5 Heart Reads
3 min readJul 5, 2019
It’s been so long since I’ve done a 5 Heart Rating post that I had to answer security questions just to sign in! So for my very first post in a while, I’m going to do something a little different and share my favorite 5 Heart-rated books you may want to consider for your summer reading list. Here they are in no particular order. And I should mention I listened to all of them on Audible (another 5 Heart Rating):
- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (fiction based on true story)
- Spaceman by Mike Massimino (reading this now — so good)
- The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday (I read a chapter each day)
- A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston (interesting guy)
- American Values by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (wish every American would read)
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (reality still)
- Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance (also wish every American would read)
- Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh (simple practice of peace)
- The Dead Drink Last by Dale Maharidge (another I wish every American would read)
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Borrows (movie’s good too)
- The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty (I’m a BB fan plus I love pearls)
- Beauty by John O’Donohue (a masterpiece, fav of all time)
- Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (I want to visit Vinci in Italy)
- Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins (warning: lottsa language)
- My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan (a novel)
- Righteous by Joe Ide (amazing narration on Audible!)
- Gut by Giulia Enders (took me 60 years to learn much of what’s in this book — very informative)
- The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter (fav narration of all time)
- Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (100% AB)
- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (enthralling saga)
- Red Notice by Bill Browder (Magnitsky Act)
- Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar (true story)
- Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth (series is good too)
- IQ by Joe Ide (another great narration by same narrator)
- My Life in France by Julia Child (I love JC)
- Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover (true story)
- The Girl with All the Gifts by MR Carey (post-acropolyptic thriller)
- Beneath the Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan (excellent!)
- Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (true story behind the creation of Nike)
- When the Air Hits Your Brain by Frank T Vertosick, Jr, MD (evolution of a neurosurgeon)
- The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (great read)
- The Book of Joy by Douglas Carlton Abrams, Dalai Lama, and Desmond Tutu (beautiful read)
- The Flyboys by James Bradley (true story of courage)
- The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis (the human mind oh my!)
- Born A Crime by Trevor Noah (read it twice so far)
- Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (100% Steve Martin)
- Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim (great read)
- Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (movie is excellent too!)
- 10% Happier by Dan Harris (not just another book on meditation)
- Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town (another must-read)
- Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming (raw)
- Rosemary by Kate Clifford Larson (the Kennedy fam is fascinating — I can relate in so many ways)
- A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara (not for the faint of heart)
- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (posthumously published)
- Poland: A Novel by James A Michener (I’m Polish so this novel was especially interesting to me)
- Centennial: A Novel by Jame A Michener (interesting to learn about our history)
- Yes Please by Amy Poehler (entertaining)
- Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon (first novel I read many years ago and again recently on Audible)
- Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance (I love EM)
- American Sniper by Jim DeFelice, Scott McEwan, Chris Kyle (true story)
- Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (great read)
- Still Alice by Lisa Genova (movie is really good too)
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Pulitzer winner)
- New York by Edward Rutherford (read this while daughter lived in NYC)
- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (another fav of all time, very difficult read especially given my relationship to Japan)
- Hi Bob! by Bob Newhart (I love BN)
- Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
- Maid by Stephanie Land
Originally published at JEAN OSHIMA.