Reading for One: A Quarantine Reading List

Are you interested to know what my life has looked like during quarantine? A simple peek at my Goodreads reading list says everything you need to know. This past year I’ve found the time to read for pleasure and for personal development. Some of my favorite topics are leadership and empowerment. I love reading stories of perseverance in both fiction and non-fiction.

Leadership & Personal Development

When I’m not writing my own stories, I’m reading about how to be better at all the other things I struggle with and excel at. Often, those are one in the same.

The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As a huge Disney fan, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing from the man responsible for so much of their whimsy and success in the past decade. The line that most sticks with me for future success of my own is this:
Innovate or Die.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle ⭐️⭐️⭐️
As an avid reader of the Reese’s Book Club selections, this one had a very exciting release surrounding it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t super impressed, but it did boost my confidence that I too will be a published author someday.

Get Out of Your Own Way by Dave Hollis ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Several years ago I had the opportunity to photograph a conference for creative industry entrepreneurs in which Dave Hollis’ wife was a speaker. That’s when I found out who Rachel Hollis was and I drank the Kool-Aid for quite a while. I was curious to see what the male perspective was on personal development, as provided to males. There were a few helpful items in here for men to keep in mind for the personal and professional lives, but overall, I’ll continue to stick to Brene Brown for my own growth.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I truly believe that everyone should read this book. It was a very quick read because it’s written so exceptionally well. Told as a story to learn from, this gem shares the five biggest problems that occur in most teams and it leaves you with plenty to think about and even more you’ll wish to incorporate into your own organization ASAP.

Wolfpack by Abby Wambach ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I had no idea just how little this book was going to be. Compared to some of the other books on my shelf, this one looks like a small journal waiting for a month of entries. This is a very short read – you might even finish it in a day if you don’t have much going on. It was inspiring and full of memorable ways to take on leadership as a female, but I’ve also heard in many online reviews that if you’ve listened to her commencement speech, you’ll already know what the book is about.

Grit by Angela Duckworth
I’ve always seen something in myself that I couldn’t quite put a finger on, until I read this book. What I possess is “grit” and it’s my ability to keep trying something over and over, even when it’s frustrating or not working or it’s too hard. Some might call that insanity but I prefer to take the positive approach and embrace the former term.

Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is another one of those books that I think everyone should read! Kindra does an amazing job of providing examples and formulas for success in storytelling that resonates with readers and consumers. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I learned so much about storytelling from this book at such a late stage in my writing career. Better late than never!

Parenting & Special Needs Kids

One of the other major aspects of my life where I need help is in parenting a special needs child as JT is most likely twice-exceptional in that he has ADHD and a gifted brain. In spending so much one on one time with him over the course of this last year in pandemic, I’ve had the opportunity to see him for exactly who he is and provide him with the support he needs when he’s struggling. I wish I had learned some of these skills much earlier in my years as a parent to a child with a brain that works differently from your average kid.

Parenting Gifted Kids by James R. Delisle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I filled this book with so many page flags that it’s difficult to even find out what isn’t relevant to our lives in the pages of this book. The truth is that some kids’ brains operate differently, and often, when their brain is intellectually advanced, they are stunted in their social-emotional development.

The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
JT has difficulty regulating his emotions and poor impulse control. This book gave me the skills to look past the behavior in the moment that often caused me to react with my own escalated emotions, and to find out what was really going on. It’s all about the ALSUP – Assessment of Lagging Skills & Unsolved Problems. Behaviorally challenged kids, and their caregivers, will greatly benefit from taking the time to have a parent read this book.

Differently Wired by Deborah Reber ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It has been many years since JT was first coined an “exceptional child” and I wasn’t sure what that meant at first. It seems like a really positive phrase but in all reality, it simply means he is very different from the norm. His brain operates differently and it’s my responsibility, as his parent, to advocate for him to ensure he continues to thrive and grow without dulling the things in him that make him truly special. It’s a very delicate balance and this book did a great job of offering support.

Reading for Pleasure

I like to balance all my serious reading with some fiction that I really enjoy. My favorite genre is contemporary fiction and I’m also a big fan of the Reese’s Book Club picks. It’s my ultimate goal to have my own book land on that list at some point and then be turned into a movie that’s just as wildly successful, inevitably launching a whole new set of book sales along with its release!

The Guest List by Lucy Foley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was another one of Reese’s Book Club picks and I had such a great time reading this story and watching it unfold in my mind. It’s about a prominent influencer type figure and her seemingly perfect fiance as they get married on a remote island outside of the UK but all the while, the truth emerges as you find out their life is not as carefully curated as they’ve made it look online.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Once again – another one of Reese’s Book Club picks! I’m slowly (and sometimes quickly) making my way through this entire list! This piece of contemporary fiction had me on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what was going to happen next. So many turns and surprises but it was all executed so well! It stars the unmotivated millennial nanny of a work from home mom who is a writer and just how out of touch and toxic their relationship is.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another Reese’s Book Club pick… yeah, yeah, yeah… I’m so thankful that a friend handed this book off to me because I wasn’t super motivated to pick it up on my own. While I’m more into contemporary fiction, this story captivated me and created beautiful images I can’t wait to see on the screen when it gets converted to a movie. It follows the life of a poor swamp girl as she becomes her own parents and teachers in a world all by herself.

Educated by Tara Westover ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This memoir was both eye-opening and refreshing at the same time. Education is something that can open doors for those who come from meager beginnings. Tara Westover grew up in a family that placed no value on education outside of the home and it hurt her both mentally and physically in ways most of us find unimaginable.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris ⭐️⭐️
Also another book I would not have picked up on my own had it not come from a friend. This book was originally written as a screenplay and then converted to a novel and it’s quite apparent as you read it because the expectation of character development I’m used to in novels was completely missing from this book. It’s such a shame because it could have been such a compelling true story about Holocaust survivors but it falls flat.

The Other Wife by Claire McGowan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a fun read from start to finish as I tried to find out on my own what was going on. An older woman moves in next door to a young couple expecting their first child, but she somehow has ulterior motives unbeknownst to her neighbors. The perfectly modern interior of the couple’s home covers up for the wildly unperfect lives of their marriage.

The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to this as an audiobook and really enjoyed the reader’s voice, along with her great British accent of one of the characters. A group of new mothers meets often to compare notes on their babies and their development as they nervously learn how to become parents. All is well until one of the babies goes missing and the mother is put under scrutiny for every aspect of her life as a single mother.

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was very excited about this book because it was also a Reese’s Book Club pick. Additionally, the woman I hired to edit my own novel worked on this book as an editor as well. I listened to this as an audiobook and enjoyed that the author gave voice to the characters herself. I really enjoyed the storytelling and was really stumped with where the story would go next, but I was ultimately disappointed with the ending.

The Mothers by Brit Bennett ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My favorite thing about this book is that it was set in Oceanside, CA so I could personally relate to SO many aspects of the world building that Brit Bennett put into this story! I enjoyed the storytelling but also felt that there were so many more angles to cover that I wanted to know more about. Again, this was an ending that was a little too open for me.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Do therapists have a therapist? Yes, they do. This was the reality TV version of a piece of creative non-fiction. I loved getting to hear the stories about Lori’s clients but also the stories about her relationship with her own therapist. She has had an amazing list of accomplishments in her life and I strive to do it all, just as she does!

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I believe this was also a Reese’s Book Club pick but it left me underwhelmed, especially in comparison to the author’s other book I also read – The Mothers. The storytelling in this book was less captivating for me but still told well. It tackles tough topics that have been relevant in our country all along. There is a stark contrast in the lives of two sisters from the south who part ways from home young – one returning in adulthood and the other vanishing into a new life, never to be heard from again.