{"id":303551,"date":"2025-10-14T20:41:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T20:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/303551\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T20:41:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T20:41:24","slug":"read-susan-orleans-2025-book-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/303551\/","title":{"rendered":"Read Susan Orlean\u2019s 2025 Book Recommendations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated3 min read<\/p>\n

Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com\u2019s books column<\/a>, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you\u2019re 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\u2019re here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.<\/p>\n

The New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean\u2019s latest book\u2014her 12th, the memoir Joyride\u2014was inspired by \u201ca combination of a few things,\u201d the author says. \u201cFirst of all, Covid! During that awful time, I think many of us felt very contemplative, and spent a lot of time ruminating about our lives and what matters to us. For me, that led to thinking about where I\u2019ve been and what I\u2019ve done, and that naturally evolved into a book. In addition, I realized it had been 25 years since I\u2019d written The Orchid Thief, and that felt like an anniversary worth writing about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Orchid Thief<\/a>, first published in 2000, was later made into the 2002 Oscar-winning film Adaptation, and Orlean herself was portrayed by Meryl Streep<\/a>. Other film and TV adaptations abound: Orlean\u2019s story about surfer girls in Hawaii became 2002\u2019s Blue Crush<\/a>; another on racing homing pigeons became 2024\u2019s Little Wing<\/a>; and the author is now adapting The Library Book<\/a> for TV. She\u2019s also written for HBO\u2019s How to With John Wilson, for which she was nominated for an Emmy, and she appeared<\/a> in the Thomas Kinkade documentary Art for Everybody.<\/p>\n

The hardest part of her writing process, Orlean says, is \u201cthose first few sentences. They set the tone and the pace, so they\u2019re really important, and I\u2019m convinced that if they aren\u2019t spectacular, readers will abandon me. No matter how many first sentences I\u2019ve written, each one feels like life or death.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Cleveland-born and -raised, Los Angeles-based bestselling author learned to read<\/a> from the newspaper; was a tomboy<\/a> growing up; wanted a Chincoteague Pony<\/a> as a tween; was editor of her high school yearbook<\/a>; worked as a rock critic at the alt-weekly Willamette Week in Portland, Oregon, shortly after graduating from the University of Michigan; has two dogs, Ivy and Buck; lives in an iconic house designed by Rudolph Schindler<\/a>; overcame a fear of flying via hypnosis<\/a>; taught herself how to play the ukulele; experienced a few firsts in the south of France<\/a> (eating yogurt, sculpting, and smoking unfiltered cigarettes); has been a New York Times crossword puzzle and Jeopardy! clue; and is an adult literacy volunteer<\/a> at her local library.<\/p>\n

Likes:<\/strong> Art Deco buildings<\/a>; cheap drugstore beauty products<\/a>; ranunculus; andSons chocolates; chemical smells<\/a> (manicures, Magic Markers, and gasoline, in particular); HBO\u2019s The Pitt<\/a>; the Library of Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dislikes: <\/strong>bad similes<\/a>; self-help and instruction manuals<\/a>; long nails<\/a>; the smell of weed<\/a>; Westminster Dog Show handler fashion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Obsessions<\/strong>: fashion<\/a>, especially Japanese designers<\/a>, SSENSE<\/a>, and GapStudio<\/a> (she also recently walked the Susan Alexandra x Rachel Antonoff Best in Show<\/a> event at New York Fashion Week); pens<\/a> (like Sharpie S-Gels); Birkenstocks<\/a>; eyelash extensions<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Good at:<\/strong> ledes; making lists<\/a>; self-criticism<\/a>; procrastinating<\/a> when on deadline; mastering jet lag<\/a>; public speaking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bad at:<\/strong> relaxing<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Peruse through her book recommendations below. <\/p>\n

The book that…:\u2026made me weep uncontrollably:<\/p>\n

A God In Ruins<\/a> by Kate Atkinson.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

    …I recommend over and over again: <\/p>\n

    People Who Eat Darkness<\/a> by Richard Lloyd Parry.<\/p>\n

      …shaped my worldview:<\/p>\n

      The Looming Tower<\/a> by Lawrence Wright.<\/p>\n

        \u2026I swear I\u2019ll finish one day:<\/p>\n

        Tristram Shandy<\/a> by Laurence Sterne.<\/p>\n

          \u2026I read in one sitting; it was that good:<\/p>\n

          Loved and Missed<\/a> by Susie Boyt.<\/p>\n

            …currently sits on my nightstand:<\/p>\n

            33 Place Brugmann<\/a> by Alice Austen.<\/p>\n

              …broke my heart:<\/p>\n

              The English Patient<\/a> by Michael Ondaatje.<\/p>\n

                \u2026has a sex scene that will make you blush:<\/p>\n

                The Safekeep<\/a> by Yael van der Wouden.<\/p>\n

                  \u2026features a character I love to hate:<\/p>\n

                  Bring Up the Bodies<\/a> by Hilary Mantel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

                  …helped me become a better writer:<\/p>\n

                  Great Plains<\/a> by Ian Frazier.<\/p>\n

                  \u2026grew on me:<\/p>\n

                  The Covenant of Water<\/a> by Abraham Verghese.<\/p>\n

                  \u2026I\u2019d want signed by the author:<\/p>\n

                  The Ghost Road<\/a> by Pat Barker. <\/p>\n

                  Bonus question: If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be:<\/strong> <\/p>\n

                  Aarhus City Library<\/a> in Aarhus, Denmark. <\/p>\n

                  The literary organization\/charity I support: <\/p>\n

                  Library Foundation of Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

                  Read Susan Orlean\u2019s Book Recommendations\"<i>A<\/a>A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson<\/p>\n

                  Now 42% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Back Bay Books\"<i>People<\/a>People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry<\/p>\n

                  Now 14% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Farrar, Straus & Giroux\"<i>The<\/a>The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright<\/p>\n

                  Now 54% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Vintage\"<i>Tristram<\/a>Tristram Shandy by Laurence SterneCredit: W. W. Norton & Company\"<i>Loved<\/a>Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt<\/p>\n

                  Now 28% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: New York Review Books\"<i>33<\/a>33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen<\/p>\n

                  Now 11% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Grove Press\"<i>The<\/a>The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje<\/p>\n

                  Now 49% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Vintage Books\"<i>The<\/a>The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden <\/p>\n

                  Now 25% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Avid Reader Press \/ Simon & Schuster\"<i>Bring<\/a>Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel<\/p>\n

                  Now 44% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Henry Holt and Co.\"<i>Great<\/a>Great Plains by Ian Frazier<\/p>\n

                  Now 23% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Picador\"<i>The<\/a>The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese<\/p>\n

                  Now 34% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Grove Press\"<i>The<\/a>The Ghost Road by Pat Barker<\/p>\n

                  Now 54% Off<\/p>\n

                  Credit: Plume<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"3 min read Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com\u2019s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":303552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1022,89142,154087,16975,171,3181,2875,154086,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-303551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-content-type-round-up-products","10":"tag-contentid-e64d5045-7091-4d9f-92bf-7ad4edcab414","11":"tag-displaytype-long-form-article","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-hasproduct-true","14":"tag-locale-us","15":"tag-shorttitle-shelf-life-susan-orlean","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115374462793857559","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}