Prosek’s 2021 Summer Reading Recommendations
Emily Roy, Emma Stanton, Amalia Lytle, Sarah Levine, Tara Flanagan, AC Foreman
With summer in full swing, check out some recommended reading from Prosek colleagues below!
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
With Elizabeth Holmes’ criminal trial coming up in August, anyone who hasn’t yet read Bad Blood should pick it up. The book details how the former Theranos founder and Silicon Valley darling defrauded investors and patients about her blood-testing startup. – Amalia Lytle
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
This book is based on a true story of a WWII hero you’ve probably never heard of: Pino Lella. It provides a unique and often unheard perspective from the Italian side of the war. It tells the story of an average teenager who was pulled into an above average role. It has stories of love, loss and adventure as Pino works against the Nazis, meeting major historical figures along the way. – Sarah Levine
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Written as an oral history, this fascinating tale of a fictional ‘70s rock band is a riveting, literary roller-coaster ride marked by love, drugs and rock and roll, with fly-on-the-wall glimpses of life in the recording studio, on the road and backstage. This book felt so realistic that I almost forgot it is a fictional story about a fictional band, especially because it includes many references to Fleetwood Mac’s "Rumours." It is best listened to as an audiobook. Itis told so vividly and accurately that you will lose yourself to the stuporous drug fueled haze of 1970s rock and roll. – Emma Stanton
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Four Winds tells the story of a single mother determined to provide for her family during the Great Depression as they leave their beloved Texas home behind to go west to California. This book depicts the divide between land owners and farm workers and is a testament to the power of courage and determination, even throughout the worst of circumstances. – Tara Flanagan
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
I might be a bit biased because Prosek had the pleasure of hosting Laura for our recent book club meeting, but I highly recommend her new book, The Last Thing He Told Me. The story follows a daughter and stepmother’s pursuit to find their missing father / husband, uncovering tales of his mysterious past along the way. You will zip through this thriller in front of the AC on the couch, or at the beach, in just one weekend. – Emily Roy
Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown
While fans of The Crown wait for season five, this unique biography tells the story of Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister, Princess Margaret, through interviews, diaries, announcements and tabloid scandals. Known for her witty yet demanding personality, the author, Craig Brown, chronicles Margaret’s life and relationship with her family, encounters with everyone from John Lennon to Picasso and her desire to live a modern life. The relationship between the sisters and Margaret’s descent down the line of succession as she got older provides an interesting perspective William and Harry’s relationship that we have been following all year. Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret is a hysterical history lesson on the everyday life of the British Monarchy. – Tara Flanagan
The Overstory by Richard Powers
This 2019 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction features an intricate, overlapping plot of five trees and the way they have touched the lives of nine different Americans over time. As an environmentalist and staunch nonfiction fan, it isn’t to be taken lightly when I say this is the best book I’ve read about trees. From the Timber Wars of the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest, to the plight of Norwegian immigrants traveling to Brooklyn in the mid-19th century, the book subtly illustrates the way that characters transform from bystanders to advocates for forest protection. The Overstory is an unadulterated ode to the exhilarating and occasionally overwhelming beauty of trees, and the passion behind the battle to protect them. – AC Foreman 