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Lisa Montanaro
846 ratings | 575 reviews | avg rating:4.31

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Lisa’s 2025 Year in Books
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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: 4.5 · 223 ratings · 96 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors
Everything We Thought Was True
4.51 avg rating — 214 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 Days I Loved ...
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by Amy Neff (Goodreads Author)
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Aug 01, 2026 01:00PM
Facing 40: 27 wom...
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May 28, 2026 10:45AM
Save the Cat! Wri...
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Mar 08, 2026 04:13PM

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Lisa’s Recent Updates

Lisa Montanaro wants to read
Lost in the Summer of '69 by Eliza Knight
Lost in the Summer of '69
by Eliza Knight (Goodreads Author)
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22 hours, 58 min ago  ·   ·  preview book
Lisa Montanaro liked Andrea's status update
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Andrea is 80% done with Dolly All the Time
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A Founding Mother by Stephanie Dray
A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams
by Stephanie Dray (Goodreads Author)
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22 hours, 59 min ago  ·   ·  preview book
Lisa Montanaro started reading
The Days I Loved You Most by Amy Neff
The Days I Loved You Most
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Aug 01, 2026 12:59PM  ·   ·  preview book
Lisa Montanaro rated a book really liked it
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
The Magician's Assistant
by Ann Patchett
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Aug 01, 2026 12:59PM  · 1 like · 
Lisa Montanaro entered a giveaway
The Last 39 Seconds by Michelle Gable
The Last 39 Seconds
by Michelle Gable (Goodreads Author)
10 copies available, ends on August 30, 2026 Enter to win »
Aug 01, 2026 09:58AM  ·   · see giveaway
Lisa Montanaro liked Suanne's review of The Magician's Assistant:
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
"I loved Ann Patchett's Bel Canto and Tom Lake, so I can't figure out why it took me so long to get around to reading The Magician's Assistant. Guy Fetters is an abused teenager from Nebraska who leaves home. After erasing his past, he becomes a succe" Read more of this review »
Jul 28, 2026 11:20PM  · see review
Lisa Montanaro liked Bonnie Schroeder's review of The Magician's Assistant:
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
"The narrative begins with the death of Parsifal, a famous magician, and is told from the POV of his widow and long-time assistant, Sabine. Gradually, Patchett reveals some surprising truths to the reader and then a real shocker to Sabine herself, sen" Read more of this review »
Jul 28, 2026 11:20PM  · see review
Lisa Montanaro started reading
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
The Magician's Assistant
by Ann Patchett
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Jul 25, 2026 03:05PM  · 1 like · 
Lisa Montanaro rated a book it was amazing
I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney
I See You've Called in Dead
by John Kenney
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Jul 25, 2026 03:04PM  · 1 like ·   ·  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
5560 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
4323 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
2666 likes

Helen Keller
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller
tags: collaboration, life, teamwork
1250 likes

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

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Lisa’s Groups

220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 333495 members — last activity 1 minute ago
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