Jill Schwartzman’s
Current Favorite Books

I loved everything about this book. It’s an incredible, stirring, and sad family drama about the Galvin family and their six sons (out of twelve children total) who were diagnosed with schizophrenia. The science is fascinating, but the family’s personal story is what really stayed with me. Also, I found the format very inspiring as a non-fiction editor! The way each chapter was graphically introduced was both helpful in terms of orienting the reader, but ultimately became an emotional, heartbreaking element on its own.

I’ve read many books about and featuring George Washington, but this was a revelation, both in terms of its style (often including humorous charts about Washington’s pets, illnesses, and even his major battles lost and won) and perspective, really digging into Washington’s domestic, personal, and political life, often with less-than-flattering results. A really refreshing, inspirational way to look at biography and our nation’s first President.

I am a long-time Elizabeth George fan, and actually listened to this as an audiobook while running. I originally read the book back in the 1990s; revisiting it in a new format was a lot of fun!