“The Jester Who Lost His Jingle” by David Saltzman

The festive, felt jester that typically comes with this book in its boxed set, has been staring at me pretty much all of December, and he never gets old. This particular jester belongs to my second husband Jeff because I lost my original jester in my divorce in 2009. I took the book and my first husband got the jester. This seemed appropriate: he got the toy and I got the story, and both meant a lot to us. “The Jester Who Lost His Jingle,” by David Saltzman, was self-published in January 1995 by his family after David died at the age of 23 from Hodgkin’s Disease. The story is about a kingdom that loses laughter, and the jester and his sidekick who try to restore it. The illustrations are charming and the message speaks to just about anyone who has suffered a loss, or overcome an obstacle. In 1995, my mom bought this book for us shortly after our girls were born three months premature, and later both diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Jeff’s mom gave him the book around the same time while his first wife fought back breast cancer as a 28-year-old mother. To this day, whenever I see the jester or think about this book, it makes me smile. We thought cerebral palsy meant the end of my daughters’ lives, but it was only the beginning of very exciting, inspiring and quite magical rides. Before he died, David wrote in his journal, “The best we can do is live life, enjoy it and know that it is meant to be enjoyed.” What a lovely sentiment to hold this time of year, or any time of year.

“Game Face: What Does A Female Athlete Look Like?” By Jane Gottesman, Foreward By Penny Marshall

What many people probably do not know about my father, Garry and my aunt, Penny is that they were both great athletes during different times in their lives. Garry played his last softball league game at the age of 81 years old, just three weeks before his stroke. Likewise, Penny did her own stunts on the set of “Laverne & Shirley,” and when growing up in the Bronx she was known as a “sewer hitter!” (Meaning she could hit a home run all the way past the sewer.) I wrote the introduction to this book with Penny, because for her, it was a tomboy’s dream come true. Sports for Penny was as essential as her favorite beverage-Pepsi and milk, and later her beloved Los Angeles Lakers. “Game Face: What Does A Female Athlete Look Like?” is a photography collection and tribute book to female athletes, both amateur and professional. It chronicles the history of women’s sports and highlights the pivotal Title IX decision, passed in 1972. Title IX was a federal civil rights law that made it illegal for educational institutions to discriminate against students or employees based on sex. When Title IX was passed, only one out of twenty-seven school-aged girls played sports. When this book was published in 2001, that number was transformed into one in three. This wonderful collection of photographs is historic, inspiring, brave and unique-just like Penny, herself. Garry and Penny always said if you are feeling blue, go outside and throw a ball. We will be having a catch on the beach this holiday season in honor of these athletes, who grew up in the Bronx along the Grand Concourse, within home-run range of the sewer. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“My Mother Was Nuts” by Penny Marshall

For most of my life people have mistaken Penny Marshall for my mother or my sister, but she is my aunt. Her memoir “My Mother Was Nuts” was published in 2012 and one of the things I love about this book is that I had nothing whatsoever to do with it. While for 35 years I wrote nearly ever day with her big brother, my dad, I only wrote speeches and magazine articles with Penny occasionally. So I found this book a pleasure to read because it was not a project that I had anguished over. “My Mother Was Nuts” is the story of Penny’s life, which comes with a heavier and much darker perspective than Garry’s own more joyful tale from the Bronx to Hollywood. The most unjust thing that happened to Penny growing up was that her sensitive-and-kind-older brother Garry and her beautiful-and-smart-older sister Ronny both went to Northwestern University, and left Penny alone at home with their parents. According to Penny, my grandparents, Tony and Marjorie, were not the best parents, and were miserable in their marriage, too. After reading this memoir, I realized that Penny’s eventual move to Hollywood to work alongside Garry and Ronny was her way of writing her own happy ending. She started out in Garry’s show “The Odd Couple,” and later rose to the highest spot in the Nielsen ratings with a cursive L on her chest as Ms. Defazio in “Laverne & Shirley.” She directed some wonderful movies including “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Big,” “Awakening,” “The Preacher’s Wife,” and her iconic film “A League of Their Own.” My dad bragged that with the movie “Big,” Penny hit a Hollywood home run by becoming the first female director to make a movie that earned more than $100 million. While I admire her incredible talent as a director today, I am always drawn to her abundant Lucille Ball-like energy as a television actress. Garry used to bring home videos from “Laverne & Shirley” and we would watch them together. “She is so funny,” I would say. “Yes,” dad would agree. “You think making people laugh would make her happy. But all she wants is better hair and a great boyfriend.” Maybe that’s where I adopted that sentiment, too. I love you, Penny. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“Like Brothers” by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass

My friend Jackie Stansbury and I were cool in high school, but not for the reasons you might think. Cool, to us, was seeing every independent movie we could drive to on the West Side. I remember the first time we saw John Sayles' film, “The Return of the Secaucus 7” in 1979. We were blown away by how much we loved it. The movie about the reunion of college friends at a summer house in New Hampshire was quirky, funny, off-beat, smart and just exactly the way we wanted to be. If you are a fan of independent movies today, you probably know Mark and Jay Duplass. Jay is best known for his role as the brother in the Amazon series “Transparent,” and Mark is from “The League,” but you might not know that they are brothers. Together they have written a book called “Like Brothers,” which is highly entertaining. They grew up in New Orleans, using a video camera to make movies just like Steven Spielberg used to do. They both attended the University of Texas in Austin, and eventually hit the big time when their feature “Baghead” was at the center of a bidding war at Sundance. Google Books called this one, “Part coming-of-age memoir, part underdog story, and part insider account of succeeding in Hollywood on their own terms.” Their close relationship often gets in the way at times, forcing them to take some time apart. But like all families with talented people, they work it out and move on to the next project. The two are going to be making television shows and movies for a long time to come so it is interesting to read their backstory. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“The Shadow of the Wind” By Carlos Ruiz Zafon

After I ran a grief camp for kids in the summer of 2016, the hospice affiliated with that camp asked me to stick around. My dad had died suddenly two weeks before the camp, and I thought maybe working for a hospice was a safe place for me to be. I floated within different departments until I landed in the intake/admissions department. My supervisor said, “Sit here between Lillian and Charlotte.” I immediately got the shivers because my twin daughters’ names are Lily and Charlotte. I accept signs from the heavens and this was certainly one, and I have been working in intake/admissions ever since. Everyone who works in my department is not only kind, but also incredibly wise and intelligent. Earlier this year when I was heading to Barcelona, Lillian said to me, almost like a fortune-teller, “Then you must take along the book, The Shadow of the Wind.” I had never heard of the book by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, but of course I ordered it the next day. Originally published in 2001 in Spanish, the 565-page book is a novel-within-a-novel that takes place in Barcelona, circa 1945. The work of fiction begins as a coming of age story following the tale of an 11-year-old boy named Daniel and his widowed, book-dealer father. But when Daniel becomes fixated on one particular volume called “The Shadow of the Wind,” by the mysterious writer Julian Carax, the reader is taken on an odyssey through the streets of Barcelona. The twists and turns change Daniel and Julian’s lives forever, and bring harm and danger to the people around them.  This book has everything a good story should when you take it on vacation, including love, murder, mystery and even some magic. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer” by Heather Lende

For most people, obituaries are the end of their story, but for a journalist, obits are where you start learning to write. When my dad started Northwestern University’s Medill School in the fall of 1952, everyone in the class was given a still-living celebrity and only a few hours to write their well-crafted obituary. All of the students scurried off to library to do research. However, my dad got distracted, met a girl and took her to coffee instead. A few minutes before the assignment was due he wrote and turned in this: “It was rumored today that the comedian Danny Kaye died. The rumor, however, was false, and Mr. Kaye is very much alive.” The life lesson was that my dad was not cut out to be a journalist, but rather a comedy writer. “Find the Good” by Heather Lende is the story of how an Alaska-based obituary writer discovered a new-found positive outlook on life, while combing over late people’s lives. “The Los Angeles Times” called Lende, “part Annie Fillard, part Anne Lamott.” And I call her a writer with a big heart and deep soul. There are people who love to read obituaries and people who don’t. For years, I have found pearls of inspiration in nearly every obituary I have ever read. Lende’s book takes that philosophy to the next level and shows through the pages of her book, that mistakes and loss can be turned into victories and re-births. It might sound corny but it feels true and real, too. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“Something in the Water” by Catherine Steadman

Jeff and his father travel quite often and one of the things they love to do on airplanes is read thrillers. They trade them back and forth between the two of them, and always have a book going. Sometimes I will be on a plane with Jeff and he will laugh, and I will say what is so funny? “My dad just gave me this book,” he will say. “And I already read it because I gave it to him a few months ago.” This is all to say a lot of the books they love to read are very similar in nature, and involve espionage, foreign money transactions and government coups. I like my thrillers to be sprinkled with a little more Bridget Jones powder if you will. “Something in the Water” was just the thriller for me. Written by Catherine Steadman, who played heiress Mabel Lane Fox in Downton Abbey, this book follows a couple named Erin and Mark, two Brits on their honeymoon and Bora Bora. She is an up-and-coming documentary filmmaker,  and he has recently lost his job in Britain’s topsy-turvy financial industry. What begins as an extravagant romantic holiday, turns into a series of unfortunate events after they find treasure in the sea from the wreck of a plane crash. This discovery and the conflict over what to do with the treasure ends up changing their lives forever. What is so interesting about this book is that throughout the narrative you are not sure whether you trust Erin or Mark, and that fact makes the plot twists even more interesting. Like Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” and Paula Hawkins “Girl on the Train,” this book follows a couple of star crossed lovers on a tumultuous journey. Actress and book lover Reese Witherspoon is already attached to the future film production. To purchase this book on Amazon click here

“Katerina” by James Fry

“Katerina” by James Fry

Say what you will about the author, James Fry. Some call him a fabricator, others a liar and a con man. Regardless, I think he can really write, despite his reputation. Seriously, it mattered to me that his 2003 book, “Million Little Pieces,” was published as nonfiction and turned out to be more fiction than truth. I don’t like being deceived. But, at the same time, I remember the thrill I felt when I was reading “A Million Little Pieces,” and the excitement I felt when I cracked opens its sequel, “My Friend Leonard.” Both books held prized places on my shelf for many years, like an old boyfriend for whom I was still carrying a torch. Yet, it was fake. Fast-forward to today, and despite some new bad press, I found Frey’s new fiction book, “Katerina” a wonderful read, too. This book is a proper novel with a memoir hiding in side of it, sort of the inside-out reverse of his first book presented as a comeuppance to the literary world. And I found it just as compelling. Ron Charles of the Washington Post said, “Katerina” was “so heated with narcissism that you have to read it wearing oven mitts.” So maybe I…kind of…find narcissists to be interesting people, and very crafty writers.  Frey’s first adult novel in more than a decade, “Katerina” follows the story of a woman who contacts her former lover through Facebook. I was hooked just by this premise, of course. But there’s more: We see their relationship toggle back and forth between 1992 Paris, and present day Los Angeles, where the narrator, Jay, lives with his wife and children, and runs a successful commercial publishing company. Calling each other, “Model Girl,” and “Writer Boy,” back in the 1990s, Jay and Katerina rejoice over their cute meet-up in Paris where their courtship took place amongst its streets along with a whole lot of booze and drugs. As they become reacquainted via Facebook, we see up close, all that they had, and all that they lost. Frey still has a knack for making addicts seem vulnerable and loveable, as he does again within the pages of “Katerina.” Maybe I just like bad-boy writers, but a book that takes me on a wild ride, is the kind of book I love to read the most. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“Small Fry” by Lisa Brennan- Jobs

The best thing about “Small Fry” by Lisa Brennan-Jobs is this: for 381 pages Steve Jobs is alive again. He is powerful, creative and exciting and you can almost think that perhaps he did not die of pancreatic cancer in 2011. Unfortunately, he did die and for most of his life, he was a very bad dad to this author. The big revelation in this book is that Lisa’s mom Chrisann, who was Jobs’ high school girlfriend, was also a prickly parent who suffered from depression. Despite growing up with two parents who made her feel unwanted and neglected most of the time, she has written a beautiful memoir full of amazing recollections and details from her childhood. She felt so invisible to her father that she would often steal small things, and once even money, from his house just to feel closer to him. The bulk of the book takes place during a short period of time when Lisa left her mother’s house to move in with Steve. Lisa was excited beyond belief to have her dad so close, but his behavior remained distant, cold, unpredictable, and sometimes even cruel. His marriage to Laurene Powell, the only woman he would ever marry, was not much help to Lisa, either. When Jobs and Laurene had a son in 1991, Lisa was relegated to the role of babysitter, while her dad and step-mother went out to lavish parties. The tragic father-daughter relationship rages on, until finally she moves out and into the house of two friendly neighbors, who support her dream of going to college at Harvard. As Jobs lay dying in bed, Lisa visited her father for the last time and seemed to get a thinly veiled apology for the years of neglect. But the true triumph and, I imagine, cathartic victory is that she was able to sit down and tell her story, and her truth once and for all. She survived and now is happily raising a family of her own, making sure to stay well connected to her children along the way. To purchase this book on Amazon click here

“My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward” by Mark Lukach

If you are a fussy person or a rigid person or a sensitive person or someone who likes things done a particular way, then I don’t suggest you get married. Buy a car. Adopt a dog. Rent a surfboard. Or purchase a yoga mat on Amazon. But don’t get married, because you are just going to be frustrated. Marriage is hard, not on certain days, but on almost every day. I’m not being a pessimist, I’m just stating it like it is: Marriage is not for sissies. “My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward” by Mark Lukach is the story of two people who fall in love when they are young, and then all hell breaks loose. This is not to say this is a depressing book, but rather I think it is a pretty uplifting book. Mark and his wife, Giulia, fell in love at 18, got married at 24 and then, when his wife was just 27, she suffered a psychotic break that landed her in a psych ward.  Delusional and suicidal, she fought back to the point where they both thought it would be good to have a child. This decision worried me when I read it, but they were young and in love and wanted a baby. They got to experience the joy of welcoming their son Jonas into the world, but their happiness was short lived when Giulia suffered a second, and later a third breakdown. You might be thinking why would someone want to read this kind of book? The answer is easy: because tragedy struck and Mark stayed, and he did not run away. He was mad, sad, frustrated and everything in between, I’m sure. But he stuck around during the good days and the bad days. When I finished the book I just kept shaking my head with admiration for the couple. What a good guy Giulia married. What a great husband. What an excellent book. I just looked on line to see how Mark and Giulia are doing today, and they are still married, now raising their two sons. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“Meaty” by Samantha Irby

This book just blew me away. I was listening to it in my car and I had to pull over to the side of the road. I grabbed a napkin from my glove compartment because I wanted to write down this line: “Sometimes I like to just eat something in a bowl I can hold against my chest while I cry into it.” It is such a simple sentence, yet packed full of so much sentiment. This book, “Meaty” by Samantha Irby, is an explosive book about love, dating, eating, sex, acceptance, rejection, growing up black and, oh yes, Crohn’s disease. I love any woman with stomach problems, and Irby is one tough woman when it comes to her tummy. Originally published in 2013, this book was recently re-issued in May 2018 by Irby, who is a comedian, author and blogger. She is best known for her blog http://bitchesgottaeat.blogspot.com/, which carries the mantra of “books/snacks/softcore/despair.” She is so raw and irreverent like Roxane Gay, soulful like Ann Hood, raunchy like Amy Schumer, but she also makes you want to cry and laugh hard at the same time like Anne Lamott. It is hard to even describe this book because I just want people to read it, and witness it first hand. Even little throw away lines sing with pure intelligence like, “I once dated a man with a college degree who only ate angel hair pasta.” And when advising men she writes, “here’s what you say about a woman when she has her clothes off. . . absolutely nothing.” She is at her best when she is talking about food and sex and love, all at the same time. A romantic night is “lying in bed, holding hands and talking about how good pork bellies taste.” The Los Angeles Times said she is a writer who “peppers her heartbreak with humor.” She is just a hurricane of a writer and I can’t wait to read more of her work. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?” by Alyssa Mastromonaco with Lauren Oyler

When we were growing up, my sister Kathleen was a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Praire” books. Four years older than her and very into David Cassidy, I found “praire lit” and tales of churning butter way too slow for me. I liked my teen books to come with a harder edge to them, like the way S. E. Hinton or Judy Blume wrote about love and rival gangs. However, as adults, my literary tastes have grown closer to my younger sister’s.  I always want to know what she is reading. Earlier this summer we were at the beach together and I saw her carrying this book, “Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?” by Alyssa Mastromonaco with Lauren Oyler. This is the memoir of the former deputy chief of staff to President Barak Obama, and it sounded fascinating. Unfortunately, a month later when I saw Kathleen still carrying this book I had to make a literary citizen’s arrest. “Get rid of it!” I said. “This book must be terrible if you can’t finish it. Don’t waste your time with a bad book.” To that she paused and said, “No. No. The problem is that it is so good I don’t want it to end.” So then I was hooked. For those of us in America who are nostalgic for the elegant two-term presidency of Obama, this is a funny and poignant walk down memory lane. Mastromonaco is clearly very smart and a skillful writer, but she also has a self-deprecating side that is laugh-out-loud funny. She worked for Obama for more than a decade, which included his years in the White House as well as his time as a United States Senator. You will get to know Obama as well as the author, who honestly describes her love life as well as her struggle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The story about her IBS attack at the Vatican is not to be missed. I love funny people with stomach problems and I miss Obama very much, too. Don’t forget to read this and always vote. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

My Days: Happy and Otherwise” By Marion Ross

When I was in elementary school and into high school, my dad was the television producer of such shows as “The Odd Couple, “ “Happy Days” and “Laverne & Shirley.” My dad loved his job, and wanted his children to see what he did for a living. We could visit the set of “Happy Days” as often as we liked and even bring friends from school. He said, however, that we could only visit the set of “Laverne & Shirley” on special occasions (like when one of my grandparents appeared on the show.). When I asked why we couldn’t visit “Laverne & Shirley” regularly, he said in his thick Bronx accent, “There is too much swearing going on! Penny and Cindy throw scripts at the writers’ heads, and it’s not pretty! They are not happy people. Stick with Happy Days. Those are hard working, happy people who don’t throw anything.” One of dad’s favorites on that show was Marion Ross, the author of this memoir “My Days.” Dad knew that if he put Marion in a scene with any other actor they would not only behave but also shine. When “Happy Days” started in 1974, Marion Ross was a 45 year-old-single mom with two young children, who had just divorced an alcoholic. She was cast as the mother on  “Happy Days,” which would become the Tuesday night at 8:00 P.M. hit show of the ‘70s featuring Richie, Fonzie, Potsie and Ralph. As the loveable Mrs. C, she not only bonded with the cast but she also set a shining example of what it is like to be a dedicated working actor, and loyal human being. It is not a surprise that Marion still remains friends with members of the “Happy Days” cast today at the age of 89. But her time spent on the Paramount lot is only part of this wonderful book. Before appearing on television, Marion was a stage and film actress working with such greats as Lauren Bacall and Noel Coward. In her early years of acting, she said she often felt like a fish out of water, having moved to California from rural Minnesota to follow her dream of becoming an actress. But her book demonstrates that if you keep trying, you can find your work family and even find your great love late in life as well. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that this book was as charming as Marion herself. To purchase this book on Amazon please click here.

The Narrow Space: A Pediatric Oncologist, His Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Patients, and a Hospital in Jerusalem” By Elisha Waldman

My daughter Lily helps raise money and awareness for research to help cure pediatric cancer. Many people ask me how she got involved in this subject and the answer is simple: social media. Sometimes, wonderful connections can happen that way. She read on Instagram and Facebook about a terminally ill little girl who subsequently died, and followed how her parents created a program in her memory called the Kyle Rowand Foundation. It raises money directed toward Neuroblastoma research. The subject of pediatric cancer and palliative medicine does not speak to everyone the same way, but for Lily and Dr. Elisha Waldman, it is a subject for which they are ready to fight for. “The Narrow Space” by Dr. Waldman is a beautifully written memoir that depicts, up close, what it is like to deal with young patients and their parents struggling to manage aggressive cancers. In this case, Waldman took his oncology practice to Israel, a country where he had roots. This book chronicles his journey as attending physician at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center.  Despite the economic and religious difference among his patients, their heartbreaking will to live and pleas not suffer at the end of life is universal. After seven years, Waldman decides to come back to America and build a new life for himself in Chicago. But it is clear from every page, that his time in Israel made him not only a more experienced doctor, but also a more patient and compassionate one, too.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I was on two airplanes last week and I brought this book along for the ride. On both legs of my journey I saw women on my flights reading this book. And those women who were not reading it, had recently devoured it. As I slipped into my aisle seat the woman in the middle of my row tapped my book cover and said, “Oh Eleanor! Oh Eleanor!” Clutching my large print edition from the Mill Valley library I said, “Yes, it is wonderful isn’t it?” The other woman said, “Yes but I’m really mad at Reese Witherspoon.” I said, “I said why are you mad at Reese?” as if we both knew the actress personally and saw her every Wednesday for lunch. “She bought the rights to the book and I just don’t see her as Eleanor.” Whether Reese can pull off Eleanor remains to be seen, but the fact is that this book is speaking to millions of woman this summer. As a card-carrying anxiety sufferer, any character who drinks vodka in a stylish OCD manor is a friend of mine. But there is so much more to Eleanor. She suffers from social anxiety, and thus protects herself by leading a lonely, isolated life. Except for her job in the finance department at a Glasgow, Scotland-based graphic design company, she has no friends or hobbies other than doing the crossword puzzle and planning her food for the day. Not until she meets a man at work named Raymond, who works in the IT department, does her life begins to change. For the first time, someone is able to not only see Eleanor’s potential through her damaged veil, but also help her come out of her clamshell as well.  The spirit of this book rings true in every page and it’s just sad that it had to end. Oh, Eleanor indeed! To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies” By Michael Ausiello

A book about anal cancer does not usually scream “Beach read!” However, in this case I would disagree. “Spoiler Alert The Hero Dies,” by Michael Ausiello describes itself as a “memoir about love, loss and other four letter words.” On the day of their wedding, at city hall, Ausiello’s partner photographer Christopher “Kit” Cowan is diagnosed with a rare form of neuroendocrine cancer. Eleven months later, Kit will be dead, but that does not take away from the power and the glory of this funny and poignant memoir. Ausiello was no stranger to the spotlight himself, as he is a long-time television columnist, senior writer at TV Guide, and founder of the website TVline.com. He was together with Cowan for more than 13 years until the cancer diagnosis, and rather than pull them apart, the prognosis brought them closer together.  Some of the best passages in this book focus on the couple as they navigate the complicated sea of medical doctors one has to deal with following a terminal diagnosis. Ausiello is a terrific advocate for Cowan and even though you know the hero dies in the end, you are so happy he has love up until his last breath. This book is honest and heartbreaking, but more than anything else, just genuine down to its core. Humor helps people cope, and this book is a shining testament to the strength of laughter.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"Calypso” by David Sedaris

I hail from a heavy-duty line up of female driver. My grandmother once drove from Cincinnati to Los Angeles without stopping because she was jacked up on No-Doz. My mother regularly drives from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and only makes one stop at the Harris Ranch to go to the bathroom and have a quick class of champagne. Unfortunately, I did not get the Teflon driving gene. I drive from San Francisco to Palo Alto and can barely keep my eyes open. So last week, when Jeff and I drove to Tahoe, we decided wisely that he would do all the driving. However, when I fell asleep shortly after we passed Sacaramento I began to feel guilty. So I pulled out my secret weapon: “Calypso” the new audio book by one of my favorite authors David Sedaris. This book not only kept me awake all the way to Tahoe, it kept both of us laughing the whole ride. I have read every Sedaris book and this one does not disappoint. Whether he is talking about his love of picking up trash while logging miles on his fit bit or describing the humor of making a 47 city book tour in 45 days, he is funny, charming and just someone you would love to have as a friend. What is new about this book is that he turns his razor sharp humor on his partner, Hugh, as well as his dad and other family members. With the humor comes also heart breaking revelations about the loss of his mother and suicide of his sister Tiffany. I feel with each Sedaris book I get to know the author and his extended better and better. I only which he would write two books each summer instead of just one. To purchase this audio book on Amazon click here.

“Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Important of Imagination” by J.K. Rowling

My daughter Charlotte graduated from Northwestern University yesterday, succeeding her mother, father, aunt, uncle and grandfather before her. I am so proud that she not only graduated from college, but also discovered a passion for health communication and public health that will take her to study at Emory University in Atlanta for the next two years. When Charlotte walked the aisles of Ryan Field yesterday in the pouring rain, it made me think of this book, “Very Good Lives” by J.K. Rowling. This is a book-bound version of the commencement speech that Rollins gave in 2008 at Harvard University. Unlike most graduation speeches, the wizard behind the legendary Harry Potter series did not talk about success, but rather learning to appreciate failure. This was, I’m almost certain, one of the last books my dad read. He did not read books like normal people. Friends would give him a book and he would read a few chapters and be done because he had so many scripts to read. But he did read this book and passed it along to me because he loved it so much. It mirrored his own motto said best by Samuel Beckett, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter.  Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” My father worked so hard for the successes he had in television and film, but he was the first one to point out his failures because he learned from them. He would often introduce himself as, “The man who created the TV series ‘Me and the Chimp,” or, “The man who wrote ‘The Roast,’ the shortest running play in the history of the Winter Garden Theatre.” Like my dad, Rowling learned that the goal in life is not to succeed or fail every time, but to try, and try again and again to follow your dreams. I gave Charlotte her grandfather’s copy of this book last tonight to celebrate her bright future.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“Forever. . . A Novel” by Judy Blume

My writing partner, Joe, was up in San Francisco last weekend and we spent four days working on a new project. We have written 10 produced fairy tale plays and have been writing together for more than 15 years. The way we write together has never changed: I sit and type on the computer while Joe walks around, talking out loud as we brainstorm. I have a primary book bench in my apartment where I have towers of books. However, I also have a standing glass case of books that are locked with a key. “Why are these books in here and not on the bench?” Joe said over the weekend during one of our writing sessions. I said “because those are the books that are the special ones.” He said, “I thought so.” Locked in this glass case for safe keeping is this book: “Forever” by Judy Blume. Published in 1975, the original hard copy book cost $6.95, and I still have its original dust jacket. I was only 12 years old in 1975, surely far too young to read a book about a girl having sex with a boy for the first time. But that was the point of daring to read “Forever,” wasn’t it? My mom boldly said I could read it and even bought it for me, while other mothers would not let their daughters read it. It appears on the American Library Association’s list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000. I consider myself one of the lucky ones because I remember how thrilling it was to open the pages of this book and read something that was forbidden to some. In this technological age of gadgets large and small, it is almost magical to think that a bound book with an unmade bed on the cover caused such a stir in 1975. Whenever I walk by the glass case and see “Forever” peeking out, I still feel 12 inside all over again. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

“American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Trials and Crimes of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

More than 10 years ago my friend Page moved from San Francisco to London. Right before she left she gave me a gift. “On Thursday mornings show up at this house at 8:15 am, and a woman named Jennifer will come out and hike with you.” I said ok, and I have now been walking with Jennifer every Thursday since, except when it rains because I hike in the rain but she does not. While we are walking in the Presidio, Jennifer and I talk about our children, movies and our shared love for Suze Orman. We also talk about books, and recently she recommended this one: “American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnappings, Trials and Crimes of Patty Hearst” by Jeffrey Toobin. Jennifer had just seen the documentary about this book, and loved it. I have to say at first I was quite skeptical. On the one hand, I lived through the kidnapping, and although I was 11 years old at the time, I remember watching the story unfold on the news as I peered over my mother’s shoulder. On the other hand, I wondered “haven’t we already found out everything there is to know about this story?”  The answer is no. Toobin comes at the story with new eyes, and fresh angles emerge as he combs over the timeline, rich with so many details. Much like “The Season of the Witch” by David Talbot, we get to see what San Francisco was really like during the 1970s and 1980s, and you will read this book in awe and amazement. To think that a group of DIY radicals called the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped a wealthy Cal Berkeley senior, and then proceed to transform her into one of their own, crowing her “Tania” is a crazy premise to begin with. And yet, that is just in the first few pages. The year-long odyssey unfolds in front of not only her parents and the residents of San Francisco, but the rest of the world as well. “American Heiress” is a fascinating book and a historical document that portrays what America felt like during such a tumultuous time. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.