Celebrating National Book Month: 25 Books Recommended by Road Scholars
- October marks National Book Month, a perfect time to celebrate the joy of reading.
- Road Scholar's well-read community shared their top 25 favorite books from the last 50 years.
- Beyond reading, try celebrating by joining a book club, writing your own story or supporting local bookstores.
- Readers can continue their inspiring journeys, as books are both the destination and the path.
There's a unique magic in turning the page of a good book (or listening to one), isn't there? October is National Book Month — a celebration we can truly get behind. and celebrate. If you’re looking for a new tome to curl up with and get lost in, check out these recommendations!
Road Scholars Recommend
Road Scholars are a well-read community! We asked Road Scholars on our Facebook page about their favorite books from the last 50 years — these are 25 of their favorites. How many of these titles have you read?
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- The Women by Kristen Hannah
- Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
- Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley
- Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimerer
- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eguindes
- The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
- Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
- The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan
- The Women’s Room by Marilyn French
- Educated by Tara Westover
- Nickel Boys by Colston Whitehead
- One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
Find Other Ways to Celebrate Your Love of Reading
Of course, you can take your love for reading to an even higher level this National Book Month. Join (or start) a book club if you’re not already a member of one — or maybe even write a story of your own. We also love supporting our local bookstores and indie publishers. Bookshop.org is an inspiring site where you can order books that support small book businesses — and if you use our link, you can support Road Scholar at the same time.
Whatever path you choose, we hope you find a good book to take your mind on an inspiring adventure. As author Anna Quindlen wrote, “Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.”