I love reading but as a business owner and mother it can sometimes be hard to fit it in. At best, it’s when I go to bed and then it’s only ten minutes until I’m too exhausted to turn the page. In 2018, as one of my 18 in 2018 tasks, I’m not exactly trying to read more, but I’ve promised to keep track of all the books I read. From my experience, this tends to make me read more!
Some of the books I read are business books or books otherwise related to blogging and social media; others are the amazing books published by some of my clients and friends, because I’m lucky enough to count quite a few authors among them. And some are simply because I want to! This list will be a big mix of all and I hope you find it interesting, though I’ve got to tell you: it’s really for my own benefit to make sure I do a bit more reading than usual! I’ll be updating it as I go throughout 2018 so check back sometime and see what I’ve added.
Business books I’ve read in 2018
You Are a Bad-Ass At Making Money by Jen Sincero – this book was my Christmas present to myself, because I’d heard it recommended by a few people (including Cait – see the next book!). I’ve read it twice and done the exercises in it and it is now sitting in my mastermind library ready to be borrowed by my lovely mastermind group clients. It is all about your mindset behind making money and you’re either into that idea or you’re not but if you are or are starting to think about it, it’s fantastic.
The Year of Less by Cait Flanders – I’ve known Cait online for a few years (we’ve had some awesome chats for my travel podcast) and love the podcast she co-hosts with Carrie Smith Nicholson, which is now called Honest Money Conversations. This book is essentially a memoir tracking Cait’s experiment to have a shopping ban for a year but it is so much more than that, with so many life lessons and thoughtful moments – a great read for a woman running her own business, too.
The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield – having heard about this from so many writerly/businessy people I had to read it. It’s short but powerful. Mostly for me it was useful to think about “resistance” – what stops us from doing some things sometimes? Its subtitle explains the book well: “Break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles”. (Also sitting in the mastermind bookshelf now!
Born for This by Chris Guillebeau – I adore Chris’s work, having followed him since his quest to travel to every country in the world and now listening regularly to his Side Hustle School podcast, so I’m a fan who doesn’t need converting and enjoyed this. It’s essentially about finding work that you were “born to do”, and I feel like I’ve already reached that point (and continue to refine it), but if you’re stuck in a career or job you’re not smitten with it would be a particularly valuable read.
How to Be Everything by Emilie Wapnick – this was a re-read, but an important one for me because Emilie says such smart stuff. I’ve posted before about how Emilie taught me it’s OK to pursue several business passions at once and I felt I needed a reminder of her wisdom.
The Abundance Code by Julie Ann Cairns – recommended by one of my peer mastermind buddies, I read this as a follow-up to reading Jen Sincero’s money mindset book. Its subtitle “How to bust the 7 money myths for a rich life now” pretty much explains what it’s about, and it’s good and I agree with most of it, but it didn’t grab me as much – I think I’m fussing about needing really interesting writing in my non-fiction, good information is not enough.
Grit by Angela Duckworth – one of my favourite books of the year – this is both interesting and well-researched and it was very thought-provoking for me – it’s all about the idea of having grit being more important than talent – something that I think has often hindered me – for example, at school, good grades came very easily to me and I didn’t have to work at it, something which sometimes makes adult life harder for me. Something I’ll re-read again soon!
Novels and other non-business books I’ve read in 2018
The Sisters’ Song by Louise Allan – I am very lucky to work with a lot of wonderful authors but I think this is the single most excited I’ve been about a novel coming out. I first met Louise about five years ago when she’d just started a blog, and have worked with her on and off since then, but especially for the last couple of years while she’s been in my mastermind groups, and I know how hard she’s worked to get to this stage … and thank goodness, after all that, I absolutely fabulously loved her novel! Set in Tasmania, it’s a story about family and life struggles and unfairness and a whole lot more and it’s utterly beautiful, please read it!
The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester – I’m also lucky to have known Natasha for many years now and I am always excited when she has a new novel come out because they are unquestionably wonderful reads, and this one is no exception. Natasha has chatted with me in the past on the podcast about the travels she does to do research for her novels and it shines through in this one, with historical Paris and New York both shining through, and well, much more but I’m not spoiling anything for you. Just read it too!
How the Hell Did I Get Here? by Pam Lynch – Pam is a friend (and mastermind participant!) of mine who’s inspired me since I met her – after never doing anything especially physical or adventurous, she decided to trek to Everest Base Camp for her 60th birthday – and has had all manner of adventures both physical and business-related since. Even though I’d heard her talk about her Nepal experiences (some of which are very moving) I loved reading this and learnt so much more – it was the book I took with me to read on my Japan trip and felt so inspired by it.
You Belong Here by Laurie Steed – yet another novel I was crazy-excited about – I have known Laurie for quite a few years now and consider him a good mate – and I knew I’d like his book. I liked it even better than “like” – it was awesome – written precisely for my generation too, it resonated so much, was a great story, was just brilliant!
The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge by Kali Napier – so there’s a funny story here: Kali and I went to high school together (in particular we did Theatre Arts together!), and now she’s an all-grown-up published writer based in Queensland who knows all my writer friends and my worlds are colliding! So it was so exciting to see her first novel come out and I devoured it happily.
Beautiful Messy Love by Tess Woods – Tess is another local author (I love to support Western Australian writers!) and writes romantic and fun books that still leave something to think about – this is her second and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
The Way Back by Kylie Ladd – Kylie’s a writer I met on Twitter many years ago (I love Twitter!) and I’ve followed her career with interest – she mixes work as a psychiatrist with novel writing over in Melbourne. I enjoy every one of her novels and this was no exception.
The 13-Storey Treehouse, The 26-Storey Treehouse, The 39-Storey Treehouse and The 52-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths – of course, these are my son’s books but he has read all the Treehouse books twice and told me I should read them – and I have started, getting through four so far – and they are marvellous! These were the books that finally really got my son reading independently so I’ll be forever grateful, plus they’re a whole lot of fun for me to read too.
Into the Sea by Jay Laurie – a random grab at the library from the Australian fiction section and mostly because the cover looked like it would suit my trip to Fiji! A very Aussie coming of age story about two male friends, a pleasant read but not one of my faves.
Rosie by Anne Lammott – yes, a novel by the woman who many writers know as the author of “Bird by Bird”, some of the best writing advice out there. As I’d expected, this was beautifully written and really had me hooked.
Fool’s Gold by Fleur McDonald – a great West Aussie author and this novel is set in a fictitious outback West Aussie town – what’s there not to love about that?
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung – this is a memoir I read shortly after returning from Cambodia, covering the awful experiences of the 1970s there during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. It was devastating, but I’m glad I read it.
Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan – after watching the movie version of “Crazy Rich Asians” and loving it, a friend lent me the whole trilogy and I read them ravenously because they were just so fun.
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – one of my favourite Aussie novelists, and this is her newest novel – it was still very readable and enjoyable but it was a little bit less wonderful than her usual stuff. My friend lent it to me with the caveat “it goes really weird in the middle” and that was a perfect summary.
Pigface and Other Stories, edited by Ryan O’Neill – these short stories are winners from the Margaret River Short Story competition and were so very Aussie – I enjoyed them.
Daphne: A Love Story by Will Boast – a random library pick but a very lovely read.
The Night Ferry by Lotte & Søren Hammer – I started reading books by Danish authors after we booked a trip to Denmark for 2019 and this was the first one my local library provided – great police novel with a wonderful Danish backdrop.
The Suitcase and the Jar by Becky Livingston – this is a beautiful memoir, and Becky is a past guest from The Thoughtful Travel Podcast which is how I heard about it. It’s both heartbreaking and inspiring.
You managed a lot of reading in 2018, on top of everything else you do, Amanda. There are some great titles in there, too. One in particular looks rather familiar—thank you for including it! ?