One of my summer goals: reading.

One of my summer goals has been to read a lot more. I’m not a big fan of reading – I prefer to just scan things and get the big picture – but with the absence of graduate school reading, I’m deciding to fill that void with some “leisure” reading this summer.

I link to the Amazon page for each book below so that you can see more of what it’s about, if you so decide (I hate to play the role of spoiler), but I’m going to give some quick reflections and/or justifications on them here.

Here are the four books that I'm interested in so far.
Here are the four books that I’m interested in so far.

The first book, on the bottom left, Gabby, finally finished reading in April.  Kristin and I started reading it soon after her accident and resulting TBI last winter, but I stopped reading it when she had moved back for a while and things got hectic toward the end of the semester. That book is…fascinating, to say the least, especially given the circumstances.  Whenever I need a little inspiration I can open that book and read any given part of it and it helps me push through most of the time.  It’s written from the perspective of her husband as she recovers, and so many of the thoughts he has are shared.

The Defining Decade (top right) is one that I have already completed – in like five days, actually, earlier this summer.  I actually have a VERY long list of things on my desktop to blog about about this book in the near future. Being a twentysomething myself, and that’s who this book is geared towards, it spoke to me in ways that no other book really has. It also has an amazing TED talk to accompany it, delivered by it’s author Meg Jay. If you want the cliff-notes version of the book, the TED talk is a great way to get them; but I would definitely suggest reading the book.

Making Hope Happen, on the top left, was gifted to me by my professor and mentor Dr. Frank Shushok. I haven’t read it yet, but I saw Dr. Shane Lopez, the author, speak on campus last year. I’m GOING to finish this one by the end of the summer (there is no audiobook so that’s a big statement coming from me!). Dr. Lopez has a background in motivation and Strengths and his experience definitely was insightful and interesting.

Start With Why, I’m about half way through. I had the opportunity to meet the author, Simon Sinek, when he came to Virginia Tech, and I then watched his TEDx talk.  His book, I think, is much better than his talk.  He talks about Apple a lot (which if you watch this spot, you will understand why). The gist is what “people don’t buy what you do, they buy how you do it.” And if you can go one step further and figure out WHY you do the things that you do – personally, professionally, however – then you will be much more successful. I’m reading it through a Book Club with some co-workers this summer, and I’m excited to talk our way through the rest of the book.

I have a list of just under 15 other books that I plan to get around to by the end of my life, I hope, but maybe 3 or 4 more this summer. At the top of my list are books titled “One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student’s Assessment of School,” “Never Eat Alone,” and “Little Princes.” The final one on that list is authored by Connor Grennan, and is actually the Common Book for Virginia Tech this year.  Kristin and I are going to start reading it together soon. It’s about a man who ends up in Nepal on a life-changing journey…that’s about all I know.

Let me know which books you’ve been reading. Try not to add anything new to my list though! ;)