I want to capture data on the diversity of thoughts. I tend to gravitate towards biographies and other self-help nonsense, but let's keep track of graphic novels, too. Being a part of a book club will undoubtedly expose me to other genres. See Exhibit A below.
I know, I know. Plying another personal challenge seems ridiculous since I haven't really been consistent with achieving the other goals. However, I know this one is very feasible: Read 50 books during the year. It's a beautiful commitment to at least get in 1 book a week. Not a lofty goal. Not at all. This is all in the name of growth. Let's get down to business.
| Approximate Date of Completion | Title | Author | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/26/18 | Calypso | David Sedaris | Oh, delicious laughter. Sedaris' observations on his midlife journey was toe-cringing, insightful on human nature, and flamboyantly sassy about personal idiosyncrasies. |
| 12/25/18 | 10% Happier | Dan Harris | I enjoyed Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics much more, but there were still some gold nuggets: comforting the afflicted, but afflicting the comfortable; is it useful; the price of security is insecurity; let it be, not let go; what matters most |
| 12/22/18 | Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History | Yunte Huang | Wow, I enjoyed this more than I expected! I need to read Huang's Charlie Chan book. Huang's academic prose is approachable and vivid and endeared the conjoined twins to me (ducks, ducks, ducks!). I'm sure his dissection of Charlie Chan would be as enthralling. |
| 12/12/18 | Infertility Treatments | Janice Arenofsky | Read like an Opposing Viewpoints research tome. I feel better educated in options and better informed about sore points, stigmas, and legislative difficulties of raising a child. |
| 12/3/18 | So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y'all Don't Even Know | Retta | I don't know how to articulate my reaction to this book. |
| 12/1/18 | Make Trouble | Cecile Richards | I can appreciate Planned Parenthood and the importance of voting and making your values heard. |
| 12/1/18 | Robin | Dave Itzkoff | My first audio book and it was tortuous being tethered to earbuds to a boombox. The portable CD player couldn't read the disc so I had to use that antiquated thing. I do appreciate the intonation and lively narration. It just felt like a chore not reading at my pace. It took 3+ weekends to finish the 13 disc set. I do feel empathy for Robin Williams after absorbing his life story. |
| 11/18/18 | Mindfulness to Go | Dan Harp | This is my kind of meditation. I identify with the kinetic bee. I like being in motion to ease that fight-or-flight response. |
| 11/17/18 | The Shibumi Strategy | Matthew E. May | A fortuitous, practical reminder to pause, observe, reflect, learn, and apply to condition yourself for continuous improvement. I love how the book starts off with a relatable parable and concludes with an approachable practicum that spoon-feeds the steps to cultivating this Zen habit. I'm inspired to start drawing my own daruma dolls for the visual reminder to not look back on my goals and to persist |
| 11/11/18 | Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens | I decided to join the neighborhood's book club; this was one of the picks. I stubbornly charged through the pages, but was not satisfied with the conclusion. |
| 11/9/18 | Living with the Monks | Jesse Itzler | Reaffirmed what I thought:
|
| 11/7/18 | Is This Guy For Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman | Box Brown | This graphic novel reaffirmed that Kaufman just like to incite a reaction and result play up a social heel. An enjoyable browse. |
| 11/5/18 | The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love | Jill Conner Browne | Another book Club selection that I enjoyed - and in large print, too. While reading, I thought of tough, glamorous friends like Sandy. |
| 10/28/18 | Live Long and... What I Learned Along the Way | William Shatner | Outside of abject loneliness, my views on living are surprisingly similar to his'. Maybe it's completely true that there is a neural and cultural connection between the Jewish and Chinese. There are uncanny similarities between our ethical upbringings. |
| 10/23/18 | The Dead Eye and The Deep Blue Sea: A Graphic Novel of Modern Slavery | Vannak Anan Prum | I never invested the time to think about why seafood sourced from Southeast Asia was inexpensive. Now guilt consumes me knowing that my dollars might be supporting this depraved institution. My culinary enjoyment might come at the cost of abuse, humiliation, and even lives. This is a good exposé in making us think about how some delicacies arrive on our plate. Drawings can emote deeper feelings than the written word. The complexity in these simple line drawings can't be overlooked. The dark hues underscore the looming pain and the overbearing tides of insanity being subjected to these conditions. |
| 10/14/18 | Ghostbuster's Daughter | Violet Ramis Stiel | Wow, the intimacy was just touching. I appreciate the stories of overflowing love and respect to let loved ones live their own messy lives with dignity. Embrace the journey to make life meaningful in your own terms. It also reminded me to reflect on how fortunate I am to have a strong-willed mother to support me through trials of self-doubt. |
| 10/9/18 | Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for "The Simpsons" | Mike Reiss and Mathew Klickstein | Nostalgia at its finest. It led to many conversations with kind sir about pop culture of that time. I was glued to the pages and was thoroughly amused by this collection of memories. |
| 10/7/18 | Pippi in the South Seas | Astrid Lindgren | My sentimental ticker fluttered with some Pippi-isms like "If the heart is warm and beats the way it should, there is no reason to be cold." The depths of Pippi's heart to keep Tommy and Annika nourished in body, mind, and soul by bringing them along to Kurrekurredutts (despite all the annoyed "Bahs" from the siblings) made me enjoy this tale more so. |
| 10/7/18 | Pippi Longstocking | Astrid Lindgren | I have mixed feelings reading this as an adult. I can understand the appeal to younger me, but as a jaded adult, I feel annoyed with her antics. However, what appeals to adult me is the complete freedom to be the imaginative, strongest gal with a seemingly endless supply of resources to sustain yourself in Villa Villekulla. |
| 9/22/18 | I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing | A.D. Jameson | Even reading about geekdom, I feel I can't identify with this culture. I get enthused about possibilities, but I wouldn't call it geeking out. The expanse of the universe is curious. Fictitious universes? Meh. Being involved in aerospace is my escapism from the doldrums of the ordinary. I don't escape in works of fiction. I'm drawn to musings on life, but not through a fictitious lens. |
| 9/15/18 | She Caused a Riot: 100 Unknown Women Who Built Cities, Sparked Revolutions, and Massively Crushed It | Hannah Jewell | Wavered between amused and annoyed. I certainly won't remember all their names, but I wonder how much is hearsay. Writing your own history with a good moral compass, courage and confidence to better the lives of many seems to be the banner message carried here. |
| 9/9/18 | With the End in Mind | Kathryn Mannix | A timely read around Margie's birthday. It provides comfort to know that death is merely losing complete consciousness and is often peaceful. |
| 9/8/18 | You Can't Touch my Hair | Phoebe Robinson | Yay, authentic laughs! Her comedic constructs align with my sense o' humor. The 90s references help build that author-reader kinship. Although only 2 revolutions around the sun has passed since publication, the circa late 2015 cultural references feel dated and projections about the future are more optimistic than how reality manifested (I like that positivity though). Reading through Ms. Robinson's experiences was an engrossing blur and swirl of disbelief. I feel more humbled and in awe of the resilience she had to maintain by being a woman of color. I hope she continues to document her observations of tomfoolery and ignorance. Folks need to be cognizant of their seemingly innocuous, but toxic perpetuation of ugly stereotypes. |
| 9/5/18 | Astrid Lindgren: The Woman Behind Pippi Longstocking | Jens Andersen | A lithe journey through discovering one way to interpret the meaning of life. I want to read some of Ms. Lindgren's works to bring this narrative more to life. She has a youthful demeanor and approach to helping others learn about supporting the best interests of children. |
| 9/3/18 | Achtung Baby: An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children | Sara Zaske | What a difficult balancing act of logic and social expectation. American parenthood feels mighty intimidating compared to the German homestead. |
| 8/31/18 | Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics | Dan Harris with Jeff Warren and Carlye Adler | I'm excited to explore how I can fit meditation as a near-daily habit in my life. This truly is a good resource in the toolkit to manage the greatest resource: myself. I'm even more intrigued in reading his other book, 10% Happier. I truly guffawed audibly through the pages. This is how I got my humor groove back? |
| 8/26/18 | Kahlil Gibran's Little Book of Life | Neil Douglas-Klotz | Comforting thoughts. Like the seasons, there is a rhythm to life and change. Daily life is a paradoxical journey of change necessary to reach a higher version of yourself. Connect with nature to reveal another dimension of human. Beauty, however you appreciate it, was meant to be created and shared. |
| 8/19/18 | Unsuccessful Thug: One Comedian's Journey from Naptown to Tinseltown | Mike Epps | It was a thought in the epilogue that stirred me: a comedian's life is self-destructive. Laughter always accompanies pain. You just need to transform the wayward flow into a positive asset in this journey called life. |
| 8/11/18 | Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit | Sean Hepburn Ferrer | A loving pictorial from Ms. Hepburn's son. Elegance is simple sincerity and love for fellow humans expressed in humble ways. Elegance means being true to yourself with a sense of confidence and high emotional quotient. |
| 8/5/18 | Where There's Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Giving Up | Elizabeth Smart | I oscillated between feeling inspired to feeling miffed for reading some self-help sentimental hokum. Regardless, good questions are posed at the end of each chapter that I should spend more time reflecting on. |
| 7/26/18 | How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World | Jordan Christy | A time capsule of poise and femininity in the 2000s that I cannot completely relate to. I agree with being eloquent, maintaining a curious urge to learn about the world outside of social media, and developing a healthy self-respect. However, the prescriptions for makeup, fun things to do, letting gents pursue you, and what kind of books to read don't jive with me. It feels like a cookie cutter recipe for suburban gals. |
| 7/24/18 | Little People, Big Dreams: Audrey Hepburn | Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara | The artwork didn't speak to me. The narrative was lost to this distraction. |
| 7/24/18 | Just Being Audrey | Margaret Cardillo | The appealing art style drew my attention to this children's book. It exudes her elegance and inspiration. |
| 7/15/18 | The Misfit's Manifesto | Lidia Yuknavitch | A beautiful nudge to give voice to your unique stories. Stories need expression - regardless of medium - to help others move towards something meaningful. The collection of "misfit" stories is a great complement to Ms. Yuknavitch's TED Talk. |
| 7/12/18 | Just the Funny Parts | Nell Scovell | Yikes, it's time to address my amnesic reading tendencies. What do I recall from Lean In? I know I need to sit at the table and not follow the social scripts of being a woman. I can pave my way and help other gals along the way. I appreciate Ms. Scovell's reminder that diversity doesn't hold one back (as some privileged, content folks think). Embrace your experiences and approach. You can introduce novel processes and products. |
| 7/4/18 | Swearing is Good for You | Emma Byrne | Ms. Byrne said it best: it's like mustard, a good ingredient, but a lousy meal. It can add variety to expressing negative experiences. I can't tolerate a hurl of taboo words, but when a tense situation merits a strong expression, it works. Swearing is contextual - by language, culture, gender. It can help convey strong emotion, provide social lubrication if you're a part of that circle, and forestall violence by releasing the noxious charge. I probably think the taboo words more so than vocalize it. An amusing outlet to reassure me to express the hurt. |
| 7/1/18 | Wise Blood | Flannery O'Connor | Stubbornly stumbled through the end of this Book Club selection. Creating a spiteful, hopeless anti-religion to prove a point didn't resonate with me. |
| 6/24/18 | A Man Called Ove | Frederik Backman | Amusing Book Club selection. Just because a person doesn't smile doesn't mean they're a curmudgeon. You can tell about someone's character (loyalty) from a car? Ha! A dead wife's supposed loves and proclivities can lead a man to help others to make right with his wife. Man, if I can do that in life and death, I would call myself an upstanding person. |
| 6/22/18 | A Man's Guide to Understanding What She Really Means | Susan H. Grant and Michael Levin | Clearly written at a different time when women weren't independent. It highlights how much of a treasure my husband is. He truly communicates with me and respects me as an equal. |
| 6/22/18 | The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success | Deepak Chopra | Stubbornly experienced my first Chopra tome in one sitting. I like his interpretation and communication of well-being. The emphasis of circulating energy revitalized my resolve to embrace that energetic enrichment I fervently believe is my true nature and talent. |
| 6/21/18 | You Do You | Sarah Knight | Yes! Chortle fest! I found my brand of humor and a pep talk on respecting my "unconventional" self. This involves mitigating the toll of unfounded obligations, guilts, and fears. |
| 6/17/18 | Wonder | R.J. Palacio | I horribly assumed it was going to be a collection of contrived sentiments. At the end, I appreciated the emphasis on choosing kind. |
| 6/16/18 | The Windfall | Diksha Basu | Being uprooted because of wealth can cause frustrations. It frustrates me to read about folks that feel the necessity to keep up with the Jones'. |
| 6/3/18 | A Moonless, Starless Sky | Alexis Okeowo | Speechless. I feel great sympathy for the hardships chronicled in the pages about Nigeria, Somalia, Mauritania, and Uganda. I feel shame for taking a lot of freedoms for granted. We have the freedom and resources to live out our passions, but we continue to live in the doldrums of mediocrity. |
| 5/31/18 | Women Walking | Karin Sagner | Embrace walking outdoors. It liberates you from social expectations of maintaining morals in the homestead. Ms. Sagner focuses on the 19th century Eurocentric perspective, but it applies to Asiatic circles that I try not to orbit around. Remaining indoors limits free thought that accompanies saunters along challenging and enriching landscapes. Unescorted dusk walking washes your reputation with unsavory contempt. However, a promenade stroll in the dawn is acceptable? It feels like a parade of seductive goods that male blood condone. |
| 5/30/18 | Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter | Scott Adams | What a mind freak. The art of persuasion needs further study. This is how we connect with the irrational world that craves simplicity, decisiveness, positive trajectories, and something out of the norm, but is still comfortable. |
| 5/22/18 | Where the Past Begins | Amy Tan | I am drawn to the Chinese American journey of perseverance in an oftentimes close-minded immigrant society. Ms. Tan delivered a poignant recount of the struggles that I can identify with. |
| 5/12/18 | I'm Fine... and Other Lies | Whitney Cummings | I've not seen her stand up or short-lived TV series, but I enjoyed reflecting on her personal struggles and trying to relate to it. Codependency is such a vicious disease. |
| 5/6/18 | Interred with Their Bones | Jennifer Lee Carrell | I tried. Oh, how I tried. I was stubborn about finishing the book, but ended up skimming a majority of details towards the end. A lot felt like a stretch. I'm currently not a Shakespearean enthusiast. |
| 5/6/18 | Verax | Pratap Chatterjee and Khalil | The military surveillance industrial complex is scary. Don't discount what you witness. Life is fragile. |
| 4/30/18 | Two's Company | Suzanne Somers | You can still have a loving relationship where you are joined at the hip. I enjoyed Ms. Somer's stories of resilience through the help of loved ones. I still think the best super power is having the ability to mend broken hearts. |
| 4/29/18 | Ask the Fruitcake Lady | Marie Rudisill | Man, I need to lower my threshold for amusement. Still not tickled. Yes, she is a no-nonsense gal. I like her blunt and concise retorts. It's sad, not funny, how foolish we all are. We are a bunch of narcissists that ask inane questions. |
| 4/28/18 | The Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten. | Steve Martin | Warmer. Getting warmer on finding a book that tickles me gleefully. |
| 4/27/18 | Stephen Colbert's Midnight Confessions | Stephen Colbert | I'm saddened that I didn't hurt my ribs. My sense of humor just doesn't align with the vast majority. |
| 4/27/18 | Go the F**k to Sleep | Adam Mansbach | Not my kind of humor. I may not be a parent yet, but I can only imagine the frustration of getting a little one to embrace slumber. |
| 4/2/18 | No Go Zones: How Sharia Law Is Coming to a Neighborhood Near You | Raheem Kassam | The skeptic in me wonders how factual the content is. Regardless, reading this highlights the need for integration of diverse thoughts and values to promote understanding, respect, and bringing people together. |
| 3/28/18 | We're Going to Need More Wine | Gabrielle Union | Speechless about her candid recount of rape. |
| 3/19/18 | Chasing Light | Amanda Lucidon | Mrs. Obama always carries confidence and grace even in the most tender, vulnerable, and intimate moments. A type of poise I'd like to embody through most of my waking moments. Time to work on that posture. |
| 3/18/18 | Greatest Love | Dr. and Master Zhi Gang Sha, Master Maya Mackie, and Master Francisco Quintero | Surprised to have found this pocket book at the League City Library. It's a good reminder to do some loving-kindness meditation to excite your soul, heart, and mind to higher levels of energy through the greatest love. |
| 3/18/18 | Len, A Lawyer in History | Seth Tobocman, Paul Buhle and Michael Steven Smith | The graphic novel format is probably the only way I'll absorb a biography like this. If the authors intended to get readers' admiration of a radical lawyer from the 50s, they did it. I admire the courage to take on cases that questioned morality. Having that kind of passion to see justice through - despite how unpopular it is - is quite beautiful. Do I have that kind of drive you see my so-called passions through with the same intensity and drive to work on it? Time to do some more soul-searching. |
| 3/16/18 | I Hope I Screw This Up | Kyle Cease | It's the first guilty pleasure self-help book that made me laugh out loud. Humor is such an effective motivator to reflect on the "why" of life. |
| 3/11/18 | Everything All at Once | Bill Nye | Maintain curiosity, healthy skepticism to uncover truths, flexibility to absorb all information with the least amount of bias. Design is the least expensive part of an endeavor to better our lives. Invest in good design. |
| 3/10/18 | Unqualified | Anna Faris | Be true to yourself. Don't sacrifice your authentic self for unequivocal love. Protect your heart. |
| 2/25/18 | The Polygamist's Daughter | Anna LeBaron | This memoir reminds me of how fortunate and rich my life is. I live safely in a clean, quiet, and spacious home. I have access to fruit and varieties of nutritious food. I have an abundance of loved ones that supports my personal growth. I am able to work in the aerospace industry. |
| 2/23/18 | Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor | Bruce Campbell | I can't wait to read other books he's penned. His wisecracks are not offensive and are genuinely clever. |
| 2/16/18 | The Blue Zones of Happiness - Lessons from the World's Happiest People | Dan Buettner | Pleasure. Purpose. Pride. I guess the 3 Ps Mr. Buettner expands on are consistent with other musings I've encountered on happiness. The gist - we're social animals so move around and socialize. |
| 2/9/18 | T is for Transformation | Shaun T | This autobiography/self-help combo endeared himself to me even more. I'm a sucker for personal accounts of perseverance and nuggets of self-reflection that can help others grow. Just like his workouts, he guides you firmly on your own path to wellness with the right amount of pizzazz. His emphasis on helping others, but maintaining boundaries pinched me in the tuckus. I'm chronically stressed because I am afraid to set boundaries. With my break, I will get refreshed on working on my priorities. |
| 1/31/18 | I Can't Stop Crying: Grief and Recovery - A Compassionate Guide | John D. Martin and Frank D. Ferris, MD | How can I best heal? By giving myself permission and all the time in the world to heal. It was a timely read after learning about the passing of my friend's father. She is like a sister to me. |
| 1/28/18 | This is a Bust | Ed Lin | I'm ecstatic that I gave crime noir a chance. I was delightfully surprised by Mr. Lin's carefully crafted details on the Chinese-American experience. I cannot completely relate to Chinese-American New Yorkers, but as a denizen of the other American coasts, I felt a kinship and pained understanding with these fictional characters. I was seduced by the quick bits of Toisan. As a kid, I felt marginalized by my Cantonese peers because I understood their dialect, but they didn't care to invest any effort with mine. It didn't help that I was hyper-sensitive and often felt like a pariah because I truly didn't fit the mold. I didn't live in Chinatown, but went to elementary school there by circumstance. (I finally felt social integration when I attended more culturally diverse schools during my secondary years. To this day, I feel discomfort when I'm amongst a homogenous crowd with ridiculous social expectations). Mr. Lin highlights the reality of being an outcast in a Chinese society and the stigmas of not falling in line with the community's expectations for saving face. I was drawn to the story more so. The rich immersion into the Chinese-American reality developed what could've been a bland story into an engrossing experience. I'm drawn to the Chinese-American narrative more than ever. |
| 1/16/18 | The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying | Nina Riggs | Helped filled some emotional holes to help grow from my grandfather's passing. As a descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, she provided some thoughtful nuggets from him - I look forward to reading more of his musings. I'm on a journey to find my own truths. |
| 1/13/18 | Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance | Simone Biles | My expectations were unreasonably high. I did not enjoy it at the end. My poor spouse had to withstand my banal complaints about the intentional sentimental literary tugs that appeals to the Oprah Book Club (the co-author contributes to that series of books). The best notion I got out of this autobiography: form goals and the path to achievement for yourself. |
| 1/1/18 | Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery | Scott Kelly | Yay, for large print. My personal biases didn't allow me to enjoy the book to its full extent. His sense of humor doesn't jive with me. It really comes off as condescending. |
No comments:
Post a Comment