I did the math. I only have time to read 1,820 books. So the pressure to be more selective is real. (If I live to be 85 years old and read 52 books a year) I’d like to share a list of books you must read.

Growing up on the move, books were my friends. It was people like Beverly Cleary, Paul Hutchens, and Franklin Dixson who moved with me. They helped me make sense of new places and feel the comfort that comes with reading characters I had grown to love. Good stories ground you even when you never...