January 2016 reading list

One of my goals for 2016 is to make reading a bigger part of my life on a daily basis. I LOVE to read, but recently realized how little of it I've been doing. Even more, I realized how negatively NOT reading is affecting my mood.

I have been incredibly bored.

I've been grouchy.

I've been disengaged.

Reading keeps me happy. It keeps me healthy. It keeps me going.

Some time ago I had begun tracking my reading, inspired by Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree (read about it HERE) and the Rory Gilmore Reading List (find it HERE), but then I lost track, started reading a lot less, and generally kinda lost motivation for most things. It was a slow slide and I didn't really notice for a long time. Then, little by little last month I started to realize that a big part of my feeling depressed lately has been due to a lack of (among other things) reading.

Mid-December, I started picking up library books every time I met with a tutoring student and have had a consistent stack of books bedside, on my living room table, and on my desk ever since. Sure, I have books at home, but I was missing the excitement of something NEW to read -- I have many books that I read, read again, and read yet again, but I just needed NEW and CONSISTENT.

Then, today, two of my favorite people posted bookish items on Facebook. Michelle Ward of When I Grow Up Coach and Leonie Dawson from the Shining Biz + Life Academy both posted asking for book recommendations (in closed/private groups/pages so I can't link to the discussions...sorry!). Michelle was seeking more upbeat, funny, memoir-ish, essay-ish types of material and Leonie's was more of a "Whatcha reading that ya lovin?"

So, here's my list -- loosely broken out by category:

Personal Finance and Personal Development:

• Money: A Love Story by Kate Northrup 
• ~Ing by Gabby Bernstein
• Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better by Pema Chödrön
• Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Business, Work, and Career Development: 

• Wiser: Getting Beyond Group Think to Make Groups Smarter by Cass Sunstein and Reid Hastie
• Duct Tape Selling: Think Like a Marketer--Sell Like a Superstar by John Jantsch
• We: How to Increase Performance and Profits Through Full Engagement by Rudy Karsan and Kevin Kruse

Memoir/Biography/Autobiography:

• Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik

Fiction:

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (In SPANISH!)
• The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
• El tiempo entre costuras by María Dueña 

Poetry: 

• War of the Foxes by Richard Siken
• Erratic Facts by Kay Ryan
• We Mammals in Hospitable Times by Jynne Dilling Martin

Other Reading:

• Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue edited by Amy Ferris
• The End of Memory by Jay Ingram

I started many of these books in December, but have been really ramping up my reading over the last few days and anticipate finishing a few in the next couple of days and others within the next two weeks. 

In December, I finished:

• Beautiful Unbroken by Mary Jane Nealon (memoir)
• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (fiction)
• Like a Beggar by Ellen Bass (poetry)
• Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (memoir/personal development)

Over the past year, I've seen numerous articles about how the richest, most successful people are readers. They read a lot and regularly. Is it any wonder? Minimize television, increase reading. 

Actively engage your mind. 

Learn. 

Be curious. 

So, what are you reading? What have you read that you loved? What have you read that you hated?