What is Laura Carney reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Laura Carney, author of My Father's List: How Living My Dad's Dreams Set Me Free.

Her entry begins:

I hoard books, and it doesn't help that I picked up books for free when I worked full-time at a women's magazine (I also now own enough anti-aging cream to look 47 forever). But since publishing My Father's List: How Living My Dad's Dreams Set Me Free, in June 2023, I've discovered yet another reason to own too many books—publishing a successful one makes lots of people want you to blurb theirs. Or pass theirs along to your agent. I'm happy to do so, and I'm also happy to pre-order every new book a new author friend publishes. The result: I currently have about 60 books in my to-be-read pile, next to my nightstand, which probably scared my in-laws when they house-sat. Or at least tripped them.

Of the 60 or so I'm currently reading, here are the ones I'm most excited about (and keep in mind I bought about 15 more when I was on vacation after my One City, One Book award in Greensboro, NC):

Gratitude and Trust: Six Affirmations That Will Change Your Life: I bought this book before I interviewed one of my heroes, the composer Paul Williams, and I highly recommend it. Oprah liked it too. I've learned a lot from my conversations with Paul, but mainly to "view every no as a gift," one of his mottos, and to view every turn in my life as a direction from "the big amigo." The insights in this book...[read on]

About My Father's List, from the publisher:

On the cusp of middle age, a newlywed journalist discovers and finishes the bucket list of her late free-spirited father.

Fifty-four adventures in six years. That’s what thirty-eight-year-old journalist Laura Carney embarked on when she discovered her late father Mick’s bucket list.

Killed in a car crash when Laura was twenty-five, Mick seemed lost forever. My Father’s List is the story of how one woman—with the help of family, friends, and even strangers—found the courage to go after her own dreams after realizing those of a beloved yet mysterious man. This is a story about secrets—and the freedom we feel when we learn to trust again: in life, in love, and in a father’s lessons on how to fully live.

Visit Laura Carney's website.

The Page 99 Test: My Father's List.

My Book, The Movie: My Father's List.

Writers Read: Laura Carney.

--Marshal Zeringue