Each month, Beyond The Page: A GBH Book Club features a notable author, who takes part in a live Q&A with a GBH personality to discuss the intricacies of that month's novel. With each monthly book selection, we also ask the author for a list of reading recommendations. For its February edition, Beyond The Page selected Leonard Downie, Jr.’s All About the Story: News, Power, Politics and The Washington Post, a memoir of the former executive editor of The Washington Post from 1991 to 2008. At a time when the role of journalism is especially critical, Downie, Jr. writes about his nearly 50 years at the newspaper and the importance of getting at the truth.

Here are five additional reading suggestions from Downie, Jr.:

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Moment by Joy Kantor and Megan Twohey
"A dramatic, detailed, moving inside account of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalism project that helped launch the #metoo movement. The reporters show how carefully and respectfully they dealt with their reluctant, frightened sources, while overcoming formidable resistance from the target of their investigation. A very readable primer on accountability journalism."

Rage by Bob Woodward
"No other journalist could have had Donald Trump reveal himself so fully. Readers can decide for themselves whether Bob should have done it differently."

The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and One of the Deadliest Days in American Firefighting by Fernanda Santos
"At a time of mounting concern about the growing scourge of increasingly destructive forest fires, Fernanda’s amazing reporting and vivid writing takes readers inside such a fire and the lives of men who gave their lives fighting it. A different kind of gripping, investigative storytelling."

The Vanity Fair Diaries 1983-1992 by Tina Brown
"The most enjoyable, just-for-fun memoir I’ve read. Only Tina could live this life and write about it this way."

Personal History by Katharine Graham
"Simply a must-read by and about one of the most influential American women of the twentieth century, who broke through one barrier after another along the way."

What Downie, Jr. is currently reading:

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"On a third or fourth reading, I am still thrilled and still learn from this masterpiece."

The Columnist by Jeffrey Frank
"Part of a wonderful satiric trilogy that greatly entertains, while revealing what life in the old Washington establishment was really like."

Sixty: A Diary of My Sixty-first Year by Ian Brown
"A talented Canadian journalist takes the reader on his journey through a pivotal year. It was appealing to me as I approach my 80th year (in 2022) and wonder whether I want to write about it."

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
"An eye-opening discussion of experiencing and responding to racism in the U.S."

Looking for more? Then join the club. Don't miss out on the next selection and virtual session by joining the Beyond The Page Facebook Group and signing up for the newsletter.