10 influential women share their summer reads
Their top picks — plus a couple of ours — for page-turners
Before you start packing for that six-hour flight with a layover, take a look at what these women are reading.
Along with The Washington Post, we curated picks from a group of bibliophiles. We reached out to these celebrities and writers via Twitter, Instagram and email.
Here are their top picks — plus a couple of ours — for summer page-turners. Some of these are thoughtful reads, others are just plain fun.
1. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Author of “Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions”
A history about the untold migration of black citizens who fled the South.
“I’m planning to read Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘The Warmth of Other Suns,’ which I have been saving to read for a while and am very much looking forward to.”
2. Ivanka Trump
First daughter and adviser to the president
“I always have a couple of books on my bedside table”:
“The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates” by Wes Moore
Two boys named Wes Moore were born blocks apart, but their lives took a very different turn.
“Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women” by Claudia Goldin
The history of America’s female labor force and how it evolved.
“I also have Andrea Beaty’s ‘Rosie Revere, Engineer,’ my daughter’s favorite book.”
3. Rachel Lindsay
The Bachelorette (Season 13)
A memoir by Nike’s founder.
“I am reading ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight. I am reading this book because it is about hard work and taking risks. I feel that this is exactly the place I am in my life. Knight clearly has a success story and it was accomplished through hard work and by taking risks.”
4. Diane Guerrero
Actress in “Jane the Virgin” and “Orange Is the New Black”
A moving nonfiction about being black in America.
“At the moment, I’m reading ‘Between the World and Me’ by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I’m reading this because I need a clearer sense of America’s past and present. It is illuminating and also affirms so much of my position.”
5. Tana French
Author of “The Trespasser”
A group of four gets pulled into a mesmerizing yet haunted house.
“I’m finally going to finish Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House.’ No one does eeriness like Shirley Jackson; no one breaks down the boundaries of your reality and draws you into hers with quite the same inexorable power.”
6. Emma Cline
Author of “The Girls”
A young woman abandons her principles after a spellbound encounter with a man.
“I’m reading ‘Willful Disregard,’ by a Swedish novelist, Lena Andersson. It’s an excruciating and very smart examination of a one-sided love affair.”
7. Ann Patchett
Author of “Commonwealth”
Two fictional families’ children go missing during a cruise.
“I’ll want a book that’s thrilling and artful, a true page-turner that will leave me feeling smart, so I’ll read Maile Meloy’s ‘Do Not Become Alarmed.’”
8. Diane Rehm
Radio personality
Books by Elizabeth Strout: This Pulitzer-prize winner is known for writing strong female leads and their relationships.
“I’m totally hooked on Elizabeth Strout. First I reread ‘My Name is Lucy Barton.’ Now I’m reading ‘Amy and Isabelle’ and finishing up her latest, ‘Anything Is Possible.’ Her characters, their stories, their interwoven lives have me mesmerized.”
9. Neema Roshania Patel
Deputy editor of The Lily
An undocumented mother disappears one day, setting off a lifetime of pain for her son.
“I’m reading ‘The Leavers,’ by Lisa Ko. Ko takes the reader on an incredible journey of abandonment, loyalty and love, showing us the deeply personal ripple effects of impersonal policy. I was hooked from page one.”
10. Amy King
Editor and creative director of The Lily
A woman travels to meet the younger version of her late husband (and his family she didn’t know existed).
“‘The Magician’s Assistant’ by Ann Patchett. I’ve been spending time with Sabine, a former magician’s assistant, as she deals with the losses of her husband Parsifal, the magician, and his lover Phan. Like all books I love, this one leaves me marveling at how life can be at once so sad and so beautiful.”
