NYS 21st Congressional District Representative Elise Stefanik read 46 books, almost one per week, in 2019. As someone who has sold books for a living for 26 years and read several thousands books in my lifetime, Stefanik should be commended for setting aside time everyday to read. Yet when Stefanik requested book suggestions from her twitter followers, several media outlets wrote stories about the snarky suggestions she got rather than on Stefanik setting an example to her constituents and their children.
According to Stefanik, “As a Member of the Education and Labor Committee, I believe passionately in promoting literacy and the power of reading for all ages in all communities. My mother instilled my love of reading as a child, which was further cultivated by my teachers in school. No matter how busy the days are, I try to read for 30 minutes every night before going to bed. And each year, I love sharing my annual reading list. Thank you to all of the passionate NY-21 readers for asking me throughout the year what I’m reading and for sharing their favorites with me!”
Democrats have made an issue out of politicians, particularly President Trump, releasing their income tax returns. It might be more enlightening if politicians released their personal reading list for each year, as Stefanik has done. Like income taxes, some would prepare fraudulent lists. I would love to see Congressman Paul Tonko’s, but I am afraid it just might be a blank piece of paper.
Kudos to Elise Stefanik for reading so many books and for promoting reading.
Below is a complete list of what Stefanik read in 2019.
The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home by Denise Kiernan
Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester
The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America by Oren Cass
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel, by Gail Honeyman
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
The Return of the Soldier, by Rebecca West
The White Darkness by David Grann
Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante
The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House, My Journey Through a Turbulent World by Zalmay Khalilzad
There There by Tommy Orange
Who Thought This Was A Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work at the White House by Alyssa Mastromonaco
The Cast: A Novel by Amy Blumenfeld
The Other Einstein: A Novel by Marie Benedict
Mostly Sunny: How I Learned to Keep Smiling Through the Rainest Days by Janice Dean
The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel by Heather Morris
The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living: A Novel by Louise Miller
The House at Tyneford: A Novel by Natasha Solomons
Nothing Like the Sun by Anthony Burgess
Letters from Paris, by Juliet Blackwell
Fiercombe Manor, A Novel by Kate Riordan
Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro
Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang
The First Wave: The D-Day Warriors Who Led The Way to Victory in World War II by Alex Kershaw
The Road to Character by David Brooks
The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un by Anna Fifield
Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur Brooks
Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel by Matti Friedman
Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present by Michael Oren
Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn by Daniel Gordis
American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump by Tim Alberta
Rutka’s Notebook: January-April 1943 by Rutka Laskier
The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes The World by Melinda Gates
Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling by Amy Chozick
The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
Enter Helen: The Invention of Helen Gurley Brown and the Rise of the Modern Single Woman by Brooke Hauser
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham
Not Just Jane: Rediscovering Seven Amazing Women Writers Who Transformed British Literature by Shelley DeWees
Political Tribes: Group Instincts and the Fate of Nations by Amy Chua
The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations by John McCain and Mark Salter
The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper
Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution by Todd Purdum
Impeachment: An American History by Jeffrey Engel, Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali and Peter Baker
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