Top 5 Non-Fiction Books of 2017

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Happy Friday friends! I can’t believe it’s the last Friday of 2017. I don’t know about you, but I’m thrilled to say goodbye to 2017 and hello to a brand new year! Yesterday, I chatted about my top 5 fiction books of 2017. Today, I’m back with my top 5 non-fiction books of 2017. I’m not going to lie – today’s selection was a whole lot harder to narrow down than yesterday’s, which really surprised me!

My Top 5 Non-Fiction Books of 2017

My Top 5 Non-Fiction Books of 2017

As I combed through my non-fiction reads of 2017, I was kind of shocked by how many awesome books I read. I read good fiction books, yes, but my non-fiction books were nothing short of amazing. I had a hard time whittling my selection to my top 5 non-fiction books, so there are a few honorable mentions at the end (not sorry!).

“I am hyperconscious of how I take up space. As a woman, as a fat woman, I am not supposed to take up space. And yet, as a feminist, I am encouraged to believe I can take up space. I live in a contradictory space where I should try to take up space but not too much of it, and not in the wrong way, where the wrong way is any way where my body is concerned.”

Hunger by Roxane Gay

This is the 99th book I read (well, listened to) in 2017. Talk about ending the year on a high note. I don’t feel like I can do justice to describing this book, and that is partly because my experience reading it was so personal. If you’ve been reading since I blogged on Racing Bananas, you know that I’ve had a lifelong struggle with my body and body image. In Hunger, Roxane Gay describes what led to her becoming “morbidly obese” (I hate this terminology) and how gaining more and more weight protected her. While I don’t share her specific background or experiences, the relationship she has with her body and how the world views her body was all too familiar to me. This was an incredibly difficult book to listen to, but it is one of the best books I’ve ever read.

“People always ask me, ‘You have so much confidence. Where did that come from?’ It came from me. One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl … It doesn’t have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see. Your body is your temple, it’s your home, and you must decorate it.” 

This Is My Face, Try Not To Stare by Gabourey Sidibe

This book came out of left field as a favorite for the year. I’m a sucker for a “celebrity memoir,” but this book is so much more than that. Gabourey Sidibe (from Precious, The Big C, Empire) shares stories from her life growing up in New York, living with her parents, a US citizen and Senegalese immigrant, her experiences with her body (theme here!), her time working as a phone sex operator, and eventually becoming an actress. To me, this book felt real. It was about someone who didn’t necessarily want to be famous, but instead about someone who grew up in difficult circumstances and how that shaped her as a person. I loved it. Plus, she’s ah-mazing as a narrator.

“I’m sorry, but eeeeeeeww. A woman telling another woman that she’s not likable because she’s smart is gross. It’s a big F-U to all the women who have fought and continue to fight for ladies’ equality, and furthermore, it continues the cycle of discouraging women from being as well rounded as men are allowed to be.”

You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have To Explain by Phoebe Robinson

This book was another one that shocked me with how good it was. I knew Phoebe from 2 Dope Queens (love the podcast!), but not from much else. I bought this book when it was on sale on Audible for $4.99 (#cheap!). I’m so glad I did. Phoebe is hilarious. I related to her as a millennial who loves pop culture. She shared her perspective and experiences as a black woman, as a feminist, as someone who isn’t perfect but is real. I would full-on be crying I was laughing so hard, and then would be nodding my head in agreement with her thoughts on feminism. If you’re in the millennial (30-ish) age range, I think you’d like this.

“Pajamas? Poor people don’t wear pajamas. We fall asleep in our underwear or blue jeans. To this day, I find the very notion of pajamas an unnecessary elite indulgence, like caviar or electric ice cube makers.”

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

Skiiiiiirt, change of pace here! I listened to Hillbilly Elegy back in January or February, as I was trying to piece together an understanding of where the country was politically (at least, NPR told me that’s what this book would help me do). While it didn’t do that entirely, what this book did provide was a perspective on what it’s like to live in Kentucky, in a poor town with little prospects, in a poor family strife with struggle, and helped me think about how different that experience is from my own. I don’t think I’m being political when I say our country is torn right now, and in my perspective, much of that is derived from people struggling in a way they haven’t before, and villainizing other people as a way to explain that struggle. For me, J.D. Vance provided a perspective on his life, and what it was like growing up in a part of the United States where the American Dream isn’t guaranteed, where college isn’t guaranteed, where you work for that American Dream without the promise of achieiving it. This book provided me perspective, and I appreciated that.

“This is every reader’s catch-22: the more you read, the more you realize you haven’t read; the more you yearn to read more, the more you understand that you have, in fact, read nothing. There is no way to finish, and perhaps that shouldn’t be the goal.” 

My Life With BOB: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul

This book was recommended to me this summer, and I am so glad I picked it up. Pamela Paul is the editor of the New York Times Book Review, and she shared her story of BOB. BOB is her book of books, and is diary, a tribute, a history of the books she read throughout her life – but also to her life itself. This book is mostly a light read; while it does touch on some tougher times in her life, My Life With BOB is really a celebration of books – of the books we read and the role they play in our lives. As someone who started keeping track of all of the books I read since 2015, I loved that someone else does that and knowing that tracking those books provide not only a list of books read, but a reflection of the life she’s lived. If you’re a reader, this is a must read and I highly recommend!

Honorable Mentions:

There are a few more books that I just have to mention because they were that good.

Eviction, Born a Crime, Furiously Happy

Your Turn! Those are my top 5 non-fiction books of 2017. What were your favorites?

Top 5 Fiction Books of 2017

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It’s that time of year – recap time! Personally, this year was a bit of a disaster. But that is a story for a different day. Instead, I want to focus on some of the amazing books I read this year. First in my recap series are the top 5 fiction books I read in 2017. This was a tough list to compile! Luckily I have a lot to choose from – I am reading my 100th book of the year (which means I SHOULD meet my goal of reading 100 books in 2017!).

Top 5 Fiction Books of 2017

Top 5 Fiction Books I Read in 2017

I’ll be honest – choosing only five books was close to impossible. This year was pretty stellar, reading-wise. So, in no particular order (that might put me over the edge!) are my favorite books I read in 2017! (Oh and to be clear, not all of these books were published in 2017).

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

“Wasn’t friendship its own miracle, the finding of another person who made the entire lonely world seem somehow less lonely?”

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

This was the easiest book to choose. A Little Life has pushed itself into my top 5 books of all time. All time! Listening to this audiobook was an experience and I will also be buying the hardcopy of this book so I can mark it up and love it to pieces. I don’t feel like I can give this book justice by describing it, so bear with me. To me, A Little Life told the story of a man who spent his entire life suffering, who fought like hell to shut out the world, but couldn’t keep the bad out all of the time. It is a story about love and pain and abuse and redemption and overcoming and acceptance and heartbreak. Oftentimes, the bad outweighs the good, but when the good happens, it’s overpowering. This book was simply amazing and I cannot wait to return to it to experience it again.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
“You want to see a very bad man? Make an ordinary man successful beyond his imagination. Let’s see how good he is when he can do whatever he wants.” 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

I am a sucker for a novel that spans generations of a family and Pachinko does just that. It’s the story of three generations of a Korean family, living in Korea and later Japan. It’s a story of love and love and betrayal and growing up and learning. I love sweeping family sagas. There is something incredibly enticing about following a family over one hundred or so years, seeing how the family grows and changes, and how each generation deals with the challenges they face. I also personally love reading books that take place in different cultures, and I felt like I learned so much by reading Pachinko.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Brynn Greenwood

“You can look up keening in the dictionary, but you don’t know what it means until you hear somebody having their heart ripped out.” 

All The Ugly and Wonderful Things by Brynn Greenwood

This book is not for everyone. Ooftah (#Minnesota) it was a tough read. It tackles abuse and a sexual relationship between two individuals whose ages caused a lot of criticism from readers. That being said, I thought this book was written beautifully and portrayed a broken family, and particularly, an abused young teenage protagonist, in stunning and heartbreaking detail. I devoured this book. To me, this book meant to show that love can happen in many places and that it’s not always up to outsiders to judge love from the outside.

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

“Bad habits were all a matter of perspective, and as long as the present was viewed through the lens of the past, anyone would say he was doing a spectacular job.” 

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

This was my first Ann Patchett book and I didn’t know what to expect. Again, a story about a family, but this time, the story is told both in the past and present. Past events help inform present circumstances. Families are such interesting, delicate ecosystems, and Commonwealth tells the story of two families coming together after two divorces and the pain and love and resentment that is accompanied by this forced merger.

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

“Writing does not exist unless there is someone to read it, and each reader will take something different from a novel, from a chapter, from a line.” 

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

Another book that tells the story through both the past and present. The past is shared through letters written by a wife and mother, who we found out is missing (dead?) at the beginning of the book. What was unique about this book is while the past is written through the mother’s perspective, the present is shared through the perceived experience of one of the daughters. So there are two viewpoints and they are from different times. Being relatively newly married, I think some of the story hit my heart closely and I couldn’t put this book down.

Your turn! Those were my top 5 fiction books 2017. What are your favorites from the year?

What I’m Loving Lately | Fall 2017

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Happy Friday, friends! I’m so pumped for the weekend to get here. Tomorrow, Jason and I have a date to see The Last Jedi and on Sunday we’re heading to a friend’s house for a people brunch and doggy play date. But first, how about a round-up of what I’m loving lately?!


What I'm Loving Lately

What I’m Loving Lately

Books

This Is My Face, Try Not To Stare by Gabourey Sidibe. I just finished listening to the audiobook and LOVED it. Gabourey is an amazing narrator and her story hits on her childhood, her experience with body image, working as a phone sex operator, and being an actress – basically a huge variety of topics. I’m a sucker for celebrity “memoirs” and this is a new fave.

Re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I forgot how magical these series is and I read it differently as an adult!

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Activities

Sewing. I really got my sewing game on this fall and am proud of the progress I’m making and the patience I’m developing. The two places I get most of my patterns are Patterns for Pirates and Love Notions.

Kim Self Made Shirt

Random

Having people over. I’m loving having people over and celebrating the holiday season. We don’t have people over as much as I’d like to, but it’s been really great this fall inviting friends and family over to connect.

Portrait mode on my new phone (Google Pixel 2). How cute is this pic of Hoss?

Hoss

What are you loving lately?

Reflections on Bullying

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This weekend, a video about bullying came up repeatedly on social media. It’s heartbreaking and I can’t watch it without crying. I felt angry and protective and sympathetic and vulnerable while watching Keaton talk about his experience with bullying and questioning why do people bully. So much of what I saw in Keaton’s post I remember feeling when I was in middle school.

Kids can be assholes. I say that having been a kid (and knowing that bullying happens across the lifespan). I was bullied. I also treated friends terribly in an effort to be accepted. I still quite haven’t figured out how to reconcile those behaviors, treating people horribly while knowing how it felt. There is no excuse. Just young ignorance and a deep need to feel loved, I suppose.

People bullied me about my weight. I was never thin, though looking back, I was not the morbidly obese person that my peers made me feel I was. I felt overly self-conscious about my weight and looks and was eager to please everyone. I’m sure that made me an even easier target.

A few examples of how I was bullied:

  • Girls told me to start eating cotton balls because that would help me lose weight.
  • A girl targeted me in my 6th-grade math class and would pass notes around the room daily asking people to mark “yes” if they thought I was ugly.
  • Kids told me regularly that I was “weird” and shouldn’t come back to school because no one wanted me there.
  • People made up fake screen names on AOL Instant Messenger and would tell me that I was fat and worthless.
  • Someone called a fat c*nt monkey.

I’m crying writing this because it still hurts so many years later.  My experience has had lasting effects. Throughout high school and college, I never felt like I was enough. I experienced bouts of depression and have generalized anxiety and much of this is the result of being treated the way I was when I was a kid. The funny thing is, people didn’t know that. Honestly, I’m not even sure my parents knew. I hid it well because I felt like I had to have a certain image to meet other people’s expectations of me. I have grown more confident and do care less about what people think about me than I once did, but I am still plagued with feelings of not being good enough, that who I am and what I look like do not meet the standards of those around me, that I’ll never be enough for everywhere. The experiences I had when I was 13 years old stay with me 17 years later.

But I’m lucky. My experience with bullying was mild compared to what kids go through today.

I’m not sure there is a point to this reflection beside encouraging you to think about the person you want to be. Bullying isn’t a kids-only activity. It happens all the time, everywhere. No one, at any stage of their life, wants to feel less than they are. No one should be teased or abused because of what they look like or because they don’t fit in with the mainstream. We each are who we are and have absolutely no reason to single someone out for not being who we think they should be.

The world we live in is tough. We fight daily to live the best possible life we can. Don’t make anyone else’s fight harder than it needs to be.

Love, don't hate

Love, don’t hate. Support, don’t tear down. Treat people with respect and compassion. There’s no reason for anything less than that.

Love, don’t hate. Reflections on bullying.

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3 Step Buffalo Chicken Sliders

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Happy Sunday, friends! I’ve had a lazy morning catching up on Modern Family and taking Hoss for a walk, followed by working on final revisions for my fall class. I’m taking a break from homework to tell you about the awesome buffalo chicken sliders I made last night at our first annual holiday party.

3 Step Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Last night, Jason and I had a group of friends over to celebrate the holidays and enjoy some time together. We knew we didn’t want to serve a meal because that can be pretty stressful, but we wanted to offer appetizers and snacks that were delicious, filling, and didn’t require too much work. Is that possible? YES! I’m the queen of easy – the less work and stress before having people over, the better! I wanted to be able to enjoy our company rather than worrying about food all night. I decided to make my easy, 3 step buffalo chicken sliders.

Jason at Christmas Party

Took this picture of Jason using the “portrait” mode on my camera – love it.
Also, I forgot to take pictures last night – I guess that means I was having too much fun!

3 Step Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Ingredients:

  • Chicken breasts (we used 4 chicken breasts to serve a total of 8 people and had leftovers)
  • Slider-sized pretzel bubs (we got ours from Costco)
  • Frank’s Buffalo Sauce (or a sauce of your choosing – BBQ, teriyaki, etc(

Step 1:

Bake chicken breasts, covered, in oven at 400 degrees for 35 minutes

Step 2:

Take baked chicken breasts out of the oven and put in Kitchen Aid mixer. Mix until shredded.
If you don’t have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, buy one. Just kidding! Use two forks to manually shred the chicken. It will take a bit longer, but you get the same result.

Step 3:

Put shredded chicken in the crock-pot on heat level “low.” Add approximately 1 cup of Frank’s Buffalo sauce for every 2 chicken breasts.

BOOM! It’s seriously as easy as that. I typically prep this about 2 hours before guests arrive so the chicken has time to really soak in the sauce. I like offering blue cheese crumbles and ranch dressing for a side if people want to fancy up their slider a bit.

What is your go-to appetizer or meal to make for friends?

10 Audiobooks I Recommend (Audible Sale)

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Friends, I’m popping in quick with audiobook recommendations because everything on Audible’s website is 50% off (excuse me while I fan myself!). If you’re an audiobook lover like me or want to try out an audiobook, now is a great time to buy! Here are ten audiobooks I recommend, with incredibly short descriptions.

My Favorite Audiobooks

Fiction Audiobooks:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

An unlikely hero teams up with two friends to find easter eggs hidden in a virtual reality world that an evil company wants to rule. Complete with amazing 80s references and Wil Wheaton as narrator.

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

A college grad accepts a job at a high-end NYC restaurant where she learns about wine, food, and the dark side of the restaurant business. The narrator is so good I bought all the books she narrates.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

An amazing epic following four friends from college throughout the rest of their lives. Complete with a tragic mystery surrounding the main character and a love story that made me feel deeply. Lots of tears.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

The story of a marriage told from both perspectives. A sweeping narrative with characters you’re not quite sure you entirely trust.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The beautiful and tragic story of an immigrant who comes to America, but is still tied to her home (and her first love) in Africa.

Non-Fiction Audiobooks

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Tina Fey at her finest. Plus, she narrates.

Yes, Please by Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler talks about SNL, acting, and being a mom. Plus, she narrates.

Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay

Ah-mazing. Stories about sexism and feminism, plus the tension that accompanies not being the “perfect feminist.” And stories about competitive Scrabble (which is real).

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

One woman’s journey to spend a full year trying to become happier. Spoiler: it works.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

For anyone who is even a little creative. My favorite part is the serendipitous story of Gilbert meeting Ann Patchett and the unbelievable connection they find with their work.

What are your favorite audiobooks?

Reflections on My First Semester of My Ph.D. Journey

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It’s official. I turn in my final policy paper in five days and will officially be done with my first semester in my Ph.D. program! Wowza. It’s honestly hard to believe that I have only been back in school for a semester because it feels like it’s been much longer. I find myself reflecting on the past semester and what my experience has been like.

 

Time Management

This semester was more challenging than I anticipated because of time management. Silly, right? I talk with students on the daily about managing time, but this truly was my biggest struggle. In July, I accepted a new position on campus, so in addition to going back to school, I’ve been learning a whole new job. I love it – both my new job and school – but taking on two new opportunities at the same time definitely stretched me thin. It took a few months to really figure out how to balance work, school, and family.

The best advice I got related to time management was to schedule, schedule, schedule! I ended up scheduling 7pm-9am Tuesday-Thursday evenings to focus on homework. I put it on my calendar so it was part of my “official” day and Jason was totally supportive of this. This helped me feel as if I had a standing appointment on these nights and was obligated to do homework in the evenings. It took some adjusting, but this model really ended up working for me.

Ph.D Classes

I loved being back in the classroom. This semester I took a class on higher education public policy. This is a subject I was incredibly naive about; I learned so much over the past ten weeks or so. Transitioning from “fun” reading to “class” reading required some adjustment on my part – it has been a long time since I have read with a critical eye rather than just accepting the words on the page. But I loved completing readings each week and then having a group of peers to debate with. This is really what I have been missing in my life that I’m finding my Ph.D. is providing me – a group of individuals who are invested in higher education and want to discuss it. I feel as if I’m constantly being challenged in my views and to consider issues from different perspectives and I love it. I feel as if it’s really helping me grow as a student, but also as a professional.

Kim CEHD Ph.D

Community

The community has been one of the best parts of going back to school. My cohort is amazing. I get to take classes with great people and have already begun to create friendships that extend beyond the classroom. I feel so, so grateful for the people I’ve met so far.

Final Thoughts

My first semester is officially done and I will have a whole month off – yay!! I’m looking forward to taking a break over the next month, but I also want to take time to reflect and consider what I want to research and what topics are really important to me. I’m finding myself drawn to adult/non-traditional/post-traditional students (ah, terms!) but really want to make sure I’m not just taking classes, but also tying my classes to my overall research goals.

Okay, five more days. Then I can say I’m officially done with my first semester!

 

A Bookish Update: Books I’ve Read Since August

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Fun fact: reading fiction during graduate school is difficult. Funner fact: reading fiction and blogging about it is damn near impossible.

I suppose that is what I signed up for. And while I owe you a post on how graduate school/#phdlife is going, overall I’ll say it’s going well (I think) and I’m enjoying it (I think). Also, it’s hard. So I’m taking a break from reading and writing the paper I should be working on to share my thoughts on a few books I’ve read lately.

A Bookish Update: The Best Books I’ve Read In The Past Few Months

You can always check in on my 2017 reading update here. As of today, I’ve completed 84 books. My goal is to complete 100 by the end of the year.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
I bought this as an audiobook when it was nominated for the National Book Award. I’m not sure any description could truly give this book justice. A Little Life tells the story of four college friends, but there is one clear subject of the book. Throughout the audiobook (31 hours, so a time commitment), I felt more emotions than I have ever felt reading a book. I sobbed. I felt sick. I laughed and rejoiced. I felt hope and despair. This book has been catapulted to my top five favorite books of all time. OF ALL TIME. The narrator of the audiobook was absolutely amazing. I plan to listen to this book again, and will likely buy the hardback as well.

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
This is another book I bought as a Kindle Deal and it was well worth it. The book starts in the present: a father deserted/man widowed by his wife, his adult children taking care of him. Through a series of letters that are interwoven between chapters that take place in the present, we learn about the wife and what led her to…disappear. This book drew me in immediately and was a quick read. Loved!

My Life With Bob by Pamela Paul
Book fanatics, this book is for you. This is non-fiction, written by the editor of the NY Times Book Review. Bob is Paul’s book of books, where she chronicles the books she’s read. It’s a beautiful story, filled with emotion and totally relatable, about a woman and her love of reading.

Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
Bad Feminist is another book I bought through an Audible sale. I didn’t have many expectations going in, but this book did not disappoint. The premise/thesis of this collection of essays is: you don’t have to be a perfect feminist to be a feminist. In her essays, Gay discusses everything from being a Scrabble lover, to being a Sweet Valley High fan as a child, to working as a female academic at a college. I loved her storytelling ability and the voice she gave her stories. I didn’t agree with everything she discussed (which is ok!), but I loved the non-judgmental way she discussed being a feminist and how it can mean different things to different people (with the basic understanding that feminism at its core is the belief that genders are and should be considered equal).

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
I bought this book as an Audible Deal of the Day for $3.95. Totally worth it. This Is Where I Leave You chronicles the coming together of a family after the death of its patriarch. Mixing present action with flashbacks, the story is enthralling, if not at times unbelievable, but depicts a family coming together during a time of distress, highlighting how tragedy and comedy can intertwine. (I loved the narrator and recommend the audiobook).

Your turn! What are you reading lately?

My Ph.D. Adventure Begins Tonight

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I’ve had orientation. I’ve completed my first readings. And tonight, my first class for my Ph.D. program meets. My adventure is officially beginning. And I have a lot of feelings.

A big part of my cannot believe this is happening. When I started the application process last fall, it felt like a long shot. I had to take the GRE, which was a huge hurdle for me. I had to write my personal statements, identifying what I might want to research, and identify people I trusted to write letters of recommendation for me. And then I had to wait.

And then, the YES came.

Over the past nine months, starting my Ph.D. didn’t feel real. It was something that would start in the fall. And now the fall is here.

So how am I feeling? Excited. Terrified. Inspired. Inadequate. Crazy (definitely, crazy).

I’m still working full-time, so on Mondays when I have class I’m working until 2pm, then driving 75 minutes to the University of Minnesota for evening class. I’m hoping that excitement will give me the drive and energy I need to make it through these crazy days.

So, here goes nothing. I can’t wait to see where this adventure takes me!

 

Reading People: A Book Review

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I love reading and I love personality tests. Combine these two things with the Anne Bogel’s new book, Reading People, and you have a trifecta of my favorite things!

Back in June, I was chosen to be part of the Reading People launch team. Reading People is a new (soon-to-be-out on September 19 book) by Anne Bogel, the blogger behind Modern Mrs. Darcy and podcaster behind What Should I Read Next. To say I was excited to get a first look at her new book would be a complete understatement!

Reading People by Anne Bogel - Book Review

What Is Reading People?

Reading People isn’t a book about reading (though I would totally read that book too). Instead, it’s a book about reading (or learning how to read) yourself and the people in your life through the lens of personality. It’s about knowing yourself and others better. It’s about knowing yourself and others more deeply.

I’ve always been drawn to learning more about personality; whether it’s the Myers-Briggs (I’m an IFSJ!) or StrengthsFinder (I know my top 5 strengths!) or figuring out if I’m a highly sensitive person (I think I am!), I am fascinated by learning more about myself and how I can use my personality traits to best interact with others. I also thinking knowing more about yourself (for example, I’m an introvert) can help you feel less alone in the world.

What I loved about Reading People (and what made it unique from the typical personality typing run-downs), is that Anne infuses the facts and research with stories and examples. I loved that after telling me the “need to know” information, she shared a story about herself or a friend or family member (or favorite book character – Atticus Finch from to Kill a Mockingbird is an INFJ!) to make the facts accessible to a regular person who isn’t a pro in personality typing. I felt like I was learning about personality from a friend, rather than reading a technical rundown on a website.

Reading People by Anne Bogel - Book Review

Why Does Personality Matter?

I value learning about personality because it gives me the opportunity to learn more about myself and others. I truly believe that I work at my best when I know what I need to work my best. I also believe I work better with others when I know what they need from me. For example:

  • Introvert/Extrovert: I am an outgoing introvert. I enjoy being around people and being social, but I need a quiet space to recharge after spending time with people.
  • Highly Sensitive Person: After reading the chapter on Highly Sensitive People, I began to ponder whether I fit into this category. I’m not sure and need to research more (I already bought The Highly Sensitive Person to learn more), but Anne gave great examples, such as not being able to concentrate when there is a distracting noise in the background or how tags in shirts really impact my ability to concentrate, to consider.
  • StrengthsFinder: I just completed the StrengthsFinder before reading this book (great timing!) and loved seeing the different themes that strengths fall under (I’m a mix between Relationship-Building and Strategic Thinking).

Reading People by Anne Bogel - Book Review
Here’s the good news – Reading People is coming out soon and you can pre-order it! Why pre-order? Well, in addition to getting the book, you also receive the Reading People audiobook read by Anne, plus access to her Reading Personality class!

If you do pre-order/order the book, follow my advice:

  • Don’t feel like you have to read the book from start to finish. I found myself jumping around a bit, and that is fine. Make it work for you!
  • Have a notebook, highlighter, and pen (or be ready to highlight A LOT in your Kindle). I took a ton of notes while reading Reading People and already plan to read it for a second time. This time, I want to be more deliberate about keeping tracks of the notes that I take.
  • Be open to learn more about yourself! Understanding yourself can be difficult, but it’s also incredibly helpful to be your best you (cheesy, but true!). Have an open mind and use Reading People as a way to know yourself better.

For more info, be sure to check out the Reading People website.

I was sent a free copy of Reading People in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.