Fall Reading List {Week In Review: Vol. 11}
This week has been full of ups and downs, but at least I've had an amazing book to keep me company. I just finished reading The Martian by Andy Weir, and it's a great book. It's about an astronaut on a voyage to Mars that accidentally gets left for dead on the red planet by his fellow astronauts. I actually received it as a gift a few months ago, but didn't make it past the first thirty pages. But when I realized that Matt Damon is starring in the film adaptation, I knew I had to finish it before seeing the movie. Matt Damon is one of my favorite actors, so I was extra motivated to get through the book, and I'm so glad that I did. It's so entertaining, and I highly recommend it.
Now, on to the next read! Here's a list of what's on my bedside table...
fall's must reads
- Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. I bought this book about a month ago at a used bookstore. I’d wandered into the store to pass the time while I waited for my shoes to be finished at a nearby shoe repair and didn’t really know what I wanted and was actually totally overwhelmed by the sheer volume of, well, volumes, in the store. I decided on this pick because I’d read another one of the author’s novels, The Interpreter of Maladies, and had really enjoyed, though I can’t recall any details of the plot now. This book is a collection of short stories (which I love because it's so easy to start and stop) and I’m sure I’ll be just as captivated by the author’s descriptive prose as I was in the first book.
- #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso. I actually started this book back in April and put it down nearly as quickly as I’d picked it up. Amoruso's tongue-in-cheek way of describing her journey as founder of a now million-dollar clothing e-commerce site (NastyGal) really turned me off at first. It was basically like, “I stumbled my way to the top”, which may be totally awesome for her, but it felt equally unhelpful and almost condescending to me. Being a good student at heart, I decided to give the book a second chance and once I got past the sometimes snarky tone, I was able to identify a few gems. Namely, to follow your instincts and never let anything or anyone keep you from what you consider success. As I’m writing this, I’m reminded that I need to go ahead and finish this because the book is actually pretty good.
- Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want by Tess Vigeland. I heard the author of this book on CBS This Morning a couple of weeks ago and knew I just had to get the book about a person leaving her dream job with no job in sight to find her true passion. While this isn’t quite my story, it’s close, and I am so excited to hear the story from the other side. This job search / personal development / passion quest had been rough, so anything that sounds even remotely helpful and encouraging will get all my coins. I’m cannot wait to dig into this read.
- Super Better by Jane McGonigal. I actually first learned about this author months ago on a podcast. She was talking about her research and how she used games to heal herself from a severe concussion, stating that when we play games we are more optimistic and courageous than we are in real life. I was really intrigued and promised myself to research further, and then promptly forgot about her. Luckily, she was on CBS This Morning recently speaking about her new book (are you guys seeing a theme here?). It’s all about self-improvement, but relies on real scientific data, and I’m so interested in hearing what she has to say about living our best lives.
- Rose Gold by Walter Mosely. Mosely is probably one of my top 5 favorite authors, and I have yet to be disappointed by anything of his that I’ve read (and I’ve probably read about 20 of his books). Rose Gold is the latest in his mystery series following Easy Rawlings, a private detective in 1960s Los Angeles, and I know this will be another page-turner.
What’s on your reading list? I’d love to hear what you guys are enjoying. Leave me a note in the comments or tweet me!