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Recommendations 2023

by Maria Gracia Updated October 14, 2023 Join our newsletter to be notified when new content is added to our website. I recently asked GON readers what their favorite book was and I received a TON of replies. Here are a batch of them...perhaps you would like to add these to your reading list. Also, please REPLY to one of my newsletters with your current book recommendations. I’ll compile them for you when the new year rolls around. • Hi, my favorite book is not a novel, but biographic, fun, interesting, and amazing sometimes: Secret Lives of the First Ladies by Cormac O’Brien. --Helena Martin • Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. --Ramona Hagemeister • My favorite books are the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. There are twenty-five books in the series with number twenty-six on the way this fall. --Becky • My favorite book is Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith. --P. Davis • Favorite books? Any one within 10 feet! Seriously, I read the cereal box if nothing else is around.  That said, my favorite is Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen. --Elaine Ferris • My favorite book? Thought you’d never ask! It’s War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It took me one year to get through it while I was raising four children and working full time. I read it on the bus, before bed, while kids were playing. I can’t recommend it enough. --Mary Ellen Galvin • Hi, Maria! So many books, old and new, have captured my imagination, but a contemporary author whose books I always find hard to put down is Kate Morton. My favorite is still The Forgotten Garden, but they are all a wonderful blend of history and mystery. Also, did you recommend Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend? I seem to recall that you did, and if so, thanks! I couldn’t put that one down either. Blessings, --Ann Metzler • The Firm by John Grisham. Classic: Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. --Dean Lindblad • Favorite book that you can't put down: Natchez Burning by Greg Iles --Susan Raymond • Many, many favorites, but my latest is The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. --Laura Yaramishny • Maria, I have LOTS of favorite books, but my most recent is the one our book club just finished. Every one of us said it was the best one we’ve read in recent years, and we’ve read many. It is Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. I shared it with my husband and he loved it too. It’s not a happy book, but you will feel better about yourself and other humans after you read it. --Charlotte McAnally • Very difficult to name a single book. I would have to slot them genre wise and I love so many of them! Still from childhood, Enid Blyton's Circus of Adventure, from Classical, Dickens' Great Expectations, from Graphic novels, most of Modesty Blaise. As a final call, I would choose Modesty Blaise comics. --Salim • If you like fantasy, I highly recommend Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. --Linda Wallace, Severn, MD • First of all, thank you for all the great tips you share every day! They are really valuable, and the newsletter is fun to read. Now I have the very tough task of choosing ONE favorite book. I have so many favorites! So I think I'll share one that may not be as well known as some other favorites: The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey. It's a mystery, and it's history. Josephine Tey only wrote 8 mystery novels, many featuring Scotland Yard detective Alan Grant. In The Daughter of Time, Grant is laid up in the hospital, bored, and decides to investigate the historical mystery of the Little Princes, supposedly murdered by their uncle, King Richard III.  It's a great book, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Thanks again, Maria! With best wishes! --Andrea Ozment • Hi Maria, I’ve just recently read A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult. It’s a sensitive topic, but beautifully written to tell many people’s stories on the subject. Well worth the read. Enjoy! --Jules Queensland, Australia • Hi Maria, Not necessarily my favorite book, but a good book I read recently was Mourning Has Broken by Erin Davis. Cheers! --Linda • A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. --Caroline Lang • Favorite book: The Bible, anything by Steve Berry, and cozy mysteries. We had a heartwarming exchange of e- mails two years ago after my significant other passed away and I was dealing with a myriad of situations, people and things. You were most kind to me and I always remember that when reading anything you send along. Update: one month before Kevin and I moved in May 2017, we rented a storage unit for our lesser used things. He passed June 2017 and I was finally motivated recently to clear the unit and the expense out. On a fixed income, it was indeed a relief. As sad as any death is, I was thankful for the memories and the learning gained. Last week, a good friend of ours lost her  husband to a sudden illness and it has been a great exchange of messages of love, compassion and advice in such a terrible time. She has been open to the exchange and it has done my soul a great amount of good to help someone going through a time I have been through. I thought of all you helped me with then (still do) and how a sour, sour lemon can indeed eventually turn into sweet lemonade. Thank you for being a friend indeed. Love and blessings! --Glenna Peterson • Dear Maria, Thanks for all the updates, all your encouragement, and motivation. It's nice to hear that even your daughter is getting involved in writing about getting organized. To reply to your question about my favorite book, when I was a kid, I really enjoyed reading the story of Winnetou. However, now that I'm more mature, you could say, I enjoy reading my Bible on a daily basis. Best! --Sheila Baker • Favorite book: Something Like Happy  by Eva Woods. It's emotional but not overly so, also lighthearted. As my favorite chick-flick book or chick-lit, I Love Everybody by Laurie Notaro - non-fiction essays shared as if by a good friend, and each one puts a smile on your face. Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding - for obvious reasons. These books were my finalists, and I absolutely can't pick only one title (sorry). --R.S. Thanks to EVERYONE who sent in their wonderful book selections and notes! Happy reading! Back to Recommendations Index