Good Reads

Read on

August 24, 2011

I am a heavy reader. The habit has only gotten worse since I got my life changing Kindle. 

Just like when I was a child, I currently don’t sleep enough because I can’t put down whatever I’m reading at the moment and make myself go to bed. Just like when I was a child, I’m already excited to start the next book on my list before I’ve even finished the current one. Just like when I was a child, I end up wandering around lost because I’m not paying attention. The other day I took the metro from Salvador all the way to Escuela Militar before realizing I was going in the opposite direction of my home.

I’m in a book club, but it’s kind of pointless for me, aside from the good company. I read simply to enjoy the act of reading. The specific story doesn’t matter so much. I mean, it does. A well written book or an intriguing story is always more fun to get through than one that’s not good. But mean that I don’t read to analyze or pick the story apart.

My good friend from high school, Lindsey, mentioned that she’s in a book club and said a post about what I’ve been reading lately would be interesting, so I am happy to oblige. When I find books I like, I love to share them with the whole world. Spread the word, if you will.

I have a Pinterest site where I aside from pinning my photography inspirations and fashion loves of the moment, I have been pinning books as I read them. You can find that here. However, I don’t go into much detail about them on my book board so I’ll post recent faves in this post and then if you run out of reading material, you can always go back and check out my board to see what I’m working on at the moment.

Also, please don’t forget, if you want to buy a book (or anything else, for that matter) from Amazon, please use my affiliate link so I get a little commission! Thank you so much, and especially thank you to the people who have already done so. That’s really nice of you and I seriously appreciate it.

On to the books.

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner: I won’t give you the full run down because you can find that elsewhere online, but it’s about 4 women whose lives are brought together by an infertility clinic. One is the egg donor, one is the surrogate mother, one is the mother who will raise the child but is left a widow, and one who takes over the baby’s care when it’s born. I liked this because I found something I could very much relate to in each of the characters. It was a very speedy read, I got through it in one sitting, and I enjoyed every minute.

I bought a book about Mary Queen of Scots while we were at the Edinburgh Castle in Scotland and that hooked me on Philippa Gregory again. I’d read this book before, but I re-read it because it’s that good. I read every book in the Tudor series that she wrote in the past month or so. They’re seriously addicting. I find that whole time period fascinating, but Philippa Gregory writes in a way that really sucks you in. The Other Boleyn Girl was my favorite of all the Tudor period books of hers. Oh, and there’s a movie, but it’s not great.

Bossypants by Tina Fey. I read this on a plane to somewhere. It is hysterical. The funniest chapter is about her father, who she lovingly refers to as Don Fey. I laughed so hard I actually scared the person sitting next to me. Highly recommend.

The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk. This is the latest business book I read. I found it interesting and I do feel like it’s principles are must-apply for any business trying to successfully operate in this day and age, however, I do feel that it was maybe targeted towards beginners, or people who had never thought of any of these ideas on their own. That being said, if you haven’t read it and you own a business, you definitely should.

The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler. Another freaky Swedish thriller, in the same vein of the Millennium trilogy, which I didn’t actually love as much as I thought I would. The story of the Millennium trilogy had me on the edge of my seat but I didn’t care for the way it was written — overly detailed, get to the point and move on. This book had a story that was just as thrilling as Millennium but I much preferred the writing style and it was a lot easier for me to get into. A very disturbing book but such a page turner.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. The story is simple, a woman wants to be happier so she studies ways to do so and then figures out how to practically apply these things to her life. I’ve really enjoyed reading this book because it made me think about what I can do in my own life to be happier and how some of the steps are so small and so simple, yet make a huge different. The thing is that this book is totally self-help-y because it really will help you be happier, but it doesn’t come across as annoyingly self-help-y at all.

Since I wrote this post two days ago, I’ve read two more books. I’ll add them to my Pinterest page tomorrow when I’m feeling less lazy :)

Anyways, if you are in the mood, give me some of your book recommendations! I’d love to hear them. As you can see, I read a pretty wide variety so I’m up for anything. Though I did just ask for recommendations on Twitter the other day, which means my current list is quite long. But I’ll be through it in a few weeks and will shortly need more so leave your current reading list in the comments por favor!

If you enjoyed this post, please click +1 or Like! It’s really helpful for me and my business, so thanks!

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28 Comments

  1. I super loved Bossypants, too. If you’re looking for more books of humorous, personal essays, I’d recommend Sloane Crosley (her latest is How Did You Get This Number), Stephanie Wilder Taylor (I liked It’s Not Me, It’s You) and Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk with Me. I read all of those this summer (I’m on something of a memoir kick), and I laughed a lot.
    Oh, and my Kindle totally changed my life too. (And my credit card balance… but whatever. It’s all worth it!)

    Comment by Sally — August 24, 2011 @ 12:36 am

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    • Thank you friend, Especially that first one sounds SO funny.

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:39 pm

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  2. Awesome!! I am a very heavy reader as well- thanks for the rec on the Jennifer Wiener book, I have seen it around but was reluctant to get it. Now I think that’s gonna be my next book.. :-) Ok, I have more than a few recommendations so get ready… You read a lot though so you may have already read these!

    Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Almost Moon by Alice Seabold, Room by Emma Donaghue, White Oleander, She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb(couldn’t put them down!)… Just finished the Memory Keeper’s Daughter and loved it… Read the Time Traveler’s Wife last summer and I cried like a baby so I’d have to say it’s one of my faves as well!

    As you know, I’m gonna be travelling these next few weeks (before ending off in Chile, yay!!) so I’m actually looking for a few books to take along. Any other recommendations?

    Comment by Oneika the Traveller — August 24, 2011 @ 1:59 am

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    • I have read pretty much all of those Oneika! Actually the only one of those I haven’t read on your list is the first one. We have similar taste.

      Did you check out my pinterest good reads page? Lots more recs there!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:47 pm

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  3. A few suggestions from my recent reads would be:

    Parrot & Olivier In America and Oscar & Lucinda, both by Peter Carey. Peter Carey is awesome.

    The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollen (I’d recommend this to anyone who has any interest in what they eat- an incredibly readable book about where our food comes from).

    The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal. The story outline sounds a bit boring- tracing a collection of Japanese figurines from the original buyer to the current owner (the author), but it’s a genuinely fascinating tale and the prose is so beautifully written I found myself re-reading sentences over and over again, wishing I were capable of such artistry. One of the best books I’ve read in recent years.

    Comment by Matt — August 24, 2011 @ 4:47 am

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    • Thanks Matt. I did read The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Pretty disgusting. I’ll check out the other books. The Hare With Amber Eyes sounds particularly good from the way you describe it.

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:48 pm

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  4. anything by Chuck Palahniuk. specifically “Survivor” “Haunted” and “Pygmy” keep in mind though they are not for the faint of heart or those with weak stomachs.

    Comment by Dennis Pike — August 24, 2011 @ 5:03 am

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    • Dennis, you’re scaring me with those suggestions! I do have a weak stomach. But I’ll read one and see if I can handle it!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:48 pm

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  5. Kyle, thanks for the recommendations. I just finished the Jennifer Wiener book (on my Kindle) and I have The Hypnotist on hold at the library…I’ve had it on hold for two months! I also just read Rules of Civility by Amor Toles, I would highly recommend it. I’m pretty sure you have read both of the Jeannette Walls books that are out (Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses) but if not, get them both ASAP, you will not be disappointed. She is actually going to be speaking in GR in two months and I am looking forward to going.

    If you like political thrillers, try Vince Flynn…I got just eight of his books and I finished the first one in a few days…but I think you would have to like that style of book.

    Comment by Tara B — August 24, 2011 @ 6:43 am

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    • I have read both Jeannette Walls books, in fact I just recommended The Glass Castle to my book club so hopefully I’ll be reading it again soon! When is she coming to GR? I want to goooooo!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:50 pm

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  6. Oh thank you for this. I’m about to finish my book and need to dowload some more on my kindle. I’m finishing up “Cutting for Stone” by Abraham Verghese which is really interesting because it takes place mostly in Ethiopia and I didn’t know anything about Ethiopia except that it’s a really poor country in Africa. This book made me research and learn a lot about it.

    Comment by Abby — August 24, 2011 @ 7:09 am

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    • I know nothing about Ethiopia so sounds like I need to get on that book!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:54 pm

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  7. I loved Bossypants, too!! I stayed up all night reading it and must have sounded crazy cackling like a madwoman all throughout the book. Thanks for sharing the other reads.

    Comment by Renée — August 24, 2011 @ 9:49 am

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    • It’s freaking hilarious, is it not?! I have a whole new respect for Tina Fey now. Not everyone can take their humor and translate it into writing.

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:55 pm

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  8. Bossypants was terrific. I sent you some recommendations via Twitter the other day — I think you’ll really enjoy the Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli. I’m now hopping on the bandwagon of reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. As far as travel literature goes (do you like/read travel writing?), I hear Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach is worth a read. I go back and forth on the genre, but sometimes I indulge myself in it!

    Comment by Roxanne — August 24, 2011 @ 3:11 pm

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    • I already have your twitter recommendations written down! To be honest, I didn’t care for Freedom. I tried to read it and couldn’t get past the first couple of pages. That rarely happens with me and books so I was surprised after hearing so much buzz about it.

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:56 pm

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  9. Oh thank you Kyle! I loved this! I’m excited to add these to my list.

    I have The Happiness Project sitting on my nightstand, but its been on hold because of…Hunger Games! I’m glad I’m not the only one into that series. I just read them in the last week and a half and I feel like I’ve had no other life. Even when I’m not reading them I’m thinking about them. I can’t believe you’ve read them four times through! I’m excited for the movie (although I’m sure it won’t be as good), but I’m wondering how they can do it without a rating of X? I mean, hand to hand combat!

    Have you heard of “The Secret Daughter?” It seems similar to “Then Came You” that you mentioned. It is a really touching story about three women – a mother in India who because of the culture has to give up her baby daughter for adoption in order to save her life. The mother from the US who adopts the baby girl and how infertility changes who she is as a wife and mother. And the daughter’s pull to her biological mother in India and the country that she never knew.

    I’m thinking I need to invest in my own kindle because it’s becoming a war between Troy and me :) Thanks for the fresh ideas!

    Comment by Lindsey — August 24, 2011 @ 8:21 pm

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    • I don’t know about the movie, I’m nervous for it. It’s one of those things where I love the books SO much that I’m scared they’ll just ruin the movie. With Twilight, I enjoyed the books, but I recognized that they were horrendously written so I figured the movie would be just as bad and I’d enjoy it because it would be one of those so bad it’s good type things. But I actually care about them making this one good! And I agree, I don’t know how they’re going to make it a rating that children can actually watch, since there is so much killing. But they have to because The Hunger Games are young adult books, right?

      That The Secret Daughter sounds amazing, I just looked it up. Exactly the kind of book I love to read! Thanks for the recommendation!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:58 pm

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  10. try “the devil’s highway” by luis alberto urrea. really powerful and interesting story about some migrants trying to cross over the US border in arizona. changed my life, really.

    also, the dive from clausen’s pier by ann packer. IT IS SO GOOD. i randomly got it from the library and it’s amazing, about a girl whose longtime boyfriend becomes a paraplegic. real, relatable characters and a great story.

    olive kitteredge by elizabeth stout. this won the pulitzer and is really funny and poignant at the same time.

    anything by barbara kingsolver, a longtime favorite of mine.

    Comment by carrie murphy — August 25, 2011 @ 5:51 am

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    • I LOVE The Dive. Love love loooooove. I read it a really long time ago, I’m pretty sure I’d gotten in from the library and I never would’ve remember that if it weren’t for you! So thank you, I’ll definitely re-read it, it’s worth it. The Devil’s Highway sounds great too.

      And I read Olive Kitteredge too…did you recommend that to me the last post I did? I think so!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 10:59 pm

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  11. I’ll have to check out The Hypnotist.

    Everyone tells me how much they love their Kindle. I read a lot less than I expected to on the road though, so I don’t think it is worth carrying around another device for me.

    Comment by Stephanie - The Travel Chica — August 25, 2011 @ 6:50 am

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    • If you had a Kindle I bet you would read more on the road…just saying :) Don’t underestimate it’s power, hahaha!

      Let me know what you think of The Hypnotist. I really liked it!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 11:00 pm

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  12. Im reading “the help”. I’m up to page 200 and it is good. It’s got me thinking a lot about discrimination and how we still do it in south america. I started the Starbucks book but I wanted a story that kept me intrigued. I still want To read it but for airplanes I need something really good to keep me going. I read some many business and technology book at school that I need something light these days!

    I want to read the happiness book in ur list. I also saw the one by jeniffer ? At the airport, But I decided to buy “the help” instead. I read one very similar. It is called the geography of bliss. It was incredible!!! A journalist wrote it and he was very grumpy. Not the typical happy person writing about happiness !!

    And I LoVE Gabriel Garcia Marquez but read him in Spanish. Del amor y otros demonios!! 100 años d Soledad is great but a little confusing if u stop reading for a few days. I have a (arbol genealogico) if you want it. I saved me from getting confused. And my favorite book from him is el amor en Los tiempos del colera. Bad movie, great book!!

    My all time favorite is called “el sindrome de ulises” by Santiago gamboa!! It is in Paris about a Colombian immigrant! Don’t know about the digital copy but I have it if you come to Tampa I will let u read it :) )

    Comment by Cata — August 25, 2011 @ 9:15 am

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    • The Help is SO good! I loved it!

      And I almost picked up The Geography of Bliss at the NYC airport! Was it good?

      I’ve read a lot of GGM, though truthfully I prefer Isabel Allende :) Maybe I should re-read GGM though because I read a lot of his stuff for school and reading for pleasure is always different.

      I’m going to check out El Sindrome de Ulises to see if I can find a Kindle version! Thank you!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 11:05 pm

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      • I have never read Isabel Allende!!! I want to read la casa de los espiritus!!!! GGM is good but it is very detailed. Del amor y otros demonios is short maybe start from there? his short stories are crazy too.

        I liked the Geography of Bliss. I like it that it was a skeptic’s point of view and you can tell that he is a journalist not a novelist. I liked that a lot.

        I also like Don Miguel Ruiz. He wrote 2 books that changed my attitude a LOT at a time when I needed a change!! I need to read them often to stay focus – the relationship’s advices are incredible. “los 4 acuerdos” and “la maestria del amor”. I have “la maestria del amor” in PDF. do you want me to send it to you? There is “the 5th agreement” now, i need to read it. I’ve read them in spanish and english but it is better in spanish. the author is mexican. I always try to read in the original language if i can… these books are short and simplify relationships

        When I went to France, I bought some Ana Gavalda’s books! the story is great BUT the translators are from Spain and the give you all these slang words that drove me mad. Con~o every few words. I wish i could read her in french but I’m a LONG way from understanding a book in french.

        I could talk about books forever!!! :)

        Comment by Catalina — August 28, 2011 @ 10:24 am

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  13. I loved bossy pants and the other Boleyn girl too!
    I just got into a few bios that I have loved- Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin I have read heaps (also has a movie but the book is better). Alex Wek’s bio is another great one, I read it in one sitting and it moved me to tears. Dawn French’s Dear Fatty is hilarious as well.

    Fiction, I just read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, free to download on the LessWrong website due to HP copyrights. It’s awesome, could not put it down! Heaps of HP in jokes but not necessary to have read the series, just recommended.

    Comment by Lara — August 25, 2011 @ 8:21 pm

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    • Ooooh, I like Alek Wek, I can’t WAIT to read her bio, I didn’t even know she had one. And looking at Mao’s Last Dancer and Dear Fatty they both look like the kinds of books I love. Thank you!

      Comment by kyle — August 26, 2011 @ 11:07 pm

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  14. A fellow bookworm! Divine! :D I’m seriously considering investing in a Kindle for my move to Mexico. There’s no way I’ll be able to carry my whole book collection across the water.

    Comment by Ceri — September 8, 2011 @ 3:59 am

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