2025 Reading Challenge discussion

My 2021 goal is to read 20 books. This is going to be a bit of a stretch since I've been averaging about one book per month for the last several years. My TBR pile just keeps growing and there are so many intriguing books in there so I'm eager to carve out more time for reading this year!

My progress so far:

1) Know My Name by Chanel Miller
2) Miss Ella of Commander's Palace by Ella Brennan
3) Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
4) The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win by Maria Konnikova
5) Weird: The Power of Being an Outsi[book:Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robotsder in an Insider World|51338489] by Olga Khazan
6) Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It by Ethan Kross
7) Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
8) The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds by Caroline Van Hemert
9) Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots by James Suzman
10) Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz
11) Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms by Shellye Archambeau
12) Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall
13) American Witches: A Broomstick Tour Through Four Centuries by Susan Fair
14) Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life by Stacy Sims
15) Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
16) Rebel Chef: In Search of What Matters by Dominique Crenn
17) High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley
18) Other People's Money: Inside the Housing Crisis and the Demise of the Greatest Real Estate Deal Ever Made by Charles Bagli

Looks like you are on track to reach your goal! Best of luck, Lisa :)

Thanks Ilona! I’m happy with my progress so far, the pandemic lockdowns during the first couple months of the year resulted in some extra time for reading! Hopefully I’ll stay on track during the summer!

Born a Crime was amazing! What an incredible life Trevor Noah has led! I also hope to read Know My Name when I get the courage...

Julietta wrote: "Born a Crime was amazing! What an incredible life Trevor Noah has led! I also hope to read Know My Name when I get the courage..."
Agreed Julietta, I thought Born a Crime was an excellent book! I get what you mean about Know My Name...there are some heart-breaking moments in there but the author did an amazing job of sharing her experience, highly recommend it.

Hello Ilona...Don't you see how Lisa's book titles are in blue? That was my question. Is she a mod or can I do that, too? Maybe someone else can answer my question. How do you make your book titles blue like the ones above?

Julietta wrote: "Hello Ilona...Don't you see how Lisa's book titles are in blue? That was my question. Is she a mod or can I do that, too? Maybe someone else can answer my question. How do you make your book titles..."

Ahh, now I get it! :) Her book titles are blue because they are links. On the website, above the comment box there is add book/author. If you go there you can search for a book and add it as a link. Sorry for the confusion!

Thanks, Ilona and Lisa. Next time I'll add titles on the website the way you both mentioned!

Here's a quick summary of the books I've finished over the last week or so. I currently have some (much needed!!) time off work so I've been able to read a lot more than usual lately!

- Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries - A fascinating read about nurturing radical ideas, or loonshots, within an organization. I feel the book used interesting examples that haven’t been overused in other business books I’ve read and I came away with some new ideas on how to encourage my teams to be a little more innovative (although I’m not expecting any loonshots in the accounting world any time soon!). (4 stars)

- American Witches: A Broomstick Tour Through Four Centuries - An interesting overview of the history of witches in America that goes beyond the Salem witch trials. A fun read but the author’s jokey tone got to be a bit much by the end. (3 stars)

- Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life - I picked up this book since I’ve been ramping up my workouts lately and I was looking for some new ideas. The book is geared toward elite athletes (which definitely doesn’t describe me!) but it still gave me a lot of new things to think about with regard to how my physiology can impact performance. (3 stars)

I posted longer reviews on each book's page. View all my reviews

On to the next book!

I got through a couple more books during travel time on a recent trip to San Francisco/wine country:

- Those Who Save Us - A really compelling yet disappointing read. The author crafts an interesting story about surviving Nazi Germany but the characters are hard to relate to and make confusing choices and the writing is pretty awkward. (2 stars)

- Rebel Chef: In Search of What Matters - I read this in advance of my visit to Atelier Crenn in San Francisco. The book doesn’t go super deep but I learned a lot about the chef and the inspirations for her beautiful food. I recommend giving it a read if you ever plan a visit to one of Crenn’s restaurants. (3 stars)

I posted longer reviews on each book's page. View all my reviews

Only four more books to go to reach my goal!

A couple more to add to the list...

- High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out - This was the June book for the Next Big Idea Club and it was a really timely selection! Highly enjoyable and thought-provoking. It has me rethinking past and current events in a new light. (4 stars)

- Other People's Money: Inside the Housing Crisis and the Demise of the Greatest Real Estate Deal Ever M ade - A really fascinating story about an insane New York real estate transaction leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. The book could have used a little more editing but it was still an interesting read about the egos and “creative” financing tactics of that time.