I have 10 nephews and nieces. I am not the cool aunt nor a go-to aunt per se, as it's honestly not a part of my personality. They were born and live all over the world and I don't see them frequently. Yet I like to find creative ways to check in with them when I can.
Two years ago, I wanted to connect further with one of my sweet nieces who lives in Brazil. With her mother, I set up a book subscription and every month, she received two age-appropriate books, as well as other book related activities. Last month she received Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince), one of my childhood staples. My heart swelled.
I love that every month, there is a little piece of me that connects with her. It made me realise gifting and sharing books might be my love language.
A few weeks ago, I discovered the Read Your Color quiz, with a series of questions to assess the type of reader one is. It's a fast and fun quiz to respond to. Share in the comments what your colour is, out of red, green, purple, orange, blue and yellow?
Last year, The Signature's edition focused on my favourite books of the moment resonated with most of you: not for the number of times it was opened or clicked, but the recommended books I saw people purchasing and reading (and loving) thereafter.
Jess
This year I want to share a diverse range of books I have read that have stayed with me, not because they became instant favourites - not all books are meant to become number ones in our hearts - but because they made me think, travel, wander or learn something new. That is more than I can ask from a book.
A Different Kind of Power
Non Fiction | New Zealand | by Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister
This book is for you if you want to know the backstage of world politics and what it means to keep your humanity whilst facing life-changing decisions for thousands of citizens
Most of the memoirs I read are by female authors and to be honest, I was not fond of a few of the last ones I have read. Some memoirs, like Susie Wolff's or Jill Biden's, feel like a list of events and not like pure storytelling woven through the years. That is the exact opposite of what I felt with Jacinda Ardern's memoir.
From the first chapter in, she hooked me right in. Not only for how her deepest life values were built, but Jacinda Ardern is very honest about what she feels capable of being and doing, how she felt compelled to work in politics yet not especially to head her party, and the toll of power and a public-facing position over her family life. I saw myself in Jacinda, in her honesty, in her deep empathy towards people, in her not wanting to change into something she did not want to become for the sake of what people expected of her.
Never had I heard so much about New Zealand as when she was Prime Minister: she dealt with the Whakaari White Island volcano eruption that killed several tourists, Christchurch terrorist attack against the muslim community, COVID (and her policies, considered harsh, allowed the country to be one of the only that continued a relatively normal life whilst the rest of the world was confined at home)...
I did not need to read her memoir to understand why she decided to step down before the end of her last term, but after reading it, I can only empathise with her wanting to focus on her personal goals.
Start With Yourself
Non Fiction | England & United States | by Emma Grede, CEO and founder of global brands such as Skims and Good American
This book is for you if you want a modern and less masculine vision on what it takes to be a successful businesswoman, how to master your corporate career, how to build wealth from a female perspective
Emma Grede, now also a podcaster and author, published the business memoir Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life this year.
In the business memoir, she tackles her life, mistakes and successes through the lens of her family history, her emotions and the money and career trade-offs she had to make in regards to being a mother, a wife and a leader. I purchased the audiobook and decided to save it for the mornings, whilst getting ready or out on a walk, as it is the moment I need to motivate myself the most before I attack the day and people. I loved listening to her - she has a delicious voice and humour -, her directness and honesty. I wish I had more of these types of business and wealth building conversations with friends.
In the book, she mentions several people who inspired her like Snoop Dogg (I love his "I want to thank myself" speech too), Mark Cuban and Oprah Winfrey. Speaking of the media mogul, I listened to her podcast episode with Emma, where they discuss the book. In the podcast and in the book, Emma speaks candidly and with reverence towards Oprah. I love how famous people are just human like us and can also get starstruck.
Dream Count
Fiction | Nigeria & United States | by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, public speaker and author
This book is for you if you love deep story telling about women who are nothing like you at first but are struggling with the same things you are, such as wanting love, recognition, justice and the closeness of female friendships.
Dream Count was the much awaited book from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, launched in 2025 after a 10-year hiatus from writing long form, as she has scarcely published short stories and manifestos in between major launches. Chimamanda is one of my favourite authors and public speakers.
Yet Dream Count was not a favourite at all. I found the book to be too long and I felt more compelled to read more some of the four main characters than others. When I loved a character, I wanted more and devoured the pages. When I didn't connect much, it dragged and painfully grabbed the book again. Yet some characters' stories and explicitness made me quiver and I had to put the book down several times.
Regardless of how I connect with these four female protagonists or not, no matter what Chimamanda puts out in the world in the future, I will purchase and read. I have Purple Hibiscus to read but I am saving it as she likes long hiatus, but I liked Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun is my favourite book by the author.
Outlive
Non Fiction | Canada & United States | by Peter Attia, medical doctor and researcher
This book is for you if you want to know more about the latest research about our health, from the physical and emotional aspects.
This book is one of two on this list which was recommended by Fê Neute and I spent most of last year (re-)listening to it. Outlive tackles longevity from physical, medical, spiritual and emotional standpoints.
Dr Peter Attia narrates the book himself and speaks out of research, his experience as a medical doctor. On a personal level, he also puts himself out there explaining deeply personal experiences (not all put him in the best light) and what he learned from those.
I found myself going back several times back to episodes that caught my attention and I wanted to hear them again. Going back to a few chapters allowed the research to properly sink in.
Le Perfezioni
Fiction | Italy | by Vincenzo Latronico, author and translator
This book is for you if you want to sneak into the lives of a European Millenial couple (born between 1981 and 1996), what moves them, what they want and how they stand in the world
Translated as Perfection, this novel was also a Fê Neute recommendation and it brings a fresh perspective on couples of our generation. Anna and Tom are Italian freelancers and move to Berlin and then to Lisbon, keeping up with the trends and worries of their generation. Their house is filled with the same Scandinavian-inspired furniture as anyone else's, they have a monstera and other Instagram-performative bits of decor in their house and live in a bubble outside of their country. In Germany, they don't have many German friends. When in Lisbon, they don't connect with Portuguese people or even the ill-prepared for winter houses.
They work from home, only deal with locals if they really need to and are floating by their lives, living through the expectations of others, trying to infuse novelty without tremendous discomfort. The book is slow paced and very descriptive. Do not wait for a page turner filled with action. But for some - and for me - the book can act as a mirror of our choices and actions. Are we doing what we really want to do or what will photograph better? And when Anna and Tom find themselves, they are on the brink of turning their lives completely around again.
This book made me think a lot of a few of my own living choices, one of which was the failed decision to move my life to Lisbon between 2017 and 2022. I still need to write about those five years of my life, but the scar is still very much opened for me. Yet it did not make me give up on wanting to live in other countries in the future and restarting again when time comes. Monstera in tow or not.
Et La Joie De Vivre
Non Fiction | France | by Gisèle Pelicot, public speaker and author
This book is for you if you love to go beyond the headlines and want to immerse yourself into the life and ordeal of an abuse survivor, on dealing and reframing shame cast over victims and the resilience of an incredible human
Translated as A Hymn to Life, Gisèle was an anonymous wife, mother and grandmother in southern France when her life and story were catapulted into local and international news. Among other crimes, her husband was found to have raped her and invited 50 men to rape her whilst she was sleeping, influenced by drugs she was given without her knowledge.
A Hymn to Life is not only a ghastly true crime story written by the victim but mostly, a marriage memoir. Pelicot tries to balance the love story she lived against the crime she suffered at the hands of the man she trusted the most. You finish the book disgusted by the crimes and the sexism, yet in love with a woman who chose resilience and grace instead of hate.
Take What You Can
Fiction | United States & France | by Naima Coster, author and university professor
This book is for you if you love to deep dive into the dynamics of family relationships, what holds friends together for years, the power of duty and memory against the way we evolve through the years.
This book is my wild card out of all the list because it's the one I am currently reading. And I am absolutely devouring it. I am enthralled by the dynamics between college friends Milly and Val, how they evolved through the years, the power they both hold over the other and what makes them connect as family.
Similarly focused on the complicated bond of two motherless friends, this book reminded me a lot of Tayari Jones' Kin, which I read a few months ago. I love Tayari's books in general but I didn't completely connect with the characters as they were from a different era.
I felt the exact opposite with Take What You Can. In this era of blogging, becoming influencers, we perform maintaining friendships more than we are wholeheartedly involved in them. The way we superficially connect with friends with sporadic check-ins, how hell breaks loose when a friend moves closer and we feel obliged to frequent them more than we really want, how friends consider liking a photo on social media like a full on interaction... It all really resonated with me. It might resonate with you as well.