Books of June 2020
Even with all that 2020 has brought with it, I think that June has been one of the most intense months for a lot of people. I spent a bit more time than usual talking and with people and doing a lot of my own inner work this month. It was slow (and super painful at times) but I let that be okay. I didn’t get as much reading done this month as I normally would either - but I let that be okay too.
Memoir: Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown - 3 Stars. I loved this book much more than I expected to. I’ve been reading a lot of memoirs about royalty (or those close to them) this year, whereas in years past I seem to have gravitated towards ones written by Hollywood stars. I’m not sure of the reason behind the proclivity for either, but I’m here for it. The story of this lady in waiting to Princess Margaret is more about her life than about her service to the crown, and I think that is where a lot of its power lies. You can know the private number to Kensignton Palace and still live a relatively normal life. You face the same joys and heartaches as everyone else - as other books I’ve read lately have shown, you can live in the palace and deal with the same things. There is a great deal of love and humanity in this memoir and I think that is what drew me to it.
Business: Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves - 2 Stars. If you’re curious about the viral sensations of the early 2000s and how they grew into what they were - then this book is what you need. It seemed strangely ironic how dated many of the references in this book were, even if they were only a decade or so old. But fickleness does seem in keeping with virality, at least as described in this book. It was interesting to hear about specific examples - most of which I am familiar with - but there was little information on how to apply these tactics or concepts to life or business. That may be because virality is a little less predictable than we might like.
Mystery: The Hunting Party - 3 Stars. Someone recommended this book to me, although I have no idea who it was. When I saw someone compared it to a great Agatha Christie mystery, I dove right in. I’m not sure that I would say it was quite as intriguing as that, but it was a bit scarier and quite a bit more raunchy. I could never decide if I enjoyed all of the jumping back and forth between different characters and time frames. It felt a bit scattered at times and I never really cared about any of the characters. However, at its core, it was a fun mystery, albeit not one I wanted to read late at night.
Personal development: How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books - 2 Stars. As someone who has listened to the By The Book podcast pretty much since day one, I was a bit disappointed by this book. It was basically just a rehashing of the show, with some additional reflection gained in hindsight. What I appreciated the most was the groupings of the books, not by the seasons from the show, but more around common topics. If you haven’t heard the whole show, or don’t want to catch up, this book would probably take much less time to get through and be much more engaging.
Novel/fiction: The Dutch House - 3 Stars. This book is the next for the Happier podcast book club, and I’m glad I was able to get through it before the episode airs in July. As the title implies, the house is one of the main characters in the story, and I really appreciate it for that. Maybe I’m just hard-hearted, but I didn’t love any of the characters in this story much either. It is well written and intriguing if not continually engaging. Also, Tom Hanks narrates the audiobook and so that was one of my favorite parts about reading it. I’m excited to listen to the interview with the author to see if I gain more insight into anything I might have missed.
Sustainability: 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste - 4 Stars. This book was super hands-on and practical - with just the right amount of hard-hitting statistics designed to fuel action. I finished it fully energized to tighten up the more waste-prone aspects of my life. I’ve been striving to cut back in general anyway, but this book gave me the tools, advice, direction, and motivation I didn’t even realize I was lacking.
In June I also read:
The Joy of Missing Out: Live More by Doing Less - 3 Stars. Most of what this book centers on can be found in the title. I feel like I’ve mastered most of these skills in my own life, for this point in my journey, but I always love hearing about the productivity practices in other people’s lives. If you are running a business, have little kids, or both, or you feel like your life is crazy in other ways, this book is a good combination of mindset and practical advice to help put you back in control of all of it.
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures - 3 Stars. This Malcolm Gladwell book was surprisingly applicable to what is going on in the world right now and the fight for racial justice. While that’s not the center of the book, I think it applies an interesting perspective to some aspects of the debate. As usual, the book is mainly theoretical and deals strongly with statistics and examples. Having read a lot of Malcolm Gladwell’s books lately though, I was left feeling like this one was a bit more disjointed than usual and lacking in a core connection between everything.
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World - 2 Stars. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked up a book on disease and death, but this book was still a surprise. Of course, I read it with COVID-19 at the forefront of my mind and I was most interested to hear about how what we have learned from prior pandemics applies to the now. I had no idea how many of the same practices (social distancing, economic shutdown, and so on) have just been recycled and re-implemented. I did learn a lot about influenza, but quite a bit of the book was rather dry and hard to get through. As I finished the book, I tried to stay positive and focus on our medical advances and all that we’ve learned - but I was still left feeling a bit more worried about the future than I was when I started.
Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference - 3 Stars. With all that is going on in the world, I was looking for a spiritual treatise that would address some of those issues. Luckily, I came across this book. It was surprisingly relevant, especially with all the protests and disagreements about racial justice circulating. There was a lot of value in reading the different chapters, each authored by a different person from a different background. I think the book lacked some cohesiveness, but it did help to provide some spiritual structure to the things that I was learning and striving to understand.
Unnatural Death - 3 Stars. I haven’t read a Dorothy L. Sayer’s mystery in what seems like forever. I always forget about the archaic language and outmoded social constructs in her writing, although since this book was published in 1927, I can’t put it too much at fault. The story itself was interesting - if a bit hard to follow at times. The ending wasn’t too much of a surprise, but it was still an enjoyable read.
The Guest List - 4 Stars. This was another fun mystery by Lucy Foley. It was structured much the same as The Hunting Party with the jumping back and forth between days and characters. I was a bit worried at first that I would merely repeat the same pattern as the last book, but it ended up taking a very different tack and I was left surprised and intrigued. It wasn’t something I probably would’ve figured out on my own, and the ending was a bit more of a cliffhanger than I generally like, but I was glad that I had been along for the ride.
So You Want to Talk About Race - 3 Stars. I’ve done a lot of reading over the last month about racism, but this was the first actual book that I tackled. Since it was the first, and it was so comprehensive, I found myself a bit overwhelmed. However, it was a great starting point to continue my journey of learning and growing. There is so much value in Ijeoma Oluo’s story and perspective and I’m glad I started with her book.
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism - 3 Stars. This is another hard and necessary read. It isn’t fun, but it is important. Since this book was written by a white woman, it has a slightly different perspective than So You Want to Talk About Race and several of the other books that I am preparing to dive into. I think that is definitely something that needs to be considered, but that doesn’t make what this voice is sharing unimportant. What really stood out to me in this book was the idea that being nice and being courageous in the area of racism are two very different and distinct things. So did the idea of racism being on a continuum, as opposed to labeling people merely as “racist” and “not racist”. This is a book I will return to in the future.
June definitely was not what I expected when I published my Books of May 2020 post. It has been a month with a lot of growth and a lot of work behind the scenes in my own life in so many ways. As I look into July and the next couple of months, I am so excited for all that lies ahead. I keep looking at events on my calendar even just a few weeks from now and wondering “I wonder what will have happened in my life by then and where I will be.”
Of course, I still deal with a lot of trepidation. I wake up most morning and am hit by a wave of anxiety. But thankfully, I have the skills, support, and faith to help me get through it. I am able to return to a sense of hope for what is to come and excitement for the books that will be with me on the next part of my journey.
Until next time,