Holiday Books

It has been waaaay too long since we've done a Virtual Book Club. So now, just in time for last-minute holiday gift ideas, I invite any and all good book recommendations that help you stay "balanced." No need to stick to work/family subjects or self-help business or parenting books here; anything that you've enjoyed over the past 12 months will do.

As for me, I tend to favor memoirs and most of my top ten have a "balance" theme -- people coming to terms with their childhoods or finding more meaning in their lives. But my 20 minutes reading before conking out every night are one of the only guaranteed moments of peace amidst my daily work/life insanity. As you can see from my list below, I often prefer books that help me forget the juggling act.

Top 10 favorite books I've read in the past year:

1) Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay -- a mesmerizing novel about a young French girl who survives World War II.

2) Driving With Dead People by Monica Holloway -- a funny, moving memoir about growing up in a nutty family, by one of my favorite Mommy Wars authors.

3) The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly -- a young adult novel about a boy who copes with his mother's death by retreating to a fantasy world populated by strange fairy tale characters, such as a Little Red Riding Hood with a thing for the wolf, communist Seven Dwarves, and a kindly Woodsman who helps him comes to terms with adulthood's risks and realities.

4-5) Mapping the Edge and Snowstorms in a Hot Climate -- all by Sarah Dunant, the astonishingly good story-teller and best-selling author of The Birth of Venus and In The Company of the Courtesan. Especially enjoyable if you like books that transport you to Italy. (And yes, I did sneak in four books here.)

6) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert -- searching for meaning following her divorce, 30-something Liz Gilbert explores Rome, India and Bali and tells all as if you were her new best friend. 44 well-deserved weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.

7) The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall -- fiction about a Russian emigre and her teenage daughter growing up, falling in love, and discovering life's compromises in a fast-growing Chinese city.

8) On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan -- don't want to ruin this impressive read by the author of Atonement by trying to describe it.

9) Amazing Gracie by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff -- a funny, not-schmaltzy tale of two gay bakers in Kansas City creating a family centered around their adopted pooch, this is ten times as good as the lackluster My Dog Marley.

10) The End of the World as We Know It by Robert Goolrick-- a haunting memoir by a lonely New York City advertising executive trying to come to terms with his abusive father.

What are your best books of the year? What role do books play in balancing your life?

By Leslie Morgan Steiner |  December 19, 2007; 7:00 AM ET  | Category:  Virtual Book Club
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