The Library

On The Nightstand (Adult):

Seriously, the stack is this high. Maybe yours is higher.

• Dust, by He Who Should Always Be Named
• Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly (do not miss, especially if you have not seen the movie yet)
• All Ngaio Marsh. How did I miss her, especially being an Agatha Christie-maniac? To be fair, I’m reading her on my Kindle, so she’s not actually on the nightstand, but sometimes at night the Kindle is on the nightstand, SO…
• How To Party With An Infant, Kaui Hart Hemmings AND her collection of short stories, House Of Thieves
• Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates (everyone has to read this book–and listen to the interview on NPR)
• The Sea Around Us, Rachel Carson (any nightstand’s ultimate staple)
• Silent Spring, Rachel Carson (will never leave the nightstand)
• Building Your Child’s Self-Esteem, Dorothy Corkille Briggs (stays on nightstand!)
• Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (can never get enough of JANE JANE JANE JANE)
• The Ocean World, Jacques Cousteau (will be reading in perpetuity)

On The Nightstand (Children’s/YA–see also “read/children’s/YA” below)

• Dust, by He Who Should Always Be Named
• The One And Only Ivan, K.A. Applegate (truthfully? I finished it–I love it–why did it take me so long to read? Do not miss it–medal winner. Read!)
• When You Reach Me, Liar and Spy, Goodbye Stranger, First Light, Rebecca Stead (seriously loving them all? but When You Reach Me–oh, oh, oh–can’t wait for more from this author)
• Treasure Hunters, James Patterson. Is there nothing this man does not write? Apparently not. My son loves these MG books by the uber-famous author.
• A Diamond in the Desert, Kathryn Fitzmaurice (MUST-READ. Gorgeous, poetic, riveting–will stay on nightstand for inspiration)
• Destiny, Rewritten, Kathryn Fitzmaurice (exquisite–will also keep on nightstand for inspiration)

Read And Filed To The Livingroom Bookshelves–Or Not… (Adult):

• All the Single Ladies, Rebecca Traister (how can you NOT read this book?)
• To The Bright Edge Of The World, Eowyn Ivey (actually on my husband’s nightstand because I said YOU HAVE TO READ THIS and he is, having loved The Snow Child, about which, I confess, I said: YOU HAVE TO READ THIS)
• All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (his best so far and he is an author of bests)
• Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (riveting)
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, Maria Semple (can’t wait for the movie)
• The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton (genius)
• The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton (fascinating)
• All of Louise Penny’s novels. Gamache!
• The Orphan Master’s Son, Adam Johnson (I survived)
• State of Wonder, Ann Patchett
• The Goldfinch, Donna Tart (gah! but will keep)
• The Signature of all Things, Elizabeth Gilbert (gah! but will keep)
• The Descendants, Kaui Hart Hemmings (so much more rewarding than the film–and I loved the film)
• The Tiger’s Wife, Tea Obrecht (beautiful)
• Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand (genius amongst us)
• Let The Great World Spin, Colum McCann (book club–a beautiful read)
• The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows (will always totally suck me in)
• White Noise, Don Delillo (all hail)
• A God in Ruins, Kate Atkinson (bildungsroman on speeeeeeed!)
• Alice I Have Been, Melanie Benjamin (lived in Oxford when I was a child—perception of Lewis Carroll now changed forever…gah…great read!)

Read And Filed To The Living Room Bookshelves–Or Not… (Children’s/YA):

• All of Jeanne Birdsall’s books
• Doll Bones, Holly Black (those crazy boat-stealing kids!)
• Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech (QUEEN Sharon Creech)
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly (instant classic)
• The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart (for the thinking child)
• Across The Universe, Beth Revis
• Goblin Secrets, William Alexander (2012 NBA Winner)
• The Year the Swallows Came Early, Kathryn Fitzmaurice (5 gold stars)
• Through The Ever Night, Veronica Rossi (excellent 2nd book)
• Furthermore, Tehera Mafi
• Pills & Starships, Lydia Millet
• The Fires Beneath the Sea, Lydia Millet (another YA author writing middle grade–or is it the other way around?)
• Divergent,Veronica Ross (am now officially burned out on kids killing kids)
• Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs (So clever, imaginative, intelligent with gripping action scenes. A must read!)
• Liesl & Po, Lauren Oliver
• The Book Of Three, Lloyd Alexander (all the books are must-reads)
• The Changeling, Zilpha Keatley Snyder (no, not every chapter ends with a page turner—why? Because the author is extremely busy TELLING A STORY, the way authors used to before being told that if a first page doesn’t grab the reader, the manuscript goes in the trash. ZKS is one to learn from. There’s a reason she’s still popular, won so many awards and written a book a year for the past 42 or so years—a book a year).
• The Egypt Game, Zilpha Keatley Snyder (not only does she get right down to business, but she is uber-sensitive to her own storytelling–details, mindful explanations, descriptions both simple and complex. Look: She gets down to business in a manner that doesn’t gyp her readers.
• The City Of Ember, Jeanne DuPrau (if I was 11, I’d be writing her fan letters…Hm…)
• Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a character passing out so many times in one novel)
• The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary E. Pearson (FINALLY I read it, loved it, spooky, creepy dystopian drama so well presented, believable characters, intelligent writing)
• The Giver, Lois Lowry
• The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan (the only book of his I’ve read and it’s fast-paced, interesting, clever)
• The Cuckoo Tree, Joan Aiken
• The Tail Of Emily Windsnap, Liz Kessler (our stories are NOT alike)
• A Wind In The Door, Madeleine L’Engle (have you read it—again—lately?)

Poetry:

• The Traps, Louise Mathias (get this book)
• The Glimmering Room, Cynthia Cruz (get this book)
• Small Porcelain Head, Alison Benis White (get this book)
• Stag’s Leap, Sharon Olds
• Randall Jarrell, The Woman At The Washington Zoo
• Above All Else, The Trembling Resembles A Forest, Louise Mathias (look–if you love poetry, you must read Louise’s chapbook–case closed)
• Twin Cities, Carol Muske-Dukes (a generous mentor)
• Black Hope, Marsha de la O
• Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open, Dianne Seuss (title poem a mindblower)
• The Sleep Hotel, Amy Newlove Schroeder (a luminous debut)
• Dearest Creature, Amy Gerstler (I hope I meet her some day)
• Glass Town, Lisa Russ Spaar (I always return to it)
• Always returning to Sarah Hannah’s books. They haunt me.

Music

• Florence And The Machine (what took me so long?)
• Courtyard Hounds (so beautiful I cry—but then, I cry at Curious George…)
• Dixie Chicks
• Bent (try the Bent station on Pandora–great for writing/revising)
• Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band
• Elbow
• Lord Huron
• Fleet Foxes (ahhhhhhh…………)
• God Willin’ And The Creek Don’t Rise, Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs
• Jesca Hoop
• Cold War Kids

Feel free to recommend a read in the comments section of this page. Thank you!

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