The Leap to Leader by Adam Bryant

This is  a really interesting book, sort of a mix between self help and interviews with people are considered leaders. I liked a lot of the advice that these leaders gave and that is what the author was trying to do, to get down to the X factors to make you a good leader rather than try and explore every possibility. 

Some of my favorite advice included: Merge into leadership (don't try to make your mark on a place before you see how it works.) I also liked that you need to look at your peer relationships as much as anything else. And the advice that being a leader will completely reshape who you are. 

Bryant also asks people to define their values and make sure that you are consistent in your behaviors, to look at how they live those values at work, identify why they are important to your success, what you would say about your leadership approach and philosophy in order to recruit someone to your team, and whether your team members would describe you in the same way. 

Eminently readable, this book does give a lot of good advice that seems to come from a range of people not just those who had leadership handed to them.

Four and a half stars

This book comes out July 11, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney by Dawn Raffe

The description of this book on NPR's Best Books

 was delightful. Incubators, they're in hospitals, right? It would make sense that they've always been in hospitals. But incubators for preemies actually started out as a spectacle. They were displayed as miracles. Did all of the babies survive? No, but the preemies in Couney's incubators had a better survival rate than those in the hospitals.
Raffel focuses mainly on Couney (who was a mysterious figure whose personal biography tended to shift with his moves) but also weaves in some of her own connection to the story as well as the histories of some of the babies who survived. We hear about the origins of the story as well as learning about how the incubators rose in prominence but then fell again.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in July 31, 2018

Audiobook of my own

Opinions are my own

Your Body, Your Yoga: Learn Alignment Cues That Are Skillful, Safe, and Best Suited To You by Bernie Clark

The hook for me in this book was that the authors promised new ways of cueing in yoga. We did not get much of that. Instead, this book is more of an anatomy book with a lot of information about how things pivot, flex, and extend in our body. A lot of repetition in that every body is not the same so traditional poses will not always work or even be beneficial; there are many reasons for "What stops me?". 

Three stars

This book came out April 12, 2016

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

How Data Happened by Chris Wiggins, Matthew L. Jones

I liked the title of this book and thought this might be an interesting read; I work with databases every day so my life is data.  There is interesting material in the book but it can be dense so sometimes takes a little time to get through. It covers a wide range of topics from Guiness to Bletchley Park to AI. 

The authors do note that data can be manipulated and I wonder sometimes what the authors have done with their work but overall an interesting read.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 21, 2023

ARC kindly provided by W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Have I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham is a gifted actress and writer. These essays cover a variety of topics including her work on the Might Ducks television series, stories her father told her (that may not have been completely true), and her time during COVID. Like her other books, this one is quick, witty, all about herself, but doesn't really go deep into any topic. Still, highly enjoyable.

Four stars

This book came out November 15, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Bad Mormon by Heather Gay

Like a lot of other Housewives of Salt Lake City fans, I really related to the brash new star, Heather Gay. She tries to be there for her friends (doesn't always do it in the right way), she's always wanting the tea, and seems down to have a great time. While what we see may not actually be her authentic self, it sure seems like it is and it's something that normal viewers can relate to. Her book is the same way. We get to see Heather's life growing up in the Mormon church (or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and how she struggled between wanting to be a good Christian but also having real human urges and feelings. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 7, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Gallery Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton

In late 2001, the first adaptation of Harry Potter made its way on to the big screen. The child actors were instantly catapulted into fame. As the young villain of the piece, Tom Felton says that he never got as much press as the actors who played the main three characters, but it did, of course, change his life.

Felton had already been an actor and he walks us through the roles he had and some of the people he met on various sets. He also tells us about working behind the scenes of the Harry Potter films and gives us a lovely glimpse of many of the actors on the films, including those who have since passed away. And they are very short glimpses with very little going too far into depth. 

Read by Felton himself, this book is an interesting look at how the children of Harry Potter grew up on set but also how Felton himself changed both before and after the films. He definitely struggled afterwards but seems to have pulled himself back up by his bootstraps.

Four Stars 

This book came out October 18, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Intentional Leadership by Rose M. Patten

Patten believes that some leaders are natural, they just know what to do. But, leaders can also be made. they can learn to plan for the long-term. Using real-life experiences by leaders from across industries, Patten goes through the Big 8 capabilities that people need to be successful leaders in today's world because, today, it is harder than ever to be a leader. The world is changing quickly and we can't rely on the tried and true methods of yesterday working the way they used to. 

Patten doesn't just dive into the 8 capabilities. Instead, we learn about the problems facing leaders today. We see the myths about leadership that still exist as well as the new problems that are facing leaders as the working world evolves.

The 8 capabilities are further divided into three sets which really resonate with the current workplace: Mindset (personal adaptability, strategic agility, self-renewal); Personal Values (certainty of character, empathy); Connecting (contextual communication, spirited collaboration, developing other leaders.) Patten goes through each of the 8 capabilities in the later chapters and explains more about what they are and why they're needed. 

Overall, a lovely book though there are a lot of mentions of subsections and other leadership ideas which can be a little confusing at times. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out January 7, 2023

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and University of Toronto Press

Opinions are my own

The Power of Regret by Daniel H. Pink

I heard about this book from  NPR's Best Books and thought, "Why not?" I think I'm like most people, that there are things in my life that I regret. But so much of American culture these days encourages us to live life with no regrets. But why? Pink urges us to look at that statement and see that maybe it is incorrect. Maybe we do need to have some regrets. How else will we know how to improve ourselves? But there are ways to avoid regret. . In this book, Pink goes through the four core types of regret and talks about ways that we can avoid foundation, boldness, moral, and connection regrets. It is these regrets that we should focus on when making decisions; in five years, ten. Otherwise, "satisficing" is good enough. To undo regrets, you can apologize or try to undo action regrets or "at least it". For both action and inaction, practice self-compassion, normalize (zoom out several years), or try to work through them whether by talking with others or writing it down somewhere.

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 1, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Modern Calligraphy by Maricar Concepcion Ramos

This was a very nice introduction to calligraphy though I was very surprised that the author suggested that you should pick your pen up after every stroke. I have watched a number of videos and read another book and none of them suggest that approach. It seems to me that would add a large amount of time to your projects. I also really wish that the author had interspersed the practice sheets closer to the actual description of the fonts. Lots of font options in this book as well as some art work that can be done with your brush pens. I highly recommend buying a physical copy of this book. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 8, 2022

Ebook from NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Eat, Pray, Love Made Me Do It -- Anthology

I didn't love "Eat, Pray, Love" but many people did and listening to their stories was an interesting way to pass time. Just more proof that literature can change people's lives, often for the better.

Three stars

This book came out March 29, 2016

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Book of Phobias and Manias by Kate Summerscale

I got this book because the cover was neat and the title was even more interesting. I wish that I had read a little bit more because this really was an alphabetical list of many phobias and manias with blurbs about each. It seemed well-researched though the footnotes weren't included in the audio version and there seemed to be a LOT of references to Freud (toward the end I was really wondering if there were no other people worth referencing.) 

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 27, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Quit by Annie Duke

In American culture, quitting has become synonymous with failure. People who persevere are those who are admired. But Duke argues that we need to start learning when it is time to quit. Sometimes, it just isn't worth the fight.

She lays out example after example showing that leaving the option of quitting on the table means you've given yourself more choices. Of course, that means you have to be open to the fact that you will never know what might have been. Being open to change, even when your are happy, might make your life even better.

I really liked the last chapter and talking about setting goals. So many books talk about goal setting as a panacea but they don't talk about the drawbacks. One instance of a downside would be trying to meet your goals to the exclusion of all else. The suggestion of not making goals pass/fail and allowing for outs in certain situations seems much more reasonable and, frankly, less depressing. 

This book is incredibly readable and the author even inserts some of her own stories into the book. I wish there had been more scientific data to support her hypothesis but there are a lot of engaging stories to prove her point. 

Four stars

This book comes out October 4, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Portfolio and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

But Can I Start a Sentence with "But"? by University of Chicago Press

I was really surprised when I saw the page count of this book. On my ereader with the size of font I've chose, it was only 89 pages. Most books about editing and style are... well, super long. It was interesting to me. And I really liked that the author(s) talked about the fact that grammar is more fluid and based on personal choices than many of us would prefer to admit. I also really enjoyed the humor in this book (e.g. if only two people are ever likely to read a paper, maybe it's okay for them to agree on a specific abbreviation because, well, who will know?)

The Q&A format got a little tiring after a while but an amusing book in general. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 22, 2016

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Hello, Molly!: A Memoir by Molly Shannon, Sean Wilsey

I've been on an autobiography kick lately and enjoyed all of them, especially when the authors read them on the audiobook version. This book is definitely worth listening to.

Molly Shannon started performing at a young age. Not on the stage, per se, but with other children. It was one way to control her life after her family was in a car accident when she was four and her mother, sister, and cousin all died. There was a lot left out of Shannon's relationship with her father and enough information to know that she had a hard time while growing up. 

We learn about her going to school and really getting into acting, having to scramble in both New York and Los Angeles before finally landing her role on Saturday Night Live. 

There isn't much on her life post-SNL but I get the feeling that she hasn't had as much time process that as she has her early life.

Four stars

This book came out April 12, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Neuroscience of You How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours by Chantel Prat

This book, though dense, is incredibly readable. I got this book as an ARC but have also already reserved it at the library to reread certain sections.

This book is not just a boring recitation of sections of the brain (amygdala, hippocampus, lobes, etc.) with a paragraph about what they do. Instead, the author builds a narrative around what parts of the brain do. 

Prat offers many exercises for readers to learn more about themselves ("you" is in the title after all). The last part of the book offers you chances to learn more about other people. 

Four stars

This book come out August 2, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Sleight of Mouth by Robert B. Dilts

I can't remember why I added this book to my TBR list but I can't believe I actually finished it. After the fifth spelling error (all within the first third of the book), I pondered whether I really wanted to read it.
After the first instance of a completely unscientific example used to prove one of the author's points, I pondered even harder. Then, an instance of pseudoscience. Strapping myself in, I decided to enjoy the ride.

There are some valid studies in this book but overall I am disappointed I left this on my TBR shelf for too long. 

Two stars

This book came out November 5, 2001

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Fascial Fitness by Robert Schleip, Johanna Bayer

This book showed up as available in my library and I thought it looked interesting so I clicked. It's an interesting book that I think may have been translated or written by someone for whom English is not a first language because there are some odd word choices. That can make it difficult to interpret some of the exercises but there are pictures that will help you figure them out. 

An interesting read, especially the information about the fascia and why it's so gosh darn important to do the exercises and to just move in order to keep your fascia working optimally.

Three stars

This book came out July 6, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Cultish by Amanda Montell

It took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed Montell's writings. She grew up with a father who had escaped a cult and his stories fascinated her. She feels like growing up with parents like that meant that she had a better chance of identifying a cult. I really liked that she mentioned that it is usually optimistic people who end up staying in cults, not under or overly educated people (though those two things seem to help). 

In her talking about cults, she touches on Jonestown (and the fact that a-the people drank Flavoraid and b-most didn't want to drink it) and how that happened.  There is also discussion of the Heaven's Gate group. Both times, she talks about how, viewing people as being in cults seems to dehumanize them, that others can judge them based on that. However, it is easier than many people think to join a cult. Reductive language, creating a we/they attitude, shaming people for wanting to leave are all tactics. Of course, there are things that could be argued whether or not they are cults: MLMs, CrossFit, QAnon.

Four stars

This book came out June 15, 2021

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis

I really liked that Davis give you options for how to read her book. She very much says right off the bat to take the things that help you and leave the rest behind. I liked that she said to decide what is care and what doesn't actually need to be done. Being organized does NOT equal being clean. Nor is staying organized as easy as some authors would have you think.

There is a difference between rhythm and routine: if you get off beat for a little bit, you can always get back into the rhythm. I especially liked the three rules at the end of the book: I rule the list, the list does not rule me; Missing days off your list is not good or bad but morally ambiguous; I do NOT have to complete the whole task. A very refreshing turn from the books, etc. that say that we have to be perfect in order to be "good." 

Four stars

This book came out April 26, 2022

Borrowed as audibook from Libby

Opinions are my own