Debbie Laskey's Blog: FALL BACK TO READING SERIES 2025

Monday, October 27, 2025

FALL BACK TO READING SERIES 2025 – Featuring Melanie Bell

It's that time of year again - to fall back to reading, so I've launched a repeat of my first series with that title and invited a dozen thought leaders to answer six questions about reading, books, and marketing. Join me today and continuing every Monday during November and December - ending on December 15th and with a series recap on December 21st.

A repeat guest on my blog, today's featured series participant is Melanie Bell based in California. Melanie is the Co-Founder of Strategic Piece, a company that helps B2B businesses generate outstanding revenue growth by bringing together their marketing, sales, and service teams around an information-driven customer experience. However, Melanie is not only about marketing. She founded Leaders Who Fiction, a virtual monthly book club (where we met in November 2023), while running Strategic Piece. Through Leaders Who Fiction, Melanie helps people develop leadership skills by reading fiction and participating in intellectual, business-oriented conversations centered around a selected novel. Prior to Strategic Piece, Melanie was President of Marketing Interface, which she founded in 2014, after serving as Director of Marketing at SURGE Accelerator/SURGE Ventures. Melanie earned a BA in International Development from McGill University in Montreal and an MBA from Rice University in Houston.

QUESTION: Why did you choose the last book you read?

MELANIE BELL: I finished Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto yesterday while waiting for my luggage at the airport (there was a thunderstorm so I had an hour to kill). I read it for the Leaders Who Fiction book club that I run. One of our members (Rebecca Rucker - next Monday's series guest here on #DebbieLaskeysBlog) suggested we read this book, and I love it when I get to read something new and fun. I tore through it on the plane ride home.

QUESTION: Have you ever chosen a book because you were drawn to the cover design? If yes, what was the book, and what attracted you to the cover?

MELANIE BELL: Absolutely. I can't remember the first time that it happened, but I can remember the most recent time it did: The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner. This is her third book, and all of them have crazy beautiful book covers. I did know something about the story and the author when I decided to buy it, so I can't say it was only based on the cover, but I chose it over her other books because of it.

QUESTION: Have you ever chosen a book because of its title? If yes, what was the book, and what drew you to the title?

MELANIE BELL: 100 percent I've done this. Probably more than I care to admit, even to myself! Some examples that come to mind The Ministry of Time (Kaliane Bradley), Christmas with the Queen (Heather Webb and Hazel Gaynor), The Titanic Survivors' Book Club (Timothy Schaffert). I'm a sucker for anything time travel, royalty, or Titanic related, so each of these grabbed my attention for their respective reason. Also, I'm currently listening to The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, and the title seemed so happy I wanted to give the book a chance. Note: the book is NOT happy, but so so well-written.

QUESTION: Have you ever finished reading a book, been disappointed by the ending, and thought you could have written a better ending? If yes, what was the book, and how would you have ended it?

MELANIE BELL: The book that comes to mind is The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. I absolutely adored this book. Could not put it down. Read it in a weekend. But the end of it made me want to throw the book out the window. While not explicit, it was implied at the very end that the main character looked someone up on the Internet in the 80s. I found it so factually incorrect or suspicious that I get angry every time I think about it. How did nobody else read that? I mean this book was up for some mega awards!

QUESTION: Is there a social media account, a national book publisher, or book club you follow for reading recommendations?

MELANIE BELL: One of my favorite sources for book recommendations is the Women's Prize for Fiction. I love their mission and the books that they select. They also have an addictive podcast filled with book recommendations that don't miss.

QUESTION: What book should everyone read, and why?

MELANIE BELL: Tough one! I don't know that there is one book I recommend everyone read. Different books speak to us differently depending on when we read them and what's going on in our lives. One of my favorite things to do is to make specific book recommendations for individuals based on what I think they'll love. That being said, the book I've read the most number of times is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, so I do recommend that one a lot!