Ten Texts I Never Would Have Read–Had It Not Been for a Recommendation by Shawna Coppola

I take great pride in being the sort of person whose essence can be difficult to “nail down.” Take a look at my Twitter feed and you’ll see that I post about everything from education reform, to inequality, to literacy learning, to The Bachelor. My iPhone’s music library is filled with a wide spectrum of tunes, spanning 80’s bubblegum pop all the way to the “Blood Theme” from Dexter (which, as it turns out, doubles as my ringtone). Most perplexing of all is my personal book collection, which includes titles that range from Tina Fey’s Bossypants to Lucy Knisley’s Relish to one of the best short story compilations of all time, Gary Soto’s Baseball in April.

So when friends, family, and colleagues recommend titles for me to read, they often miss the mark (by a lot–looking at you, Middlesex). Their suggestions are thoughtful–and enormously appreciated–but tend to…