One of the joys of 2017—and yes, there were some!—was taking an hour or more after lunch to sit and read for fun. Reading provided a welcome distraction from the news cycle and from work. I’ve been especially drawn to genre fiction, across all genres. (Perhaps I’m still decompensating from my PhD work. I swore when I graduated never to force myself to finish a book I wasn’t enjoying.) Here’s the list I made when Alexandra asked me for some light reading suggestions.
1. The Red Sparrow books by Jason Matthews. So fun. Spy thriller.*
2. The Force by Don Winslow. Police procedural.
3. An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole. Historical romance. (I’m in the middle of Cole’s next book, A Hope Divided—great snow-day reading.)
4. Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perotta. Social satire.
5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Hollywood tell-all, fiction.
6. All the Dublin Murder Squad books by Tana French, read them in order, starting with In the Woods (Amazon can tell you the order). Irish detective fiction.
7. The Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan, again read in order. Social satire.*
8. How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell. Crazy drug memoir, super well written.
9. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. WWII female spy epistolary novel. Amazing.
10. Real Food, Fake Food by Larry Olmsted. Nonfiction on food choices, really useful.
*Soon to be major motion pictures, so read ASAP.
And, hey, while you’re in a book mood, please check out Lifelong Yoga, Everyday Yoga, and all my other books!