Books to Read

  Nora Goes Off Script By Annabel Monaghan Find out why this “perfect escape” ( USA Today ) has Elin Hilderbrand raving, “A freaking delight… I devoured it in three days.” After writer Nora’s husband leaves her and her two kids, she turns the experience into her best script yet — and receives a surprising proposition from the movie’s star… “You’ll still be smiling over it long after you’ve put the book down” ( BookPage ).

  The Codebreaker’s Secret By Sara Ackerman Kate Quinn promises, “Sara Ackerman never disappoints,” and this transportive historical novel is no exception! In 1943, codebreaker Isabel works to decipher enemy secrets at Pearl Harbor. Decades later, journalist Lu arrives in Hawaii for the opening of a glamorous hotel — where a guest’s disappearance plunges her into the past. “Will keep you reading late into the night… Makes me want to drop everything and travel to Hawaii!” (Madeline Martin).

  The Midcoast By Adam White This “insanely good” and “compulsively readable” novel (Douglas Preston) “marks the debut of a genius storyteller” ( People ). In a small, close-knit town on Maine’s coast, an opulent reception goes terribly wrong — leaving the community to confront the truth about a seemingly perfect family. “I tore through the saga of the Thatch family in two nights.  The Midcoast  is a reader’s dream” (David Benioff, co-creator of  Game of Thrones ).

  Beyond the Wand By Tom Felton In this “brilliant” #1  New York Times  bestseller brimming with “heart, charm, and wittiness” ( BuzzFeed ), Tom Felton reveals how the world of  Harry Potter  transformed his life — from sharing behind-the-scenes anecdotes to revealing what came after the decade he spent playing the iconic role of Draco Malfoy. “Felton weaves a seamless, sensitive narrative that will enchant” ( Publishers Weekly ).

  The Finalists By David Bell Peel back the layers of a “whodunit reminiscent of Agatha Christie that thriller fans will devour” ( Library Journal )! When six college students enter a mysterious competition for a prestigious scholarship, they’re locked inside a secluded Victorian mansion, where they must stay for eight hours. And then one of them drops dead… “Expertly plotted…  The Finalists  makes the grade” ( Shelf Awareness ).

  River of the Gods By Candice Millard Discover an author who’s won over none other than Erik Larson (“When it comes to narrative nonfiction, she’s the best”) with an exceptional  New York Times  bestseller hailed as one of the best books of 2022 by the  Washington Post , Goodreads, and more! Determined to solve “ the  geographic riddle of their era” ( The New York Times Book Review ), two 19th-century Englishmen set out to locate the Nile River’s mysterious headwaters — led by a formerly enslaved guide whose role would long be obscured by history.

  Killers of a Certain Age By Deanna Raybourn An instant  New York Times  bestseller, this “ Golden Girls  meets James Bond thriller is a journey you want to be part of” ( BuzzFeed ). After decades of working for an elite assassins network known as the Museum, four sexagenarian women are set to retire. But when their all-expenses-paid vacation goes haywire, they realize the organization has ordered their termination — permanently!

  Nightwork By Nora Roberts Publishing phenomenon Nora Roberts — widely acknowledged as “America’s favorite writer” ( The New Yorker ) — “ensnare[s] readers in a carefully crafted plot” ( Booklist ) with a #1  New York Times  bestseller! Harry Booth, a master thief with a heart of gold, is an expert at staying unattached… until he meets beguiling writer Miranda Emerson. “This is a treat” ( Publishers Weekly ).

  Long Shadows By David Baldacci A “master storyteller” (Associated Press) delivers a jaw-dropping #1  New York Times  bestseller, just released in October and already boasting over 12,000 five-star Amazon ratings! FBI consultant Amos Decker sets out to investigate an apparently straightforward double homicide — but as witnesses vanish, Decker realizes the case is more tangled than he ever could’ve imagined. “Fascinating… Clever… Exciting” ( Kirkus Reviews ).

Book No. 3:   Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?   by Fred Schwed Jr.   (Source: GoodReads.com) A wry look at the hypocrisy that lies in the business of investing, particularly among financial advisers and brokers,   Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?   rounds out our reading list.   An ancient, perhaps fanciful, tale inspired the quirky title ofthis 1940’s critique of Wall Street. As the story goes, a local Manhattan resident and an out-of-town visitor were strolling along the shoreline of Battery Park when the local boasted, “Look, those are the bankers’ and brokers’ yachts!”   The friend innocently replied, “Where are the customers’ yachts?”   In keeping with that ironic title, author Fred Schwed provides an array of folksy – and sometimes irreverent – insights into the   real   world of investing. A few of my favorite quotes include…   Those classes of investments considered “best” change from period to period. The pathetic fallacy ...

  Book No. 2:   Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds   by Charles Mackay (Source: Amazon.com) My next pick, first published in 1841, is often cited as the best book about market psychology ever written.   Even though this investment classic first appeared in press 180 years ago, the topic   Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds   examines is as timeless as ever.   Generation after generation, market cycle after market cycle, mobs sometimes form as spontaneously as a tornado. Then they rip through the stock market to produce wild speculative extremes.   Again, this phenomenon isn’t new. It is at least as old as Holland’s “tulip bulb mania” of the early 1600s. This fascinating tale of excess featured a multiyear speculative frenzy for exotic tulip bulbs that topped out in 1637.   At the peak of the mania, a single bulb changed hands for 5,200 florins, which was more than three times what Rembrandt charge...

  Book No. 1:   The Money Masters   by John Train (Source: GoodReads.com) For a cross-section of the investing methodologies of nine great investors, I like this John Train classic,   The Money Masters .   It offers insights into the successes of Warren Buffett, Philip Fisher, Benjamin Graham, and more of the industry greats.   Learn about their unique investment styles and how they’ve led to consistently profitable investments. This one will appeal to both beginners and seasoned investors.   And if you love this one, follow it up with Train’s sequel,   The New Money Masters .  

  The original Harvard Classics Collection contains 51 volumes of the essential works of world literature, showing the progress of man from antics to modern age. In this edition, the original collection is supplemented with the 20 volume Harvard Shelf of Fiction, a selection of the greatest works of fiction. Content: The Harvard Classics: V. 1: Franklin, Woolman & Penn V. 2: Plato, Epictetus & Marcus Aurelius V. 3: Bacon, Milton, Browne V. 4: John Milton V. 5: R. W. Emerson V. 6: Robert Burns V. 7: St Augustine & Thomas á Kempis V. 8: Nine Greek Dramas V. 9: Cicero and Pliny V. 10: The Wealth of Nations V. 11: The Origin of Species V. 12: Plutarchs V. 13: Æneid V. 14: Don Quixote V. 15: Bunyan & Walton V. 16: 1001 Nights V. 17: Folklore & Fable V. 18: Modern English Drama V. 19: Goethe & Marlowe V. 20: The Divine Comedy V. 21: I Promessi Sposi V. 22: The Odyssey V. 23: Two Years Before the Mast V. 24: Edmund Burke V. 25: J. S. Mill & T. Carlyle V. 26: Co...