Best Book Recommendations

November 18, 2015 , In: Books, Design, Living , With: No Comments

29th July 1965: Cockney tough-guy actor Michael Caine reading a copy of the Evening News. (Photo by Stephan C. Archetti/Keystone Features/Getty Images)

I was so happy with all the book recommendations I received that I thought I would ask even more awesome women what they would recommend.

Their recommendations are truly inspiring and now I have a huge wish list to buy for.

Gabriella di Stefano, Founder and Owner, Tuta et Coco

The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami.

“Every time I get new shoes, it takes me a while to get used to their noise”.

I have always devoured Haruki Murakami’s books. I love the familiarity and intrigue of his words and how the story always gets trapped in my brain. The book is full of interesting incidents and characters which come from his wild imagination. I love how it removes me from my usual routine. It is also a wonderfully, unusually illustrated and designed book.

Best Book Recommendations | RoastedMontreal.com

Melissa Chan, Founder & Owner, Olive Branch & Co

My Ideal Bookshelf – Art by Jane Mount, Edited by Thessaly La Force

One of my favourite things to talk about is books, including what people are reading lately or what books they’d recommend, and this book is exactly that. Recommended for an appreciator of books, illustration, and their power, it’s a deep but beautiful rabbit hole of the booklists of makers and shakers in today’s culture, including writers, chefs, actors, and all kinds of artists. The “ideal bookshelves” are so beautifully (and accurately!) illustrated, which is such a reminder of the lost appreciation and beauty of book designs. This book is really such a gem for any book lover, because it’s about an appreciation of books and how they shape us and help us discover our place in the world. So while you won’t be jump into another world, it’s more of a portal to help you discover other great reads – my to read booklist is certainly much, much longer now!

Maxine Grossman, Founder and Owner, Maxine Grossman Personal Training

I loved reading novels. Especially historical fiction setting tragic life stories against realistic backdrops. Loved in the past tense not because I don’t still, but because I just can’t seem to get past two pages since I had two kids! Maybe that’s why I’ve only finished two novels in the last two years… That doesn’t include the countless novels I’ve started… so these were the two that were so beautiful and captivating that they cut through the noise. I found myself sneaking in pages before breakfast, during kids’ bath time, and anywhere in between.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles tells the story of high and low society clashing, crashing and falling in love in Manhattan during the great depression. The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson is a gripping and gruesome sneak peek into life in North Korea, as told through one man’s journey as orphan, captive, military hero, political cadre, and lover. Oh, and it won the 2013 Pulitzer prize.

Best Book Recommendations | RoastedMontreal.com

Marie-Annick Boisvert, Founder and Owner, Marianik
If you’re about to head out on vacation and you love tennis or autobiographies I highly recommend Open by André Agassi. Malgré ses 350 pages, vous dévorerez ce livre. C’est une autobiographie passionnante, saluons la qualité de l’écriture narrative de J.R Moceringer, journaliste New Yorkais, lauréat de Pulitzer en 2000. / Despite the 350 pages, you will absolutely devour this book. It’s a wonderfully addictive biography written by J.R. Moceringer who is a New York-based journalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2000.

Vous serez déstabilisé par quelques révélations. Comme le fait qu’il n’aime pas le tennis ( le livre débute ainsi), la saga entourant sa chevelure légendaire et sa consommation de drogue. Mais ce sont les pages consacrées à son enfance qui sont les plus poignantes. Une enfance volée. / Some of the revelations are truly stunning. For example, Agassi doesn’t really like tennis (the opening shocker), the saga around his legendary hair and his drug abuse. It’s the revelations that surround his childhood that really pierce the heart. His childhood was essentially stolen from him.

Personally, I am a tennis fan, a tennis player and part of the generation that followed Agassi’s career so I truly enjoyed reading about his journey and delving into the world of so many tennis players.

Best Book Recommendations | RoastedMontreal.com

Joanie Gregoire, Founder and Owner, Match My Child
My favorite book of all time is Catch Me If You Can. Je sais que plusieurs ont vu le film, mais le livre est bien meilleur! C’est impressionnant de voir tout ce que cet homme a accomplis! Je suis une vrai fanatique d’histoires vraies et c’est certainement l’histoire la plus incroyable que j’ai lue. / I know that many of you have seen the film, but the book is much better. It’s quite astonishing to see what this man was able to accomplish. I’m a real fan of true stories and this is by far the most incredible true story that I’ve read.

Thank-you ladies for your advice!

Do you have any books you’d like to recommend?

Want more?

: Books I’ve Been Reading

: Best Cookbooks

: Best Books

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