5 Heart Reads

Update: Will, by Will Smith, another 5 Heart Rating, is one of the best books I have ever listened to.

It’s been so long since I’ve done a 5 Heart Rating post that I had to answer security questions just to sign in! So for my very first post in a while, I’m going to do something a little different and share my favorite 5 Heart-rated books you may want to consider for your summer reading list. Here they are in no particular order. And I should mention I listened to all of them on audio:

1. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (fiction based on true story)
2. Spaceman by Mike Massimino (reading this now – so good)
3. The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday (I read a chapter each day)
4. A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston (interesting guy)
5. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (real stuff)
6. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 
7. Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh (simple practice of peace)
8. The Dead Drink Last by Dale Maharidge (another I wish every American would read)
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Borrows (movie’s good too)
10. The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty (I’m a BB fan plus I love pearls)
11. Beauty by John O’Donohue (a masterpiece, fav of all time)
12. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (I want to visit Vinci in Italy)
13. Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins (warning: lottsa language)
14. My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan (a novel)
15. Righteous by Joe Ide (amazing narration on Audible!)
16. Gut by Giulia Enders (took me 60 years to learn much of what’s in this book – very informative)
17. The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter (fav narration of all time)
18. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (100% AB)
19. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (enthralling saga)
20. Red Notice by Bill Browder (Magnitsky Act)
21. Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar (true story)
22. Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth (series is good too)
23. IQ by Joe Ide (another great narration by same narrator)
24. My Life in France by Julia Child (I love JC)
25. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover (true story)
26. The Girl with All the Gifts by MR Carey (post-acropolyptic thriller)
27. Beneath the Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan (excellent!)
28. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (true story behind the creation of Nike)
29. When the Air Hits Your Brain by Frank T Vertosick, Jr, MD (evolution of a neurosurgeon)
30. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (great read)
31. The Book of Joy by Douglas Carlton Abrams, Dalai Lama, and Desmond Tutu (beautiful read)
32. The Flyboys by James Bradley (true story of courage)
33. The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis (the human mind oh my!)
34. Born A Crime by Trevor Noah (read it twice so far)
35. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (100% Steve Martin)
36. Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim (great read)
37. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (movie is excellent too!)
38. 10% Happier by Dan Harris (not just another book on meditation)
39. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town (another must-read)
40. Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming (raw)
41. Rosemary by Kate Clifford Larson (the Kennedy fam is fascinating – I can relate in so many ways)
42. A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara (not for the faint of heart)
43. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (posthumously published)
44. Poland: A Novel by James A Michener (I’m Polish so this novel was especially interesting to me)
45. Centennial: A Novel by Jame A Michener (interesting to learn about our history)
46. Yes Please by Amy Poehler (entertaining)
47. Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon (first novel I read many years ago and again recently on Audible)
48. Maid by Stephanie Land
49. American Sniper by Jim DeFelice, Scott McEwan, Chris Kyle (true story)
50. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (great read)
51. Still Alice by Lisa Genova (movie is really good too)
52. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Pulitzer winner)
53. New York by Edward Rutherford (read this while daughter lived in NYC)
54. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (another fav of all time, very difficult read especially given my relationship to Japan)
55. Hi Bob! by Bob Newhart (I love BN)
56. Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris (what a journey and what an incredible human being)
57. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
58. Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
59. The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger
60. The Gift by Dr. Edith Eva Eger (sent this as a gift to my sister and my son)

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