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Best Reads Of 2018!
I don't know if it's because 2018 mostly felt like a never-ending dumpster fire, or authors in all my favorite genres totally stepped up their game - but last year gave us 365 days of EPIC reading!
I don't know about you, but I seem to hop between a few key genres. I like to be totally shook by Thrillers, then get my soul cleansed with Self-Help, then bounce over to Biography's right before I dip my toes in Professional Development. So this list covers all bases, there's really something for everyone!
Listen, The Da Vinci Code hit shelves in 2003 and I spent a SOLID week and a half hunkered down in my bedroom flipping between the book & Google Maps! Nothing grabbed my attention like that book, and I've been a Dan Brown fan ever since! I actually hopped on the Pre-Order list for his latest book, Origins and it did not disappoint! Dan Brown is famous for the nail-biter books where someone is racing against the clock and around the globe to solve a puzzle that only one man can solve! I raced through it in a weekend and then spent the remainder of 2018 demanding all my friends and family read it too! It's a page turner, full of suspense and you WILL grab your Google Maps for reference - because why not!?
Every year there's THAT ONE BOOK you just can't get away from.
Your cousins' sisters' BFF is emailing you about it, everyone is quoting it at dinners, it's everywhere..
So you just resolve yourself to reading it so you can find out what all the hype is about...
That's - Girl, Wash Your Face for me.. I avoided it for 6 months and finally gave in.
I'll say this: I waited for about 100 pages to see what life devastating trauma/drama
Rachel Hollis suffered and thus rebounded triumphantly from - and nothing really grabbed me.
Now, I chalk a lot of mt expectations down to me having greater than average struggles early in my life,
so my level of empathy OR expectations for struggle might be a bit out of the norm.
Either way, I kept waiting for the next page to bring something tragic yet empowering. I kept saying,
"wait, she wasn't homeless or drug addicted or abused or sold into sex trafficking??" but I think that was my
more dramatic side, looking for that story of rock bottom to mountain top... And this book isn't that.
At all. But I do think it has really awesome accountability methods to work thru and towards goals,
plus a major kick in the pants when it comes to killing that habit of excuse making.
So, for a lighter motivational read - Girl, Wash Your Face is perfect!
First let me say, the split second Brene Brown opens a school or Leadership Academy - SIGN ME UP! She's the expert of shame, and how it motivates us to do and be the fractured hot messes we all are! Dare To Lead is AWESOME at getting to the ways to allow vulnerability to make us better leaders in all facets of life and I am HERE FOR IT! There's a reason Brene Brown has one of the most watched TEDTalks of all time, and another reason she is Oprah's BFF - she knows her stuff, and she knows how to teach all us unworthy numb skulls how to be better people! Seriously, even if you just read 2 pages before bed every night - this book is a game changer if you lead a group of people!
Say what you want about life, I think we all agree you won't get far without true Grit! Thats why Angela Duckworth's book totally shook my jar page after page. There's a science to Grit, how some folks crumble while others are more resilient - this book explains it ALL! And here's a pro-tip for ya, leaders NEED this book more than I can even express! It's so good I have the digital and hard copy - Hard Copy is covered in highlighter, obviously :)
Dive into how the 3 P's (Power, Passion, Perseverance) are a game changer for anyone racing for BIG goals!
Ok... I'm coming clean about something. I TOTALLY slept on the Outlander book series, and I'm pretty ashamed about it! So, here I am like 20 years later reading the books and I'm hooked! I mean, how can you possibly pass up a story of a woman who touches stones and travels back in time 200 years! If binge watching the Starz series, all 5 seasons in 3 days doesn't tell you something - just get the first book and email me after the first chapter after you've decided to clone a body double that does all the YOU things so the real YOU can read all day and night! Here's the other cool thing - you can feel safe fully committing to these books because there are 8 so far with one coming later this year... When it comes to books, nothing makes me smile bigger!
Just when you've convinced yourself that talent is born, not bred - this book plops into your lap and changes everything you thought you knew! Every key to success has a code, crack the code and you gain that next level understanding of how to crack it over and over again! Thats exactly what The Talent Code addresses and Daniel Coyle knows his stuff! This was a quick read for me with lots of highlight-able quotes I use on people to this day!