Books

December 12th

I’m currently reading Malcom Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers book. You guys. I’m 60% in and it’s dang fascinating. I feel like we can all agree we shouldn’t judge others, and yet, I still find myself making snap judgments about people all day long. Even when I’m trying so hard not to! In his book, Gladwell is exploring and digging through real life stories/ court cases/examples of how interactions with strangers have gone wrong. How we are not very good at reading other people, and how it can create not just misunderstandings but some scary and heartbreaking situations.

It sort of goes along with this great quote I came across in the last book we read for book club, A Gentleman in Moscow. “After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we’ve just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone?…By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration-and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.”

Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles, was also a great read. I wasn’t sure about a decently long book where the entire setting would be in a hotel, but the author did a stellar job sucking you into the main characters life. When I was done, I felt so, inspired actually. What we do, who we interact with, how we live our lives matters. This man who was sentenced to living in a hotel was so genuine, sure of himself, kind, and thus he was able to positively effect the lives of people around him, even in such a confined space. It was such an encouragement to me.

November 15th

You know what genre I love that I didn’t know I loved? Historical Fiction. I’ve read a several gems here and there over the last year (hello Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and the Nightingale, ) I am absolutely loving this genre. I get to read, always a win, and at the same time learn a little more about actual events and people. I’m in. Even better, I usually am so intrigued by the book, that I go and google it to find out more about whatever historical event was taking place, to discover more about it, and what was real vs what was imagined by the author. So, if you like historical fiction, PLEASE comment and leave us the title and author of your favorite -or at the very least, since most favorite can feel intimidating- your most recent favorite? We would love to read it !!

My recent favorite is:

Lisa See’s The Island of Sea Women. You guys, it is SO good. It is a story of friendship, amazing women divers that really existed off this island called JeJu, and the crazy difficult things they lived through.