The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker

Kindle edition

I can't recall where I became familiar with this book, but I did somewhere and checked it out from the library for my Kindle. I started this book on November 1 and finished it on November 26.

So, this was sort of a cross between a business book and a self-help book. Priya Parker offers some really great advice and thoughts on how to organize gatherings. Yes, for professional-related gatherings (meetings, conferences, etc.) and also for personal gatherings (think dinner parties, etc.)

I am writing this review some time after I finished the book so am not crystal clear on everything there. A few of the takeaways that stayed with me are:

1. Be mindful of how you start your gathering. For professional gatherings, she gave an example of how a typical conference or large meeting starts - with logistics. The bathrooms are here. The refreshments are there. Etc. She talks about how this is the worst possible way to start. There is no intention. There is no "start". It's just blah, bland, and unmemorable. Imagine if the main speaker started with a good introduction, talked about the intent of the meeting/session, gave expectations (for what the speakers would do and what the participants should do). This would make for a much more meaningful, mindful, and memorable gathering. For personal gatherings, be very intentional about who you invite. Don't invite people who will bicker. Don't invite people who won't get along. Think about the PURPOSE of your gathering and then select the people who will be in service o that purpose. When they arrive, don't let them walk right in without introducing them to the other people. Perhaps have an activity or something for them to do while you finish cooking, putting food out, etc. Can you think of anything worse than a room of people who don't know each other, haven't been introduced, and don't really know why they are all there? Ick.

2. Think about the purpose of your gathering. Why are you bringing people together in either scenario - professional or personal? One quote from the book offers this, "Specificity is a crucial ingredient. The more focused and particular a gathering is, the more narrowly it frames itself and the more passion it arouses."

While I don't remember all of the nuggets, I do remember liking this book. Lots of good suggestions on how to design your gatherings so they are enjoyable, meaningful, intentional, have a purpose, and more.

 Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler: A Novel by Casey McQuiston

Kindle edition

I picked this up after reading two other books by Casey McQuiston - Red, White, and Royal Blue, and One Last Stop.

I'm writing this well after I read this book and can't really remember much about it. I did like it though. I started this book on October 27 and finished it on October 29.

I read a plot summary and the summary on Amazon to try and jog my memory. They helped, a little. This is the story of Chloe and Shara and their experiences together in their senior year of high school. The plot reminds me a little of other books I read about someone who disappears, leaves clues as to where/why, and then people in their lives have to figure it out. Looking for Alaska, for example, by John Green. I feel like there are others out there with a similar plot. Regardless. This was a cute, YA, LGBT genre book. It is an easy and quick read.

 Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Never Go Back: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child

Kindle edition

Here we go with another Jack Reacher. I started this book on October 24 and finished it on October 26.

Lee Child uses a formula for this Jack Reacher books, much like Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills do for Mitch Rapp books, and Michael Connelly does for Harry Bosch books, and like many other authors with long-running series do. It makes books predictable, in that you know what you're in for. Predictable in this sense isn't a bad thing. 

These are easy books to pick up when you need some mind candy. A book that is good, interesting, easy to read, maybe even addictive. I like these books. Jack Reacher is an interesting guy with an interesting, if violent (mostly not due to his instigation) life.

This book follows Reacher as he heads to the D.C. area to meet, in person, the woman behind the voice on a phone. She's in his old role in the service and she helped him out in a prior book.

Of course, he gets there and some shit hits the fan - this time something to do with him. A BS charge of a homicide from long ago. Rather than walk away, which Reacher never does, he stays and sorts through the shit.

This is a good, quick read. Love this character. Love these books. Love this author.

Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Sea of Tranquility: A novel by Emily St. John Mandel

Kindle edition

Ok, so I'm writing this well after I read the book (call it laziness on my part) but I took a long hiatus from writing my reviews much to my chagrin now because it is hard to remember books from many months ago. So, after jogging my memory about this book from reading a few reviews, here is a very brief and high-level summary.

I started this book on October 13 and finished it on October 19.

So, this is a doozy of a time-travel, time-loop, multiple people from multiple timelines in the same place at the same time.

This starts in the early 1900s with Edwin arriving in Canada from England and in his time there has a "vision" in the Canadian wilderness of a man playing a violin in a futuristic-looking place.

Two hundred years-ish later, an author, Olive, who lives on a colony on the moon is on Earth doing a book tour. Her book contains a bit about a man playing a violin in the hallway in an airship terminal surrounded by a forest.

The the time-travel component comes up. Gaspery is a detective investigating an anomaly in the Canadian forest. Throughout his investigation he discovers a series of events that are intertwined in a variety of ways.

Buckle your seatbelt and get ready for a topsy turvy wild ride through this book. It is good. It is confusing. You should read it.

Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

The Cartographers: A Novel by Peng Shepherd

Kindle edition

Here is another gem from the Real Simple magazine suggested reading list. They describe it as "thrilling suspense":

"Nell Young's father, an acclaimed cartographer, sidelined her promising career in the field when they had a falling out over a worthless old highway map. When he turns up dead in his office and Nell discovers the very same map hidden among his things, she discovers that it may actually be quite coveted and valuable - dangerously so. [This book] is a wildly entertaining, imaginative ride, with a cinematic plot that keeps the page turning."

I started this book September 24 and finished it on October 12.

Ok - so, the Real Simple summary is spot on. This book is amazing. I have a soft place in my heart for maps. My dad is a geographer and taught us to read/follow maps from an early age. Maps are pretty amazing things. I love looking at old ones, especially really old ones. I love paging through this book I got some time back and looking at the illustrated maps of cities in North America - Bird's Eye Views: Historic Lithographs of North American Cities by John W. Reps. Maps can tell stories. Maps can show you how crazy a city is to navigate (ever looked at a map of Boston, MA - oh boy is that city a challenge to navigate - everything is circular.)

Ok, enough of my tangent. Back to this book. As the Real Simple review mentioned, Nell is trying to follow in the footsteps of her father but is sidelined by a random highway map she finds in the basement of the library where she is working with her father. This sets in motion a vast series of events directly tied to that map. That seemingly random, useless street map.

I don't want to give too much away. So, let me say this - in trying to figure out how, why, and who killed her father, Nell uncovers her history. There's time-loop stuff, hidden places outside of time, murder, intrigue, and plenty of maps.

I highly recommend this book. It was amazing! 

Post written on May 29, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl

Kindle edition

The Husband read this book first and loved it. It's funny - he knew who Dave Grohl was, knew who the Foo Fighters are, yet wasn't really into them until we went to see them in concert a few back. Then he reluctantly came around to liking them. The Husband is a rap music fan. That's almost exclusively all that he listens to. Anything that isn't rap really isn't on his radar. So when he likes something other than rap, it takes a while for him to freely admit he likes it. 

Well, after feeling good enough to admit he likes the Foo Fighters and that he wants to be best friends with Dave, he saw that this book was out and got it from our local library. He told me I'd like it too.

I started this on September 15 and finished it on September 23. Now, I'm super behind on reviewing the books I've read, I'm writing this book in 2023 and I finished this in September of 2022. So it's been a minute. Forgive me if I don't offer too many specific details, as they've left my brain already.

I can tell you that this book was great! It's the story of how Dave became Dave - through his early years and the different bands he grew up liking, became a member of, to Nirvana and the gross apartment and room he lived in with Kurt Cobain, through the death and end of Nirvana, to beginning the Foo Fighters. And so much in between.

Dave is a storyteller, for sure. Not only in this book. If you haven't seen it, check out the Sonic Highways documentary from 2014. It's streaming somewhere, I'm sure. It follows the band in making their album of the same name. They go to different cities and the music and history of those cities influences the song, lyrics, and sound. It's really great! And gives me, at lest, a deeper appreciation for the music, knowing the back-story and not just trying to infer it from the lyrics.

Great book. Highly recommend it.

Post written on June 4, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.

Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty

Kindle edition

So, I meditate daily using the Calm app. In addition to all of the great meditations they have, they started having Jay Shetty do meditations called "The Daily Jay". I started incorporating them into my daily meditation and really liked them. 

Jay is a former monk and has great insights to share, interesting questions to ponder, and a calming voice. I still meditate with him through the app.

I learned he had a book and was excited to read it. I got the kindle edition from my local library and started the book on July 8 and finished it on September 14. This one took a while for me to get through.

So, as with many of these reviews, I'm writing them in 2023 despite finishing the book in 2022. I don't remember a lot of specifics, so here's my high-level recollection. While I liked the book, I felt it was a little too preachy, a little too "do this". That's probably intentional, this being a 
"self-help" book of sorts. I'm realizing I don't take to those quite as much as I do purely fiction books.

So, while I think there are some great points about what meditation and mindfulness can do for you, and I fully support those things (and practice them myself), I don't think I got as much out of this book as I do from the daily meditations on Calm. I think that is further evidenced by how long it took me to read this book.

So, while not a total fan of the book, I really do like Jay Shetty and his daily meditations on the Calm app.

Post written on June 4, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.