READING L.A.

Linda Gray, actress, director:

“The Care and Feeding of Perfectionists” by Cynthia Curnan (North Star Publications).

“Curnan offers readers the tools to balance themselves on the seesaw of life. She shows how to look at extremes and blend them, through inner guidance, into the most delicious vanilla swirl ice cream.”

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Lynn Marie Hoopingarner, management consultant:

“Leading Change” by John P. Kotter (Harvard Business School Press).

“Change is no longer optional; it is a fact of life. This is a great guide on how to become a leader of that change, instead of a reactionary, by turning visions into realities with eight steps for transforming what is into what can be.”

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Jemima Perry, librarian:

“The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing” by Melissa Bank (Viking).

“This collection of loosely connected stories tells of a young woman’s search for love. Ignore the inevitable comparisons to ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’; this book can stand on its own two feet.”

*

Elizabeth Kobrin, mother:

“The Endurance” by Caroline Alexander (Alfred A. Knopf)

“This is an account of an expedition to Antarctica in the early 1900s that went terribly wrong. The crew members were stranded for two years. Unlike ‘Into Thin Air’ and ‘The Perfect Storm,’ however, this one has a happy ending.”