Favorite Books

Treasure Trove of Books I Love

Although I've been an avid reader since the 70's, I've only been keeping up with a Favorite Top 10 list since 2009. Titles listed below are among my permanent book collection, titles published by a variety of great publishing houses I Highly Recommend!

2023 TOP 10 FAVORITES
(not necessarily published in 2023)



2022 TOP 10 FAVORITES
(not necessarily published in 2022)

The Story of My Life by Farah Ahmedi
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
DYN-O-MITE! by Jimme Walker
Breaking History by Jared Kushner
Diary by Kola Boof
Uphill by Jemele Hill
every day i'm hustling by vivica a. fox
Finding Me by Viola Davis
An Autobiography by Angela Davis


KEEPSAKES

90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life by Don Piper

A Lawyer's Life by Johnnie Cochran
A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley
A Mysterious Life and Calling by Charolette S. Riley, (edited by Crystal J. Lucky)
A Nation of Wusses by Ed Rendell
A Sick Life by Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins
All Souls: A Family Story from Southie by Michael Patrick MacDonald
All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
And So it Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields
And Still I Rise by Doreen Lawrence
Assata by Assata Shukur

Becoming by Michelle Obama
Beg, Borrow, Steal by Michael Greenberg
Between You & Me by Mike Wallace
Black Man in a White Coat by Damon Tweedy
Blessed Life by Kim Fields

Desperate to be a Housewife by Meg Bortin
Doing Germany by Agnieszka Paletta
Don’t Block the Blessings by Patti LaBelle

Etched in My Memory by Sol Tetelbaum
Every Little Step: My Story by Bobby Brown
Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family by Condoleezza Rice
Eye to the Sky: Storytelling on the Edge of Magic by Bobby Norfolk

Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K. Gann
Farewell, My Beijing by Chi Newman
Foxy: My Life in Three Acts by Pam Grier
from ashes to africa by Josh and Amy Bottomly

Gift of a Lifetime by Sue Batton Leonard
Gifted Hands by Ben Carson, M.D.
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

Healing After Dark by Morris A. Cohen and Helen Compton
Here Comes Trouble by Michael Moore
Hong Konged by Paul Hanstedt
Hope's Boy by Andrew Bridge
How Do Rumors Get Started by Marcus Thompson

I Am Charlie Wilson by Charlie Wilson
I Am These Truths by Sunny Hostin
I Can't Make This Up by Kevin Hart
I Choose to Stay by Salome Thomas-EL
I Didn’t Ask to Be Born by Bill Cosby
I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I Shall Not Want by Terri Lyons
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Just Waiting for the Bell by David Wehmeyer

Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny by Nile Rodgers
Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi
Life Is So Good by George Dawson, Richard Glaubman
Life is Short by Jennifer Arnold, MD, & Bill Klein
Life On the Color Line by Gregory Howard Williams
Listen to the Squawking Chicken by Elaine Lui
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker

Maybe You Never Cry Again by Bernie Mac, Pablo F. Fenjves
Mayor for Life by Marion Barry
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King
My Mistake by Daniel Menaker
My Times in Black and White by Gerald M. Boyd, Robin D. Stone

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Night by Elie Wiesel
Not the Mother I Remember by Amber Lea Starfire

Of Monkey Bridges and Bánh Mì Sandwiches by Oanh Ngo Usadi
On Call in Hell by Cdr. Richard Jadick

Pain Don’t Hurt by Mark ‘Fightshark’ Miller
Panther Baby by Jamal Joseph
Permanent Record by Edward Snowden
Poison Ivy by Kathryn White
Positive by Paige Rawl

Shark Tales by Barbara Corcoran
She Got Game by Cynthia Cooper
Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver
Sweet Summer by Bebe Moore Campbell

Tha Doggfather by Snoop Dogg
The Autobiography of an ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
The Black Russian by Vladimir Alexandrov
The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
The Color of Water by James McBride
The Cost of Hope by Amanda Bennett
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, Eleanor Roosevelt (Intro), B.M. Mooyaart (Translation)
The Gifted Ones by Lisa Vaughn
The Highest Peak by Kathy Lee Pair
The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
The Journey Home by Clifton Taulbert
The Kitchen Sink Papers: My Life as a Househusband by Mike McGrady
The Last Blind Date by Linda Yellin
The Last Dragon by Taimak Guarriello
The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem
The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenlaw
The Second Tour by Terry P. Rizzuti
This is Just My Face by Gabourey Sidbe
Thou Shalt Not Steal by Bill ‘Ready’ Cash and Al Hunter Jr.
Tiger Woods: The Making of a Champion by Tim Rosaforte
Troublemaker by Leah Remini
True You by Janet Jackson

Until Tuesday by Luis Carlos Montalván

View From Breast Pocket Mountain by Karen Hill Anton

We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted: A Memoir by E. Lynn Harris
When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story by Eva Rutland

Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson
You Have No Idea by Vanessa Williams and Helen Williams


BIOGRAPHIES | NONFICTION

102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer, Kevin Flynn
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam by Bernard Edelman (Editor)
Eyewitness Auschwitz by Filip Muller, Susanne Flatauer (Editor)
From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman
Diana: Her True Story by Andrew Morton
Inside Anne Frank's House: An Illustrated Journey Through Anne's World by Hans Westra, Menno Metselaar (Editor), Ruud Van Rol (Editor), Dineke Stam (Editor), Overlook Press (Manufacturer)
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
Sobibor: A History of a Nazi Death Camp by Jules Schelvis
The Bee Eater by Richard Whitmire
The Education of Value Investor by Guy Spier
The Zhivago Affair by Peter Finn and Petra Couvee
To Tell the Truth Freely by Mia Bay
Too Big To Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Who Owns America's Past? by Robert C. Post

NONFICTION COLLECTIONS

Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing and Hope from Black America by Tavis Smiley
Black: A Celebration of Culture by Deborah Willis
Sacred Bond: Black Men and Their Mothers by Keith Michael Brown

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MEMOIRS

7:17 by Rayna Gray
A Boy From Down East by Larry B. Gray
A Bridge Between by Velia Pola
A Country Called Nigeria by Robert Siller Jr.
A Hand to Guide Me by Denzel Washington
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Around the Way Girl by Taraji P. Henson
At Home on the Steppe by Janet Givens
At Wit's End by Erma Bombeck
Benefit of the Doubt by Myra A. Dorsey
better off bald by Andrea Wilson Woods
Bird Dream by Matt Higgins
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat
Chicken Soup for the African American Soul
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker by Marla Martenson
Family Matters And More: Stories Of My Life In Soviet Russia by Sol Tetelbaum
Funny In Farsi: A Memoir Of Growing Up Iranian In America by Firoozeh Dumas
Grace Revealed by Greg Archer
Grumpy Old Menopause by Carol E Wyer
Hippie Boy: A Girl's Story by Ingrid Ricks
HOSTAGE: Kidnapped on the High Seas by Linda Davies
How to Be Black by Baratunde Thurston
I Am the New Black by Tracy Morgan
I'm Down by Mishna Wolff
In Black In White by LT Woody
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Kicking and Dreaming by Ann and Nancy Wilson
Larry Kane's Philadelphia by Larry Kane
Life With No Breaks by Nick Spalding
Musical Chairs by Jen Knox
My Life by Bill Clinton
NAKED by Julie Freed
No Disrespect by Sister Souljah
Out of Captivity by Marc Gonsalves
Perfection Is Not a Sitcom Mom by Janet Louise Hubert
Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora by Andrew Lam
Pieces from Life's Crazy Quilt by Arnett, Marvin V.
Project Girl by Janet McDonald
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Really Cher? by Julian M. Coleman
Stealing Buddha's Dinner: A Memoir by Bich Minh Nguyen
Stir Up the Monkeys by Betty W. Bohlen
stranger here by jen larsen
The Black Girl Next Door: A Memoir by Jennifer Baszile
The Broke Diaries by Angela Nissel
The Grace of Silence by Michele Norris
the House on Sunset by Sarafina Bianco
The Life and Laughs of an at Home Mom by Chris Liefer
The Lullaby Illusion by Susan Joyce
The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jenifer Lewis
The Pact by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt, Lisa Frazier Page
The Wrong Answer Faster by Michael Goodkin
Think Big by Jennifer Arnold, MD, & Bill Klein
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
To the Moon and Timbuktu by Nina Sovich
tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Ugly to Start With by John Michael Cummings
Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton
Until Next Time... by JJ Ellis
why I'm like this by cynthia kaplan
You Ain't Got No Easter Clothes: A Memoir by Laura Love

SHORT STORIES

A Hamster is Missing in Washington, DC by Ed Spivey Jr.
Homemade Love by J. California Cooper
Miss Muriel and Other Stories by Ann Petry

FICTION (Parable)

Être the Cow by Sean Kenniff
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

GRAPHIC NOVEL 

The Big Belch by Kay Wood

RECOMMENDED NOVELS

Cats, Scarves, and Liars by Kathryn White
Daughters of the River Huong by Nicole Uyen Duong
Damascena by Holly Lynn Payne
Easy Like Sunday Mourning by Jennie Marts'
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Lifetimes Ago: A Love Story Inspired from Past Memories by Susie Schecter
Lord Vishnu's Love Handles A Spy Novel by Will Clarke
No Alligator in Sight by Kirsten B. Feldman
Painted Picture by Sheila Peele-Miller
Proof of Angels by Mary Curran Hackett
PUZZLES by Terri E. Lyons
She Likes It Rough by GVR Corcillo
Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella
Something's Wrong with Your Scale by Van Whitfield
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Crisis before Midlife by Mario D King
The Floater by Sheryl Sorrentino
The Secret Sense of Wildflower by Susan Gabriel
The Truth About Awiti by CP Patrick
The Upper Room by Mary Monroe
Tempest Rising by Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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