2015 Reading Goal Achieved

At the start of the year, I set a goal to read 20 books. I'm happy to report that I completed it, as of this week. For someone who rarely sets goals (or sets and forgets), this makes me feel accomplished.=)

Here are the last three books to round up my 20.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This is written as a letter from a father to his son about growing up and life as a black person in America. I think it was from an Instragram post that I first encountered this book. I don't recall who it was but the person suggested that if you think you don't have anything in common with the author, that's more reason to read the book. It gave me a glimpse of what it is like to be black in a country that continues to wrestle with racism. The subject itself is heavy but Coates writes so beautifully and in a very thoughtful manner that it feels like a sentimental poem or song.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. I don't consider myself a fan of Mindy Kaling before reading this book. I did not watch The Office nor The Mindy Project so I'm not familiar with her work or humor. Even so, I enjoyed this book. I read Bossypants by Tina Fey and they have similar struggles about being female comedy writers, but Mindy has the added flavor of being Indian. I like her brutal honesty.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert is known as for writing the wildly successful book Eat, Pray, Love. In Big Magic, she writes about her personal beliefs on creativity and process of creating. It's a refreshing perspective because it's opposite the popular ideas of 'tormented artist' or suffering for art's sake or believing that good work has to from a dark place. For her, art is inspiration, whimsy, light and magic. I really enjoyed this book.

Comments

  1. carlaNovember 15, 2015 at 7:15 PM

    Congrats! Naay book si Rainn Wilson, kadtong taga The Office pud. Mejo acquired taste ang persona ni Mindy Kaling. High pitched man gud iyang tingog, unya mejo shallow iyang character sa show. Pero funny biya. Unya ok siya sa mga interviews about being in Hollywood as a woman, na tambok, na minority pa jud. Mao gusto ko mabasa iyang books para sa mga insights to her personal life ba :-)

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