Read, Relax and Learn! Join Us in this Transformative Journey

Everyone seems to have a book club or reading list, including celebrities such as Jenna Bush Hager, Zibby Owens, Katie Couric, Reese Witherspoon, Barack Obama, and even Her Majesty Queen Camilla, who has a dignified name for a charity she set up to promote reading: The Queen’s Reading Room.

We both love to read, but not in an organized, once-a-month, nibble-and-lunch-or-dinner kind of way. We prefer suggestions from friends and family, publications such as The New York Times’ “Best Books of the Year” and its weekly Book Review section, what we spot on library counters or at friends’ homes, and what we hear, even when riding a bus or subway or listening to authors being interviewed. (We used to enjoy Ron Charles’ weekly Washington Post column, “The Book Club,” but he was laid off.) At the moment, we’re both inundated with books we’ll read next, even before we’ve finished the last one. And one of us juggles two books at once.

Reading is an excellent pastime. The reasons are straightforward. Reading can teach you about courage, perseverance, empathy and other important qualities. And when engrossed in a book, the reader can be transported to another universe or time without packing or leaving the comfort of their home. The contents of a good book, both fiction and non-fiction, give the reader a peek into the characters’ lives, connections, and how they live. As one of our mothers said, “If you have a book, you always have a friend,” and in an era known for social isolation, the more friends the better.

Also, when you share book suggestions with friends and family, it’s a chance to delve into a deep conversation about the book’s message. You analyze together, discuss characterization, psychology, important content and new ideas, what you learned and any takeaways. Barbara is about to read a book that’s a favorite of a grandchild. The genre is science fiction, which has never appealed to her, but that’s one extra perk of a book—you get to learn about someone else’s taste and broaden yourself with a topic you’ve never tackled. When Margaret’s nephew was into Harry Potter, she read the first book after he said to her one day, “We cannot have an intelligent conversation if you don’t read Harry Potter books.”

Going back and rereading books from our high school, college or graduate school days offer insights into how our own tastes may have changed. The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, a favorite way back when, now no longer appeals, but Anne of Green Gables remains an all-time favorite, primarily for the special relationship between the Cuthberts and Anne and has been reread too many times to count. Margaret is reading a brick of a book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, which won the Pulitzer and an opera written by Mason Bates was created based on this amazing tome. It’s a good book to enhance your vocabulary.  

With all the publicity surrounding the Queen’s visit, we learned an interesting factoid from Bush Hager, who interviewed her Majesty at the behemoth New York Public Library, where the Queen read Winnie the Pooh to school children. It came out in the interview with Bush Hager that if you read fiction for even five minutes a day, you’re likely to be less stressed. Yes, it’s true and has been verified on brain scans. No pill can do that as fast, we think, and without any harmful side effects.

Reading can also be done almost anywhere, and it doesn’t matter its form--if you read hard copies or paperbacks, check them out of a library, buy them new or used, read on a Kindle or other electronic device which also enables you to order a book instantly and avoids having to carry around several books when traveling, even your phone if you have good eyesight, or if you prefer to listen to a book, which is considered reading as well, though some pooh-pooh it. Listening to a book narrated by the author offers an extra plus, such as Michelle Obama’s Becoming, since you often feel you’re sitting in the same room and they’re talking to only you.

Here’s what we’re reading or have heard raves about and may read next. What’s on your nightstand, table or wherever you like to curl up and read or on an electronic device? Ask your friends, even strangers, for their current list. It’s a great ice-breaker that immediately jump-starts a meaty conversation. At our age, we have learned that if a book doesn’t appeal, you can put it down; nobody will ever know. You’re not being graded. Just enjoy the mere pleasure.

Here are some suggestions:

The Antidote by Karen Russell

Becoming Madame Secretary by Stephanie Dray

The Bottomless Cup by Kevin Boehm

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

The Elements by John Boyne

An Inconvenient Widow by Lois Romano

A Far Flung Life by ML Stedman

Go Gentle by Marie Semple

Good People by Patmeena Saabit

Heart the Lover by Lily King

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe

Isola by Allegra Goodman

James by Percival Everett

Kin by Tayari Jones

Lazar by Nelio Biedermann

Life, Death and Giants by Ron Rindo

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

Necessary Trouble: Growing up at Midcentury by Drew Gilpin Faust

Nothing Random: Bennett Cerf and the Publishing House He Built by Gayle Feldman

The Lady at the Louvre by Helen Constantine

The Secret History of French Cooking by Luke Barr

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin

And more, especially if you want to go back in time. You might re-read any of the Jane Austin or Bronte sisters’ books, such as Wuthering Heights (Emily) or Jane Eyre (Charlotte) or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne). How about Dickens’ (Great Expectations) or (Tale of Two Cities) or Homer’s Odyssey, which is hot right now with the release of the movie starring Matt Damon? How about Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda or Silas Marner by George Eliot, who was really a woman, Mary Ann Evans?

And bibliophiles, we know there are many of you out there. Please share your favorites or suggestions in the comments section below.