For your shopping list...

For those of you who love to read and might also need gifts for friends who like to read, hang on because I’ve got great suggestions!

I was one of the fortunate who heard the extraordinary author, Ann Patchett, speak last week at University of San Diego (a beautiful campus lit up for Christmas on a rainy night). She spoke of giving up swearing for Lent with her sister, how she used to hate book tours, and wonderful gems about how her latest book, Tom Lake, came to be. The amazing thing about this women, brilliant writer, is that she also is a stand-up comedienne! She had the entire audience in the palm of her hand from the moment she stepped onto the stage!

And on top of that—she’s an enthusiastically extraordinary salesperson who owns her own Parnassus Bookstore in Nashville and is beyond knowledgeable about fabulous books. In the Q&A after her energetic, entertaining presentation, she was asked to recommend a book (s) that she hadn’t written. She lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree and shouted out this list:

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma

by Claire Dederer

There, There

By Tommy Orange

Sorrow and Bliss: A Novel

by Meg Mason

Absolution: A Novel

by Alice McDermott

This Is Happiness

by Niall Williams

The Hero of This Book: A Novel

by Elizabeth McCracken

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

by Margaret Renkl

I immediately purchased three on this list and signed up for her blog - you can too by clicking on her name above for the link.

While I’m at it, I have read and love two books written by women who are friends and mentors of mine. Add them to your shopping list!

Honeymoon at Sea: How I Found Myself Living on a Small Boat

By Jennifer Redmond

When Your Heart Says Go: My Year of Traveling Beyond Loss and Loneliness

By Judy Reeves

YOU’RE VERY WELCOME!