I somehow managed to finish 5 books this month! They were all really different, two of them WAY longer than the others. I'm realizing too that I enjoy alot of books, but it takes ALOT for me to give a book a 5 star rating on Goodreads. And a book that I may have given a 4 may get a 3 when I compare it to the 4 star book I read that same month. Anyhow, without further ado, these are the books I read this month, in order of favorites.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I really enjoyed this book and I've already brought it up multiple times in various conversations. For anyone interested in race and identity, this is a must read. It was so interesting to read about the main characters perspective of America as a non-American black, and how she never had to think about race until she came to America. And it was interesting to read her struggle with fitting in - she never felt like she fully fit into Nigeria, her home country, or the United States. And I must say there were a few parts where I laughed outloud when she wrote about Americans perspective of Africa, there's definitely some truth to her words.
Amazon blurb, "A powerful, tender story of race and identity by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun. Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion—for each other and for their homeland."
The Lake House by Kate Morton
This is not the first book I've read by Kate Morton, and I'm always surprised by how much I like her books. This one was long, just like Americanah, and I found myself swiping the pages a bit faster than I could actually read them on my Kindle simply because there was quite a bit of dialogue. And what can I say, I'm impatient. 600 pages is too long for me friends!! But it was good, and I really enjoyed how it ended as I had absolutely no idea how it was all going to pan out. Beautiful story of redemption.
Amazon blurb, "Living on her family’s idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquisitive, and precociously talented sixteen-year-old who loves to write stories. One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, eleven-month-old Theo, has vanished without a trace. He is never found, and the family is torn apart, the house abandoned. Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as a novelist. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather’s house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old Edevane estate—now crumbling and covered with vines. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone...yet more present than ever. A lush, atmospheric tale of intertwined destinies from a masterful storyteller, The Lake House is an enthralling, thoroughly satisfying read."
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
And sometimes you need to mix it up a bit and throw in a little non-fiction. I love these types of books as I always feel like I walk away with some new tools in my toolkit. It was really good, and the main takeaway for me was the importance of knowing yourself, knowing your limits, and knowing your capacity. The author writes about setting boundaries and saying no to the non essential things and being okay with that because in the end the things you say yes to, the things that you deem essential, will be even better. It's so stressful when you commit yourself to like three things in one day and you're racing from one thing to the next simply because you don't want to say no and miss out on any of those three things. I mean they're all good things right - a birthday party, a walk with a friend, dinner with your parents, etc. But the reality is, it's too much, at least it is for me, and I know this. So the book was simply confirming some things I already knew about myself...and confirming some things I'm working on. For the sake of my health and my family's health, I only commit to so many things during the week, and I only commit myself and the rest of us to so many things on the weekends. I know what I can handle, I know what my husband can handle and I know what my kids can handle, and I don't push it as we all know what happens when I do that! And let's just say it's not pretty.
Amazon blurb, "Do you often find yourself stretched too thin? Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized? Are you frequently busy but not productive? Do you feel like your time is constantly being hijacked by other people’s agendas? If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the Way of the Essentialist. The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done. It is not a time management strategy, or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter. By forcing us to apply a more selective criteria for what is Essential, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices about where to spend our precious time and energy – instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us. Essentialism is not one more thing – it’s a whole new way of doing everything. A must-read for any leader, manager, or individual who wants to do less, but better, and declutter and organize their own their lives, Essentialism is a movement whose time has come."
A Thousand Naked Strangers: a Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back by Kevin Hazzard
I really enjoyed this book and the glimpse into the life of a paramedic, the job, the hours, the cases, the calls, the partners. Would I read it again? Probably not, but I definitely felt like it was educational.
Amazon blurb, "A former paramedic’s visceral, poignant, and mordantly funny account of a decade spent on Atlanta’s mean streets saving lives and connecting with the drama and occasional beauty that lies inside catastrophe. In the aftermath of 9/11 Kevin Hazzard felt that something was missing from his life—his days were too safe, too routine. A failed salesman turned local reporter, he wanted to test himself, see how he might respond to pressure and danger. He signed up for emergency medical training and became, at age twenty-six, a newly minted EMT running calls in the worst sections of Atlanta. His life entered a different realm—one of blood, violence, and amazing grace...Combining indelible scenes that remind us of life’s fragile beauty with laugh-out-loud moments that keep us smiling through the worst, A Thousand Naked Strangers is an absorbing read about one man’s journey of self-discovery—a trip that also teaches us about ourselves.
Left of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda by Douglas Laux
I really enjoyed this book too and I enjoyed the glimpse into the life of a CIA Case officer. He'd go out into the field for months, years at a time and then he'd transition back to life in the states for a few months. And if I'm honest, those transition times in the states were hard for me to read. I can't even imagine how hard it must be to create a 'normal' life when your life has been anything but 'normal' and the half truths and the lies, that would be so hard. And it was so hard for him. But I really appreciated how the book ended. And I felt like I learned alot from his words and his experience.
Amazon blurb, "On September 11, 2001, Doug Laux was a freshman in college, on the path to becoming a doctor. But with the fall of the Twin Towers came a turning point in his life. After graduating he joined the Central Intelligence Agency, determined to get himself to Afghanistan and into the center of the action. Through persistence and hard work he was fast-tracked to a clandestine operations position overseas. Dropped into a remote region of Afghanistan, he received his baptism by fire. Frustrated by bureaucratic red tape, a widespread lack of knowledge of the local customs and culture and an attitude of complacency that hindered his ability to combat the local Taliban, Doug confounded his peers by dressing like a native and mastering the local dialect, making contact and building sources within several deadly terrorist networks. His new approach resulted in unprecedented successes, including uncovering the largest IED network in the world, responsible for killing hundreds of US soldiers. Meanwhile, Doug had to keep up false pretenses with his family, girlfriend and friends--nobody could know what he did for a living--and deal with the emotional turbulence of constantly living a lie. His double life was building to an explosive resolution, with repercussions that would have far reaching consequences."
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