Carrie Preston Reveals Six Favorite Books for Her Reading Breaks

For actress Carrie Preston, reading serves as more than just a pastime during breaks from filming. It offers her a chance to experience new viewpoints, revisit favorite writers, and find peace amid a demanding career. The actor, recognized for her role as the unconventional lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni on CBS’s Elsbeth, recently named six books that have made a lasting impression on her.

From a new novel about womanhood to a spiritual help for challenging periods her suggestions span worlds. All, on a number of levels, seem to explore the strange characters with deep emotional worlds and plots that keep revealing something new every time you read.

One of Preston’s recommendations is Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, a novel that explores contemporary womanhood and the expectations it entails. Preston called the book ambitious and intriguing, noting its readiness to challenge traditional views on identity and social progress.

The draw of the book is its exploration of how people perceive themselves and how cultural pressures influence their choices. Its critical eye makes it an ideal selection for someone who likes contemporary fiction that provokes discussion beyond the conclusion.

Preston suggests The Morning Star, by Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard. The book starts with the appearance of an enormous, mysterious star in the sky while ordinary people continue navigating their everyday lives.

The novel mixes everyday life with a disturbing and uncanny atmosphere, creating a feeling of dread that develops slowly. Preston called it “phantasmagoric” and said it captured “the minutiae of everyday life”. Its nearly 700-page length will appeal to readers seeking a long, slow burn or love a story that takes its time to explore an extraordinary idea.

Not all recommendations are fiction. When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chdrn is a very different kind of book to read, yet it is a book about perspective during uncertain times, times of suffering and times of change.

Chdrn is a longtime Buddhist nun and teacher who knows how to guide us through challenging situations without letting us get caught up in fear or the desire to control everything that’s happening. Preston has been practicing that way for many years and says her book can take on different meanings, given what you’re experiencing.

Preston was introduced to her love of literary classics through The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers. When she was a teenager she read the book and fell in love with the main character, 12-year-old Frankie Addams.

This novel is about youth, loneliness, and the intense need to belong. She wants to become part of a wedding to be part of the outside world, and we sense that Frankie is experiencing all this confusion and longing.

Winner for Preston Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo Featured for Preston The novel was included on Preston’s list due to the way it detailed sibling bonds. The novel tracks two brothers as they deal with grief, past issues and shifting relationships following the death of their father.