I’m a huge believer in the power of books.
Great books fill in my history holes (aka craters) from my school years, provide entertainment, and comfort me when life tanks. And I consider good books to be the ideal dessert of choice (no calories).
These books below are either funny or inspirational. (I don’t gravitate to downer books.)
And these gems are listed by alphabetical order — not by favorites. I love, love, love them all.
Fiction.
I’m a library gal through and through (we’ve moved enough that I don’t ever want to move 100 boxes of books, but that said, I highly recommend purchasing the two habit books I asterisked three time below.
***Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear.
The Beauty of Dusk by Frank Bruni starts a tad slow. But thankfully, I did not put the book down. In his early 50s, Bruni had the life: a phenomenal job (New York Times columnist and bestselling book author), friends, family, a partner. But one morning he woke up with a blurriness in his eye that turned out couldn’t be fixed. Even worse, there’s a chance his other eye could go down the same path, rendering him blind. Bruni shares deeply personal stories about his life, his health and how he manages his world with a (mostly) invisible disability. Review: worth your time to read or listen on audio.
Britt-Marie was here: a novel by Frederik Backman. The author is at his best with miles and miles of dry wit packed into one little book. Excellent.
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. A masterpiece written by a surgeon. Mere coincidence, but I was reading Cutting for Stone while waiting to see a surgeon. As he entered the room he immediately saw what I was reading and said, “that is a great story.”
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano. I’ve heard some readers love Dear Edward while some really don’t like it. I’m Team Love. Read to page 100 before deciding for yourself. Also, don’t read if you’re getting on a plane.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. So funny and so sweet.
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee. Standing ovation for this author’s second book.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I love novels that aren’t just an absorbing read, but also have a current or two streaming under the actual story. I turn the last page of an Amor Towles’ novel a better person or parent or friend; and definitely a more knowledgeable student of history. His other fun book (not quite as awesome as Moscow, but it holds its own: Rules of Civility.
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré. This is a coming-of-age novel by a powerhouse of a new writer. Her daughters encouraged their mom to write her first book and omg is it good. Daré has an MA in creative writing from Birkbeck, University of London along with other degrees. Her book reminds me of the writing of Khaled Hosseini who wrote the acclaimed novels: The Kite Runner (2003) and its follow-up A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007).
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus.
The Humans by Matt Haig. When you first start reading The Humans you might wonder if it’s a non-fiction and then think that maybe it’s sci-si. It’s neither. It’s a five-star read, infused with a bit of magic, that’ll make you happy to be human. The story is about an alien who’s been tasked with visiting Earth to see what humans are all about. The alien inhabits a dad’s body and goes home to “his” family. It’s a fish-out-of-water story and has hilarious moments, but is touching and wonderful and please read it.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. Hilarious and poignant.
The Midnight Library. This Haig-masterpiece is about a woman who isn’t so thrilled with her life. Nothing’s going her way and she’s done. She ends up in a purgatory that takes her down several cool life-threads. If you’ve ever wondered, what if?, this is your read. And Haig outdid himself with the ending.
The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson – Funny and phenomenal.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Her first book snagged the Pulitzer’s Fiction Runner Up in 2018 and is proof that aliens live among us.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving: a Novel by Jonathan Evision.
This is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison. It falls under the really-good-fiction-that–immediately-pulls-you-in genre. It’s a thoughtful, seemingly light but a relatively thorny story about 78-year-old Harriet Chance, recently widowed, who goes on an Alaskan cruise. No hilarity ensues. Instead Harriet begins the process of taking stock of her life, as so many do in the older decades. My review: Easy to read (meaning not a slog, grabs you almost immediately) and absorbing. The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving: a Novel by Jonathan Evision was just like Harriet in that Evision writes about serious topics, yet manages to wrap the seriousness up in wonderful humor. (Quite the talent.)
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig.
Non Fiction.
***Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear. A must read for everyone who wants to instill solid habits.
A Woman of No Importance the Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell left me absolutely floored. This book falls into the historical non-fiction genre and the author knocks it out of the park having researched and written the book in such a way that you can almost feel the Gestapo just steps behind Virginia as she flees France. Review: an incredible read and you’ll never forget Virginia.
Bad Blood – Secrets and Lies Behind a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carryrou. Remember Elizabeth Holmes, the young woman who invented a device that could do a full health diagnostic on “one drop of blood?” Welp, spoiler: turns out the device was empty. John Carryrou was the reporter who broke the story and wrote one page-turner of a book. (I think I inhaled this in an afternoon.)
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins. Awesomeness thy name is David Goggins (I suggest first reading Living with a Seal, before reading Can’t Hurt Me).
Dead Wake the Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson. Awesome, gripping, a lot of it unforgettable.
Does this Beach Make Me Look Fat by Lisa Scottoline and daughter Francesca Serritella. Lisa made her mark writing mysteries which I’ve yet to read, but her memoir books are hilarious.
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover.Word to the wise: don’t screw over Tara Westover like her parents did or she’ll write a book about you that will stay on the New York Times bestseller list for years and be translated into 45 languages. Just sayin’.
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance. This book is awesome to listen to on audio. The writer took what could have been a dry topic – I mean, rockets and electric cars? — and made it super entertaining. As a husband, Elon needs work, but as earth’s reigning deity? Not bad.
Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry at his best, but you definitely want to listen to the audio version that Jerry voices. Fun. Nee. (Plus Jerry is the gold-standard in the dad and husband department.)
Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson. About the biggest storm in American history that went down in Galveston, Texas. Written in Larson’s usual riveting style.
Living with a SEAL — 31 days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet by Jesse Itzler. This book was written by the guy who married Sara Blakely the Spanx founder. (He founded a bunch of companies too.) They’re both cajillion-aires, but are very salt-of-the-earth people whom you’d love to have as neighbors. The book is funny and smart.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. Such a funny, wonderful, and true (ish) story, but definitely listen to the audio version to hear the various southern voices.
My Southern Journey : true stories from the heart of the South by Rick Bragg. I love all of Bragg’s books including The Prince of Frogtown, All Over but the Shoutin’, Ava’s Man to name just three.
***The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. This is the other habit book that’s a keeper.
My Stroke of Insight a brain scientist’s personal journey by Jill Bolte. (Her Ted Talk is one of the highest rated. Super good.)
On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft by Stephen King. I know, you’re thinking, but lady I’m not a writer. Great news: the book is half and half. Part of On Writing is a master class worth of advice, but the book is also his memoir and includes details about the car accident that came very close to ending his life. He’s critical of the driver who plowed into him, of course. But he doesn’t hold back his fury at the two women who were walking and could have given him a heads up about the goofball driver in the first place, but didn’t. Phenomenal read.
Orange is the New Black: My Time in a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman. I know you’ve seen the show, now read the book and get the first-hand scoop on Piper’s year in prison.
Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir by Linda Ronstadt. I grew up with Linda Ronstadt’s music and never thought much about her, but after reading her memoir I now get it: Ronstadt was a powerhouse in the rock world.
The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger. I’ll admit that I never read stories about concentration camps (too horrific), but this book is a five-star, don’t-miss wonder. The author — 94 as I write — shares stories about “boob” contests, her mother’s love of Gone with the Wind; and even an astounding escape from the communists in her country (a few years after WW II ended). Another excellent read by this phenomenal woman, The Gift: 14 Lessons to Save Your Own Life.
The Color of Water by James McBride. OMG-audio-memoir alert! The story and the audio is phenomenal. As you can see, I love memoirs and have read many, but this one is unusually wonderful.
The Dance of Anger: A Woman’s Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships by Harriet Goldhor Lerner, Ph.D. The author writes in everyday language – i.e. no therapist-speak – explaining that our anger is important and g and that stuffing our anger merely leads to trouble in our own hearts and souls. I love that the Goldhor Lerner doesn’t just talk about the problem, but goes into detail about how we can better work with our anger rather eating through it or ignoring it. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
The Elephant in the Room — One Fat Man’s Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America by Tommy Tomlinson. What a better world we’d live in if this book were required reading in all schools. A generation of kids with a deeper understanding and compassion for those with weight issues? Not only is it time, but Tomlinson is showing us the way.
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz by Erik Larson. Wow. That’s it: just wow. (One cool thing about this book: problems seem tiny compared to Churchill’s challenge of ridding the earth of Hitler and his flying monkeys.) Erik Larsen is genius at writing thrilling non-fiction. My review: Masterpiece.
The unwinding of the miracle : a memoir of life, death, and everything that comes after by Julie Yip-Williams. Okay, I’m not wild about tearjerkers, but this one completely works. I absolutely love how Julie creates life as she’s dealing with cancer. Amazing woman. Incredible story.
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why by Amanda Ripley and it blew me away. Years later, the author’s specific real-life stories – and their “lessons” — are still with me. I didn’t have to look any of this up in order to refresh my memory: one guy fell off a cruise ship into the Gulf of Mexico, another saved every person in his company when 9/11 hit, and hoo-boy, there’s a tsunami story of survival that’s impossible to forget. An Amazon reviewer put it perfectly when she wrote, “I fully believe this book should be read by every single person in the world.” (Thank you C.C. Chivers!) My review: the author wrote a gripping read that will always be with you.
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson tells how Marconi’s wireless communication invention went hand-in-glove with England’s second most famous murder (after Jack the Ripper). And the second most famous murder wasn’t gory stuff. (There’s a different reason that the murder was so well-known in England.) You guys, the ending to this book is astonishing. If you haven’t read Larson he shares stories from history and tells them in the most insanely exciting way possible. Review about Thunderstruck: the first 100 pages is a tad dry and somewhat focuses on Marconi and his place in our world. But around page 100, the book picks up and then soars. I highly recommend Thunderstruck, but if you get bored, just skim like I did. At a certain point your skimming days will be over.
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby. Genre: hilarious-memoir. This book is perfect when you just want to read the details of a woman with normal problems, but sees them from a funny filter.
Self-Help on Steroids.
If you haven’t yet read these two books on habits, read these two books. They’re the gold standard for incorporating rock star habits into your life:
Atomic habits : tiny changes, remarkable results : an easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones by James Clear.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.
The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz. Grab. Read. Repeat. This jewel is vintage, but don’t let that dissuade you from reading it. Tim Ferriss says of The Magic of Thinking Big, “The main message is pretty simple: don’t overestimate others and underestimate yourself.” It sits on Tim’s Fundamental Four book list.
The Obstacle is the Way: the Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday. Ryan writes compellingly about how difficulties in life can empower us. This is a don’t-miss.
Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Total five-star memoir about a woman who deals with her difficult younger years by hiking the 1,100-Pacific Crest Trail. Alone.
For Baseball Fans (like my dad)
Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski. A life-long baseball fan talks baseball’s Greatest 100 players. My review: my baseball-obsessed dad loved it. Sent a copy to his best friend from childhood.
My Dad, Yogi A Memoir of Family and Baseball by Dale Berra. My mom sent me a photo of my dad reading this book. He finished it in two-reads.
♥, Wendy
P.s. Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea right to you!
Some links may be affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. Of course you incur no additional cost.