Here are 39 books that Wanted fans have personally recommended if you like
Wanted.
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I grew up in a family of journalists. My great-grandfather, grand-aunt, and father were newspaper editors and master raconteurs. I followed in their footsteps, spending 50 years as a small-town newspaper editor. Among family, friends, and neighbors, I was expected to know the stories behind the headlines, and in so doing, I became a raconteur. In a good story, there is a fine line between fact and fiction. The novels I chose for a long road trip are as believable as the true stories I was told and ended up telling when it was my turn. It only takes asking “What if?” to cross the line from fact to fiction.
I’d already bought the book when we decided to drive from our home in Sonoma, California, to visit friends who live in the San Juan Islands off the Washington Coast. I packed the book but also downloaded the Audible version. We started listening as we got on the road. I never opened the book.
It’s just a great story set in the time my parents were in high school and college. It was a world with which I was made familiar by their stories. The main character’s difficult early life resonates with anyone who has listened to the greatest generation talk about what it was like growing up during the Depression.
Yes, the action during the rowing was exciting, but I enjoyed the development of the characters, especially Joe Rantz, and his personal challenges and victories, more than all competition scenes.
The #1 New York Times-bestselling story about the American Olympic rowing triumph in Nazi Germany-from the author of Facing the Mountain.
Soon to be a major motion picture directed by George Clooney
For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times-the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.
It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the…
Growing up as a bi-racial Malay Filipina in a country that only recognizes my Malay-Muslim heritage, I have always inadvertently never quite met the standards of what constitutes a “good Malay Muslim woman.” My circumstances have meant I am always drawn to stories of women who strain against the confines of their societies and desire more for themselves than what is considered acceptable by polite society. Whether they achieve their goals by coloring within the lines or straying outside them, their journeys are what continue to inspire me to live my own life as authentically as possible.
I love this novel for its hilarious, unique take on the rage-against-the-patriarchy trope. Elizabeth Zott, the novel’s lead, is a refreshing portrayal of a woman battling the world of mansplaining while doing it in the most stereotypically “female” way—cooking up a storm! As a chemist, her scientific breakdowns of how ingredients chemically react with one another make for many humourous moments on the page.
This is a book that will have you hooting with laughter and rooting alongside the protagonist till the very end. It mirrored the frustrations I have often felt as a working woman and left me vindicated for the times I, too, have “behaved badly” in male company.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • Meet Elizabeth Zott: a “formidable, unapologetic and inspiring” (PARADE) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat” (The New York Times Book Review).
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Newsweek, GoodReads
"A unique heroine ... you'll find yourself wishing she wasn’t fictional." —Seattle Times…
I didn’t row in college; I started rowing at age 48 and quickly became addicted. I started racing and soon became obsessed. I row 4-6 days a week. I lift weights. I train on an indoor rowing machine (Concept 2 “erg”). I travel to Boston, Canada, and throughout the Pacific Northwest to compete. I devour books about rowing and couldn’t help but work it into my novel.
Lewis is one of my favorite writers. He’s funny, observant, and a nonconformist. In this book, Lewis describes in great, and often hilarious, detail his attempt to become the U.S. single sculler on the 1984 Olympic team.
Failing that, he attends the Olympic team selection camp for the double and suffers the indignity of not being selected. So, he strikes out on his own, finds a partner, comes up with a grueling and innovative training plan, and wins the Olympic gold medal.
I appreciate this book as someone who often forgets how old they are, obsesses, and overtrains.
Brad Alan Lewis’ determination to win an Olympic medal had taken over his life by 1984. He would be too old for the 1988 Games and his spot on the 1980 team had been lost to world politics. Only 1984 remained. But Lewis had a problem. Emotionally crushed after losing a guaranteed spot on the team by nine-tenths of a second in the single scull trials, Lewis went to the dreaded Olympic selection camp, where he hoped to earn a place in a national team boat. Again he failed. Lewis refused to be denied. He teamed up with Paul Enquist,…
I didn’t row in college; I started rowing at age 48 and quickly became addicted. I started racing and soon became obsessed. I row 4-6 days a week. I lift weights. I train on an indoor rowing machine (Concept 2 “erg”). I travel to Boston, Canada, and throughout the Pacific Northwest to compete. I devour books about rowing and couldn’t help but work it into my novel.
I’ve read this several times. The book
chronicles the beginning of U.S. women’s rowing at the international
competitive level.
It illustrates how women had to fight to get coaching,
equipment, and even a locker room. It also shows that women athletes are every
bit as tough and competitive as their male counterparts.
As a female competitive rower myself, I am indebted to them for opening the door.
In 1975, a group of amazing women rowed their way to international success and glory, battling sexual prejudice, bureaucracy, and male domination in one of the most grueling and competitive sports around. Among the members of the first international women's crew team--and one of the first women's teams anywhere--were Gail Pearson, the soft-spoken MIT professor who fought equally hard off the water to win the political battles neccessary for her team to succeed; lead rower Carie Graves, a statuesque bohemian from rural Wisconsin who dropped out of college and later became the most intense rower of the crew; and Lynn…
I’m an Olympic Gold Medallist rower, performance coach, facilitator, and keynote speaker passionate about high performance, teamwork, and the parallels between sport and business. In 1998 I was part of a consistently underachieving Team GB rowing eight, often placing 7th or 8th. We weren’t the strongest or most talented crew. By changing the way we worked as a team, we managed to turn it around to win Olympic Gold on the waters of Sydney in 2000. Since then, I've specialized in translating Olympic-winning strategies into business success. Specifically focusing on leadership and team development, I work with individuals, teams, and organizations to help them define their gold medal goals and supporting them in achieving them.
My colleague and fellow rower Cath Bishop draws upon her experience in high-performance environments to examine our societal-wide obsession with winning. As a rower at three Olympic games, a senior diplomat, and a business coach & consultant, Cath offers a fresh perspective on how we might redefine success – both personally and professionally – for the longer term. Instead of a win-at-all-costs approach, Cath suggests we broaden our criteria of success by moving to a more sustainable approach with clarity, learning, and connection at its heart. Here she proposes a new definition of success –The Long Win.
'Anyone interested in motivation should read this book and think deeply.' - Margaret Heffernan
***Selected as one of the Financial Times's Best Business Books of 2020*** ***THE PEOPLE' BOOK PRIZE 2022/23 SHORTLISTED TITLE***
In this fascinating examination of our widespread obsession with winning, Cath Bishop draws on her personal experience of high-performance environments to trace the idea of winning through history, language and thought to explore how it has come to be a defining concept in fields from sport to business, from politics to education. Faced with the challenges and opportunities of the 21st…
I am an author and illustrator of several picture books including My Daddy Can Fly, Starboy - Inspired by the Life and Lyrics of David Bowie, Imagination Vacation, Seb and the Sun and Mae and the Moon. I’ve always been a curious person filled with wonder at our amazing world, and I love letting my imagination get taken away by a good book. I find picture books to be the perfect format to blend my love of illustration and story, and some of the stories I love the most are those that are imaginative and magical, but also give a little tug at the heartstrings, fill us with warmth and make us want to read them again and again.
Grandad has always said that the giant in town is real and a helpful and kind friend, but Billie doesn’t believe in Grandad’s tall tales. When Billie himself discovers the giant, and runs from fright and panic at this huge creature, he comes to understand why the giant has kept himself hidden. Feeling awful about his overreaction, Billie makes it his mission to make it up to the giant by making him a very special gift. Full of humour and heart, Grandad’s Secret Giant shows us that acceptance and kindness towards all people, big or small, is important, and David Litchfield’s stunning illustrations glow on the pages in this beautiful book.
'Funny, touching and visually stunning, this really is a book to treasure'-Daily Mail
A GIANT story of belonging and friendship from David Litchfield, author ofThe Bear and the Piano. "He has hands the size of tables," Grandad said, "legs as long as drainpipes and feet as big as rowing boats. Do you know who I mean?" "Yes," sighed Billy. "The Secret Giant. But he's not real!" Billy doesn't believe his Grandad when he tells him there's a giant living in his town, doing good deeds for everyone. He knows that a giant is too big to keep himself hidden. And…
Growing up, my mother often shared stories of her evacuation to a small Wiltshire village during World War Two. Far from a warm welcome, the local children viewed the newcomers with suspicion, and they were made to feel unwanted. My mother did, however, form one lifelong friendship that was very important to her. Her tales inspired me to write a novel about an evacuee’s experience for my Creative Writing MA. Living in Dorset at the time, I set my story there. The research was fascinating, allowing me to weave together historical insights with my own memories and experiences of today’s rural life.
I enjoyed the dual timeline of this book and the path to resolving a seventy-year-old mystery. The story is set in the Suffolk countryside, and after reading the book, I was fascinated enough to visit the location and the scene of the myth on which the story is based.
A missing child is at the core of the story, but gossip, accusation, and the unknown all combined to muddy the water of a story that captured my imagination.
The Secrets of the Lake is a gripping wartime novel, by the author of The Silk Weaver, Liz Trenow.
'Masterful storytelling, immersive locations, and characters that inhabit your heart from the first page' - Gill Paul, author of The Secret Wife.
The war may be over, but for Molly life is still in turmoil. Uprooted from London after the death of her mother, Molly, her father and younger brother Jimmy are starting again in a quiet village in the countryside of Colchester. As summer sets in, the heat is almost as oppressive as the village gossip. Molly dreams of becoming…
As a breast surgeon who’s had breast cancer three times, I’ve had my share of knocks along the way. A friend once asked me to speak to her nursing colleagues about how I had coped, and I immediately thought of my books. The ones I read on repeat at night to get me through the weekly wobbles. To remind me to have fun and that life is for living. They’re not too serious, some of them have a lot of swearing (sorry Dad), and everyone I’ve leant them to has thanked me for knowing exactly what was going on inside their head. I hope they do the same for you.
When I was a little girl my only goal was to become a surgeon. And no sooner had I made it then I had to retire thanks to recurrent breast cancer.
I started answering questions and giving talks about my experiences, writing blogs and articles to feel like the doctor I used to be. But I was drained. I’d forgotten to focus on what I now wanted from life. This book was the key.
Every decision Ben made over four years was based on whether it would help him win gold in the mens’ eight at Sydney. My free time was precious and I had to start thinking that way too. Could I justify giving up my time for free to help other people if it meant not looking after myself?
With its winning mix of gripping narrative and easy-to-implement performance-raising tips, this book has become a best-selling classic. It's garnered 5-star reviews and wide-ranging endorsements - from Sebastian Coe and Dame Kelly Holmes to Lord Digby Jones. The book tells the inspiring story of how Ben Hunt-Davis - an ordinary guy in an ordinary team - achieved something pretty extraordinary: Olympic Gold. Co-author Harriet Beveridge, Executive Coach, then gives a simple, engaging account of how we can apply these strategies to raise our own game... in sport, in business and in life.
Building on the huge success of the original,…
As a writer of seven historically themed books, fiction and nonfiction, I’ve loved the intense, deep dive into World War I, World War II, the Civil War, and the Paris Commune that researching my books entailed. It’s been particularly fascinating to explore how women, whether on or near the front lines, or on the home front, negotiate life during war and how their behavior illuminates character. My protagonists are all women, and I’ve found that writing their lives offers a sharp opportunity to see the moral ambiguities of war. What’s more, their stories often transcend the personal to symbolize the spirit of a particular time and place at war.
My favorite of Hemingway’s books, this great anti-war novel about a passionate love affair between a young, wounded soldier and the beautiful nurse who cares for him, never loses its power for me despite repeated readings.
I admire not only the book’s lyrical writing, exquisite observations and heartbreaking story, but also how the horror of what men are experiencing on the battlefield is mirrored in the tragedy of Catherine’s death in childbirth.
Ernest Hemingway's classic novel of love during wartime.
Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield, this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep.
Hemingway famously rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right. A…
I love reading. I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child. Having been raised in a conservative, Persian family, it was a tool I used to escape and imagine another way of life. I’m always traveling now and searching for ways to better myself, and for topics or places to write about. I’m so inspired when a book just grabs me and pulls me in and makes me think. Whether that’s a romance, or a book about self-actualization, I think of everything I read as a teacher. We can never stop learning, stop growing, or dreaming.
Oh my God did I absolutely love this romance! It takes you back to college and gives you all the feels you experience when you have a mad crush and can’t stop obsessing or dreaming about the object of your desire. Ashton and Livie are the perfect couple, and Kathleen brings all the college first love feels to life. If you don’t fall in with Ashton, I don’t know what to say… I promise you, this book will get you to escape!
"Make me proud." These were the last words Livie's father ever spoke to her. In the seven years since her parents' tragic death, Livie has done her best to keep this promise through her every choice, word, and action, while looking after her sister with strength and maturity. But with college right around the corner, unexpected challenges will test her resilience-and her heart.
Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she's dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy to marry someday. What isn't part…
