My Favorite Things! A Book and Wine List

At the request of my employer/food partner-in-crime/the lady of the house Jackie, here is a list of fun, easy reads for the reader who likes a book to be quick, light, and not too depressing. She counts EAT,PRAY,LOVE, THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB, and HARRY POTTER as some of her favorites, so I put together this list for the woman who likes to read but never has the time. Written for a slightly older audience than my other lists, I organized these books into two categories: the books to be paired with white wine, very breezy and fun and happily ended, and those to be consumed with a red wine, a bit deeper and darker while still enjoyable and easy to read. Cheers, ladies!


For Chardonnay – light and sweet:

• THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA by Lauren Weisberger: Even more shopping-envy fun than the movie, this story follows bright-eyed aspiring writer Andy Sachs through the cutthroat world of fashion magazines as she struggles to keep her personal life from going up in flames. Even if you’ve seen the Anne Hathaway/Meryl Streep version an embarrassing number of times, this is worth a read: it’s not as sad as the movie, but it is smarter and wickedly funny.

• WELCOME TO TEMPTATION by Jennifer Crusie: Even though she writes trade romance paperbacks, Crusie spins a fun and funny tale that even a literary reader can enjoy. This particular one is the story of an aspiring film producer and a local politician and includes a steamy scene with a pool table, but any of Crusie’s books are a sure bet for book escapism. Her books written with Bob Mayer, who usually writes crime fiction, are especially fun – who knew a man could write such convincing romance?

• THE NANNY DIARIES by Nicola Kraus and Emma Mclaughlin: A fun story about kids, love, and how annoying rich people can be, this book is one of the many that is much, much better than the movie. It pulls some strange literary attempts, like calling the family the “Xs”, but once you get past this quirk the book is mostly a ride of flirting, toddler antics, and just teeniest bit of self-discovery and realism. As long as you can stop picturing Scarlett Johansson as the much more likable character in the book, it’s a fun escape into the lives of the rich and ridiculous, with a narrator whose point of view is much closer to our own than to the people she works for.

• CERTAIN GIRLS by Jennifer Weiner: This is actually a sequel, but it is my favorite of Weiner’s all delightful books (and you don’t need to read the first one, though it’s good too). The story of a mother and her preteen daughter dealing with rules, dating, artistic fulfillment, marriage, and motherhood, this easy but real read is both enjoyable and honest. Weiner has said that she started writing because she wanted to read a story where the girl gets the guy and gets happy without changing how she looks or who she is – what’s not to like about that? ☺

• SOMETHING BORROWED by Emily Giffin: True to its bubble-gum-pink cover, this bubbly books is a fun ride of back-handed compliments, backstabbing friends, and really, really wanting something you really, really shouldn’t. When Rachel gets really drunk and sleeps with her best friend’s fiancé, what can she do? Especially when she really loves the guy, and really sort of hates her friend? I love the main character, and I love the suave, savvy way in which the book is written. This book reads like the life I sometimes wish I had, has the friends I’m glad I don’t, and features a tough situation I hope I’m never in.

For a red wine – a little more dry, a little darker:

• THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE by Audrey Niffeneger: The story of a man who spontaneously travels to different time, usually in his own life, is well-plotted, heart-felt, and heartbreaking. Not only is there the scientific/metaphysic problem of the time travel, but then there’s the girl, naturally: Clare, one of my favorite characters after Holden Caulfield. This is the best, most convincing, most real-feeling love I have ever read or seen – exactly the kind every girl would want. One can only hope one’s own is easier than the love of Clare and Henry. This book is heartbreaking, but it a good way.


• THE BEAN TREES by Barbara Kingsolver: The story of a young woman who adopts a Native American child she finds left in her car in a parking lot, this book has one of the strongest and most believable voices I’ve read since TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Quirky and endearing and smart, I love everything about this book, from the depiction of family to the inimitable Jax Thibadeaux to the bright, quiet young Turtle. If you like books with more heft or you just want to read a heartwarming family tale, you’ll enjoy this slim book. I wish Kingsolver would write this way more often.

• A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini: The better version of the famous KITE RUNNER that features girls instead of boys in war torn Afghanistan, it’s not your typical quick-read. It features death, destitution, and sexual abuse, but it also features love, hope, and such strong female characters that you can’t help but at least admire them. Though KITE RUNNER is more commonly recommended, SPLENDID SUNS is better. It’s about girls instead of boys, how could it not be? It’s a story of war and sadness, but also of motherhood and heart and female friendship. There’s nothing more universal than that.

• THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER by Kim Edwards: This book is sad, to be sure. But it also enlightening, enjoyable, and heartwarming. The story of a doctor father who makes a difficult choice when one of his twin babies is born with Down Syndrome, this features and honest and elegiacly clear picture of how a family can decompose. The characters are so believable, the imagery so close to home, and the decisions so simultaneously easy and hard to understand, I smiled though tears while reading this book I count as one of my all-time favorites.

• THE QUEEN’S FOOL by Phillipa Gregory: This is my favorite of the famous Gregory’s many books about the English Royal Court in Tudor England. The chronicle of Jewish exiles from Spain Hannah and her printmaker father, there is plenty of pain, love, sex, power, and royal intrigue in this pretty-covered tome. Gregory’s other books can be overlong and over-plotted, but this one is clean, powerful, and a delightful journey to read. With lush description, royal intrigue, and dashing rogues, this book is the perfect escape into the heady court of medieval England.