The Library

On The Nightstand (Adult):

• The Past, Tessa Hadley (don’t miss reading this–her storytelling is layered and graceful, such a pleasure to read her prose, always)
• Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates (everyone has to read this book–and listen to the interview on NPR)
• Arctic Dream, Barry Lopez (the prose is deeply insightful, beautiful, clear and calming)
• The Soul of an Octopus, Sy Montgomery (exquisite, exquisite, exquisite)
• Plastic Ocean, Capt. Charles Moore (riveting/disturbing/a must read)
• Headwaters: Poems, Ellen Bryant Voigt (all hail)
• The Life of Poetry, Muriel Rukeyser (better late than never)
• Help, Thanks, Wow, Anne Lamott (a quick read, which is great, because then you can read it again)
• The Breakout Novelist, Donald Maass
• 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)

• Library of Souls, Ransom Riggs (loving it)
• Pills and Starships, Lydia Millet (gah!)
• A Diamond in the Desert, Kathryn Fitzmaurice (this book is a MUST-READ! Gorgeous, poetic, riveting–will stay on nightstand for inspiration)
• Destiny, Rewritten, Kathryn Fitzmaurice (exquisite–will also keep on nightstand for inspiration)
• Starry River of the Sky, Grace Lin
• The Knife Of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness

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

• All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (absolutely loved it)
• Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (do not miss this book)
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, Maria Semple (LOVE LOVE LOVE–can’t wait for the movie)
• The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton (loved it)
• The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton (fascinating)
• The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivey (beautiful–a must read)
• Fates & Furies, Lauren Groff
• The Orphan Master’s Son, Adam Johnson (I survived)
• State of Wonder, Ann Patchett (I don’t want to go the rainforest EVER)
• 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 liked the film)
• The Tiger’s Wife, Tea Obrecht (beautiful)
• Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand (she is amazing)
• The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (successfully suspenseful!)
• 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 (totally sucked me in)
• White Noise, Don Delillo (all hail)
• The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin (great tips)
• 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…)

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

• Doll Bones, Holly Black (those crazy boat-stealing children!)
• The Fires Beneath The Sea, Lydia Millet (ahhh–excellent adventure)
• Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech (QUEEN Sharon)
• 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)
• The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart (I loved this book–right away the author makes it clear he is going to treat his young readers like the smarties they are)
• 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!