The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life by Leo Babauta
The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life by Leo Babauta seems to be recommended reading by every other minimalist. I finally got to it and I’ve got to say his book is minimalist at only 105 pages.
All good stuff in here and it’s a great primer for starting out or just seeing what this minimalist thing is all about. Not to mention a good quick read. Nothing crazy in here either which I really liked.
I’m a big fan of the Russos. I’ve been a subscriber to their YouTube channel since before Joe’s first book. As you can guess from the titles of the books, they are a couple from Los Angeles that quit their jobs, bought an RV and started traveling the US. This, however, as Joe explains in the most recent book was not early retirement.
I recommend reading the books in order as the first book does a good job of covering the period when they decided to make this leap. This second book goes into how. It covers the trials and tribulations of driving and finding parking for a large RV. And it also begins the story of them looking for a smaller RV. While there is a path forward mentioned in the book, we don’t actually find out in the book what happens next, but for all the YouTube followers of the Russo’s we already know how that story ends.
Joe’s writing flows well and while simple really works for me. It’s a fun read and I really liked getting to know more of the details as a YouTube follower I didn’t see all the behind the scenes information that Joe shares in the book. My only complaint is that I wish there was more in the book. More details and more of the class B journey. That said I think it takes tremendous bravery to share your story in a book and even more to share it on a medium like YouTube where the Internet trolls will offer unsolicited feedback on everything that makes it into a video.
Regardless of what the Russo’s do next, I look forward to following their journey on YouTube and in print!
New Minimalism by Cary Telander Fortin, Kyle Louise Quilici
I picked up New Minimalism by Cary Telander Fortin, Kyle Louise Quilici from my local library. The book describes a middle ground between “I live with only 4 things” and hoarders.
As you can tell from all the links and extra books listed I really enjoyed this book. I’m recommending it to my wife next. I think she will find some real nuggets that will help her.
I enjoyed the practicality. The tagline for the books is:
Your external space reflects your internal state. What does your home say about you?
Cary Telander Fortin and Kyle Louise Quilici
Some notes from the book that I want to remember are:
Widely considered a classic now, The Awakening by Kate Chopin was at at its publishing in 1899, considered controversial for the way that Chopin depicted immoral and frank depictions of female sexual desire and for its depiction of a protagonist who chafed against social norms and established gender roles.
Within a decade of her death she was considered a leading feminist writer for her time. Unfortunately, this often happened for female authors of this time.
The writing is superb. My review on goodreads is short but precise:
Wonderfully written! An ending I did not see coming as well. Really enjoyed this. Upsetting that Chopin was not recognized for her talents while she was still alive.
I’m just a reader who enjoyed this book and gave it five stars. I don’t feel qualified to give it a full analysis, but luckily for us others on youtube have already done this.
This book was written in 1952 well before the movie and its basically the same thing. What I originally wrote in my goodreads review was:
Strange play. Two guys that are waiting for someone who never comes. They are mean to each other and at least one seems to be a vagrant. The run into an old mean guy that has memory issues. This play is short only 100 pages, but I just summed it up 4 sentences. You’re welcome.
And that really does sum up Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. I thought it was funny and short. It gets three stars from me.
Sleeping Giants was a real surprise to me. I was given this book at a Comic-Con years ago and when I finally picked it up I was blown away. It is a great science fiction story. A young girl finds some metal protruding from the ground and that small discovery turns the world upside down and begins a lifetime of searching. What they discover will change all their lives and the lives of everyone on earth.
Sleeping Giants Signed
This is only the first book in a trilogy called The Themis Files. I grabbed the other two books after reading the first and had the author Sylvain Neuvel sign them at subsequent Comic-Cons in San Deigo. I really enjoyed this book, but as often happens I have been distracted by other great books and I have not gone back to read the other two books in the Themis Files triliogy although I have signed copies. This is why writing about the books on this blog is very helpful for me, because I remember this great books and can finally go back and read them.
I wouldn’t quite call this a hidden gem as it does have 51,000 ratings on goodreads, but It certainly isn’t as popular as some. Most folks over there give it 4 or 5 stars. It earned a sold 4 from me and I said
Excellent book. Lots of action and a great story. Real cliffhanger at the end. I’m looking forward to reading the next one in the series.
In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It by Lauren Graham
I really like Lauren Graham. She was wonderful Gilmore Girls, which is where I first saw her. I thought she was a very talented actress. Later I learned that she had also authored some books. I’m a fan of her book, Someday, Someday, Maybe and also enjoyed Talking as Fast as I Can.
Both of these were good books. This book left me dissatisfied. It’s not that the advice in this very short, 52 page book is not good, it just that I don’t think it needed to be a book and I don’t know what the reasoning for publishing it was other than maybe that Graham was getting a lot of press at the time since Gilmore Girls had come back on Netflix for four episodes.
Below is the book blurb…
In this expansion of the 2017 commencement speech she gave at her hometown Langley High, Lauren Graham, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, reflects on growing up, pursuing your dreams, and living in the here and now. “Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to go after, the important thing is that you keep finding joy in what you’re doing, especially when the joy isn’t finding you.” In her hilarious, relatable voice, Graham reminds us to be curious and compassionate, no matter where life takes us or what we’ve yet to achieve. Grounded and inspiring—and illustrated throughout with drawings by Graham herself—here is a comforting road map to a happy life.
Thats just it, they could have just done a blog post or youtube the speech, it didn’t need to be expanded. Anyway, I still like Graham her writing and acting, I just don’t see a need for this book to exist. Save your time and read her other better works, or binge on the Gilmore Girls. I graciously gave this book 3 stars.
The Fault of Our Stars by John Green is an insanely popular book, with just shy of 3 million ratings on Goodreads. The book came first but soon became a major motion picture.
The Fault of Our Stars Movie Trailer
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
After I read the book and really enjoyed it, I decided to watch the film. I would say if you are a reader, you don’t need to watch the movie, it in no way adds to the book you have already read. The acting was okay, but the story in the book is so much more, as usually is the case with books.
Initially I didn’t really want to read this book. Mostly because it was so popular and all the reviews say that the book made them cry. I’m not super emotional, but I don’t want to read books that are sad just because they are sad.
I want to read books that give me something to take away. I want to read books that make me better in some way. We don’t have a lot of time why read or do anything for the matter that doesn’t benefit us in some way.
I did learn to value the things and the people in my life much more than I was currently doing. We all know this is important but sometimes we need a reminder. This is a very good book and a great reminder that what we have in life, whether it is a lot or a little is more than some and we should celebrate and be thankful for that instead of being depressed and always wanting more.
Because of this lesson and really great writing I would recommend this book to most everyone. The story and lesson earned 4 stars out of 5 from me.
I thought The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer, was going to be a history book but instead, it turned out to be historical fiction. While real people are used some of it is the authors best guess at what happened. I would assume he has also embellished.
Like many, I have always been fascinated by the sinking of the Titanic. When I learned that there was a boat that was very close to her but never came to her assistance, I had to read and find out what happened. This novel follows a fictional writer for a real newspaper. The newspaper that did follow and publish stories about the Titanic at the time. The fictional reporter is out after the truth and follows around Lord and Stone, the captain and first mate of the Californian, the boat that was just miles from the Titanic saw its distress rockets and choice to do nothing. Why???
https://youtu.be/XrqdZVO7K4c
The Titanic Inquiry: Crew of the SS Californian
That is exactly what Dyer tries to answer with this novel. A great way of approaching this question is with historical fiction. I’ve never really been a fan of this genre because I like the facts of things and this genre interweaves fact and fictional storytelling so closely, that is is hard to tell them apart and you can’t trust what you have read as truth, even if some of it is.
Stanley Lord, Captain of the Californian
Herbert Stone, Second Officer
SS Californian
Having said this, I think for this book the genre works in Dyer’s favor. For those interested in the story behind the story, I think they will enjoy the book. For my part, I would have been just as happy with a non-fiction book that presented the facts and the author gave us his best guess as to what actually happened. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.
For managers at my company, there is a one-day class that is a requirement for any people leaders. If you have direct reports you have to take this class. The class is based on The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey.
Last year I knew I would have to take this course and I was looking forward to it as I have read some of the other Covey books. This book is written by Stephen Covey Jr. His father is the one who wrote the 7 Effective Habit book that is huge and most everyone knows or has already read.
Before taking the class I bought the book and read the thing from cover to cover. A few months later I got to take the course and among the other goodies that come with the course package (flash cards, a workbook, etc.) we recieved a copy of the book. This was a welcome surprise since the copy I had previsouly obtained was digital. Now I had a physical copy and would keep this in my library as I think it will be great for my children to read when they are old enough.
This book is filled with gems. Everything he says is pretty much common sense the thing is we usually don’t sit around thinking about trust and how good trust works well for us, and all the ways we can damage a relationship be not having trust or not trying to building. Covey also discusses how to re-build trtust with someone you may have lost it with.
If you are a working professional or in a relationship I think you can find something to take from this book. I got a lot out of it. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars.
