I love to read my own books, as much as I love reading to my kids, so I thought I would write another post sharing some of my favorite books. With holidays and breaks around the corner, it’s always nice to have some good books to look forward to reading. Some of the books I’m sharing today are newly-discovered, and some are age-old classics, but I hope you’ll at least find a few to add to your list.
15 Favorite Books for Your Fall Reading List
Top Romantic Books
- Lovely War, by Julie Berry
My sister recommended this book to me, and I finally got it from the library. It did not disappoint at all. A New York Times bestseller, multi-layered romance set in the perilous days of World Wars I and II, where gods hold the fates–and the hearts–of four mortals in their hands. Their story is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals War is a formidable force, it’s no match for the transcendent power of Love.
2.The Printed Letter Bookshop, by Katherine Reay
A sweet and touching romance, encompassing the power of books in bringing people together, written by an author I’ve loved discovering. One of Madeline Cullen’s happiest childhood memories is of working with her Aunt Maddie in the quaint and cozy Printed Letter Bookshop. But by the time Madeline inherits the shop nearly twenty years later, family troubles and her own bitter losses have hardened Madeline’s heart toward her once-treasured aunt.
3. Next Year in Havana, by Chanel Cleeton
One of my best friends was reading this on a beach trip this summer, and I was so excited when I finally got a chance to read it. Beginning in 1958 Havana, the daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba’s high society. She is largely sheltered from the country’s growing political unrest until she falls in love with a young revolutionary. Reading this I learned a lot. It brought to life the pain, sacrifice, and courage of Cubans who stayed and those who fled during the revolution putting Fidel Castro in power.
Self-Help & Parenting Books
4. Atomic Habits, by James Clear
A straightforward self-help. I enjoyed it as an audiobook and learned a lot of practical ways to elicit personal behavior change. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
5. Simplicity Parenting, by Kim John Payne
This book focuses on the extraordinary power if less to raise calmer, happier, and more secure kids. Today’s busier, faster society is waging an undeclared war on childhood. With too much stuff, too many choices, and too little time, children can become anxious, have trouble with friends and school, or even be diagnosed with behavioral problems.
6. The Self-Driven Child, by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson
I’m just starting this one from Janssen’s Everyday Reading book club. I linked to her analysis of the book and you can also watch her highlights on Instagram for more conversation about this one. It’s so good!!! The Self-Driven Child offers a combination of cutting-edge brain science, the latest discoveries in behavioral therapy, and case studies drawn from the thousands of kids and teens Bill and Ned have helped over the years to teach you how to set your child on the real road to success.
7. Digital minimalism, by Cal Newport
Years of experience and research show how digital minimalists are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnecting with their inner selves through regular periods of solitude. Technology is intrinsically neither good nor bad. The key is using it to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you.
World War II Books
8. The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker who became a heroine hiding and saving Jews during WWII. She’s a survivor of Hitler’s concentration camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the twentieth century. I’ve read this book several times and the lives’ of Corrie and her family are truly inspiring. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book: “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
9. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
This is one makes it in my top 5 favorite books ever! I’ve read a lot of WWII books, but this is one of few I’ve read from the perspective of German-citizens. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, to survive she steals. Then she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
Classic Favorites
10. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
No description needed here, right?! Kurt and I are both avid Harry Potter fans, but haven’t read the books in years. We started reading them together and are almost done with number 4 now. It’s unbelievable how much I’ve forgotten, but it’s been such a treat to be re-reading these.
11. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
One of my all-time favorite books, this one will be so good to read again some day. In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding.
12. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
Another classic, but such an interesting and self-reflecting read. Dorian Gray, a handsome young man, receives a beautiful painting of himself from his good friend Basil Hallward. In the same moment, a new acquaintance, Lord Henry, introduces Dorian to the ideals of youthfulness and hedonism. He sells his soul for youthfulness and continued beauty, in exchange for his painting taking on change and resembling his inner, ugly, self.
Other Favorite Books
13. Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario
My mom got all of us this book to read as a family, and it was enlightening and heartbreaking! Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops.
14. Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight
Another one recommended by a best friend that Kurt and I read together. We really enjoyed it! At twenty-four, Knight decides that rather than work for a big corporation, he will create something all his own, new, dynamic, different. He details the many risks he encountered, the crushing setbacks, the ruthless competitors and hostile bankers—as well as his many thrilling triumphs.
15. Front Desk, by Kelly Yang
Another recommendation from a close friend that I’m reading right now and loving! Debut author Yang weaves in autobiographical content while creating a feisty and empowered heroine. The supporting characters are rich in voice and context, with multiple villains and friends that achingly reveal life in America in the 1990s for persons of color and those living in poverty. Heavy themes, including extortion, fraud, and racism, are balanced with the naïve dreams and determination of a 10-year-old.
Hopefully, you’ll have a chance to read or re-read some of these books and enjoy some incredible books. I also wrote a blog post this summer featuring 20 books on my reading list, so I’ll share that here. Let me know which of these you’ve read, and what you think about them. As always, share your favorites with me too!
Sincerely,
