Some of my clients have felt guilty when reading fiction for pleasure. They have felt that they “should” be reading business books or learning how to use a new computer application. Many clients choose to read biographies of people whom they admire as a kind of mid-point between pleasure reading and reading business books.
“Pleasure” is the operative word. What do you enjoy? As a child and teenager, I read every biography I could put my hands on. The stories were amazing, and the experience was definitely pleasurable.
Choose fields of interest and then research biographies of prominent people in those fields. Classic biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, Ernest Hemingway, and Alexander the Great are among those which made a big impression on me in the past.
Historical fiction is another way to read for pleasure, but also learn. The most recent winner of The Booker Prize is Hilary Mantel whose book, “Wolf Hall,” has received rave reviews and is being celebrated for its deeply researched and historically accurate depiction of life in Tudor England.
Please share your favorite biographies and historical fiction with our group and read!
PS: Another great fiction recommendation from a different reader in Florida:
“The Monuments Men…Robert Edsel……recovering the art treasures ,stolen by the Nazis during WW2….fascinating.”