I am usually quite the book whore and devour books weekly, but 2020 has been quite the tumultuous year for a variety of reasons and I found myself picking up books less and less as the weeks and months slowly passed by. When I did pick up a book, few seemed to be able to keep my attention for more than a few chapters, unfortunately. I don’t know if I have picked up reading ADD in 2020, I certainly hope not, but these are my favorite five books that were able to keep me engrossed until their end.
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle: HOLY FBALLS, this book is magical AF and changed my life for the better. Seriously, every woman needs to read this book ASAP. If you are a woman and you have not yet read this, click on that link right now and get yourself a copy. I have sent out nine copies so far to many of the badass women in my life and I can’t rave enough about this book. My bestie texted me early in the year that I needed to pick up this book ASAP as she had consumed it in less than three days (and with twin baby girls under the age of one, this was quite a feat) and she knew that I would love it. I added it to my to-do list and am ashamed to admit it took me many months to purchase the book (don’t make the same mistake). When I read the first chapter, I was hooked and I also read the entire thing in less than 48 hours. It speaks to my soul in a way that I can’t even explain and I also purchased the audio version (narrated by the author herself) which is also magical AF. My favorite line in it and what has become my mantra of 2020 is “we can do hard things”, I don’t know how many hundreds or thousands of times I have repeated this mantra to myself and friends when all kinds of 2020 fuckery unfolded.
- Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan: If you loved Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians series, you are bound to love his newest book, Sex and Vanity. He has a way with storytelling that totally enraptures the reader and you just can’t book this book down and you want it to keep on going forever. Through many twists and turns through this easy read, Kwan once again plays on a balance between two cultures with a dash of romance thrown in. Read it when you are having an at-home spa day or imagining being on a beach in a sunny locale.
- The Investment Answer by Daniel Goldie & Gordon Murray: You know I have to throw one finance book on this list and I reread this short book this year and am happy that I had the refresher. I get asked by people all of the time what are the best finance books to read and if I had to pick just one, this would be the winner winner chicken dinner. It’s short (66 pages to be exact), concise, and provides very valuable information that I think every investor should know. It’s jargon-free, does not contain any BS sales-y stuff, and once read you it you should have a better understanding of the wild world of finance and investing. With less than six months to live, the author and Wall Street veteran Gordon Murray, decided to write this book to empower you with your investments.
- The Magic Path of Intuition by Florence Scovel Shinn: Earlier this year I lucked out and discovered Sarah Prout on social media and signed up for her 21-day manifestation course without knowing much about her or the power of manifesting. Wowzers, it totally transformed both the way I live my life and how I think about things. Throughout the 21 days of her course, she posted daily videos, articles, and things to do. On one of these days, she posted a list of her favorite books and challenged us to buy the one that called to us the most and read it. Just the cover alone drew me in, but I also relished the fact that it was small and short, so I knew I would actually finish it😊. As always, looks can be a bit deceiving, and although it is small and colorful, the content is impactful and profound. One bite-size lesson after another had me ruminating for days and keep picking it up many months later to read a lesson here or there.
- We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche: Though this book is tiny (are you sensing a theme here 😊?), it packs a powerful punch. This is a shorter version of Adiche’s impactful TedTalk in which she so eloquently states, “We teach girls that they can have ambition, but not too much … to be successful, but not too successful, or they’ll threaten men”. I think being in finance industry has made me even more of a feminist, so maybe this is why I find her talk and book so meaningful, but I still think everyone should read it, despite their gender or how they feel about the title.