Valerie Bertinelli's Top Books List Makes Her Favorite Author Obvious

Warning: The following has mention of sexual abuse.

Valerie Bertinelli has worn some questionable outfits over the years, but when it comes to books, she knows what she's talking about. When asked by Page Six what her fave six reads were, the "Hot in Cleveland" star naturally picked her latest celebrity memoir that would make a great book club pick, "Getting Naked," and added two books by author Geraldine Brooks. "There is something about 'Horse' by Geraldine Brooks that I just can't let go of. A beautiful and stunning book about the provenance of a painting of a legendary racehorse." She then recommended "Memorial Days" by Brooks, sharing, "She was writing 'Horse' when she went through a devastating loss. It's a gorgeous book of having to move through your life and your work while having to process such immense grief."

Bertinelli is no stranger to memoirs, having written four of her own, and shared with Today just how therapeutic it was to spill intimate details of her life. Referring to a past sexual abuse she went through as a child, the actor said, "I had finally gotten to a place where I was at peace with it, and I wasn't ashamed of it any longer. I didn't take the blame for it any longer. And I wanted other people to feel that and hear that as well." Perhaps that's the reason Bertinelli loves Brooks' work so much, as the Pulitzer Prize winner poured her own grief into writing after losing her beloved husband.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

While in the middle of drafting "Horse," Geraldine Brooks lost her husband, Tony Horwitz, to a sudden heart attack in 2019, but that didn't stop her from doing what she loved. "I needed to use writing as my therapy,' she told Publishers Weekly. Referring to her memoir, "Memorial Day," in which she opened up about grief, Brooks shared, "I needed to write it more than I wanted to write it." The author added, "When I'm home, I could spend time in the garden and with the horse and donkey, and I do those things, but I don't want that to be my whole life. I want to keep pushing and creating. There's no time to waste. Work is what's saving me."

It took Brooks a year to get back to writing "Horse," which is one of the best books to read if you love "Yellowstone." She shared with The Sydney Morning Herald, "It breaks your heart open to make you more in tune with suffering, so I think that it does do something to how you portray your characters." The story, which begins during the Civil War era and jumps forward a century, centers around a Black slave and a famous racehorse, whose portrait lands in the hands of a gallery owner 100 years later. Despite Brooks' grief, it's clear that she churned out another masterpiece, and one fan on Goodreads gushed, "There is the sheer power of her storytelling, the way the narrative never flags; there is the profound depth of her characters — in this case, even the horses and dogs have personalities that are vivid and moving."