Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
This is the kind of book you read and then buy another copy to send to a friend who lives in Brisbane. The kind of book you keep close after finishing it just because the messages about creativity are ones you want to hold onto. I love everything that Gilbert writes but I’m not a self-help book person so the fact I was easily able to stay engaged until the end of this book says a lot. It has a companion podcast called Magic Lessons where Elizabeth Gilbert calls up people who are ‘stuck’ with their creativity and gives them homework.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Kaling started as a writer on The Office and now has her own show called The Mindy Project which she stars in and writes. She’s of the Lena Dunham school of kick-arse women who are redefining what women look like on TV. She’s also a smart, sharp, funny writer.
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
This isn’t a new book. It’s a really old one but it’s often referenced by female writers I love as being one of their favourites so I bought it as an iBook and loved it. Only took me a couple of hours to read. Now I’m diving into her back catalogue.
The Anti-Cool Girl by Rosie Waterland
From one of the Mamamia family, my friend Rosie Waterland flew out of the gate with this hilarious heart-breaking memoir that stays with you long after you put it down. In her first book (no doubt there will be many more to come), Rosie dives deep into the murky swamp of her childhood in a way that makes you wonder how she is a walking, talking, functioning human being today, let alone the extraordinary successful woman she has become.
Top Comments
I've read some great books this year, and some awful ones as well... One of my favourites was The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, though she's not everyone's cup of tea, the other that's stuck with me all year was Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, now I wonder why I'd never read it before now.
I'm not convinced to read Mindy Kaling's book, her first book was awful and I just can't bear to put myself through that again.
Gilbert and Poehler's books are already on my to read list, and I may have to pick up Ask Me Anything and Find Your Tribe for my girls.
I've only read 44 books this year, so will struggle to name 10 "best".
Pavel and I & The Crooked Maid by Dan Vyleta. I read The Quiet Twin the year before. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada, God Bless Little Sister by Patsy Crawford, One Of Us:the Story of Anders Brievik & the Massacre in Norway by Asne Seierstad. (which is the only non fiction I read this year, though God Bless Little Sister is based on fact). I've also read lots of enjoyable thrillers. I rarely read non fiction, and rarely read what I "should".. I read what I like.