Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Rad Summer Reads

Hi all,

Summer is an optimal season for several reasons.  The suns warmth, beckoning one outdoors.  Offering up loads more potential reading locales (as opposed to winter, when reading must be relegated to indoors).  The days are longer, giving one more hours to be wiled away between the pages of a gripping book.  Vacation!  Way more people have time off, which goes hand in hand with plowing through fantastic plots.  The beach, lakes, the ocean, all ideal backdrops for relaxing with book in hand.  Typically during summer, people are out and about more.  Doing significantly more socializing.  This can include engaging, lengthily discussion of all the awesome reads you're devouring. 

Enough said.  Now for the list of recent recommended reads!


Wired for Story by Lisa Cron.  This one is a great read for anyone remotely interested in writing stories.  Cron argues that contrary to the advice we hear often about "great writing and prose being the be all, end all," that in fact, good storytelling is sometimes even more close to being the opposite.  In this book, she presents the argument and thoughts that instead, what sells books is good storytelling.  What keeps the pages turning isn't incredible prose but instead is a gripping, semi-believable, relatable, thrilling read.



This one is more likely to be enjoyed by the ladies, though I don't discriminate.  I am sure there are many guys out there who would find it entertaining and fun as well.  Though I don't read "chick lit" (I hate that expression) often anymore, J Courtney Sullivan is one author whose books I love.  Two of her others, The Engagements and Maine, are excellent.  Such great, relatable, page turning, engaging reads.  This one, though I am 3/4 of the way through, is no different.  It follows the trajectory of four women who met in college, and the paths their lives take after graduating.  Each one fascinating within itself, all totally different.  I'm flying through and loving it.



David Richo is an excellent author and philosopher.  One of his other books, How to be an Adult in Relationships (I believe that ones an international bestseller) is hands down one of the best relationship books I have ever had the pleasure of reading.  Inspirational, thought provoking, wise, fascinating, I loved it.  This one is similar.  Though not about relationships, I find his insights and thoughts incredibly moving, inspiring and uplifting.  This read has life changing potential for its readers, depending on who you are and how you take it in.  Very worthwhile.



What Love Is and What It Could Be by Carrie Jenkins.  This book had a bunch of really excellent, outside the box, thought provoking things to suggest, point out and muse on love about.  A lot to offer in terms of giving people some new ideas for considering what love could be, if our societal idea weren't so rigid and judgemental about how it should be (basically, one way).  I liked how she wrote it, almost like a philosophical conversation.  Definitely some gems in here.



I love this cookbook.  So many of the recipes sound absolutely delicious and don't need tons of ingredients.  In fact, most are pretty simple to make.  Typically I find Paleo to require a lot of ingredients and as a result, often costing more money.  This book didn't seem to follow that usual line, which is why I think its great.  75% of the recipes in here look super tasty.  Also unusual for a cookbook, as usually there is a just a handful of recipe that look awesome.



This book is great.  A how-to on memoir writing, but somehow the author manages to make it a really engaging and interesting read, weaving in stories from her own life.  Some of which are humorous, other emotionally moving.  If you're even remotely into non fiction writing, I highly recommend this book for some great inspiration.



This is a unique cookbook, to say the least.  She talks about cooking with ingredients and making dishes that fit to your body type and nature type (earth, air or fire).  The recipes are earthy and humble, yet many of them sound awesome.  This book also just makes for an interesting, informative, intriguing read.  There were several things in here that I didn't know.  Many of the entrees combine ingredients I never would have fathomed pairing, but which sound and look excellent.  I recommend checking this one out.  At least paging through it on your next visit to the bookstore.   





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