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.
Stacey Abrams started the year with her first novel under her name–the NYT-bestselling legal thriller While Justice Sleeps (to be adapted into a TV series)–and ends it with her first children’s picture book, Stacey’s Extraordinary Words illustrated by Kitt Thomas (HarperCollins Children’s Books), out December 28. She has also written two non-fiction political books in addition to eight romance novels under the pen name Selena Montgomery, one of which is also in development.
The founder of Fair Fight, Fair Count, and the Southern Economic Advancement Project and voting rights champion is largely credited for turning crucial swing state Georgia blue in the 2020 presidential election and delivering the Senate to Democrats in the January 2021 Senate run-offs. (Google “Thank you Stacey Abrams” for loot. Also, candles.) The first woman to lead the Georgia General Assembly and first African-American to lead the House of Representatives, she was the first Black female gubernatorial candidate nominated by a major political party. She’s a fintech entrepreneur and has been a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Emmy nominee for Black-ish, producer for voting suppression documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy, and TED talker (“Be aggressive about your ambition.”)
The second of six children of a shipyard-worker-and-librarian-turned-United Methodist ministers, Abrams committed her goals to a spreadsheet as a freshman at Spelman College, is a Star Trek fan, ‘grammed her first #WCW Shonda Rhimes, told Viola Davis she wanted her to give her eulogy, and has teenaged superhero and YA fantasy novels in her (not to mention a couple more political thrillers). On December 1, she announced her plans to run again for governor in 2022. In the meantime, these titles get her vote.
The book that:
…kept me up way too late:
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. First contact, theological conflict and a harrowing encounter with who we think we are—slow start but captivating story.
…I recommend over and over again:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Harukai Murakami. One of my all-time favorites—strange but lovely.
…I swear I'll finish one day:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. I enjoy the story as I read it, but I’m not done yet.
...I read in one sitting, it was that good:
Jackdaws by Ken Follett. Not typically an aficionado of WWII fiction, but the pacing and terrific focus on women of the era was deeply entertaining and engaging.
…currently sits on my nightstand:
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. I read anything he writes.
…I’d pass on to a kid:
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster tackles the age-old battle between words and numbers (but, since it’s a novel, clearly words win).
…made me laugh out loud:
The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Self-aware, smart, scathing.
…I’d like turned into a Netflix show:
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse. The tangle of myth, heritage, outsiderness and heroism are the stuff of great binge-watching.
...I’d gift to a new graduate:
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho. A short, lovely treatment of relationships, opportunity, heartbreak, and desire.
…should be on every college syllabus:
What’s Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies. A tale of how every choice reverberates and how the most pedestrian life can surprise.
...I’ve re-read the most:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. While I disagree with his cultural views, I am never disappointed when I revisit this world.
...I consider literary comfort food:
Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts. I referenced this book in a fellowship interview. The romance is tortured and satisfying, the choices are tragically exciting and the read speeds fast and true every time.
...everyone should read:
The Power Broker by Robert Caro details the brilliance of Robert Moses who architected the interstate highway system and spearheaded the vile meanness that targeted and destroyed Black, brown and poor communities with impunity.
...I’d want signed by the author:
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. An elegant reminder of why science fiction exists.
Bonus question: If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be:
I’d happily set up camp and read my way through the Library of Congress.
Read Abrams Picks:
