I’ve spent way too much time in waiting rooms, in line for school pick-ups, or in airports waiting for a delayed flight, to suffer without a delicious book to read. A delicious book is one that causes me to read the last chapters slowly because the characters have become my friends and I am sad to say goodbye. Whether I am reading a provoking memoir, a quiet love story, or a who-done-it thriller, I want the characters to touch my mind, body, heart and soul.

These books have invited me to travel in time to a far-away place, caused me to wonder what would happen if I were to run away from home, or set me on the streets of LA into a world where justice is sometimes seen at the end of a knife.

A Gentleman from Moscow by Amor Towles

In 1922, a Russian count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol Hotel across the street from the Kremlin and must watch from inside as Russian history unfolds. I was hooked when a precocious young girl in a yellow dress asks the Count if he has ever met a princess, and he responds by inviting her to join him at his table to talk over the matter.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Harold Fry, recently retired, lives in a small English village. When a letter arrives, addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl, from a woman he hasn’t heard from in twenty years, Harold sets out to mail off a quick reply. But a chance encounter convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message in person, setting him on a 600-mile pilgrimage of self-discovery. The Love Song of Queenie Hennessey is an equally endearing and witty sequel.

Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle

For twenty years, Father Gregory Boyle has run Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles—also known as the gang capital of the world. In Tattoos on the Heart, he has distilled his experience working in the ghetto into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith. There are so many beautiful lessons of love, hope, and forgiveness packed into this extraordinary memoir.  I’ve handed out many copies to friends and family.

Happy Reading!

~Kristin