Philanthropist Lynda Resnick is the marketing guru behind Fiji Water and POM Wonderful. Her new book on branding, Rubies in the Orchard, was co-authored by The Week’s Francis Wilkinson.
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (Dover, $1.50). Karma on a sled. Wharton’s tale is a riveting page-turner. I first read it in high school. It taught me that fate has a nasty sense of humor—and that you shouldn’t fool around with your cousin’s husband.
‘Swann in Love’ by Marcel Proust. This section of Swann’s Way (Penguin, $16) was my introduction to Proust, encountered while I was recovering from back surgery. Despite being a little out there on medication, I was mesmerized by the Swann in Love audio CD (read by Neville Jason). It started my love affair with the author, and with madeleines.
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Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Back Bay, $15). I got this book on tape to occupy me during six hours of dental work. It was so funny, the office thought I was overdosing on laughing gas. Other patients asked, “Give me what whatever she had.”
