49. Our Favorite Books of 2025
“It made me start thinking in a different way and questioning things I had taken for granted.”
Tara and Tina are big readers who come from a family where books are always part of the conversation. They love sharing opinions about what they’ve read, what they’re reading now, and what’s next on their list.
Last season, they recorded an episode discussing their favorite books of the previous year (episode #27), and had so much fun they decided to make it a tradition. In today’s episode, they reflect on the books from 2025 that touched them, entertained them, and made an impact—both fiction and nonfiction. They also share a few books they’re looking forward to reading in the year ahead.
Their hope is to inspire you to reflect on the books you enjoyed this past year and walk away with a few new additions to your reading list.
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Christina Donovan: Welcome to Messy Middlesence.
This is a podcast where we talk honestly about the changes to challenges, connections and gifts that come with midlife.
Nothing too polished, just real conversations that remind us we're not alone.
So let's dive in.
This is Christina Ortina Conti Donovan, and I'm here with my sister,
Tara Conti Bansal.
Welcome to Messy Middlescence. We are doing our second annual talk about books that we loved this past year.
Tara and I are big readers. We come from a family of readers and books are always a part of our conversation whenever we get together. And whoever is present, there are always books being talked about.
And we, I guess it was last season,
did a episode where we talked about our favorite books of the previous year and we felt like it was worthwhile and wanted to repeat that.
So we're going to basically just spend a few minutes talking about the books that touched us and made an impression on us.
Both fiction and Tara has some nonfiction.
And this episode, this time we're actually going to also add some books that we are looking forward to reading this upcoming year that we know either we didn't get to this past year or are coming out and will be released in in 2026.
Tara, I know you have more books than I do on your list. Do you want to start?
Sure.
Tara Bansal: And I'll do one and then you can do one. We can kind of go back and forth.
The book I'm going to start with is the most recent read and I read it to just at the end of the year.
Part of me was wondering how much because two of my three books were right at the end of the year and how much of it was recency bias. But both of them are on, I feel like many lists.
So my first book is Heart the Lover by Lily King.
This was our book club book and the wait list for it at my library was like 14 or 18 weeks or something ridiculous. So I ended up buying the Kindle version.
And it's a literary love story that begins with an intense college relationship and traces how first love, friendship, regret and forgiveness reverberate across adulthood.
It's intimate and reflective and emotionally precise.
I have never read anything by her before and I.
I enjoyed her writing.
To me, especially the part at college was so,
I don't know, real and I just.
Christina Donovan: It.
Tara Bansal: It's a kind of sad book and yet it's an emotional book. But I really did love it.
Christina Donovan: Yeah, I have not read this.
I love Lily King. I've read her other books. I am still on a wait list at my library to get this particular book. And I have read a lot about it, and hearing how much Tara Love.
Loves it, loved it.
Makes me even more excited to read it.
I read her Writers and Lovers, which is the book before this one, and I don't know, there were things in that book that just really reflected to me a period of my life.
And for me, it was after I graduated college and I was taking classes in New York and working, and.
I don't know,
the character is in that similar phase. And the way she describes it and the difficulties and the stresses,
I found super realistic and really resonated in my memories of that period of my life. So, yeah, I think she's a terrific writer, and I'm excited to read it.
Yeah.
Tara Bansal: One of the things. Well, we can talk about this after you read it, but is how.
Christina Donovan: You.
Tara Bansal: Don'T know the name of the character until the very end.
And I thought that was really interesting.
One of the things that stood out to me in the book was the way the main character saw herself and then the way other people saw her I thought was very interesting.
And, you know, just reflective also of how we don't always see.
See ourselves the way other people see us.
Yes.
Christina Donovan: That's an interesting perception when it happens. I don't know. I'm so excited to read it, and now I'm a little nervous that it's been built up too much.
Tara Bansal: Yeah. And that's part of what I hate is on any of these is, like.
I'm sure most of us have experienced, like, books are so built up, and then you read it and you're kind of like, just, why did everyone love this so much?
Christina Donovan: Yeah.
Well, my number one read for 2025 we've talked about on so many episodes, because I keep talking about it was Wild Dark Shore. And so I'm not gonna talk about it here, but that was definitely the standout book for me.
I mean, I've talked about it in a bunch of different episodes.
But the book that.
I guess my next favorite book of 2025 was called the Listeners,
which is by. I'm not sure how to pronounce her last name. It's Maggie Stiefader,
and she's actually a young adult author,
and this was her first adult debut novel.
And it's an unusual book. I'm not sure it's for everyone.
I loved was one of those books not suspenseful in the sense that I couldn't put it down, but I just enjoyed the world that she created,
and I actually Gave it to my mother to read.
And I don't think my mother. I think she liked it. I don't think she loved it.
But it's a historical fiction novel that blends. Magical realism is the term I read.
So it has some.
I guess. I don't know how to describe it, like, fantastical things in it,
but it takes place in a West Virginia luxury hotel called the Avalon, shortly after Pearl Harbor.
So it's during World War II, and is the story of how the hotel has to host detained Axis diplomats. So German, Japanese and Italian diplomats are sort of put into this hotel and sequestered.
Sequestered until they can be basically removed from the United States.
And there's a couple different main characters. The main one is a woman who runs the hotel.
And I don't know, I just. I love the characters. I love the writing.
And the author,
I don't know, she portrays America in a way that, to me,
I just found very unusual.
The workers at this hotel and the people that are there, the Americans,
um,
they have an optimism and a pride and a.
I don't know, this sense of.
I don't know how to describe it exactly, but I found it very un. Just different from a lot of other books that I've read.
And that, to me, was a big part of it, too, that. The way she portrayed the Americans in this particular setting. But I don't know, it was fun. It was different.
And,
yeah, I. I recommend trying it. Like I said, I'm not sure it's for everybody.
It definitely held my interest and was one of my top books.
Tara Bansal: It sounds really interesting. Do you know how much of it was based on.
Christina Donovan: It's most. I mean, it is true that that piece is. Definitely happened and it's factual and they know it.
But one of the things that.
In West Virginia and actually in Western Pennsylvania, they had these,
you know, spring mineral springs, spa resorts, and a lot of these luxury hotels were built around them.
And that's where.
Tara Bansal: It'S.
Christina Donovan: The springs or the waters have this sort of mystical element that.
That's what brings sort of this. What they call the magical realism piece to it.
And again, it's. It makes it interesting and just different. But, yeah, I love even just reading the different personalities of some of the diplomats.
And another wrinkle in it is there's FBI agents there that are actually listening in on the diplomats to try to get information for the United States. And, yeah, it has all these different components, and they're all different, but the writing was so good.
The characters are Just the way she describes them.
Tara Bansal: I don't know.
Christina Donovan: It was so fun to read her writing and. Yeah. So if you haven't read it, I recommend trying it. But again, I understand it might not be for everyone.
Tara Bansal: I think it sounds incredible and. Well, I feel like you do much such a better job, Tina, than I do in describing the book.
Christina Donovan: Not sure that's true at all. Yeah, that's. So had you heard of the book, Terry?
Tara Bansal: I feel like I vaguely have heard of it, but I didn't know what it was about.
Christina Donovan: I mean, it was reviewed by the Times, New York Times, but I haven't seen a lot of press on it.
Tara Bansal: And what's the author's other books? Because I feel like that's how I want to look up the author.
Christina Donovan: I did not recognize any of the young adult books. One of them is called Scorpio Rising. I think that's her biggest,
which almost sounds like a Hunger Games type of book.
But, yeah,
this was a fun read and I hope she writes more.
Tara Bansal: Books like this just came out this past year. It was new.
Christina Donovan: Its release date was June of 2025.
Tara Bansal: So it was new, but great.
Yeah, I'm putting that on my list.
My second favorite book,
which is, I feel like, all over the place and has had its breakout,
is called the Correspondent by Virginia Evans. And I mentioned this,
I think, in the Favorite Things episode. So I don't want to go on too much.
I can't remember if I said this back then, but it did remind me of.
I really like the Olive Kittering.
Is that how you say it?
Christina Donovan: Her books. Kitteridge.
Tara Bansal: Yeah, Kitteridge books. And this in some way reminded me of those. And I'm not sure if it's the character or.
Christina Donovan: I mean, it is an eccentric older woman.
Tara Bansal: Yeah.
So I.
Once again, this book held my interest. It makes you feel for the characters.
And Tina and I talked about this last time, like, I enjoyed the letter format and I know not everybody does, but it.
And I also loved the discussion of books and her interaction with the authors, too.
But I've recommended this and given it to a few people as gifts,
but I do feel like it's everywhere.
Christina Donovan: Like, I mean, I love the Correspondent, too.
I think if people haven't read it, they should. Yeah.
And it's funny because the thing that you loved so much or that you talked about in Heart the Lover,
there's a thing through this book that you don't know who she's writing to until the very end that kind of reminded me of it.
Tara Bansal: It's like a mystery of. Yeah. Like what?
Christina Donovan: Yeah, there's sort of this unknown that then at the end you find the solution to the puzzle or the question of who she's writing to. Yeah.
That book has a lot of fun things in it, too, like sort of the cameos of the different authors she writes to. And I love that Ann Patchett wrote her back, you know.
Yeah.
Tara Bansal: And I love. I feel like I heard that it was because of Ann Patchett that this book got the publicity that it did, was that she featured it on her,
you know, bookstore videos, which I sometimes watch, and that really helped people.
Christina Donovan: It could be. I know I had. I think I said this in our Favorite Things episode, but I started seeing it on People's Favorites lists throughout the year, and I really was resistant to reading it because I hate the letter format.
But I finally. My library had it and I got it out.
I understood all the.
All the hoopla about it after I read it, but I want to.
Tara Bansal: Like, I gave it to Nimit and he read it. So the fact that. But about 75 pages in Nimit was like, I don't think this book is for me.
And I was like, okay.
Christina Donovan: You know, but. Yeah.
Tara Bansal: So for those of you that start it and hesitate, he's. He did finish it, and he is glad he finished it, but it took him a little while before he was finally in, I would say, you know, so that could happen.
But what was one of your next ones that you.
Christina Donovan: The next one I have is Buckeye by Patrick Ryan.
Tara Bansal: That's on my. I'm waiting for.
Christina Donovan: Yeah.
I mean, this is a book that's been on a lot of best lists.
It's by Patrick Ryan, and it is one of those books that, I mean, it takes place in Ohio. The setting is important.
It's one of those sort of historically sweeping novels. It takes place over a long period of time, and it basically follows two families.
And in one of the reviews I read,
it said it's, quote, a reminder of the deep pleasure of following a cast of characters over their entire lives through births, deaths, marriages, tragedies and reconciliations.
It tells the story of two couples who meet or who marry during World War II, and kind of it follows them for decades afterwards.
Not all the characters are likable,
But it's interesting the way he writes about the characters. Even though you don't like them, I don't know you.
You're interested in them.
And it's not a happy book. Like, there's a lot of sadness in it,
but overall,
I don't know. I enjoyed it. Again, it's similar to the Listeners.
It wasn't a suspenseful book, but I always was excited to delve back into it. And it's definitely. It's a long read, but it's a worthwhile one.
Tara Bansal: That's.
Like I said, that's one of those that I am on the wait list at the library and I've heard from several people that it is a book worth reading and they highly recommended it.
So that's good.
The next one I had, and I read this,
I think early in the year, so it was no longer Recency Bias, but the storied life of A.J. flickery.
I made that. But by Gabrielle Zevin.
So I didn't know that that author wrote Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow.
And this is very different.
Christina Donovan: Is it before? This is a book published before it was.
Tara Bansal: Yeah.
And I don't know,
as I've said before, Nimit makes fun of me that there's so many books I can't read because they're too upsetting for me or I get frustrated with the characters.
And this has.
I mean, kind of. He's not old, but like a grumpy young man who has been through loss and it's a really sweet,
positive,
feel good story at the end.
Bottom line, it stayed with me and something that I thoroughly enjoyed and I keep going back to it in its lightness,
you know, even though I've never heard of it.
Christina Donovan: Yeah. Something I never even heard you mention it until now. So. Yeah, check that out.
Tara Bansal: It came recommended to me. There's this one woman in my book club that we always liked the same books and so she was the one.
Christina Donovan: There you go.
Tara Bansal: Yeah. And it was spot on. It was, you know, one of those that wasn't heavy, but it felt like there was some depth to it too, so.
Christina Donovan: So I'm excited to. To try that.
So we picked my three top books, the Listeners, Wild Dark Shore and Buckeye. My Honorable mention.
Kind of a book that I loved, but I don't know, wasn't in my top three is the river is Waiting by Wally Lamb and Tara. I know you can't read this book.
It's.
It's a really difficult read.
It's about a young man, he's a new father who has a tragic accident involving one of his children caused by his addiction.
And he is sent to prison.
And it's mostly about his time in prison,
you know, where he.
He seeks atonement and redemption.
The subject matter is hard, the descriptions are hard,
and it has it has one of those endings that just kind of. You go, well,
I'm glad I read it.
It shows you a side,
particularly in prison life, that I think is important.
I think it's accurate. I think it's realistic.
Yeah. It's described as kind of an unflinching look at suffering.
And I don't know too many other people that have read it.
I know that it got a lot of press coverage and it's one of Oprah's book club picks.
But, yeah, I think if you're.
Tara Bansal: I like him as an author, so.
Christina Donovan: I. Yeah, I've read his other books,
so I think it's definitely worth trying.
If, you know, you do not like upsetting books.
I wouldn't venture towards this one, but I think if you can get through it,
it's definitely. You'll be happy you did.
Tara Bansal: It sounds like one I should read, but I'm not sure I could.
Christina Donovan: Yeah,
there's a lot in there,
and there are some feel good parts. Like, it's not, you know, I think if it were just one awful thing after another, it would be impossible to read. But,
I mean, there are some parts that are uplifting.
But, yeah, it's a difficult read, but definitely worthwhile.
Yeah.
Tara Bansal: So my honorable mention and I keep going back and forth on how I feel about this book, but it's called the Names by Florence Knapp,
and I'm glad I read.
Was upsetting also, and I know some people who haven't been able to read it. It's about domestic violence,
and there are some really hard parts. But I did. I got through it. So I feel like if I can get through it, almost anyone can, which isn't necessarily true,
but I loved how different it was.
So the story is a mother has a child and there's three stories in it, and she names the child,
you know, one of these three names. And then it follows that story of the kind of repercussions from naming her child that every seven years until I can't even think of, you know, at the end.
And each of the stories are vastly different in the implications from the name, both for the child and for the mother in her life.
And I just thought it was really interesting and I liked a little bit. I had sometimes a hard time of tracking because it was like three different stories with the same characters.
But it went back and forth and held my interest.
Like I said, I enjoyed how it made me think.
And it was just a very different type of book than others.
In a way, it reminded me of Choose Your own adventure. But it was like three stories that Heather did.
Christina Donovan: Three different paths. Yeah.
Tara Bansal: That were followed. So that was my honorable mention. And I feel like I've seen that a fair amount.
Christina Donovan: Yes, I've heard of it, although I think I first heard of it from you. But I've heard other people speak of that book and talk about it.
I'd like to read.
Sounds interesting.
Tara Bansal: Yeah.
Christina Donovan: And it sounds like.
It sounds like it might be hard for a woman who is pregnant. Like, you never want that much pressure on the name of the child that you choose. But.
Yeah.
Tara Bansal: Well, that's the three names. One is the name she wanted, one is the name her husband wanted, and then the other is the name her older child wanted.
And they're all. I think Bear is what the sister wanted.
I can't remember the. The other was just a junior, the same name as the father.
And then I think Julian was the name that she really wanted.
And it takes place in England,
so.
But yeah, even, like, some friendships stayed the same, some didn't. And then you also see what stays.
What stays the same within the character. The main right of, like, who he really was and how that was came out or reflected.
So it was really interesting.
Should I do some of my nonfiction, or do you want to go to our. Yeah.
Christina Donovan: I was saying to Tara before we started recording,
I usually. I always read more fiction than nonfiction. Just generally that's the way I am. But I didn't really read any nonfiction that stood out to me this.
This particular year. So I personally didn't have any nonfiction to contribute. But I know Tara has.
Has some. So.
Tara Bansal: Yeah.
And one I mentioned in our Favorite Things episode. But this is a book I've given to a lot of people as gifts. It's the Five Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom.
And I just like the concept that there's so many areas of our life to focus on and.
And I think it relates here to messy middlescence of, like, depending on what phase of your life,
you may prioritize your relationships or finances or your social,
you know, and just.
Or your family. How things can change and need to change because of kind of the requirements of your life as it. As you go through the different seasons.
So I do recommend that. I think there's lots of different things to try. Like, I like that it almost gives a menu of time management strategies and then even, like, around finances.
So it's not one,
you know, one solution for all, but it's like you can look at different offerings and try different ones, which I Also thought was nice and I, I get his newsletter and I have to say I feel like it is one of the highest value things I feel like I get in my inbox.
Christina Donovan: Ah, that's quite a statement.
Tara Bansal: Yeah, it's.
It's almost too often he does three articles a week and I don't read them.
I wait until the weekend and he says in case do you miss it? And then he gives the three there.
But yeah, I. I just feel like he gives very high quality information that generally is only a couple minute read.
And I get that this is one of my things. Right. Like I love making things better.
Christina Donovan: I mean I read this book too and I definitely got lot out of it.
I think just the idea that it gives you a.
A wider or more expansive view of wealth. I mean, I think particularly in our society you say wealth and people think of one thing. But yeah, it kind of gives a.
A different perspective on it that's worth reading and I think it'.
Tara Bansal: That's my philosophy too. Right. Like just wealth isn't money. It's all about the other parts of it. Your time and relationships and things like that.
Another one that.
Because of what I do. Yes, this is related, but is the Serviceberry.
So this is by Robin Wall Kimmer. And one of my favorite books of all time was written by her.
And this one is super short.
I mean I.
I think it's a short, sweet book. Yeah, it's a short, sweet book, but I,
I loved it because it got you thinking differently of the capital markets and the economies and.
And I hate just the.
If I win, you lose.
And this is very much like how can we look with a bigger perspective and using nature as an example of how we all can help each other and everybody wins.
Christina Donovan: Yeah, I love her too. She. She just has such a unique outlook on things and she makes you think and.
Tara Bansal: But she's a beautiful writer.
Christina Donovan: She is.
Tara Bansal: Yeah. Yeah. The book, I couldn't think of it but Braiding Sweetgrass, I know we talked about. Oh yeah, that was.
Christina Donovan: Yeah. Otherwise. Yeah, that's her first or that was sort of her big breakout. Maybe she might have other.
Tara Bansal: Yeah,
it is well worth the read for that.
The other nonfiction and this I listen to but is Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. It has a longer title, but I just think of it as Abundance once again for me.
And I don't read the news like you do, Tina, but this book I felt like taught me things and got me to think of things in a very different way.
And it's just around the housing crisis and why that has happened. And it even talked about,
you know,
the amazing miracle almost of the COVID vaccine and how great that was.
And I don't know, I just really enjoyed this book because once again, it made me start thinking in a different way and questioning different things that I feel like I've always kind of taken for granted.
And it,
I feel like it in a way is not very complementary to the right or the left.
And yet I don't know,
it's just like I feel like a little bit trying to look for solutions in a possible way.
So I don't know.
I generally don't follow politics and I'm very not don't enjoy that at all.
But this book I think was good for me and it said yeah, based on your.
Christina Donovan: You talked to me after you read it. And it's on my list of things to read. I mean, I listen to Ezra Klein. He is a podcast that I don't listen to regularly, but I do when he has topics that I find interesting, I will tune in.
And I do think he's an interesting thinker.
Tara Bansal: Yeah.
And that this also kind of relates to the service Barry.
But of shifting to. To instead of scarcity and limitation to abundance and. And it's a very different mindset that most of us don't have and how.
How that could be possible and presenting,
you know, big ideas that.
Christina Donovan: Yeah.
Tara Bansal: Only two more but the Art of Spending Money this is written by Morgan Housel and it.
This of course interests me. I'm a big, huge Morgan Housel fan.
I would say I did not like this as much as the Psychology of Money,
but I definitely liked it better than his second book, which I can't even think of at this.
Like, I wouldn't recommend reading his second book,
but this one just looks at the deeper kind of why and the uniqueness of all of our spending that there isn't any right way.
It's really more about what brings you joy and figuring out what is enough.
Like a lot of the same themes. I feel like that he's talked about before,
but just almost like exploring and digging a little deeper.
And I thought it.
I get that this is my thing, but I thought it was an enjoyable read.
Christina Donovan: This book is on my husband's nightstand because. Because I gave it to him. Ms. Tara gave it to him for Christmas. So when he finishes it, I'll probably.
Tara Bansal: Well, I'll be interested. I feel like Matt, Tina's husband, if he finishes it, that will be a huge. Because I don't think he generally reads that much?
Christina Donovan: Well, he likes to read nonfiction. Okay. So yeah, he doesn't really, but I.
Tara Bansal: Think of him as a very critical. Like he likes very, you know, high end, high quality, I would say nonfiction. I could be wrong. That's just my impression.
Christina Donovan: But yeah, we'll see. I'm excited to take a turn at it when he's done.
Tara Bansal: My last nonfiction was Brene Brown's strong ground.
When I heard about this,
I'm on Brene Brown's newsletter list and when I heard about it, it sounded like a lot of kind of regurgitation of her other things and pulling in materials from other authors, almost like she composite.
She pulled something in just to create a book was my impression. So I was not excited and I didn't read it for a while. Considering the Brene Brown fan I am,
I heard it recommended from this other financial advisor that I think very highly of.
And then Brene Brown did a podcast based on the book with Adam Grant.
And so I listened to that and it was a six part series I thoroughly enjoyed.
I like Adam Grant, I like Renee Brown, but if you're not even going to read the book, I would recommend listening to those podcasts.
One of my favorite topics was not just to reward effort. They were talking about how in society, especially students, like if you put in the effort, they expect they're going to get a good grade.
And Adam Grant was like, no,
I'm not just going to reward effort. I want to. It has to be quality output and there has to be consequences for that.
And just how,
I don't know, that can be a controversial idea.
Like because you do want to encourage people to make effort. But that, that's not just like the given that then everything will be good.
But I'm.
I don't know, I want to become a good leader and I personally feel like everyone who is in a family,
you have a leadership role.
Christina Donovan: And.
Tara Bansal: It brought up a lot of good ideas and one of them is like unlocking.
Brene actually went over to England for the locks and to understand how they work. And one of the things for that is you can't rush it. Like however long it takes for it to fill up is how long it takes.
And she related that to when we're doing a transition. Like when you first come home,
you may need some transition time instead of just like walking in the door and you have to take care of everything or into that other role. Yeah, you walk into a different environment and I just, that's an idea that has stuck with me to notice that and almost think of what you need and how you can do that.
When I worked from home for the first time, this was way back when, pre Covid and no commute.
I needed some transition time and I would walk around the neighborhood as my commute just to get some space and create some boundary of when I was working and when I was going back to my home life.
So it has a lot of good ideas.
And she pulled other people's work and I think related it or argued with it also in her own way.
So it wasn't just a regurgitation, I would say,
which is why I was.
Christina Donovan: Kind of ambivalent about it.
Tara Bansal: Yeah, ambivalent about it. But I have enjoyed it.
So those were my nonfiction that stood out to me and just that either they got me thinking in a new way or they gave me new ideas that I feel like are worthwhile to share.
So what's on your Want to Read list, team?
Christina Donovan: Yeah, I mean, I can go through pretty quickly. We've already talked about Lily King's Heart, the Lover.
Tara Bansal: Another one thing I wanted to say about that is because my family loves playing cards and Heart the Lover actually is from a card game.
And I'm kind of interested in the card game that like if she made it up or if it already existed.
And so that's some research I would love to do.
Christina Donovan: Yeah, that's interesting.
Another book that I just decided I would not like, sort of like the Correspondent, but I just keep hearing people talk about is James by Percival Everett. And so that's on my list.
And by now that's been out a long time. So I shouldn't have any problem getting it.
The Keeper by Tana French. She's an Irish writer. Her.
It's the third part of, I guess, a series that I read the first two that's coming out in March.
That is something I'm interested in.
Whistler by Ann Patchett. She has a new one coming out in May.
So, yeah, those are kind of just some quick ones that I'm keeping my eye out for and we'll try and tackle in the next couple months.
Tara Bansal: Yeah, so as I said, Buckeye, I'm on the waiting list for another book is the Sisterhood of Ravensbruck.
Christina Donovan: I've heard of that.
Tara Bansal: Yeah. The author is one who I've loved. I don't have it written down, but I've loved her other books.
And this is about a group of women in a concentration camp during World War II and how they helped each other survive. I think is the premise of it and based on the author and the topic.
It's something I am looking forward to reading.
Another one is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I haven't really enjoyed her other books. I've tried but so many people have said this one is different and highly recommended it.
So I may give it a try.
But yeah, I may wait and see.
Christina Donovan: What you think about that because I'm the same way. I haven't been able to get through any of her other books. Yeah,
I do keep hearing this. This one is good. I keep hearing hearing people say how much they like this one. So maybe I'll let you be the guinea pig on it.
Yeah, I'll give it a try.
Tara Bansal: Arthur Brooks has a new book coming out I think in the spring around Purpose that I'm definitely looking forward to and will check out when it's finally published. But I feel like I have some others.
But that's what comes to mind right now.
My next group of books I'm looking forward to.
Wow. This was fun. Anything else?
Christina Donovan: It's always fun to talk about books.
Tara Bansal: Yeah.
Christina Donovan: Let us know what you're reading and what you're looking forward to reading and.
Tara Bansal: If you have recommendations for us. I feel like that's what I'm always asking for.
Christina Donovan: Yeah, me too.
Tara Bansal: New books.
Christina Donovan: So have a great day.
This is Tina with your Connection Challenge.
We are going to challenge you to ask a friend, a co worker, or even someone you would just like to know better who enjoys reading if they are interested in doing a book swap.
The idea is to find a favorite book and here you want to have an actual physical copy of a book from your personal library and ask them to select one as well from their personal library.
You will need to confirm that each of your respective choices has not been read by the other person.
Then swap books, read the books and then meet to discuss.
Book clubs are great, but sometimes it is nice to have a one on one discussion with someone over books and plus you will also get a personal recommendation and we have found that these are often the best kinds of recommendations.
So happy reading.
Tara Bansal: We're so glad and appreciative that you spent this time with us here on Messy Middlescence. Midlife can be messy, but these conversations remind us that we're not alone.
Christina Donovan: If you liked this episode, please share.
Tara Bansal: It with a friend. Subscribe or leave a review. We'll be back soon with more. Wishing you the best. Sam.
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Fiction Recommendations:
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater
The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Non-Fiction Recommendations:
Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel
The Five Types of Wealth by Salin Bloom
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Books We Hope to Read in 2026:
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Keeper by Tana French (available 3/31/26)
The Meaning of Your Life by Arthur Brooks (available 3/31/26)
The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck by Lynne Olson
Whistler by Ann Patchett (available 6/2/26)
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Our connection challenge involves swapping and discussing a book with another reader. Invite a friend, coworker, or anyone you’d like to know better who also enjoys reading to participate in a book exchange. Pick one of your favorite physical books from your own library, and ask them to do the same.
Before swapping, make sure you both choose books the other hasn’t already read. Exchange your selections, read each other's choices, and schedule a time to meet and talk about the experience.
While book clubs are wonderful, sometimes a one-on-one conversation about a book can be even more rewarding. Plus, you’ll get a personalized recommendation—often the very best kind.
Happy reading!