Books I Have Read in the last 20 Months
I have never been one to read much. I have always been in love with the sciences and maths. English classes were so confusing for me. I needed cut and dry facts. Things that were subjective really threw me for a loop. Reading between the lines was painful (and still is). Possibly another reason I don’t get along with people who speak in double entendres. If I have to try and figure out the meaning for something behind some elaborate riddle, I’m not going to try. Time and life is precious and I want to gain knowledge as quickly as possible and move on to the next thing. Playing these games of ‘you know what I mean’ is just too much time and life lost.
I spent my teen years reading Stephen King, and purchased a few useless self help books in my university days. Then I spent a few years throwing myself out of planes, getting married and having kids. Becoming pregnant started some book purchases….the usual What to Expect, etc. etc. I had to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do with these little human beings that had made their way into our lives. I had no experience with kids, or friends or family with kids….so books it was.
Since then, there were a few purchases here and there. Mostly for books on software testing. All quick references and not really ‘reads’ (much like the baby books).
‘The internet’ was the beginning of it all for me though. It allowed me to learn the way I actually learn. Not sitting down with a book and reading straight through (stressed out that I wouldn’t be able to memorize or understand all the facts), but reading something of interest, stopping when I had questions and going off on tangents with those questions - opening up new searches to follow those tangents until I had the answer and then going back to the original read. Getting an iphone completely shifted that into overdrive. Anything that ever came to mind was searchable in seconds. And I didn’t have to just take one persons word for it. I could find different points of views and form an opinion based on tons of info (as opposed to just my teacher or profs opinion). I now research on insane amounts of topics every day. All day. Everything and anything that pops into my head, my husbands head, and my kids heads. I can’t get enough. I can’t learn enough. I wish I could download every thought and idea anyone has ever had into my brain. I would sort all those into categories, and form opinions based on how I think and feel about topics, and how logical it all seems to me.
And now, I don’t stress out about not having facts memorized. Because I have them with me ALL the time! In my pocket. I can always just say ‘hold on, let me check’ if I screw something up and someone calls me on it. Or, if I’m not 100% on board with what someone is telling me, but they seem so sure - I can look up the facts right there. If only I could have an account like that of the events in my life and things I have said/done. That way my memory would always be spot on!
Even with all my online reading/research I have somehow started to actually read books for the first time ever. Non-fiction. Fiction feels like a waste to me…like the tv, video games, etc….escapism. Which is something I’m trying to escape. I want to learn about the real world…not escape. I’ve spent enough of my life escaping.
So, the fact that I’ve started reading books has really surprised me. It started off with one or two, and it’s just snowballed in the last 20 months. So, I sat down and made a list. Now 3/4 of the books have been read only in the last 6 months. I have also always been a slow reader…lack of interest, or trying hard to memorize or understand what I’m reading. I would read every word and have to reread sentences and paragraphs because my thoughts would wander and ask questions. And then I would be lost and have to start again.
So here’s my list:
- Aug ‘08 started everything with Stephen Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. - what a simple and logical eye opener.
- Boost Your Immune System Naturally by Beth MacEoin - reintroduced me to focus on health again.
- Magnificent Mind at Any Age by Daniel Amen - awesome read!
Not much reading here until after March ‘09 where I took and wrote my Personal Trainer certification.
- Green for Life came next and was given to me by my first business partner at the start of my fourth business venture.
- Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher - started it, but didn’t finish lol
March through August ‘09 really had me interested in business and I went nuts listening to Tony Robbins CD’s and really wrapping my head around some of these incredible concepts. I feel I need to mention this here. Even though I wasn’t reading here, everything I learned opened me up to concepts, ideas, and really got me excited about learning with passion for the first time in my life. I scanned through a few books here that were borrowed from friends and the library, and some old business books I had from previous ventures. Then I got into:
Richard Branson:
- Screw it Lets Do It - BLEW MY MIND! Read it faster than I’ve ever read anything in my life
- Business Stripped Bare - stopped 1/2 way through to start my 5th business venture: worx4you
- Autobiography - have only scanned through it since I was busy getting worx4you up and running
Since Dec. ‘09, things have gone a little nuts. Three clients signed up with four product releases, running a remote sub-contracting team, not to mention working from home with three kids. You’d think I wouldn’t have time for much else. On the contrary, I’ve been even more inspired to learn and read and do more. So, along with our typical online research/reading, the books since December have been read with (for me) insane speed:
- Agile Testing by Lisa Crispin/Janet Gregory - not cover to cover…strictly reference, but wicked book :)
- Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk
- Grow Younger, Live Longer by Deepak Chopra
- Clean by Alejandro Junger
- Food Matters by Mark Bittman
- Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (also have How to Talk & about 1/2 way through)
- Rework by 37 Signals (Jason Fried)
- The Decision Tree by Thomas Goetz - just started
- Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra (just purchased, haven’t started yet)
- Quantum Enigma - just ordered and waiting for it to arrive
That’s it so far. When I looked at the pile from the last few months, I was personally shocked. This is not the Vesna I know! I’m pleasantly surprised and very inspired by all of these books. Every one of them has meant quite a lot to me and made huge differences in my life. I appreciate every author mentioned here (and hope I’ve spelled names correctly! :) and they’re incredibly inspiring ideas and words.
Thank you for the knowledge and inspiration!!
