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April 7, 2015
The last two years I’ve done one recap at the end of the year about all the books I’ve read that year. In light of the fact that I’m already at 22 books this quarter (I set my goal at 25 for the year, so I probably need to increase that), it seemed better to break it up. I love reading other people’s book lists to get ideas for myself in the future, so hopefully a few of you can get some good ideas from this. Here’s the book list from the first quarter:
- 14 Minutes: A Running Legend’s Life and Death and Life: This book, by Alberto Salazar, is about his life as one of the greatest runner’s in American history. I finished this book on January 2nd (it was a quick read), and it was a great way to kick off the year!
- Outliers: The Story of Success: This book was really interesting to listen to (I downloaded the audiobook via my library’s website), and one I would absolutely suggest. The author asks the question “What makes high-achievers different?” and takes the reader through a variety of different scenarios (professional athletes, CEOs in Silicon Valley, etc…). What’s interesting is he starts to pick up on patterns that show that success isn’t purely based on hard work and motivation (although that certainly plays a big part).
- The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look At a Shallow Year: This book, by Andy Cohen (TV Producer and host of Watch What Happens Live on Bravo) chronicles a year in his life. There was nothing particularly exciting or intellectual about this book, but it gave me something to listen to as I drove around town and cleaned over a weekend.
- A Life Without Limits: A World Champion’s Journey: This autobiography, by Chrissie Wellington, is about her journey from undergrad student to Ironman (I won’t spoil it by saying how many times) and World Triathlon Champion. This book was inspiring, and I wrote a post about it here.
- Marathon Man: my 26.2 mile journey from unknown grad student to the top of the running world: This was another autobiography by Bill Rodgers about his quest to become one of the greatest runners of his time. He trained at points with Alberto Salazar (the review of his book is above), in the 70s. The book was interesting- I wrote a review of Marathon Man here if you’re interested.
- The Book Thief: I had been looking forward to reading this book for over a year, and I have to say, I was a little disappointed. I was intrigued at the beginning, was fairly uninterested in the middle, and got interested again at the end. I’m not sure why, because I’ve heard so many great things about the book.
- Looking For Alaska. This book was written by John Green, who also wrote The Fault In Our Stars. I wrote a review of Looking For Alaska here if you are interested!
- When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor… and Yourself.
- Eat, Pray, Love. I’d watched the movie a few years ago, and thought that listening to the book would help pass the time.
- Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder: This book was by Arianna Huffington, of the Huffington Post. I wrote an entire post to review of “Thrive” here.
- Seal Team Six: This book was a memoir by a Navy Seal Sniper. I originally thought this book was about the Bin Laden raid (No Easy Day, which I listed below), so I was a little disappointed when I started listening to it. The book was somewhat interesting, but really I felt pretty “meh” about it.
- Paper Towns: LOVED this book by John Green as well! I wrote a review of Paper Towns here.
- No Easy Day: This book, by a Seal Team Six member, is about the mission that ended with Bin Laden’s death. While plenty of things in the book I already knew about, there were some pretty interesting facts, and it was interesting to hear a first hand account. I can’t imagine actually being there that day…
- I Didn’t Come Here To Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain. Yeah- I’m a little embarrassed about this one. Sometimes I like to read stupid books before bed, and this book was nothing but that. I did enjoy some of the “behind the scenes” stuff about the Bachelor though.
- The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It: Overall I enjoyed this book, although there were plenty of moments that dragged by. This book was about the journey to break the 4 minute mile barrier, which I found pretty fascinating. I couldn’t a mile in twice that amount of time!
- An Abundance Of Katherines: This was the first book I’ve read by John Green that I didn’t love, which I’m sad about. I wrote a review of the book here.
- Lean In: I hadn’t really intended to read this book, but then I wanted a new book to listen to in the car, and this one was available, so I listened. There were plenty of moments that dragged along, but there were some really thought provoking parts as well.
- Silent No More: Victim 1’s Fight For Justice Against Jerry Sandusky: This book was SO interesting, and I’m so glad that Victim 1 chose to stand up and share his story. The book was also written by his mom and his therapist, so I appreciated these perspectives as well. This was a quick read.
- The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz: I thought I would enjoy this book a lot more than I did. There was only a small part of the book that was about his time in Auschwitz, which surprised me because of the title. The story is fairly interesting.
- Me Before You: This was the first book I’ve read by Jojo Moyes, and I have to say that I really loved it! I actually read this book because I had seen it on someone else’s blog and immediately added it to my “to-read” shelf on Good Reads.
- Waiting to Be Heard: This is Amanda Knox’s story of her experiences in Italy, along with her time in prison/the court system there as she was accused of murdering her roommate. I listened to this on audiobook, which was a great choice. Knox read the book, and I loved hearing her experiences in her own words. This book was definitely interesting.
- Girl Interrupted: This book has been on my radar since it is in the mental health area. This is a memoir of one young woman’s time in a mental hospital in the 1960’s. This was a really quick read, and I found it quite interesting.
So there’s my book list for this quarter! I’ve tried to get a good mix of running, health/wellness, lighthearted fun, history, and just random books.
Now it’s your turn to share! Have you read any of these books? Are there any books I should add to my list for the second quarter of 2015? What’s on your book list?
[…] are my other book lists for 2015: 1st Quarter Book List, 2nd Quarter Book List, 3rd Quarter Book […]