Explorer Club of Book Lovers – June

I follow my enthusiasm by reading…a lot. And once a month, I’ll share (some of) the books I read last month and the books I intend to read this month. You can share your list of books in the comments, or we can talk about any of the books that you want to read along with me.

This was a weird reading month, because I had whole, uninterrupted days to read (yay!), followed by a long week with my visiting brother (love him!), where I didn't pick a book for several days (so weird!).

Here's what I read, from May's list:

I swallowed Divergent in one glorious weekend gulp. Completely fun and engaging. I have Insurgent on the list for this

Contagious was a great investigation of what makes things (any thing!) spread and become known. The author studies (and develops a kind of equation) what I was trying to express in my book, in the section on making your work shareable. If you want to increase the sharability of your work, I highly recommend this book.

Lean In was much better than I expected. I wrote a review of it on GoodReads that sparked some Twitter conversation. The short version: A woman's work life is influenced by a number of things, many of which are under the surface and out of view (social and cultural norms). By bringing these influences to the surface, Sandberg wants to make it easier for you to make a real decision, with all of the facts in front of you. She's not on one side or the other of the mommy wars (and neither am), she just wants to talk about your options. When (if?) I have kids, I'll be talking about my own choices honestly with ya'll, and I look forward to exploring the range of experiences we have in our community.
(If you want a book to reaffirm your decision to work after children, The Feminine Mistake comes down pretty hard on that side. I read it 6 years ago, so I'm a little fuzzy on it, but I remember liking it. If you're choosing another way, you'll probably want to avoid it.)

(I also read The Paris Wife and Tattoos on the Heart, both great!)

June's To Read List

The list is a bit shorter this month, because I'm hanging out for a week my littlest brothers (12 + 14) and I'm spending a week at the beach with my extended family. If I learned anything last month, it's that I really can't pick up a think-y book after a day of interaction. (For more on my introvert needs, read Quiet)

• The Great Gatsby – yes, I read it in High School, but Jay didn't, so we're both reading it this summer. I'm excited to talk about it with him! (on GoodReads, also on Craftlit – which I recommend if you wanna sound supersmart)
• Insurgent – because Divergent was fun! (on Goodreads)
• Paradox of Choice – I often suggest that Captains strip their offerings down to few choices…and this book has the science on why.
• A Walk in the Woods – we've been exploring bits of the Appalachian Trail near us, so I'm looking to reading more about it. (For a lovely tail of long-trail hiking, you can't beat Wild.)