Some Fabulous Books I've Ready Lately...

Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand

Freakonomics, Super Freakonomics
Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

The Tipping Point   
Malcom Gladwell


BIOGRAPHIES/HISTORIES

Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Mandela

The Bully Pulpit (Theodore Roosevelt)
Doris Kearns Goodwin

Mayflower
Nathaniel Philbrick

1776, John Adams 
McCullough, David G.

The Real George Washington
Jay Parry and Andrew M Allison

Ladies of Liberty
Cokie Roberts

 

FUN BOOKS

Born a Crime
Trevor Noah

Greenlights
Matthew McConaughey

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Mindy Kaling

Scrappy Little Nobody
Anna Kendrick

Yes Please
Amy Poehler

 

MEMOIRS

Call the Midwife
Jennifer Worth

Becoming
Michelle Obama

Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini

Hill Billy Elegy
J D Vance

Saturday Night Widows
Becky Aikman

HOW TOS

Power of a Positive No (How to say No while still getting to Yes)
William Ury

The Money Class
Suze Orman

Atomic Habits
James Clear

The Checklist Manifesto
Atul Gawande

The Present / One Minute Manager
Johnson, Spencer.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Mark Manson


IMPROVING RELATIONSHIPS

Five Love Languages, Love as a Way of Life
Gary Chapman

Feeling Good
David Burns

Social Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman

Choosing your own greatness
Wayne Dyer

Daring Greatly
Brene Brown

Your Best Life
Joel Osteen

Hold Me Tight
Sue Johnson

FAMILY/RELATIONSHIPS
(research based)

Parenting Without Power Struggles [connection before discipline]
Susan Stiffelman, MFT

The Gift of Failure [let kids make and learn from mistakes & experience]
Jessica Lahey

How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & How to Listen so Kids Will Talk [acknowledge and validate feelings to open channels of communication]
Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Unconditional Parenting [Love kids when they are both good and bad; lovingly reason with them]

Alfie Kohn

 

The Power of Showing Up 

Dan Siegel

EPIC LEADERSHIP BOOKS

from Mary Ann's leadership class

• Good to Great, Jim Collins
  
• Getting To Yes, Ury, Fisher, and Patton
  
• Arbinger Institute: The Outward Mindset, Leadership and Self-Deception, Anatomy of Peace
  
• Crucial Conversations, Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler
  
• Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek
• Outliers/David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell
• Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts, Susan Cain
  
• The 360 Degree Leader, John C. Maxwell
• The 8th Habit, Stephen R. Covey
• In Search of Excellence, Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman
• Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Winning, Jack Welch
• Leadership Lessons from West Point, Major Doug Crandall
• The One Minute Manager, Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
• Outliers: The Story of Success
• Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, Harvey Mackay
• The Mormon Way of Doing Business, Jeff Benedict
• Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves, and Patrick Lencioni
• Coaching for Performance: GROWing Human Potential and Purpose, John Whitmore
• When Sparks Fly, Dorothy Leonard-Barton and Walter Swap
• QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, John G. Miller
• Turn the Ship Around, David MarquetThe 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C. Maxwell

MARRIAGE

7 Principles to Make Marriage Work 
John Gottman

And They Were Not Ashamed
Laura Brotherson

ISAIAH COMMENTARY

The Ultimate Commentary on Isaiah
Albert Burns, Adam Clarke, et al

 

ADMINISTRATION/LEADERSHIP

Multipliers
Liz Wiseman

Counseling with Our Councils

M Russell Ballard

 

BOOKS TO READ (RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FRIENDS)

Glass Castle

Halfbroke Horses

The Girl Who Smiled Beads 

Kite Runner

Midnight Library

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

 

  

Cecilia:

The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger
Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown
Daring to Lead by Brene Brown
The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins
Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Megan:  Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Stephen King’s On Writing was really great, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is one of my favorites, Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights was surprisingly excellent and very funny, and Colin Jost’s (if you’re an SNL fan) A Very Punchable Face had great stories in it! If you’re a Rolling Stones fan, Keith Richards’s Life is really great (REALLY long, but really great).

Em:

Unbroken, Educated, You Should Talk to Someone

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab
The Queen’s Gambit, by Walter Tevis
Anxious People, by Fredrick Backman

A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman

All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr 

The War That Saved My Life, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba

Only to Deceive, The Book Thief, Where the Crawdads Sing, Before We Were Yours 

To Con a Gentelman, Maisy Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie, Born Surviors, James Herriot’s Every Living Thing, Summer of the Monkeys,

 

Seven Miracles That Saved America
Chris Stewart

Brenee Brown: Wolfpack by Abby Wambach Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates and The Path Made Clear by Oprah Winfrey.
 
Charlie Kindel's list.
Rob Clark's list.

Radical Candor
Kim Malone Scott

You're a Badass
Jen Sincero

Liberated Parents, Liberated Children
Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Emotions Revealed
Paul Ekman

Playful Parenting
Lawrence J. Cohen

Happiest Baby/Toddler on the Block
Harvey Karp

 

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment  by Amir Levine

Divorceless Marriage by Dr. Randy L. BottLiving a Covenant Marriage by Brinley and Judd

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUN

Chantal Cardon  2020 Top Ten Books (in order read chronologically backwards)

1. The Soul of an Octopus

2. West With the Night

3. The Night Circus

4. Howl’s Moving Castle

5. Circe

6. The Trauma Cleaner

7. The Graveyard Book

8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

9. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

10. Coraline

1. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: This reminded me a lot of the first season of the podcast, Serial, which I just loved and I’m pretty sure I read this book in less than 24 hours. I’m a sucker for a good mystery and this one had lots of great twists just when I was pretty sure I knew all the answers. Fun read!

2. The Henna Artist: Lakshmi is such an amazing character. I found myself thinking about her and this book a lot after reading it. I loved learning more about India in the 1950s and it had so many richly developed characters that I was a little heartbroken when it ended. A book you want to hug after reading.

3. Code Name Helene: The hype about this book is well deserved. How had I never heard of Nancy Wake?! She is right up there with Leslie Knope when it comes to women that I either want to be or want to be their best friend. When I finished reading this book, I made Jerry sit and listen to me summarize the story and wax eloquent on how Nancy is the bomb! Truly an unsung hero of World War II. You really should read this book. Seriously.

4. The 7 ½ deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: I listened to this book and highly recommend that you stick with the audio version as well as it’s delicious on the ears. I’m not even sure what to call this genre…historical sci-fi mystery?? It’s a refreshingly new and unusual story that I really enjoyed.

5. Talking to Strangers: If you weren’t already aware, I’m a big Malcolm Gladwell fan. His podcast Revisionist History is absolutely fabulous. This book is another that I highly recommend you listen to as he includes a lot of great sounds bites, music and original recorded interviews. The subject matter is very appropriate for our current cultural struggles and provides much food for thought.

6. Lovely War: Has all the elements of excellent historical fiction with a good dose of romance. A refreshingly new approach with the storyline and characters that you’ll surely grow to love and root for throughout the book.

7. Just Mercy: If you think that the conversation around systemic racism in our justice system is just a lot of hype and “false news”, then you really need to read this book. It’s so well written and I found myself becoming very invested in Bryan’s clients and cases, my heart breaking when so often the system failed and even targeted those it should have been protecting. The stories about the younger male clients really got to me. The movie was very well done, but as is often the case, the book is even more powerful.

8. The Invention of Wings: Can you ever go wrong with Sue Monk Kidd? I think not. This was another gem by her and I really loved the progression, character development and relationship between Hetty and Sarah. I’m always a little partial to stories of human kindness, grace and redemption set in periods of great darkness.

9. Frederik Backman (My Grandmother Asked me to Tell you She’s Sorry, Beartown, Man Called Ove, Brit Marie was Here): I realize that I’m cheating a little with including several books under one entry, but I couldn’t help myself. I think Frederik Backman has been my favorite author this year. You’ve probably heard of a Man Called Ove, which is good, but honestly, I liked both Beartown and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry even more. A really strong author with quirky characters that will make you want to smack them, laugh with/at them and then hug and celebrate their triumphs. If you haven’t checked out his work yet, you need to.

10. Poet X: This book is both poignant and poetic. The writing style is very lyrical which is not surprising given that the author is a stellar slam poet. As I’ve tried to better understand racism vs. antiracism, within both myself and our larger community, I’ve read both nonfiction and fictional novels this year addressing these themes. Both have been important and helpful for me, but I find that my empathy and desire to check my own biases has been very moved by novels such as Poet X—realistic fiction based on the author’s lived experience.

Honorable Mentions:

1. The Inheritance Games (similar to The Westing Game and nearly made my top ten list)

2. The Round House (a very interesting and moving glimpse into the Native American culture which I want to read more about now that I’m working at a school with a large indigenous population)

3. Winternight Trilogy (great fantasy series with a Russian twist)

4. Finding Audrey (another close one to my top ten as I really liked the exploration of mental health and adolescence)

5. Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Body (mind blown with this one and how much I take for granted and benefit from ableism)

6. How to be an Antiracist (was a slow read at first as I had to reread often to fully understand the concepts/ideas presented, but very informative and important for my goals to improve in this area)

7. A Curse so Dark and Lonely series (fun spin on Beauty and the Beast)

8. A Court of Thorn and Roses series (I loved the Throne of Glass series so much that I had to start her next series. I’ve enjoyed this, but not quite as much as her first series.)

9. Lumatere Chronicles (good, solid fantasy)

10. The Hate U Give (This was a close runner-up to Poet X. I kept thinking how sad it was that this was written several years ago, but could have been about events earlier this year. Helped bring to light that little has changed systemically when it comes to decreasing racism and valuing the lives of our black friends and neighbors.)

11. Stiff (Mary Roach and I would be pals. The humor she takes when writing about what could be dry, scientific subjects like death or the digestive system (Gulp) is truly masterful. I really enjoyed this book and it sparked many rich conversations between Jerry and I when it comes to end of life planning. I’ve decided I’m team cremation.)

12. Where the Crawdads Sing (You’ve probably at least heard about this book, if not already read it. Great read!)

13. Winter Garden (Like The Nightingale this will pull on your heart strings until they start to unravel and you will want to write her a letter complaining about how much sorrow can a reader really take…but this was such an engaging and interesting read to me as I knew next to nothing about the siege of Leningrad, and I’ve read quite a bit of historical fiction about WWII. Prepare yourself for a little heartache and read this anyways because it’s such a good book.) I also recommend The Great Alone by Hannah.

**Forgot to add The Dutch House as an honorable mention audiobook. Fascinating story with the house serving as a main character and read by Tom Hanks who does a fabulous job!

And I enjoyed both Giver of Stars and Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek for fascinating history about the first librarians in the Appalachian area.

 

 

SHOWS TO BINGE WATCH 

Heidi - K dramas

Jeanette Sides - Poldark, Downtown Abbey, The Crown (Netflix), Belgravia, Durrells in Corfu, Call the Midwife, The Paradise (Amazon Prime), Kobra Kahn, Larkrise to Candleford, La Esclava Blanca, Crash Lansing, Sanditon, The English Game, Land Girls, Beecham House, Howard’s End, Doctor Thorne, Miss Austen Regrets, Schitts Creek. George Gently series is good. I am watching Marple right now. I also liked Doc Martin, Cranford, Lark Rise to Candleford, and Hinterland.