Library Research: My Perfect Read: Deb Smith-Cohen

Deb Smith-Cohen

Deb Smith-Cohen, surrounded by mysteries, holds a magnifying glass.

What’s important to me in reading or recommending a book?

Has the author done his or her homework on the details of time and place?
Does the “argument” of the book, if it’s non-fiction, hold together and give me a new way to see the world, with compelling stories that validate the insights?
Is there a narrative flow that reads without bumps, preferably with grace and wit?
Do I quickly start to care about the characters, whether or not I identify with them?
Like everyone else, I am trying to read books that challenge some of my own experience and deepen my empathy and values, including books that give nuance to the world in ways I can apply at home, with friends or at work.

I read mysteries to learn more about times, places and people outside my experience. Some favorite mystery authors include Cara Black, James Benn, Sujata Massey and Jacqueline Winspear. In 2021 I presented a program for OLLI (OSHER Lifeline Learning Institute) called Sherlock Reimagined and featured pastiches and homages to Arthur Conan Doyle's singular character Sherlock Holmes as well as his colleagues and enemies.

In social science, I’m a big fan of the Daniels: Dan Ariely, Daniel Goleman, Dan Heath, and Daniel Pink, as well as the Freakonomics writers. Not only does it feed my curiosity, applying this research to home and workplace challenges often proves useful.

Lately, I've been delving into political philosophy with writers like Arthur Brooks (Love Your Enemies), David Brooks (The Road to Character), Daniel Moskovitz (The Meritocracy Trap), Thomas Piketty's (very dense) Capital and Ideology and Michael J. Sandmel (The Tyranny of Merit).

I’m also a big reader of Jewish fiction and in 2023 I presented a program on Jewish women authors for GMU’s OLLI program from Naomi Ragen and Elinor Lipman to Diana Bletter, Julia Dahl, and Rachel Kadish.

From 2021-2024, I partnered with area economic development offices and small business organizations to present programming for entrepreneurs. If you are looking for narrative nonfiction on business startups, I'm happy to suggest options.

If you’ve enjoyed some of these same genres or authors, ask me for a suggestion. Chances are you’re less than six degrees away from more great reads!

Genres of Interest:

historical mysteries
social science/business including social trends & research, staff motivation, customer satisfaction
entrepreneurship and business startups
Jewish fiction

In no particular order and grouped by genre:

Mysteries

Murder in the Latin Quarter by Cara Black (Aimee Leduc) Book, eAudiobook
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano Book, eBook, eAudiobook
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris (Katya Hijazi) Book eAudiobook
The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway) Book, eBook
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Perveen Mistry) Book, Large Print, CD, eBook, eAudiobook
All the Sinners Bleed by SA Crosby (nonseries) Book, Large Print, CD, eBook, eAudiobook
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware (nonseries) Book, Large Print, CD, eBook, eAudiobook
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb Book, eBook, eAudiobook

Social Science/Motivation

When by Daniel Pink Book, CD, Large Print, Spanish, eBook, eAudiobook
Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow Book, CD, eBook, eAudiobook
Humor, Seriously by Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonis Book
Toxic Positivity by Whitney Goodman Book eBook
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown Book, CD, eBook, eAudiobook
Love Your Enemies by Arthur C. Brooks Book
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini Book, eBook
Crucial Conversations by Joseph Grenny Book

Jewish Fiction

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter Book, eBook, eAudiobook, Kit
Eternal LIfe by Dara Horn Book, eAudiobook
An Unorthodox Match by Naomi Ragen Book
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman Book, Large Print, eBook, eAudiobook
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish Book, eBook, eAudiobook
A Bend in the Stars by Rachel Barenbaum Book
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris Book, CD, eBook, eAudiobook
The Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore Book

Other Favorites

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore Book, eBook, eAudiobook
The War Librarian by Addison Armstrong Book eBook
Crosstalk by Connie Willis Book, eBook
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab Book, CD, eBook, eAudiobook
The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan Book, CD, eAudiobook
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor Book, eBook

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
Call Number: MYS COS
ISBN: 9781250241702
Publication Date: 2021-02-02
"Getting the job done" for one single mom takes on a whole new meaning in Finlay Donovan is Killing It , a deliciously witty adult debut—the first in a brilliant new series from YA Edgar Award nominee Elle Cosimano. FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT . . . except, she's really not. The new book she promised her literary agent isn't written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head. When Finlay's overheard discussing the plot of her new novel with her agent over lunch, she's mistaken for a contract killer and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet . . . and she soon discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart.
SuperBetter by Jane McGonigal
Call Number: 155.24 M 2015
ISBN: 9781594206368
Publication Date: 2015-09-15
In 2009, internationally renowned game designer Jane McGonigal suffered a severe concussion. Unable to think clearly or work or even get out of bed, she became anxious and depressed, even suicidal. But rather than let herself sink further, she decided to get better by doing what she does best: she turned her recovery process into a resilience-building game. What started as a simple motivational exercise quickly became a set of rules for "post-traumatic growth" that she shared on her blog. These rules led to a digital game and a major research study with the National Institutes of Health. Today nearly half a million people have played SuperBetter to get stronger, happier, and healthier.

But the life-changing ideas behind SuperBetter are much bigger than just one game. In this book, McGonigal reveals a decade's worth of scientific research into the ways all games--including videogames, sports, and puzzles--change how we respond to stress, challenge, and pain. She explains how we can cultivate new powers of recovery and resilience in everyday life simply by adopting a more "gameful" mind-set. Being gameful means bringing the same psychological strengths we naturally display when we play games--such as optimism, creativity, courage, and determination--to real-world goals.
Drawing on hundreds of studies, McGonigal shows that getting superbetter is as simple as tapping into the three core psychological strengths that games help you build:

* Your ability to control your attention, and therefore your thoughts and feelings
* Your power to turn anyone into a potential ally, and to strengthen your existing relationships
* Your natural capacity to motivate yourself and super-charge your heroic qualities, like willpower, compassion, and determination
Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Call Number: FIC BRO
ISBN: 9780525510871
Publication Date: 2019-06-18
Dr. Toby Fleishman wakes up each morning surrounded by women. Women who are self-actualized and independent and know what they want--and, against all odds, what they want is Toby. Who knew what kind of life awaited him once he finally extracted himself from his nightmare of a marriage? Who knew that there were women out there who would actually look at him with softness and desire? But just as the winds of his optimism are beginning to pick up, they're quickly dampened, and then extinguished, when his ex-wife, Rachel, suddenly disappears. Toby thought he knew what to expect when he moved out: weekends and every other holiday with the kids, some residual bitterness, tense co-parenting negotiations. He never thought that one day Rachel would just drop their children off at his place and never come back. As Toby tries to figure out what happened and what it means, all while juggling his patients at the hospital, his never-ending parental duties, and his new, app-assisted sexual popularity, his tidy narrative of a spurned husband is his sole consolation. But if Toby ever wants to really understand where Rachel went and what really happened to his marriage, he is going to have to consider that he might not have seen it all that clearly in the first place. A searing, funny, and electric debut from one of the most exciting writers working today, Fleishman Is In Trouble is an exploration of a culture trying to navigate the fault lines of an institution that has proven to be worthy of both our great wariness and our great optimism.
The Tyranny of Merit by Michael J. Sandel
Call Number: 306.0973 Sandel 2020
ISBN: 9780374289980
Publication Date: 2020-09-15
What has become of the common good? These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favor of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the American credo that "you can make it if you try". The consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fueled populist protest and extreme polarization, and led to deep distrust of both government and our fellow citizens--leaving us morally unprepared to face the profound challenges of our time.
The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear
Call Number: MYS WIN
ISBN: 9780062436665
Publication Date: 2019-03-26
When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs, seeking her help. He is accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Justice--Mark Scott, the American who helped Maisie get out of Hitler's Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon's death. As the Germans unleash the full terror of their blitzkrieg upon the British Isles, raining death and destruction from the skies, Maisie must balance the demands of solving this dangerous case with her need to protect Anna, the young evacuee she has grown to love and wants to adopt. Entangled in an investigation linked to the power of wartime propaganda and American political intrigue being played out in Britain, Maisie will face losing her dearest friend--and the possibility that she might be falling in love again.

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