100 Books Like Brave Enough

I take joy in the simple delights of life, such as eating chocolate, enjoying the sights of flowers in full bloom, and soaking in the sun on warm, sunny days. Those are the times I like to get out and explore, be inspired, and write. I like to write about all of the light we can discover in our world—the light from within and all around us—because it is easy for people to get sucked into focusing on the dim realities of our world or what’s not right. My goal is always to entertain, inspire, and spark wonder in my readers.

I am a clinical social worker and writer of 13 books and more than 40 poems and essays in national magazines and journals. For 20 years, I counseled survivors of violent crimes in individual and group treatment at the Crime Victims Treatment Center in New York. My book recommendations are eclectic, maybe odd, but I read widely for diversion. I set my kitchen timer and try to read every day for at least half an hour. As I age, I read to be soothed, educated, involved, entertained. I no longer finish books that are boring. I used to… but those days are over!

I am a clinical social worker and writer of 13 books and more than 40 poems and essays in national magazines and journals. For 20 years, I counseled survivors of violent crimes in individual and group treatment at the Crime Victims Treatment Center in New York. My book recommendations are eclectic, maybe odd, but I read widely for diversion. I set my kitchen timer and try to read every day for at least half an hour. As I age, I read to be soothed, educated, involved, entertained. I no longer finish books that are boring. I used to… but those days are over!

I am a clinical social worker and writer of 13 books and more than 40 poems and essays in national magazines and journals. For 20 years, I counseled survivors of violent crimes in individual and group treatment at the Crime Victims Treatment Center in New York. My book recommendations are eclectic, maybe odd, but I read widely for diversion. I set my kitchen timer and try to read every day for at least half an hour. As I age, I read to be soothed, educated, involved, entertained. I no longer finish books that are boring. I used to… but those days are over!

As an entrepreneur and a professional business valuation specialist, I have a passion for understanding entrepreneurship and its often-transformational impact on society/civilization. Having worked with many business owners and inventors over the years, I've noticed that money is not always the primary motivating factor for entrepreneurs. In many instances, the benefits their products and services are intended to provide—and, in some instances, the wider social implications of those benefits—are what animates these business adventurers the most. So, these days when the work of NewSpace entrepreneurs like Musk, Bezos, and Branson are likely leading humankind to a multiplanetary future, it's an opportune time to explore the impact of entrepreneurship on society. 

I make prints and visual books. I founded Bridge Press, now in Kennebunk, Maine, 1989 to publish limited edition artist's books and etchings. The name of the press underscores the collaborative nature of book making. Visual books offered possibilities for the continuity, connection, and unfolding of images—each image is complete yet linked to every other through the structure of the book. Books seemed an ideal vehicle to assemble and connect my prints, to order and unfold a sequence of images, with defined and recurrent shapes, motifs, and composition, and to create a setting in which each image is complete yet linked to every other through the structure of the binding or enclosure.

I’ve always loved books where something in the past of the main storyline surges into its present, demanding that an old wrong be righted or an old mystery solved. It’s why my first degree was in Social and Political Sciences (Psychology major) instead of English Literature or Creative Writing: I knew that learning how to write would be useless if I didn’t understand the things I wanted to write about. The role of the past in shaping our present – our behaviours, sense of self, relationships – is endlessly fascinating, and stories that unpick this are often the ones that surprise me the most with their insight into the human condition.

My novel choices were part of the Afterschool Literacy & Building Modules for an organization called LitShop. It encourages growth in literacy, making, building, and leadership in girls ages 10-15 in St. Louis, Missouri. I’m honored to lead the writing classes. All of the LitShop books feature strong girls who believe they can make and build their way to a better world, and I aim to include similar characters in my stories. Stories can provide us with motivation, inspiration, and companionship, and all of these books have done just that… for the girls of LitShop as well as myself.

Over the past several months, I have had the pleasure to work with amazing authors who, like me, have debut children's books that were released in 2021. These books range in topics, from overcoming your fears to transgender to history, to cute rats that will let your imagination run wild. Being a kid myself, my parents read every night to me. These are books that like mine, are filled with representation that was lacking in those books that were read to me.

I have been reading, researching, writing, and teaching Civil War military history for nearly thirty years. I first became interested in soldiers and their experiences as a teen, and went on to earn a PhD in American History at the University of Georgia. I’ve always been fascinated by the anti-hero, and the ways in which everyday people coped (or failed to cope) with this violent conflict. I am currently writing a book about regiments accused of cowardice and how those searing allegations cast a shadow over their military record. From 2010-2015, I served as editor of the scholarly journal Civil War History, and I was recently elected President of the Society for Civil War Historians (2022-2024).