Books of April 2020
With everything going on in the world, I like many people, find a retreat in books and television. Each has a place. I love spending the evening watching one of my favorite shows with some popcorn, but I know that reading is much more likely to help me reach my goals. So even though I have spent quite a bit of time this month watching television, I also read the following books:
Memoir: Yes, My Accent Is Real - and Some Other Things I Haven't Told You - 3 Stars. Since I’ve been watching a lot of Big Bang Theory lately (one of my 20 for 2020 goals) I found it really interesting to learn more about one of the key actors! This book is also quite different from most of the other memoirs of Hollywood stars that I have read. It is much less funny - although not in a bad way. It actually helps to make the lessons more poignant. And although in some ways, Kunal Nayyar’s journey once he reached LA seems almost anticlimactic, the work it took to get there shows ingenuity and strength - two qualities that the character Raj would likely envy.
Business: The Infinite Game - 3 Stars. The idea of shifting our focus from a life focused on the finite aspects of the world, to the infinite does have a lot of potential. I enjoyed seeing all the examples of how these different perspectives have played out in the real world. But ultimately, like many of the other books by Simon Senek, it comes down to a very simple principle - in this case, businesses and individuals thrive when they pursue a cause greater than themselves and allow that to guide them. While many of the ideas in this book are applicable to all areas of life, the examples and applications seem to center primarily around business.
Mystery: Death in the Clouds - 3 Stars. What makes this mystery so unique is the setting for the murder. People aren’t killed on airplanes very often, or if they are, there isn’t too much mystery behind who killed them. Between the murder in the sky, a surprising South American blowpipe, and Poirot being framed as the killer, there was plenty to keep me guessing until the end. And since the plot has multiple layers I was surprised and intrigued by its depth.
Personal development: The Self-Care Solution: A Year of Becoming Happier, Healthier, and Fitter - One Month at a Time - 4 Stars. If you’ve followed me for very long, you probably know that I love the year-long project format in pretty much any book. This one was no exception. Each month the author focuses on a different small health goal. Each chapter progresses from her experience with each goal, to the statistics and research supporting why the small changes are so powerful, and finally to tips for making similar changes in your own life. Each of the challenges was well supported by research and I added some of them to my routine right away. I will admit that some of the benefits seemed to be a bit overstated and everything seemed to result in MORE ENERGY and WEIGHT LOSS. I don’t doubt the power of these changes, but the benefits seemed to be a bit heavy-handed at times.
Novel/fiction: Meg and Jo - 4 Stars. Even before I acted in a production of Little Women as a teenager, I have felt very connected to the story. I have read several adaptations and watched all of the movies and tv series. I generally don’t like the modern versions of the story - but this one I actually enjoyed. There was enough of the original story (even some of the same lines), but there was also enough variation in the story to keep it interesting and new. Also, Meg and Jo are my favorite characters to begin with, so I loved that this story was centered primarily on them.
Sustainability: The Conscious Closet: The Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good While Doing Good - 3 Stars. Another book discussing how to make environmentally sound choices when it comes to purchasing and maintaining what is in our closets. It has a more casual tone than some similar books that I have read and is a good mix of research and practical tips for how to make the most of what you have learned. The book discusses ethical and sustainable issues and everything from renting to patching.
I did get to read some more mystery books in April like I said I had hoped to. They helped to keep my mind off of some of the crazier aspects of life right now.
So, once I made it through my planned books - which I’ll admit, I didn’t actually plan much - I dove into these:
The Trauma Cleaner - 3 Stars. Trauma cleaning is a job that I think most of us would prefer not to think or know about. But cleaning up blood and other even worse messes has to be done by someone, and those people are the trauma cleaners. The story of this particular trauma cleaner is as messy as some of the places she helps to clean. The back and forth between her story and the work she does now can be a bit confusing, but it is a reminder that even the worst parts of our past can help us to end up exactly where we want to be.
Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years - 3 Stars. I’ve always loved Oscar Wilde’s work, but I never knew that much about his life - beyond what is common knowledge. This story of his sentencing, time in prison, and the final years of his life after his release are intriguing. It very clearly shows how multidimensional people are, even ones we think we know really well. In a very unique way, it also portrays the value of true and committed friendship. At times the book goes into too much detail and I wish that it shared more of the early part of his life - although I do understand that wasn’t really the point of this book. I guess I will just need to go read one about Oscar Wilde’s origins.
Outliers: The Story of Success - 3 Stars. I think that books like this are absolutely fascinating. They discuss aspects of life and statistics that I never would have considered. For example, I never would have realized that most professional hockey players are born early in the year - or why that would be. This book also explains why people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs ended up where they did. And although it makes a lot of sense, it is a little bit tough to embrace. Because although hard work is a key component to becoming successful, semi-miraculous opportunities also seem to have to be involved. Unfortunately, those aren’t guaranteed. But I guess for now I will stick to working hard - even if I never become conventionally successful, I can still accomplish some pretty great things.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup - 3 Stars. It was interesting to read this book so quickly after finishing Outliers. Even sometimes when people have everything on their side and even when they may seem to be successful, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are. I enjoyed reading more about the intricate inner workings of startup companies as well as investigative journalism. At times the story seems almost treacherous because of the risk to the consumers of the product that was being sold, but in the end, justice triumphed - thankfully, as it so often does.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference - 3 Stars. Another Malcolm Gladwell book for the month. In a world that is suffering from a virus, the research behind this book was particularly interesting. It really made me think about how the current situation might have been changed if small things had happened differently. However, I think that social distancing and shelter-in-place orders have had a tremendous impact and have been a tipping point in a different way.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse - 4 Stars. This short poignant story is half-parable and half-picturebook. The story itself is very sweet and the illustrations are lovely and unique. It teaches so many important life lessons very directly. For a short, quick read, that primarily circles around animals, I was surprised by how much this book resonated. It really summarizes very well all the important lessons that I’m trying to internalize - that, combined with the cute presentation, made this book something special.
The Hollow - 3 Stars. This was probably the most exciting mystery I read this month. The story does a great job circling around making everyone look like a suspect - even if it all comes to naught at the end. Although that is what makes the book so intriguing.
The Pale Horse - 3 Stars. While this did have pretty much all of the qualities I look for in a good Agatha Christie mystery, I didn’t really enjoy the supernatural angle in this one. It is something that I haven’t really seen in any of her other books, and for that I am glad. But beyond that, I appreciated the twist and the kind of unconventional approach to solving this mystery. Although I did also miss having Poirot around to do the detective work.
The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life - 3 Stars. I read this book based on a recommendation by Sam Laura Brown, a blogger and podcaster that I really look up to. This book really is a good culmination of a lot of the ideas that I’ve been learning about and that she shares, things like thought management, not taking yourself as seriously, and giving yourself and others an “A”. This book is definitely based on a lot of stories and illustrations, which do contribute to getting the ideas across. It does feel a bit scattered, only loosely tied together with that idea of “the art of possibility”. But if some of the ideas I outlined above intrigue you, then this might be just the right book to read.
The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists - 4 Stars. I didn’t know much about life within the CIA (or FBI) before reading this book - especially not what it was like during 9/11. This story is an important example of the resilience of women, despite great odds, discrimination, and mistreatment. It was also interesting to see all the words, paragraphs, and sections removed by the CIA - some classified information will always be classified I guess. Above all else, I loved being reminded that how, after all that we suffer and endure, we end up exactly where we were meant to be.
Know My Name - 3 Stars. This memoir is beautifully written, and completely heartbreaking. I cried countless times. It’s always interesting to read in more detail about something that has been covered in other books that I’ve read. But those depictions are nothing compared to the feeling of being inside of the story. This book continued the echo of resilience and strength of The Unexpected Spy, which I had just finished. It also reminded me strongly of What Is a Girl Worth, which I read at the beginning of this year -the pain, the struggle, the questioning, the legal process, and the value found in the teams of people that supported these women in causes that matter - advancing justice and hope.
Passenger to Frankfurt - 2 Stars. This is one of my least favorite Agatha Christie mysteries. It has taken me months to get through the ebook. There are way too many characters and the plot doesn’t make much sense - it is hard to know what the issue is that is being “solved’. Plus, there are large chunks of random rhetoric that detract from the story. I even checked (multiple times) to make sure that Agatha Christie herself actually wrote this book, not someone else under her name. Sure enough, she did write it, but the style seemed to me to be very different. I ended the book with more questions than were answered in the story.
I moved into a new apartment at the beginning of this month and nearby is a great path down along the water. I’ve been able to walk it every day! It has been a great way to get outside even while staying away from all the other humans. It has also helped me to increase the number of books I get through!
It also does look like the spike in my reading this month could be partially attributed to some extra time at home - one of the few positive things going on right now, so I’ll take it.
Until next time,