I have been on a reading kick lately. I enjoy it so much, and the bonus is that I've noticed it both boosts my mood and helps me fall asleep at night. I thought I'd share my most recent reads with you here, and would love to hear what you've been reading down in the comments section below. Side note: I've toyed with the idea of having a YBC book club for ages, but I don't really know how to host an online book club. Thoughts?
1. Every Last Lie - This is a page-turning thriller that's perfect if you want to get into the Halloween spirit. It's about a woman whose husband dies in a car accident with the four year old in the car. The four year old survives, but keeps mentioning a bad man who was after her and her dad, making the wife wonder if it really was a freak accident like she'd been told.
2. Small Great Things - You really can't go wrong with a Jodi Picoult book. I'd picked this up after feeling physically and emotionally drained from reading A House in the Sky (more on that below). I needed a new good read, but didn't want it to be too light (read: no substance), nor too heavy (books really take something out of me!). This fit the bill perfectly. The subject matter is heavy (racism) but the storyline revolves around a complicated medical case, so it felt like I was reading a really deep, in-depth Grey's Anatomy episode. I was hooked from the very beginning, and couldn't put it down.
3. A House in the Sky - So this is the aforementioned book that messed me up for a bit both mentally and physically. It's a true story about a freelance journalist who is kidnapped in Somalia. It details her travels prior to being kidnapped, the actual kidnapping itself, her escape attempt, subsequent re-capture, and finally, her release. It is heart-wrenching, blood-boiling, stomach churning stuff, and ultimately a great book, but you need to be in the right mindset for it.
4. Pitch Perfect - I read this as ongoing continuing education. I'm not the world's greatest speaker. I get too excited and fumble my words. I also rely on phrases like 'at the end of the day' to buy me more time. I am pretty bad at giving interviews, which is why I avoid nearly every request that comes our way, and I thought reading this book might be helpful. The guy who wrote it has worked with the who's who of the public eye - from Presidents to celebrities - and his advice is good, digestible, but you need to really play with it and put it into practice in order to see if it will work. Ultimately, if your work requires that you give interviews, hold meetings, or give presentations or workshops, you might consider reading this. If not, I'd pass.
5. Option B - I picked this up because I respect Sheryl Sandberg, and had heard excellent things about this book, which she wrote in the aftermath of the death of her husband while on vacation. I felt the advice was practical, and I felt the subject matter was applicable to people dealing with any kind of loss - not just death - from the loss of a job to a divorce.
6. The Good Girl - This is by the same author as Every Last Lie, and again - I was hooked from the beginning and could not put this suspenseful thriller down. It's about a girl named Mia who was kidnapped by a guy named Colin. Colin is the middleman, and had one job - get the girl, deliver her to someone, and collect his paycheck. But in the middle of the drop, something goes terribly wrong.
7. The Residence - I am not really into historical non-fiction, but I could not put this down. I literally read it in a day and a half. It is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in the White House private residence from the perspective of the staff that work there including butlers, chefs, and nannies.
PS- What went down behind the scenes of my book tour for Namaslay and 22 Novels and Memoirs based on Yoga.