So I'm posting a lot today because apparently, I have a lot to say (whether anyone wants to listen or not is besides the point). Anyway, this is just FYI, but yesterday whilst talking to Bets, she asked me what I had planned for the summer--besides Chicago, besides getting a part-time job--and I was like "I guess I'll just chill and hang out and stuff," which I know is the most intelligent, thought-provoking thing a person could ever utter. Anyway, it seems like fate decided to step in and take over, because as I was browsing mentalfloss's weekend links, I found a link to a great blog "Marc and Angel Hack Life" which is where I got the list of things to do on the net site, and which is also where I found a list of the bloggers' 40 Modern Books Everyone Should Read. So I read the list (and the handy descriptions of each book) and decided to compile my own summer reading book list based on their list. I picked 14 of their 40 that looked interesting to me, for whatever reason. Here they are:
The Road Less Traveled--Scott M. Peck
Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25 and the Search for the American Dream--Adam Shepard
The Joy of Simple Living--Jeff Davidson
Influence: The Psychology of Persuation--Robert Cialdini (although Mame says if I get any more persuasive I'll be manipulative)
Managment of the Absurd--Richard Farson (the blogger recommended it for teachers, so why not?)
An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned But Probably Didn't--Judy Jones
Freakonomics--Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People--Steven Covey (this was the only one I'd actually ever heard of)
Personal Development for Smart People--Steve Pavlina (as opposed to Personal Development for Dummies? LOL)
The Now Habit--Neil Fiore
Ignore Everyone--Hugh MacLeod
Eating Well for Optimum Health--Andrew Weil (I've been wanting to eat better for years, I just need someone to tell me how to do it because I'm too lazy to plan my own menus).
A People's History of the United States--Howard Zinn
Career Renegade--Johnathon Field
I Will Teach You to Be Rich--Ramit Sethi (It's supposed to be targeted towards 20-somethings with no real financial knowledge, which would be me--which would be something Bets and I talked about last night as well)
Anyway, Bets, you're a librarian--ever read any of these or seen 'em? I'm wondering if Plaquemine Library will have some of these. I hope so, because I want to read them. Who knows? I might even blog about 'em. Yes, that is a threat. :)
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Looks like P-Town Library has never heard of most of these books, so I've been scouting Amazon for them and finding some good deals. I should be able to get most of them for a fairly reasonable price. God bless Amazon.com, and God bless Judy for showing us freshmen how to use it way back in the day. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, here's my two cents. I don't read many self help books. Yes, I KNOW that I probably need help, but I'm not motivated by cute maxims and broad stroke sayings about life like "don't sweat the small stuff." Yeah, right.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I have read The Road Less Traveled because Robert recommended it when he was in college. I enjoyed parts of that book. It is a very famous book and is Audrey's mom's favorite book. She has read it about 100 times and listened to it on audio for another 100. Just to make Audrey laugh, tell her that her mama recommended it to you!
I've heard of Scratch Beginnings, but a young man's experiment on the streets armed with $25.00 is just stupid to me. I don't recommend it to you because the author uses lots of profanity in this book. I double checked Amazon and one reviewer described it as "salty language." My memory of this fact is correct by this one reviewer's account.
IPL does have Freakonomics. I just checked. Never read it although it too has been popular for several years.
Bruce read Howard Zinn's book and I just so happen to find a quote from him about the book's influence.
In the new issue of Rolling Stone, under the heading "Inspiration," Bruce Springsteen says:
"Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States had an enormous impact on me. It set me down in a place that I recognized and felt I had a claim to. It made me feel that I was a player in this moment in history, as we all are, and that this moment in history was mine, somehow, to do with whatever I could. It gave me a sense of myself in the context of this huge American experience and empowered me to feel that in my small way. I had something to say, I could do something. It made me feel a part of history, and gave me life as a participant."
Unlike Bruce who was not well read in his younger years, I already know a good deal about American history. So I never picked this one up. Out of all the ones on this list, though, it's probably the one I would read.
Ignore Everyone is a great title. I'm ready to do that and live on a deserted island where people can't annoy me.
My suggestion for a excellent motivational book for a new teacher is one that IPL owns (because I selected it for their collection years ago). It's called The promise : how one woman made good on her extraordinary pact to send a classroom of first graders to college by Oral Lee Brown with Caille Millner. I was so inspired by this woman. It's a quick read so pick it up to take on the plane ride to Chicago.
Thanks for the tips, Bets!!! You know I read just about anything (but thanks for the warning about "salty language," LOL). Oh, guess what book I bought recently? "Wait Til Helen Comes"... I think it was the first book you ever recommended to me. It's still creepy, all these years later. :)
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