Lisa Montanaro
821 ratings | 573 reviews | avg rating:4.32

Lisa’s Year In Books

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Lisa’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Lisa’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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Lisa’s Bookshelves

to-read (2819)
currently-reading (3)
read (860)
animals-dogs (56)
biography-history (78)
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Vera Bell
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339 books | 41 friends

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647 books | 114 friends

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Sharon Kurtzman
173 books | 7 friends

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Suzanne
693 books | 175 friends

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RoseMary author
942 books | 277 friends

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2026 Reading Challenge

Lisa Montanaro

Goodreads Author


Born
in New York, The United States
Website

Genre
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Memoir

Influences
Ann_Patchett Jodi_Picoult Celeste_Ng Fredrik_Backman ...more

Member Since
December 2012

URL


Lisa Montanaro is part no-nonsense Italian American New Yorker and part sunny Californian. She has a unique background as a performer, teacher of the Deaf, lawyer, coach, speaker, and author. Lisa writes emotionally layered fiction featuring complex characters breaking barriers and fighting to truly be themselves despite obstacles in their way—including the time they live in and societal stigmas.

Her debut novel, Everything We Thought Was True, released January 2025 by Red Adept Publishing. It won first place for Best New Fiction/Debut in the 2025 American Writing Awards, first place for LGBTQ Fiction in the 2024 International Firebird Book Awards, honorable mention for General Fiction in the 2025 Los Angeles Book Festival, and finalist for ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?
Lisa Montanaro This question is easy for me as my debut novel is based on a family secret! Everything We Thought Was True, is a deeply personal, but fictional, novel…moreThis question is easy for me as my debut novel is based on a family secret! Everything We Thought Was True, is a deeply personal, but fictional, novel inspired by my family’s unique story. It's told in dual timeline and deconstructs a secret that forever shapes an Italian American family, through the perspective of three distinct characters—a husband and wife in the past story from the late 1960s to 1990s, and their adult daughter in the contemporary story in summer 2015. All three characters are grappling with the right and the nerve to live according to the desires of their heart rather than the limiting expectations of the world around them and within them. (less)
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If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?
Lisa Montanaro I'd like to visit The House in the Cerulean Sea in the fictional world created by T.J. Klune. I just finished reading that book and would love to hang…moreI'd like to visit The House in the Cerulean Sea in the fictional world created by T.J. Klune. I just finished reading that book and would love to hang out with the characters on the magical island of Marsyas.(less)
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 4.51 · 196 ratings · 88 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors
Everything We Thought Was True
4.53 avg rating — 187 ratings — 5 editions
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The Ultimate Life Organizer...
4.11 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

148 posts
Lisa Montanaro's Blog: Prosecco & Prose

Embracing the Quiet of Winter

The holiday season comes with a sense of urgency that can feel both exciting and overwhelming. While most people often find the holidays to be a busy and chaotic time of year (albeit a joyful one too!), I have a tradition of taking time in December to slow down, catch up, and relax. My calendar [...]
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Published on December 28, 2025 17:07
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Lisa is Currently Reading

The Mad Wife
Lisa Montanaro is currently reading
by Meagan Church (Goodreads Author)
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Feb 15, 2026 12:41PM
Everything We Tho...
Lisa Montanaro is currently reading
by Lisa Montanaro (Goodreads Author)
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Jan 04, 2026 02:47PM
Abandoning the Sc...
Lisa Montanaro is currently reading
by Linda Rosen (Goodreads Author)
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Dec 31, 2025 04:01PM

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Lisa’s Recent Updates

Lisa Montanaro entered a giveaway
Big Time by Laura Vanderkam
Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance
by Laura Vanderkam (Goodreads Author)
10 copies available, ends on March 22, 2026 Enter to win »
Feb 20, 2026 09:22AM  ·   · see giveaway
Lisa Montanaro wants to read
Summer of Love by Kerri Maher
Summer of Love
by Kerri Maher (Goodreads Author)
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Feb 20, 2026 09:21AM  · 
Lisa Montanaro wants to read
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily R. Austin
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead
by Emily R. Austin (Goodreads Author)
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Feb 18, 2026 04:48PM  ·   ·  preview book
Lisa Montanaro wants to read
Claire McCardell by Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson
Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free
by Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson (Goodreads Author)
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Feb 16, 2026 10:06AM  ·   ·  preview book
Lisa Montanaro wants to read
The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
The Three Lives of Cate Kay
by Kate Fagan (Goodreads Author)
Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Fiction
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Feb 16, 2026 10:05AM  · 
Lisa Montanaro started reading
The Mad Wife by Meagan Church
The Mad Wife
by Meagan Church (Goodreads Author)
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Feb 15, 2026 12:41PM  ·   ·  preview book
Lisa Montanaro rated a book it was amazing
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Atmosphere
by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Goodreads Author)
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Feb 15, 2026 12:31PM  · 4 likes · 
Lisa Montanaro liked Sheryl's review of Atmosphere:
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Feb 15, 2026 12:30PM  · see review
Lisa Montanaro liked Heather Frimmer's review of Atmosphere:
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Feb 15, 2026 12:30PM  · see review ·  preview book
Lisa Montanaro and 8 other people liked Lisa Barr's review of Atmosphere:
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Feb 15, 2026 12:30PM  · see review ·  preview book
More of Lisa's books…

Lisa’s Quotes

Helen Keller
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart”
― Helen Keller
tags: by-anne-sullivan, emotions, feelings
5557 likes

H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
― H. Jackson Brown Jr.
tags: inspirational, life
4330 likes

Helen Keller
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
― Helen Keller, The Open Door
tags: carpe-diem, challenges, enjoy-life, life, risk-taking
2665 likes

Helen Keller
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller
tags: collaboration, life, teamwork
1248 likes

Helen Keller
“The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision.”
― Helen Keller
916 likes

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Lisa’s Groups

220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 313406 members — last activity 0 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more

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