Books of December 2019
As I shared last month, in order to reach the doubly amended reading goal for the year, I needed to finish just a couple more books in December!
Here are the ones I finished this month to bring my book total for 2019 up to 200!
The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life - 3 Stars. As a professional organizer, I go into books like this a bit skeptically. Some people might want this guide to decluttering their rooms and homes - but others just need to work through it all at their own pace. There are definitely some good ideas here and a lot of short pithy quotes. But some of the random statements - like you should cut the decor in your house by half - are likely to cause hesitation, and do more harm than good. I definitely appreciate the minimalist idea though and Joshua Becker for sharing his journey.
Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals - 3 Stars. I was a bit hesitant going into this book. Your best year ever is a pretty big promise. However, I was impressed with a lot of the thought work and mindset stuff that went into the book. There was also a good mix of tangible, practical advice. However, this is another area where I think that personality differences and things like the four tendencies need to be taken into account - the same process won’t work for everyone. Also, it really irritates me when books describe all the benefits of the course or training or class that they are based on. The content was made into a book for a reason, and that is the medium I am using to learn the material - I want to learn about the ideas, not the other places I can learn them.
Eight Dates: Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love - 4 Stars. To continue my John Gottman reading, I chose this, very actionable book. The book has a good style, and I enjoyed reading all of the questions to ask on these eight dates. Reading this book and following the suggestions is likely to set you on a solid course towards the lifetime of love described.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World - 3 Stars. I had heard a lot about this book going into it, and I think that there are some real benefits to working in the way described here. However, I think it is not something that everyone needs to, or should have to conform to. I also found it interesting that as the book progressed it moved more and more towards the idea of digital minimalism - which became Cal Newport’s next book. Much of the ideas and content for that book at least germinated here.
Man’s Search for Meaning - 3 Stars. This was a book that Gretchen Rubin recommended as one that everyone should read. As a moving story of the German concentration camps, and as a look into the psychological workings of the human mind, it is very interesting. I appreciated its insights, but I’m not sure I would rank it as a universal must-read.
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas - 4 Stars. This Agatha Christie mystery surprised me. I was guessing until the very end. In hindsight, I probably could have guessed the murderer, but I didn’t. This book has a totally different tack and approach, one that I have never seen before. It is from brilliance like this that I derive my love of Agatha Christie mysteries. But the romance aspect was annoying as always.
The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed as You Are - 3 Stars. For some reason I can’t quite put my finger on, this book reminded me of the one I read earlier this year about parenting: All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers, and the Myth of Equal Partnership. Both tackle significant issues that women face - shouldering most of the household and parenting tasks, and being undermined at work because it is nearly impossible to balance leadership with likability, respectively. Both have studies, stories, and statistics. And both ultimately seemed to come to the same conclusion - that although things are better than they have been in the past, there isn’t too much we can do about it. We must merely make sure that we are happy with how these issues are playing out in our lives, and hope that the rest of the world will follow suit.
Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence - 3 Stars. I have mixed feelings about this book. While in general, it is a decent money book, the majority of the information is not that unique. The parts that are unique relate to the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) world. While this is certainly something that would appeal to some people, I definitely wouldn’t say that it is a universal desire. For example, I love what I do. So even though I do want to get to a place where I am totally financially stable, and maybe even financially independent, I don’t want to retire at 30, and may not even want to retire at 70! This book actually reminded me a lot of Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. The steps in both of these books would appeal to some, but if everyone in the world followed them, life and society would have to change drastically. So if the idea of FIRE appeals to you, or you loved The 4-Hour Workweek, you would probably enjoy this book.
And there you have it! Reviews for the 200 books I read in 2019.
The other part of my amended reading goal for 2019 that I shared was that I wanted to re-read books that I have read in the past and loved. All of these books are favorites of mine and ones that I was so excited to get to read again in December. I highly recommend all of them:
The Willoughbys - 5 Stars. This short satirical story by Lois Lowry is totally different than her normal writing style. It is unusual, witty, and hilarious. It does fall into the category of children’s books, but that definitely has not stopped me from enjoying it as an adult.
The Happiness Project, Tenth Anniversary Edition: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun - 5 Stars. This should come as no surprise. I give this book credit for pushing me onto the path that I am now on, inspiring me, challenging me, and catalyzing me into this world of personal development. And, as proof that I really should reread more books that I love, I came away inspired by new things and challenged in new ways. What stuck with me this time I read it was the concept of “changing your life without changing your life”. I’m not planning to move around the world, become a monk, or run for president. The things I’m doing aren’t going to totally upend my life. But they can - in a good way - if I let them.
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things - 5 Stars. Few books make me actually laugh out loud when I read them (even fewer that admit they are a funny book right in the title), but this book is definitely one of them. I have never laughed so hard at a book as I have at this one. And yes, it was still funny my second time through. The book isn’t all fun and games though, it is also a beautiful treatise on depression, anxiety, and mental health in general. If you know anyone (and I’m sure you do) who struggles with these or similar issues, then you should definitely pick up this book. It will expand your mind, deepen your compassion, and I’m sure, give you a few laughs along the way.
The Great Gatsby - 5 Stars. I had to read at least one classic as I revisited books that I love (and no, this isn’t my only favorite book that is a classic). The language is beautiful. The story, although not necessarily relatable, is witty, and charming, and surprising. While this book doesn’t have the happy ending that I usually crave in fiction, it does a good job of giving a satisfying close, without seeming overly edgy or out of place. The ending fits well with the tone of the book, and this tone is one that I wish more fiction shared.
While I didn’t get to re-read all of the amazing books I had planned to in December, I was able to revisit some of my absolute favorites and meet my doubly amended reading goal for the year. All in all, I consider December a success.
I will be tackling my reading list a bit differently in 2020, so check out the post about my 20 for 2020 list when it comes out early next month to hear all about it. Of course, it will also be obvious if you read any of my books of 2020 posts next year.
Regardless, I’m excited and ready for all the pages and publications to come in 2020.
Until next time,