Book Corner: My Fall Reading List

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One of the things I miss about being in school are the reading lists. Although I loved being on summer break, there was something special about receiving a list of unread books that I could peruse through. Now that it’s fall, one of my favorite activities is getting cozy with an oversized sweater, hot tea, and a really great book to get lost in.  Although many of us no longer receive required summer reading lists, we can still get cozy with new reading material. I’ve put together a list of some fantastic page-turners, that I’m excited to share and start reading myself . Here are 15 books that are on my fall reading list. I can’t promise that I’ll get through them all, but I’m hoping to read at least a few, starting with #1…

1. Not That Kind of Girl, by Lena Dunham

This book was released on September 30th and is now a #1 New York Times best seller. Written by Lena Dunham, the creator, producer and star of HBO’s Girls, the book is a collection of personal essays recommended for readers of Nora Ephron and Tina Fey. Amazon describes it as a collection of stories on falling in love, feeling alone, being ten pounds overweight despite eating only health food, having to prove yourself in a room full of men twice your age and having the guts to believe that your story is one that deserves to be told. I haven’t read it yet but let’s just say Amazon promised me it would be delivered on Wednesday and I’m holding them to it.

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2. Brooklyn, by Colm Tóibín

Described by Pam Houston of O, the Oprah Magazine, as “a classical coming-of-age story,” the novel features a young protagonist, Eilis Lacey who grows up in small-town Ireland in the years following World War II. An Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor her in America and she accepts, leaving her fragile mother and energetic sister behind. While working in a department store on Fulton Street, Eilis falls in love with Tony, a devoted Dodgers fan from a large Italian family. When terrible news from home reaches Eilis, her reinvented life and a promising future is on the line.

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3. Now I See You, by Nicole C. Kear

At nineteen years old, the author receives a life-changing diagnosis that she has an eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa and has only a decade before she will be completely blind. She decides to seize the moment and make the most of what vision she has left by joining the circus, traveling the world, sleeping around, and much more, all while keeping her vision loss a secret. Told with a funny yet poignant perspective, Amazon describes the book as “a story about acceptance: facing the truths that just won’t go away, and facing yourself, broken parts and all.”

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4. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Now a major motion picture and a #1 New York Times bestseller, the book tells a unique story in 1939 Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich who steals the one item she cannot live without-books. As she lives through daily bombing raids, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

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5. Uganda Be Kidding Me, by Chelsea handler

If i’m looking for a light read where I can find myself laughing out loud at every turn of the page, I rely on Chelsea Handler. As a major fan of her late-night talk show, Chelsea Lately, I’ve read her previous books (Are you There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea and Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang) and cannot wait to read this one. In this collection of short stories, Chelsea writes about her misadventures in Africa and finds herself in yet another ridiculous situation.

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6. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

Hazel Grace Lancaster has her life planned out, until she meets and falls in love with Augustus Waters at Cancer Kid Support Group. The teenagers, annoyed by anything conventional, exchange sharp rhetoric as they navigate the tragic business of being terminally ill and in love.

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7. The Goldfinch, by Donna Tart

Theo Decker is a 13-year-old New Yorker who survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He feels isolated by his new home on Park Avenue and alienated by classmates all while longing for his mother. To cope with the loss of his mother, he clings to the one item that reminds him of her: a small painting that draws Theo into the underworld of art.

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8. Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcom Gladwell

What makes high-achievers different from everyone else? The author poses this question as he takes readers on a journey through the outliers of the world-the brightest minds and the people who are most successful at what they do for a living. As for a small tease, his answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like and too little attention to where they are from. So intruiging!

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9. Bad Pharma, by Ben Goldacre

As a pharmacist who works in the pharmaceutical industry, I was captivated by the title of this book. Goldacre provides his point of view on big pharma with a focus on data manipulation, lack of regulation, and hidden research. I have my own opinions but consider this a must read if you’re interested in learning about two different perspectives of a controversial issue.

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10. #GIRLBOSS, by Sophia Amoruso

As the founder, CEO and creative director of online fashion retailer, Nasty Gal, Sophia Amoruso runs a $100 million business with over 350 employees. However, she started out selling vintage clothes on eBay and before that, dumpster diving and committing petty theft. Her words of advice are shockingly simple yet effective-be a nice person at work, never say “that’s not my job,” know your weaknesses, and much more. It’s a must read for any #girlboss or #futuregirlboss.

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11. The Opposite of Loneliness, by Marina Keegan

This book is a posthumous collection of essays and stories from Marina Keegan, a young Yale graduate who tragically died in a car crash five days after graduation. Her last essay for the Yale Daily News, “The Opposite of Loneliness,” went viral with more than 1.4 million hits and struck a chord amongst students and faculty. Although she was only 22 when she died, her work captured many of the sentiments of her generation-uncertainty, hope and the struggle we all face as we figure out what we are meant to do with our lives and how to make an impact on the world.

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12. Yes Please, by Amy Poehler

We know Amy Poehler to be a witty and hilarious comedian and actress on Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation. Lucky for us, we’ll soon also be able to read her debut novel, Yes Please, a collection of personal stories on love, friendship, sex, parenthood, and more. The book will be available on Amazon on October 28, 2014.

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13. Cartwheel, by Jennifer duBois

Named one of the best books of the year by Slate, Cosmopolitan, BookPage, BuzzFeed, and Salon, this thriller is about an American foreign exchange student arrested for murder. Sound familiar? The author writes in her book that “although the themes of this book were loosely inspired by the story of Amanda Knox, this is entirely a work of fiction.” Decide for yourself!

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14. Cutting Teeth, by Julia Fierro

The setting is a beach house on Long Island, where a group of thirty-something couples get together for a late-summer weekend getaway. Everyone brings their own idiosyncracies to the table and as the weekend continues, conflicts come to the surface as painful truths are revealed.

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15. The Invisible City, by Julia Dahl

In her debut novel, Invisible City, the author introduces an intriguing character, Rebekah Roberts, a journalist who is tasked with covering the story of a Hasidic woman who is murdered. As she gets closer to uncovering the truth, she is is unwelcome by the powerful Orthodox community and discoveres that everyone she meets has a secret they’re not anxious to reveal to an outsider. Read this one before it’s made into a major motion picture!

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Have you read any of these books? If not, which one will you read first? xo, Tanya

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