When I was a kid, if I had spare time and a reading light, all I wanted to do was read. I loved The Babysitter’s Club, Nancy Drew, and after a little coaxing when my dad bought me The Hobbit, I adored The Lord of The Rings trilogy. But then university happened, and every spare moment I had was spent not-reading, because my nose was mostly stuck in a textbook at all other times. And to be honest, that kind of broke me for a good many years; I never wanted to open a book, because sitting down and letting time pass me by felt like a waste of good free time. I’d say it took me at least 4 years to get back to the point where I’d semi-regularly open a book.
While before university, I only read fiction, I have since broadened my list of frequented genres to include all sorts of non-fiction including memoirs, finance/tech, business, and self-improvement (because I am a work in progress haha). I love these books because they’re usually written by some pretty amazing people who’ve got some pretty great and well-proven ideas for how to be successful (and in some cases, they’ve proven it themselves. Hello Sheryl Sandberg). I suppose my hope is that, if I can’t meet them in person to absorb some of their brilliance, reading their words is like only having a few degrees of separation.
Unfortunately, sometimes when you’re ready to crawl into bed after a long day, the last thing you want to read is self-improvement advice. Sometimes you just want a killer story that’ll pull you in and help you unwind for the day, sans back-lit screen. (I usually read my before-bed books as actual books, not on my iPad. I find that the iPad before bed, even if just reading a book, still makes my brain stay awake well into the night.) I try to keep at least a few fiction books in the house that I haven’t read yet for this specific purpose, however I’m lacking in good recommendations lately. I think it’s because all of the podcasts I listen to have smart people, often authors of non-fiction, and I collect heaps of non-fiction recommendations, but nobody’s talking about good fiction!
Regardless, I love reading book lists on other sites, so I wanted to share my reading wishlist for the next few months here. These are books that I have not read yet (and will review when I do), but have either got sitting on my shelf awaiting my attention, or sitting in my Book Depository wishlist. If you’ve got any good fiction recommendations, please share them! I like thought-provoking stories that are well-written and make you think, not really the finish-them-in-a-weekend beach read types. Alright, let’s get started:
Option B
by Sheryl Sandberg
It’s no secret that I love Sheryl Sandberg. I read Lean In, and it resonated so deeply with me and my own motivations, so much so that it’s on my list to read a second time. But Option B is more of a personal take on Sandberg’s life, specifically in how she dealt with the sudden death of her husband. Resilience is one of those traits that I think is underrated in comparison to today’s obsession with more tangible skills, but it’s so important. Last year I attended a really moving series of talks called The Resilience Project here in Melbourne, which centres around children and how to help them learn to be resilient in a world of social media and comparison. It really hit home how important it is to develop resilience in the face of difficult situations, so from an adult perspective, I’m really interested to read about Sheryl’s experience living through what is actually one of my worst nightmares, the death of the one you love most.
Shantaram
by Gregory David Roberts
This is Luke’s absolute favourite book. I tried reading it years ago and didn’t quite make it a third of the way through, but given how much he raves about it, I’ve gotta give it another go. Shantaram is the (true!) story of an escaped Australian convict who flees the country to live in India. The book chronicles his life living in the slums, getting involved with the mafia, establishing a free health clinic, and so much more. Also, apparently the author, Gregory David Roberts, wrote the book three times (which is insane, given how thick it is), because prison guards found and trashed the first two copies. WHAT.
Feminist Fight Club
by Jessica Bennett
I first heard about the author of Feminist Fight Club, Jessica Bennett, on a Girlboss podcast episode. I loved her story of finding her group of friends, all of whom had various career aspirations but were finding it difficult to find support in their workplace, and this became what she called her Feminist Fight Club. They’d get together somewhat regularly to have a few drinks and discuss their work lives, giving advice and being each others’ sounding board. I never related to any of the women on Sex and the City, and in fact really dislike the show, so I love the fact that the FFC sounds exactly like my version of SatC… a group of women who get together over cocktails to discuss serious matters like how to be a corporate badass and achieve your aspirations despite the many obstacles that women can be faced with. If this were a TV show, I’d definitely watch it; but it’s not, it’s a book, so I’m definitely reading it.
Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
by Sara Wachter-Boettcher
At the risk of sounding like I think the world is out to get me because I’m a girl (I don’t), Technically Wrong is also high on my list of books to read. If you think about it, the tech world is a world dominated by men, so why then wouldn’t the fundamental design and functionality of tech products also be more male-centric? Technically Wrong deconstructs much of the ideology that’s gone into the design of many of the apps and products we use today, to pick apart how and where things went wrong. I’m particularly interested in this book not because I feel like my Twitter app is being sexist toward me, but because in order to fix things, we need to understand where things went wrong. And since I love tech, and happen to be female, maybe I can help fix it. But if not, hey, it sounds like a pretty fun read.
Now it’s your turn: what books are on your hit list? Or what are you currently reading that you’d recommend? I’m so glad that I’m finally back into reading as much as I used to be, so hopefully I’ll tick these all off before the summer concludes. Happy reading, book nerds.
This post contains affiliate links. Images via Jacalyn Beales on Unsplash, and The Everygirl.
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