Amanda's Reading List: January 2016

So i just finished reading this bad boy, Monday Mornings by Sanjay Gupta. And it did take way too long for my liking (290 pages of drama!) I will say it is a great beach read. Unfortunately, I am not at the beach. I started it at the beach and then I got home to my very cold house and just kept falling asleep reading it.
It is a page turner and probably a fast read for those of you who are motivated to just get a meaningless book under your belt.
I did feel like the characters were a little unrealistic, like they belonged in a TV show.....which, as the book cover shows, it now is...on the TNT!

If you feel like giving the book a go and starting anyways, but then decide it's not for you a little ways in SKIP TO THE END!! That is where all the good shit happens. Like it's dramatic the whole way through but I didn't realize how much was building and then BAM! Everything hit the fan at once. The last fifty pages are wild.

Fun thing about Gupta I just realized...he lives in Atlanta (and I live in Atlanta). Although, come to think of it I totally knew this because my roommate had to give a presentation about her nonprofit to a school and that just happened to be the school Gupta's kids go to! But yeah, if I'm ever rushed to the hospital (Grady) he could be the guy that has to poke around on me...if he's not too busy talking to the Silver Fox.

Anyways, hoping to get into some more critical books, but we'll see what comes next with my suddenly very busy schedule.

While I meant to make this blog like two months ago, it's here now, right at the beginning of the new year. So let me give a quick run down of the books I've read in my first few months living the high life in Atlanta. Note, it's been a few months since I read some of these so don't expect to read gold, actually, never expect that from me...

**Note: my favorite book is the last book I write about on this post so if you are interested in that just go to the end, okay?**

-The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Quick read, would recommend

Very inspirational narrative in the vain (I thought) of Mitch Album's

Tuesday's with Morrie, although in this book the man talking is the one dying. Smart man. I likes how he doesn't hold back on times he was an ass, but also he's done great things. I was reminded of how special the everyday life is. One of my favorite takeaway's was the idea that you can only be disappointed in something you love.

Randy used that to talk about his relationship with his father. I use it to help talk about how I feel about living in America. It's the same.

Also, since we live in the age of technology someone recorded the last lecture he gave at CM and put it on the internet!!! Please read the book before you watch it though...the link to the lecture is below, although anyone with the wit to navigate themselves to this page probably also has the capability to type "Last Lecture" into google and hit the first video they see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

-In the Company of the Poor Conversations by Dr Paul Farmer and Father Gustavo Gutierrez
Medium-speed read, intentional read, would recommend

If you are at all interested in anything theological or medical you might want to check this out. I keep telling my brother, who is currently in med school to read it but he keeps blowing me off as if he has something better to do.

This book is a series of conversations between two men (as you may have gathered from the title). Farmer is a well off white man who has figured out that there is injustice in the world, who really came to understand the liberation theocracy through his medical vocation. Gutierrez is a Latin American priest who was, in large part an inspiration for Farmer, when Farmer was on his first medical mission trips in Central America.

The book can be slow at some points, but ultimately I thought it was a very interesting read given that I'm current living in a world where social justice issues are everywhere in my life. Also, good discussion book. Probably don't read it if you aren't planning on talking with someone because I think the discussion really prompts a lot more thought.

-The Red Tent by Anite Diamant
Medium read, not trying to be sexist but this book is more for women.

I'm glad I read this book when I did. For whatever reason I was at the point in my life that I really wanted to hear about women being nice to other women, I didn't realize I wanted that but I guess I did. I'm also not super scared of like motherhood anymore. To clarify, I'm not about to run out and get pregnant, nor do I necessarily want a child at any point anywhere in the future, but now I'm just not as vehemently against children as I think I was before...maybe it's just because the point I'm at in life where it's no longer frowned upon by society to have a child because I have a piece of paper that says I'm educated, or maybe I'm just an emotional mess. Either way...women and children are okay in my book now not entirely because of this book, but really pushed it in the right direction.

Besides the fact that I have grown a maternal bone as a result of this book, it's also a fun look into how awful life may have been while the Bible was being written. Lots of Bible history things, as this story is the female perspective of some Bible story or something that was briefly mentioned. So if you are into that, it's def a good one. Also if you're a mom you'll probably like this, mom's like these kinds of things I like.

-The Dover Keepers by Alice Hoffman
Slower read, would recommend if you like the Red Tent or things about really ancient times or like very pro-woman reads.

Mystical would probably be a good way to describe this one. I did like it, but it took me a little bit longer to read because it is a very different book from what I'm used to. It takes place in Roman times, but like EARLY Roman times. It was actually pretty difficult to place, so maybe, if you just want to read it, for something different you should just go with it and try not to question too many things or you'll probably end up with a research paper.

This was both a fun book but also really dark. Hoffman does a good job developing characters, I think, but it does drag a little bit...especially at the really morbid parts. Also this is a definitely a Hallmark/Lifetime movie that my mom recorded and watched and really liked. So I guess this is another book that is good for moms. I don't really see it as a great book club book though. Like, it would be okay but there are like five better choices for book club books on this page. And even though I sound pretty anti-this book, I am glad I read it because it was different and for the most part kept me pretty engaged.

-The Martian by Andy Weir
Fast read, would recommend. Good beach book

If you haven't heard, this is a feature length film staring Matt Damon. But it is a page turning book. I really think this book speaks to a wide range of audiences (except for people who are just generally uninterested in the world). We have botany, space, math, love, music, fights, struggle, life/death situations, hope, and even humor.

I will admit, my mom did have to really coax me to read this book...but that's mostly because it takes so much effort to hit the download button on the Nook. I'm actually just the worst and it was a very entertaining read, I didn't want to talk to my family for like a whole day and a half because I had to know what happened!

Again, I think this is a good discussion book because by the end you really want to talk to someone about your thoughts. You could poke some holes in it, but ask yourself, is it really worth it to be a dick and ruin a fun book? That's what I thought. Enjoy life for once, god.

I haven't seen the movie yet, so I'm not going to try to tell you not to see the movie before reading the book, but I am saying that the book was definitely worth it and I'm trying really hard not to ruin anything because it is such a fast read.

and now...my favorite book of 2015, by far

-The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
I kept getting so excited I had to put the book down good, must read

I could not tell you one specific thing about this book that made it make such an impact. Maybe it's because I've never read any of her other works, maybe because I only knew little facts about her but never actually knew anything about her, maybe because it was her amazing honesty, maybe it's because she is just so damn cool. Like, she is SO COOL.

At every step in her life I felt I related to her so much, which is amazing because we literally have nothing in common. Like, I'm not black, I'm not a mom, I'm not a leader of the civil rights movements, I've never been to Africa, I'm definitely not a performer but through it all I just felt like there was a connection. She's a great writer. I love her.

Also very refreshing to read an autobiography of a woman who carries no shame and does not hold back on any part of her sexual history. It was amazing to read it and not feel like there was more to the story or that she was holding something back.

I want to keep writing and writing about her but please just read it, or reread it, she makes it feel okay to make mistakes and to live life, to go into things without knowing what you're doing and to just be. Also she's such a kind woman who also threatens gang members for messing with Guy and I'm like YESSSSSSSS YOU ARE SO GOOD AT LIFE!

And that is my very acedemic review of this book. Read it, just please read it.

Amanda's Reading List

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Running list of books I plan on Reading

Some Drama

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

My favorite book(s) of 2015

Happy 2016!