Reading – Perspectively Yours

This is about real books that you can hold, flip actual pages, and smell the cover of (don’t lie, you do it too). I’ve talked at length about how audiobooks have filled my commutes with learning and decreased my stress. But, last year I also carved out time – intentionally – to read good, old fashioned physical books too.

It meant giving up TV for the summer, and less time scrolling through social media. It meant staying up a little later than usual sometimes. And being ok with reading less at a time but more often. The result? I felt like a missing piece of me had been found. I felt inspired to write my own stories again.

Note: These books did not all get published in 2019 but that’s when I read them. I think most are from 2017 onwards so pretty close. Here are my favorite books of 2019:

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

My six year old was drawn to the cover. It shows a peaceful scene of two little girls holding each other on a dock at sunset. She kept asking me about the story and as I read more and more I struggled to tell her what I could about what happened to the little girls. I put it in simpler terms but essentially this is what I told her:

This is a story about the bond between sisters, about defining what family means and overcoming your past. What happened to the kids in this story haunts me still. No spoilers here beyond the book jacket, but the story is based on facts, which makes it even harder to digest.

And it makes it even more remarkable to see the resilience of the human spirit told in the lives of these women. It is so important to dig up the past if only to remind ourselves of what we never want to be as a society again.

I loved this book and would probably read it all over again but slower to really feel each of the voices as they etch their way into my heart and subconscious.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Set in the 90s in a manufactured Ohio neighborhood, this book unravels bit by bit through carefully revealed details until the whole irreparable mess is splayed before you. When it ended, I wanted more. The characters are unsympathetic for the most part, yet I found myself rooting for people who probably didn’t deserve it. But maybe that was the whole point. Aren’t we all multi-dimensional and hard to root for at times? Celeste Ng masterfully tells the story of family, race, friendship, judgment, and being forced to your edge. If you read nothing else this year, read Little Fires Everywhere.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is like the sign on your rearview mirror – objects are closer than they appear. At first, Eleanor comes across as an ordinary eccentric. She isn’t terribly likable to pretty much anyone and doesn’t seem to care. However, this is not a story about accepting one’s uniqueness because that is how you were born. Nope, it is a story of survival against cruelty and the powerful effect of having just one person believe in you.

Quirky and real, I’m glad I read this book. I hear they are making a movie and fear that this is one better left on the page but am interested in a film interpretation.

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I totally get why this was such a popular book this year. I really liked it and wanted to keep learning more about this fictional band and their year where they climaxed to the top of the pop culture world. Dirty and self-indulgent, it is everything that 1970s rock and roll was all about.

Daisy Jones and the Six is told from multiple first-person perspectives making it easy to flip through without too much concentration. You know Taylor Jenkins Reid is driving toward meaning in the end. Although you do have to remind yourself of that fact sometimes as the story drudges through more and more self-destructive behavior. I really liked this book. Would I read it again? Probably not. I don’t think there are any deeper layers than what I got out of it the first time.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I wasn’t sure I would like The Hate U Give. Admittedly, the abbreviated form of U in the title was a put-off. I had heard quite a bit about this book, had seen it everywhere and knew a movie was in the works so decided to give it a shot. I’m glad I did. I couldn’t put it down. After a few pages of Starr’s voice, I understood the title choice and was glad they stuck with it for authenticity.

This is an important book, not only for the adolescent audience for which Angie Thomas had originally intended but for all ages. I would argue, especially for those who can’t relate to the struggles of the characters in the story. It is not just another story about racial conflicts or coming of age in a world that doesn’t accept you. It’s about finding your voice, owning it, and knowing your worth.

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mairi McFarlane

I almost gave up this one. The premise seemed unbelievable and trite, but it redeemed itself halfway through. This was a great second-part of a vacation read – easy to digest, lots of humor but it has substance too (as it turns out).

Georgina is not as simple as she is first portrayed. Although, I’m not sure the events that get revealed completely explain her current state of stuckness in her life. You do have to suspend a little disbelief and dive in. The end is happy – as you would expect from a rom-com book – but it takes a few dark turns to get there making it worth the read.

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Read my reviews on some recent Audiobook that I’ve consumed in my post My Year in Audiobooks. Let me know what you thought about any of them!

Reading had always been so important to my sense of self. The feeling of holding a good book in your hands after you’ve just finished it is one of the most satisfying things in life. So, naturally, I was skeptical about trying audiobooks.

However, the busy life of a working mom had left me little energy and time to read at the end of the day as I used to. My commute downtown had always been a sense of frustration about the wasted time. So, I decided to fill it with audiobooks.

I used to stress about being stuck in traffic but now I just listen to an audiobook and let the rain pour down and crawl across town in my car and come home calm. Audiobooks have fed my need to learn and desire to use my time to the max. So after a year, here are the books I’ve consumed and what I thought of them.

Girl, Stop Apologizing By Rachel Hollis

This book was great. We are always apologizing, aren’t we? This book was good for helping me recognize this and stop it. Own what I want out of life and set goals to achieve it. The woman has four kids and managed to write this book. She shares her struggles and sacrifices and is very real about how it has not always easy street but it is worth it when you are actually living your best life.

Girl, Wash Your Face By Rachel Hollis

Read this one first but make sure you follow up with her follow up Girl, Stop Apologizing. Her voice is a bit annoying at first but you get used to it and actually start to feel closer to her stories because it’s so real. I liked this way more than I thought I would. I have heard her podcasts are pretty great too.

Becoming By Michelle Obama

As if I didn’t love the Obamas enough already. Michelle narrated my drive for a few cold weeks last February and I still feel the warmth it brought me. Beautifully told, this is a story of a woman’s struggle to find her place in the world. Her journey has not been what she thought it would be. But being open, finding out how to be open, to what opportunities were there for her beyond what she had set out for has led to a special and meaningful life. I have heard people say they were disappointed by this book. It is a slow climb. I really liked though and would recommend sticking with it. Her lessons will stick with you.

You Do You By Sarah Knight

This is Sarah Knight’s third book after How to Get Your Shit Together, and The Power of Not Giving a Fuck. I am pleased that this book is read by the author, as I always am, but her sardonic humor can get to be a bit much. Despite this, I do like this book and recommend listening. It is great for reinforcing something that I really need practice with – setting boundaries with people and being OK without getting positive reinforcements from others.

Don’t listen to this while carpooling – profanity is used throughout and she quite obviously does not have kids and does not like them. Overlook that though and listen on your own and giggle.

First We Make the Beast Beautiful By Sarah Wilson

This is not a self-help book. It is more of a confessional narrative about her ups and downs of her life with anxiety and finding peace with the fact that it will always be there next to her. It is about learning to be and losing the feeling that you need to be ashamed or find a way to suppress your anxiety. It is there; it probably always will be and will bring with it some limits to what you can or should do. But it doesn’t have to stop you. In fact, it can even be an asset.

Audiobooks I Have Re-Listened To

Braving the Wilderness By Brene Brown

This was my Brene Brown introduction. Loved it so much that I listened to it again – the whole thing – a year later. Still so good. The path to wholehearted living is not the one that everyone else has travelled. It’s about not being small. Being who you are and letting other people see it.

Dare To Lead By Brene Brown

Every time I consume a Brene Brown book I think it is my favorite. This is no exception. I have listened and re-listened to parts of it to write down the good parts. Which started turning into most of it. Read by Brene as she always does, this book reinforces what you have learned and helps with both personal and work. It is so good.

Daring Greatly By Brene Brown

I really liked this one while listening but to be honest, couldn’t remember the details from it separate from her other books. I had to re-listen and I’m glad I did. It breaks down shame and the importance of setting boundaries. “If we own the story, we get to control the ending.” It also goes into men and shame and how they experience it differently. This is a game-changer to understand in our relationships.

Rising Strong By Brene Brown

I think this is my second favorite Brene Brown book but I love them all so tanking them feels more like an exercise in testing the Recency Effect. It is all about being facedown in the arena. I remind myself all the time that daring greatly will always mean you will find yourself facedown in the arena. Those in the cheap seats will always judge, but they don’t matter because they didn’t even try. After you get up and dust yourself off, you will learn to rise strong. You will own your story, even the ugly and messy parts.

Audiobooks I Didn’t Finish

Take Control of Your Life By Mel Robbins

There are good parts about this book but it’s mostly pre-recorded sessions with her coaching people out of their negative thinking that is keeping them stuck. I didn’t love the format and found her a bit annoying to listen to at times. But the big takeaway is that fear is felt in your body. It gets triggered and puts you on a repeating loop for how that fear has made you behave in the past which is what’s keeping you from moving forward with your life. Overall, overrated IMO.

Mindset

I believe this could be a life-changing book. However, I could not listen to it. It is not read by the author and sounds like a robot reading. Read this one the old fashioned way.

The Path Made Clear “By” Oprah Winfrey

This was the most disappointing one on the list. I had such high hopes but it wasn’t really by Oprah at all. It was a compilation of audio clips by other famous people. Yes, she read the intro and conclusion and some bits in-between but it was not enough that I can say this was what I was expecting.

A New Year

I’m currently listening to Love Warrior by Glennon Melton Doyle. I read the actual book a few years ago, but am now consuming the audio version. I hadn’t noticed in the physical book, but as she reads it the words feel like poetry. Not sure if that was intentional but it does make it even more powerful. Highly recommend so far.

Next up is Educated – A Memoir by Tara Westover. I’m thinking I might try mixing things up a bit more and listening to fiction this year as well. Stay tuned for updates!

Tag: Reading

Six Great Books I Read in 2019