Anne Lamott's Book Recommendations

Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com’s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you’re on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you’re here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.

Somehow by Anne Lamott

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April is a good month for Anne Lamott, whose 13th nonfiction book, Somehow (Riverhead), comes out the day before her 70th birthday. It’s also the month she got married for the first time at 65 to a writer she met (and once rejected) on the dating site OurTime, in a redwood grove, three days after she got Medicare and Social Security that prompted her to write, “Don’t quit before the miracle.” Their honeymoon was at a meditation retreat in Maui. (A previous attempt at online dating at 58 was a bust.) In addition to her NF—famously Bird by Bird on writing—she’s also written 7 novels; she’s made the NYT bestseller list 13 times. Frequent topics include her Christian faith, progressive politics and activism, and getting sober almost four decades ago. A writing teacher at UC Davis and workshops nationwide, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

The San Francisco-born, Northern California-based author is the middle child of three raised by progressive atheist parents; first read Ms. magazine at 16; dropped out of Goucher College after two years; got herself a 1959 Volkswagen Beetle for her 60th birthday; teaches Sunday school; has a son, grandson, cats named Rosalie and Yoko, and a rose of Sharon ankle tattoo with a line from The West Wing: “Trust the Captain, trust the Crew”; did a TED Talk, which has almost seven million views; writes in silence; is the subject of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Mock’s 1999 documentary, Bird by Bird with Annie; thinks “Whatever” is a good morning prayer and “Oh, well…” is a good evening one; was a champion tennis player from ages 10 to 16; interviewed Hillary Clinton; and wears a gold coin around her neck engraved with the words “You know what? God’s got it.”

Likes: fats and candy corn; Carrie Underwood singing Baptist hymns, Scandinavian movies (though her favorites are The Mission, My Octopus Teacher, The Godfather, and Bab’Aziz: The Prince That Contemplated His Soul); getting older; female friendships; Montana; prone yoga (which involves a lot of rest)

Dislikes: Senator Susan Collins; travel; dieting; her upper arms

Supports: Voluntary Hearts Community in Kampala, Uganda

Fan of: kirtan musician Jai Uttal, author and speaker Bob Goff; political writer Eric Boehrlert

Bad at: inspiration (she’s instead motivated by “debt, mental illness, desire for revenge”)

Good at: judginess, math. Add her book picks below to your TBR pile.

The book that...

…helped me through a loss:

Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss. So brilliant psychologically and spiritually; it gave me a life-changing perspective of tough times.

…made me miss a train stop:

I missed a train reading Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, plus became convinced people were breathing Ebola virus on me.

…made me weep uncontrollably:

Born Free by Joy Adamson. I read it when I was 10 and had to hide in my room while I sobbed so that my older brother wouldn’t humiliate me in front of his friends.

…I recommend over and over again:

Poisonwood Bible and The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. She is our greatest novelist. I read her with such joy and jealously. The Lacuna isn’t as famous as some of her work but fabulous—Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and poor old Trotsky, in Mexico City.

...shaped my worldview:

The Only Dance There Is by Ram Dass. Lectures at the Menninger Foundation on his spiritual journey from uptight Harvard professor to India and his guru. He was so deep and brilliant but also hilarious and neurotic, the first spiritual writer who made me laugh and made it okay to be neurotic, too.

...I read in one sitting, it was that good:

Well, two sittings, but a dozen times over the years, Laurie Colwin’s Happy All the Time. So so lovely, dear, human, charming, funny, touching.

…currently sits on my nightstand:

Kurt Vonnegut: Last Interview. My husband gave it to me for a Christmas and so I am pretending to be reading it—and will! Vonnegut was my greatest literary heroes in high school.

…I’d pass on to a kid:

I’ve passed on all the classic kids books to my grandson: Wrinkle in Time, Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, all the Beverly Cleary Classics—Henry Huggins, Beezus and Ramona. I read them over and over 60 years ago, and he did, too.

…made me laugh out loud:

All of Charles Portis, especially The Dog of the South. People are familiar with his book True Grit but us Charles Portis lifelong cult members can nearly choke to death laughing when we quote each other lines from The Dog of the South.

...has the best title:

It’s Here Now, Are You? by Bhagavan Das.

…helped me become a better writer:

If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland. I foist this on everyone who wants to write or pursue any artistic realm. The most wise and encouraging book on writing ever. She writes, “Everyone is talented, original, and has something important to say.” And it’s true.

…is a master class on dialogue:

Nine Stories by JD Salinger and the collected Alice Munro. Their dialogue rings so true, and so instantly helps you know the character.

…I never returned to the library (mea culpa):

I don’t mean to sound sanctimonious but I am a lifelong stickler about returning library books. My atheist parents took us to our tiny local library every Thursday of my childhood to stock up for the week, and it was our church. It was sacred space. I return books.