Category: Reading List

I read one book per week in 2020. Breezing through books was easy when the pandemic confined me indoors with no social prospects. A book per week was a tougher task once life started returning to normal. Reading time was superseded by dinners with friends, a flurry of travel, and the joys of a new relationship.

While I did not achieve quite as voluminous a reading list in 2021, I still managed to finish 31 tomes (approx. one book per two weeks.) Like last year, I focused on varying my reading selections between fiction and non-fiction and across genres, themes, and topics. One book a month was assigned by “The Booze and Books Club,” which was once again one of the highlights of my annual reading journey. Not only did we continue meeting on a monthly basis, but this year our club also launched its own instagram (@theboozeandbooksclub) and began hosting progressively more elaborate, on-theme gatherings. For example, in August, members brought their dogs to discuss canine-themed “Nightbitch” by Rachel Yoder and in September, we met at family-owned seafood restaurant La Camaronera to discuss “Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reed that spotlights the dynamics of a family that owns a seafood restaurant. Oh, and we began incorporating discussions with the authors into our meetings both virtually and when the pandemic (and Miami Book Fair) allowed, in person. Props to Virginia Gil and Gio Gutierrez for all of the hard work they put into running the best book club hands down.

Another milestone moment from this past year was my chat with Barney and Falc of @booksandbeersclub. You can watch the Books and Beers episode on YouTube here. We talked about my career, my George Constanza sweatpants, my numerous Instagram accounts, and all things reading. My favorite part was our animated discussion on our favorite and least favorite books. Both Barney and Falc share my love for the teaching of Dale Carnegie and struggled through “Cien Años de Soledad.” Nothing energizes me like intellectually stimulating discourse with fellow book lovers!

Before I share with you the comprehensive list of every book I read in 2022, I want to thank all of you who reached out to discuss books, suggest books, send books (Murph! Wanka! Christine! Reggie! Betsy! Faja!), and in the case of Scott Deitche, share books you authored. For me, reading is as, if not more, thrilling as a team sport than an individual sport. Please take a look at the list below and then reach out in the comments or on social media with your favorite books of 2021 and your most anticipated books for 2022. My very best wishes to you for a happy, healthy and book-filled year to come!

Every Book I Read in 2021 (in order of completion)
I marked the Booze & Books Club picks with an asterisk. I show in bold those I loved.

Continue reading “I Tried Reading One Book Per Week in 2021. Here Is How I Did.” →

I have a penchant for making ambitious annual commitments. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, I committed to running one mile per day of the year, or 365 miles per year. However, despite my best efforts, which included regular 10 to 13 mile Saturday morning runs, multiple half marathons and my first marathon in 2018, I came close but never quite made it across the finish line. My competitive spirit was inclined to keep going, but I was forced to take a break from persistent running to recover from an ankle injury.

This year, I made a new and exciting commitment: to read one book per week of the year. I am a voracious reader and was on pace at the end of January so the goal seemed aggressive yet achievable. My focus on reading wavered from month to month. Strangely enough, quarantine and a new work-from-home routine were the biggest help toward reaching my goal by opening up new pockets of reading time previously used for commuting and a social life. Virginia Gil’s invitation to join “The Boozy Book Club,” a charismatic group of Miami readers that pick and discuss a new book each month, was also a godsend for my sanity and maintaining reading momentum.

I reached my goal on December 23 when I finished my 53rd book on week 52 of 53. I finished a 54th and 55th book that same week for good measure after there was some contention about counting a 20-page picture book as book 52. Let no one say this challenge was unmet—it was unequivocally defeated! Below is the comprehensive list of every book I read in 2020, in order, for your peer review and reading pleasure in 2021. (While I loved most books, the ones that were life-changing are shown in bold.)

My reading list for 2020 varied widely in every sense. It constituted both fiction and non-fiction. The books ranged from witty quips, poetry and short stories to novellas and novels. I read stories in 20 pages and others in 800+. What I liked most about this year’s reading journey is that every author forced my already open mind to see the world from a brand new perspective, opening my eyes to real and imagined scenarios beyond the realm of what I thought possible. I learned A LOT from reading each and every one of these books. I hope you too will find a much needed lesson, outlook, or escape in their pages.

Every Book I Read in 2020 (in order of completion)
I marked those I recommend in an asterisk. I show in bold those I loved.

Continue reading “I Read One Book Per Week in 2020. This Is Every Book I Finished.” →

Welcome to the first thing I’ve managed to write in months. It’s not that I haven’t been honing my writing—it’s that I have been doing so by reading ravenously. After all, the wise William Faulkner once said, “Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it.” And one does not not listen to William Faulkner.

The Summer reading list of the “Crossing Borders Book Club” in July and your recommendations gave me a wide range of reading options to work through. That said, this past quarter I had a tough time with non-fiction. How did you fare?

On my end, I started with “The Power of One” and abandoned it after a few chapters in search of a book with more storytelling, more anecdotes. I landed next at “When Breath Becomes Air,” a memoir that I finished in less than a week and followed up with “The Age of Innocence” and “Bright Lights, Big City”. (I know. I plummeted out of our book club list and into a black hole of fiction, but the mind wants what the mind wants.)

For our Fall book club reading list, I’m renewing my vows to non-fiction and I’m hoping you’ll keep me honest. I have listed two of the three titles below—Diana’s top pick and my top pick:

1. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. This is Diana’s selection. I’m excited to read this because The Birkman Method recently outed me as an introvert.
2. The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter — And How to Make The Most of Them Now by Dr. Meg Jay. This was my selection, passed on from my friend Stan who is in his twenties and raves about this book. Sadly I am no longer in my twenties, but he assures me Dr. Jay’s advice is still worthwhile.

We want your help picking the third book. Please send us your recommendations for the third book in the comments below or post them on the book club Facebook page. We’ll be keeping a running list until the day of our in-person meeting (date TBD, but we’re aiming for a weekend in the next two weeks) at which time we’ll vote on one.

P.S. We’re really excited to meet you and hear your thoughts on the books we read this past quarter! From my brief conversations with Diana, her experience over the last three months and her perspective on the books is completely different than mine so you know it’s going to make for great conversation!

Folks, we’ve officially come full circle. As of this post, we have shared the joy of reading for four seasons: Summer, Fall, Winter and with today’s list, Spring!

This season has been about women-focused narratives for me. I traveled to Paris with The Dud Avocado, a gift from my friend Betsy who gave it to me for its Paris-based story—she makes a habit of reading novels that correspond with where she is traveling—and because the main character reminded her of me. She was right. The mischievous and adventure-loving Sally Jay is my spirit animal!

The last few weeks I’ve been reading Caitlin Moran’s How To Be A Woman. It’s not a book I would have picked up on my own. My colleague Juliany lent it to me unprompted and after reading the synopsis, I decided to try it as a means of broadening my perspective. I had a hard time getting past the first seven chapters because they paint women as victims and I don’t share that opinion. But, I powered through and made it to the second half which, except for the chapter on abortion, is full of insightful and hilarious anecdotes about the woman experience.

While I have enjoyed both books, I haven’t stopped my pursuit of knowledge on personal and professional development. In fact my library has quadrupled since my last reading list post. Below are the three books at the top of my Spring reading list:

1. Conspiracy

Author Ryan Holiday—you may remember him from Four Newsletters You Need In Your Inbox—breaks down the fall of Gawker Media as a case study of how power works in the 21st Century. In a time when we question everything we hear on the news or from the government, I am hoping this book on conspiracy, patience, strategy and revenge can help us be more judicious about what we believe and don’t believe.

2. Thinking, Fast and Slow

I first encountered the intellectual beast that is this book on human psychology and the human brain at 4 a.m. when Betsy and I were walking through the hallowed halls of Miami International Airport after our redeye from Utah. She asked, “If a ball and a bat costs $1.10 and the bat costs $1.00 more than the ball, how much does the ball cost?” Tired and fully aware of my challenge with math, I nearly killed her for asking such a question. However, when I had my “Eureka!” moment after a few cups of coffee, I was fully committed to reading the whole book.

3. Creativity: Unleashing the Forces Within

This year I finally stopped mooching off of other people’s Netflix accounts and thank the lord because they are offering better shows and movies (or at a minimum, I got better at finding them amidst all the crap). One of the mini-series I have most enjoyed recently was Wild Wild Country which documents the Rajneesh’s controversial arrival to Oregon. Regardless of what you think of the Osho from the events recounted in the series, he is one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century and I want to learn from his wisdom. He published his teaching across numerous books. I started with creativity because it is a skill I am working to improve.