Ep 179: Best Books of 2023 (So Far) with Yasmin Dunn and Stephanie Newman-Smith
/
Instead of waiting for the end of the year to talk about our favorite books, my real life book club members Yasmin Dunn and Stephanie Newman-Smith and I decided we should have a mid-year meeting to discuss some of the great things we've read in this first half of 2023.
We talk about the best novels, memoirs, personal growth, and general nonfiction books that stand out, and even share some of the personal things going on in our lives that have affected our reading habits lately.
We also unintentionally talk a lot about Hollywood in this episode - where the three of us all live and work - discussing the writer's strike and multiple celebrity memoirs.
Of course, we talked for hours. And there was still more we had to say. Check out the Secret Stuff bonus episode for even more book talk, including the books that haven't worked for us this year.
LAURA’S FAVORITES:
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
The Perfectionist’s Guide To Losing Control by Katherine Morgan Schafler
Spare by Prince Harry
Beloved by Toni Morrison
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
STEPHANIE’S FAVORITES:
Maame by Jessica George
Burn It Down by Maureen Ryan
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
YASMIN’S FAVORITES:
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Other Books Mentioned:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer (Prince Harry’s ghost writer)
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Educated by Tara Westover
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Tales from the Boom Boom Room by Susan Antilla
Glamarama by Bret Easton Ellis
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
MENTIONED:
Ep 153: Best Books of the Year 2022
Ep 171: Favorite Things (Right Now)
Stephanie’s cake of The Life Council book cover
Maureen Ryan’s Vanity Fair article about the “Lost” writers’ room
