Reading List

I read for work and I read for pleasure. My favorite books are YA dystopian fiction, business theory, human behavior, and well written books. I will try to keep this updated as I am reading, but I know that I will fall behind.

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The Martian - Andy Weir
I am a big fan of YouTube videos. One of my favorite channels right now is Smarter Every Day. It is a science channel that focuses on physics and other cool things. A few of his videos are sponsored by Audible, and he suggested downloading this book to listen to. Instead, I downloaded the eBook.

The Silver Linings Playbook - Mathew Quick

SO, here's the deal. I don't watch R-rated movies. I've struggled with this for a while since I feel like there are so many R-rated movies that are very worthwhile. At the same time, I don't want to be subjected to gratuitous violence or sexual scenes. This becomes a big problem when I'm watching a movie trailer and it looks like such a good movie, and then it turns out to be rated R. That is exactly what happened with the Silver Linings Playbook. I have wanted to see it for so long that I decided to just read the book it is based on instead.

Now I understand why the movie is rated R. There is a fair amount of explicit language in the book as well as small amounts of violence , and the subject matter is pretty difficult. The story revolves around a man who has been in a mental institution for the last four years and is back at home, trying to adjust to "normal" life. The author avoids cliche portrayals of mental health and focuses instead on the relationships that the main character (who has a mental condition) has with his family and friends.

I am about halfway done with the book, and I don't regret reading it. Sometimes it is necessary to read hard stories so that we can better emphasize with other people.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet/A Wind in the Door - Madeline L'Engle

I remember reading these books when I was a youth. At the time I was swept away by the fantasy of the stories and the dream of being able to travel through time and space. Now, i am much more interested in the themes of the books. I had forgotten how strongly religion played a part in these books. There is a constant battle between good and evil. Good is creation and evil is nothingness. The nothingness wants us to become like it because it hates creation. Sometimes it directly attacks, but sometimes it is more subtle and lures us away from what we should be doing by telling us to have fun rather than do what is right.This is a great book for any kid or young adult. L'Engle's books are timeless and are an easy read.

How Will You Measure Your Life - Clayton Christensen
This is my second time reading this book. The first time was after I read his article for a business class at BYU. The book is a collection of business theories that can be applied to our personal lives to help us reach pur goals. The idea is simple, in business we take time to plan out our strategy and then put our resources toward reaching our goals. We should do the same in our personal lives.

The book is a good mix of business, religion, and personal stories. I would suggest this book to anyone who likes business or to people who have to juggle many different roles.

Moonwalking With Einstein - Joshua Foer
This book follows Joshua around as he delves into the "highly competitive" world of memory sports. He talks about his training, the history of memory, and how we can be better at memorizing things.

While I did enjoy the book, I think that most people will find it boring. The book tends to focus much more on the author's story than it does on the actual techniques to improve memory. Like, I get how to quickly memorize large lists of data, but still don't know how to memorize poems or books.

Overall, I am glad I read this book, but probably won't read it again.


The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
This is one of the best books that I have read in a long time. I started trying to read this book a few years ago, but couldn't get into it for some reason. Maybe I was just too tired or too wrapped up in school, but I am kicking myself that I didn't read this book earlier.