Book list

Recently complete books...

"Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng. I liked this book. Didn't LOVE it. I found the ending anti-climatic and wished that there was a bit more drama to the whole thing. The plot is that a 16 year old, seemingly promising girl is found dead in a lake. At first they investigate foul play, but there is also the consideration of suicide. The parents are shocked and cannot believe that there could have been any signs pointing to their daughter's demise. It's thought provoking in terms of thinking about what we think to be true and what actually is true. Sometimes we can be so focused on our own life that we miss what's going on with someone else right beside us. I read it in about 4 days, so if you're looking for a quick read this will do.

"Why Not Me?" by Mindy Kaling. I liked her first book and this one also lives up to her standard of wit and honesty. I like the premise that she's done trying to please people. Not everyone is going to like you and that's okay. But the more you try and rally people to like you (she tried giving skittles to kids at school in order to win friends), the more you have to keep up that gimmick long-term. It's better to just be yourself and the people that will like you, will like you for you (without being given skittles). Also a quick read.

"What Alice Forgot" by Lianne Moriarty. Got this recommendation from Janssen Bradshaw and she was so right that this is a great book. A woman hits her head at age 39, and when she comes to... she has lost the past 10 years of her memory. She gets a hard look at how her life has turned out and is surprised by much of who she has become. It's thought provoking and sad and a cliff hanger until the end when you are rooting for her to get her life in order in the way she dreamed it would be.

"Party Girl" by Rachel Hollis. I would liken this book to "The Devil Wears Prada" and I really enjoyed this light read. I follow the author on instagram (the early days of her career parallel the main character in the book) and I'm basically just obsessed with her. She's spunky, fun, stylish, and believes she can do anything. I heard her on a podcast once saying, "Don't let anyone tell you how big your dreams can be."

"How Will you Measure your Life?" by Clayton Christensen. Awesome look at the best ways we can prepare our lives for success in our careers, relationships, and _____. There's no magic formula to having a perfect life, because our circumstances are not entirely in our control, but we do have the ability to cultivate meaningful relationship, pivot in our careers, and make important choices that prioritize things according the type of life we want to have.

"How to Talk so Kids will listen and Listen so Kids will talk" by Faber and Mazlish. A great resource for parents about communicating with your children. Empathy is such a huge tool and so many of our altercations with our kids stem from not listening appropriately or not communicating with them effectively. I'm doing a Book Club episode on the podcast about this book and I can't wait to discuss it with my friend Stephanie.

Books read: 15/20. Whoop whoop. I love that I am really making time for reading these days. Feels so good to my mind and spirit.