#MondayMotivation -- Trust Your Dream

This month marks 15 years since I decided to ignore conventional wisdom (don't quit your day job), trust my dream and launch Sokoloff Harness Communications LLC. I am tremendously grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way, and those who have given me the honor of helping them! My big advice after 15 years?

Throughout August, in honor of the fabulous 15, I'm going to post lists of 15 favorites. I decided, naturally enough, to start with books -- and quickly realized there's no way I could choose 15 favorite books. So, here's today's list of the 15 favorites on my bookshelves. Read fast. It could change tomorrow ...

15 Fabulous Favorites -- Books

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
   Life changing. I still want to be Jo. 
2. Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast
   Drawn from her life. And mine. And quite possibly yours. 
3. This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
   I have several of his other books, and don't like them as well. But, if I could only choose five favorite books of all time, this would make the list. 
4. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
   I could have listed Siddhartha or The Odyssey or Les Miserables ... or any of the books I still have that I read in my lit classes at Center Senior High School. Thank you, Miss Harvey and Mrs. Harper. I'm sorry I argued with you. I'm sure you were right re: that symbolism.
5. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
   I love the book. You can start with the blog. Best description of depression EVER. And that's just part of it. I mean, This is Why I'll Never be an Adult. 
6. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
   Vonnegut is the best-represented author on my bookshelves. I don't have all of his books, but I do have a lot of them. I chose this one because, as I remember, it was the first one I read. 
7. The Eden Express by Mark Vonnegut
   A remarkable memoir by the elder Vonnegut's son. Excellent writing runs in the family. 
8. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
   Also life changing -- nothing like reading this as a young Jewish girl, Anne's age. 
9. i carry your heart with me by e.e. cummings
   My favorite poem, in book form, illustrated by mati mcdonough.
10. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
    If you've ever lost a loved one, and you haven't read this book -- read it. 
11. The Pocket Book of Modern Verse, edited by Oscar Williams
    My first true love gave me this and it includes a few of my all-time favorite poems, including Cascando by Samuel Beckett and A Space in the Air by Jon Silkin. And Robert Frost is in there, so I won't list a Frost collection. 
12. Samurai Widow by Judith Jacklin Belushi
    Fascinating journey through grief and recovery.
13. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
    Reading and discussing this in college was the first time I really went: "Oh. That professor just transformed my entire literary experience." Thank you, Mrs. Ehrlich. 
14. The Associated Press Styebook
    Am I a word nerd? Yes. Do I like rules? Yes. Do I look at this book all the time? Yes. Why clutter up my mind with effect and affect when I have my trusty stylebook?
15. The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope
    My Bobbsey Twin will understand -- as she has, from the days when my love for books began!

I have purposefully not included books written by people I know and/or love and/or am connected to via social media -- like Shanna and Mark and Steve and Cotton and Brian and Bob and Stephanie and Walt and Phil and Donna and Peternelle, because that would have taken up most of the list!

If you have any ideas (or requests) for future lists of 15 Fabulous Favorites, let me know!