Project Person // The books I recommend the most

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The marketing team at my publisher sent along an Author Toolkit when I first signed my contract. Of the countless how-tos about the whole author experience, one of the most surprising tips was to set up an Amazon Affiliate account, making me an extra 4.5% on every book sold via my link. Pretty resourceful, eh?

I went ahead and followed the instructions to set up the account, but then lol Amazon told me I had to make a sale within 180 days in order to stay active.

Buuuut my book won’t be released by then, so shoot.

In the meantime, I’ve had multiple people ask for my favorite book recommendations, SO here’s a two birds, one stone kind of post: a list of the books I recommend most often, along with what I hope is my Amazon affiliate link for each, to test this thing out.

If I could just sell one book from this and not have to re set-up my affiliate account, that would be lovely 😂

For what it’s worth: The Amazon Affiliate Program is truly so easy. You just sign up and then generate links to anything you want to share and sell (like this makeup organizer we actually put in our fridge to trick my kids into thinking fruit and veggies are fun snacks 🤯).

If you have a blog, newsletter, website, or social media where you find yourself recommending things, you might consider signing yourself up for this. Why not?! Here’s what the affiliate extension looks like:

And, hard pivot, here are the books I recommend most often! I’d love to hear yours as well—just respond and let me know.

→ Fiction

Theo of Golden: Never have I had a novel recommended to me with such frequency and vigor as Theo of Golden. My friend even bought the last remaining copy for me at our local bookstore so she could be sure I read it. (Even more surprising is that this is a self-published book from a guy in Columbus, Ga!) It is the sweetest story with beautiful writing that will restore your faith in humanity.

The Things We Cannot Say: This is the book that made me fall in love with historical fiction. It has the feel of The Nightingale but with more emotional depth, imo. (Rimmer follows a character from this book in The Warsaw Orphan, another favorite of mine.)

Beneath a Scarlet Sky: Based on a true story, this novel from WWII has some of the wildest stories—ones I still think of today, years after reading.

The Last Green Valley: Rounding out this list of WWII books is Sullivan’s next one, with a focus on the Ukrainian experience. It’s based on another wildly true story.

Before We Were Yours: I got to hear Lisa Wingate speak about this book last year. After writing something like twenty novels, this one was her breakout, becoming a NYT best-seller a few weeks after release thanks to its word-of-mouth spread. It has a sense of place like Where the Crawdads Sing but is based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals.

The Book of Longings: This one gets people in a tizzy because of its premise: What if Jesus had a wife?! Written by Sue Monk Kidd (one of my favorites), it’s a lyrically gorgeous and historically impressive novel from the perspective of Jesus’ fictional wife. To those in the tizzy, it’s okaaayyyy: She is quick to explain this is a “What if…” piece of work, and it does what fiction does best—makes you imagine. It really brought a lot of humanity and color to this time period.

American Dirt: This was another book that stirred up some controversy, but it gave such a powerful look at the Mexican immigrant experience. It did what fiction does best, capturing you with a story and then changing you forever.

The Last Love Note: This is a rom-com with so much emotional depth, from the perspective of a woman falling in love again after the death of her husband. The author lost her own husband young and said in her author’s note that while the story is fiction, “the grief is mine.” (I got to interview Emma Grey a few weeks ago, and she was as delightful as I imagined.)

Nora Goes Off Script: Just a cutesy-sweet rom-com, if you need something light.

Beneath the Seams: Written by my friend Peyton (Project Person #3!), this is a social impact novel about the human cost of fast fashion. Inspired by the 2012 factory fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh alongside Peyton’s own journey learning about the crisis, the novel shares a fictional tale inspired by real events. It’s a story that has truly changed my real life, forever altering how I shop.

→ Work & Faith

Growth Hacker Marketing: When I was Corporate Callie for a minute, feeling insecure as Director of Growth for a publicly traded company, this book was really helpful to just put words and frameworks around marketing (and to call out the parts of marketing that are bogus).

Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph: Said to accompany Collins’ Good to Great, this tiny book is SO good and practical. We actually sent it to all of our Same Page HR clients for the holidays!

Garden City: Subtitled Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human, this is a beautiful book for anyone trying to find meaning in how they spend their days. I love recommending this to folks who are leaving a job or are starting a new career path. It comes from a Christian faith-perspective and talks about how we were meant to “make something of the earth.”

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: Also by Garden City’s author John Mark Comer, this book changed the way I view time. Fair warning that it’ll mess ya up.

We Go On: I love everything my buddy John O writes (his Substack, for instance), so this book is a favorite. It’s a beautiful gift for anyone navigating grief.

The Book of Belonging: Subtitled Bible Stories for Kind and Contemplative Kids, this is a storybook Bible with the most beautiful illustrations. (Rachel Eleanor, the artist, actually did the art that I use here for Project Person!) I cried multiple times at the way these stories were told. This is a go-to favorite gift for new parents.

Every Moment Holy: Death, Grief & Hope: Another go-to gift, especially for those navigating loss. This is a collection of prayers for moments such as “The Anniversary of a Loss” or “A Liturgy for Grieving a National Tragedy.” Absolutely beautiful. (There are other volumes with different areas of focus, as well.)

Exale: A beautiful devotional-style book written by a spiritual director friend of mine, Judy Lewis. I think about her words often, and I love that I now have this beautiful way to share them.

-Callie

 🪩 Meet Your Fellow Email Subscribers (& their books!) 🪩

William Warren’s The Conquering Creative (an awesome gift for someone starting or running a creative business), Bethaney Wilkinson’s The Diversity Gap (a great read for business owners or leaders), and Steven Carse’s book Work is Fun (would make a great gift for a college grad, imo.)

Next time, I’ll share the resignation letter I wrote myself in 2017. (I just read it for the first time in eight years, and oh boy, it’s a doozy.) Stay tuned!