authors, begins with ‘an exercise in American aspiration.’ And when Mr. Dedman, a journalist, embarked on that exercise, he could not have guessed how right that phrase would be. In 2009 he and his wife were looking for a house outside New York City. Just for fun, Mr. Dedman Googled real estate listings in the astronomical range. He found a markdown in New Canaan, Conn., a house that had gone from $35 million to $24 million and had one very unusual feature, even more unusual than its room for drying draperies. The place had been unoccupied since it was purchased. In 1951."
Emptying the Nest: Launching Your Young Adult toward Success and Self-Reliance by Brad Sachs. The title seems pretty descriptive!
Escape: Carolyn Jessop "I found this book the most satisfying of the recent books that have been written about the Fundamentalist Mormon Church. It is a sincere and shocking account of the inside workings of the cult of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints and how the church leaders manipulate their members to keep control. Her story (eight children by the age of 30!) and how she persevered, escaped and rebuilt her life is fascinating. Again, a way to understand why those women with the long braids and dresses allow themselves to stay in a culture where they are treated as breeding machines."
Escape From Cubicle Nation by Pam Slim. "This is the go-to book if you're considering starting your own business or freelancing. Funny, heartfelt, instructive." Slim explores both the emotional issues of leaving the corporate world and the nuts and bolts of launching a business. Drawing on her own career, as well as stories from her coaching clients and blog readers, Slim will help readers weigh their options, and make a successful escape if they decide to go for it.