Book Reviews: 1 to Read, 2 to Listen + 3 to Ponder

Three Women – Lisa Taddeo: If you want a book that will surprise you, punch you in the gut and make you think about it long after you’ve finished reading, this is it. The non-fiction work is derived from a journalist’s eight-year journey across the country to understand real women’s desires and their stories. The power in Taddeo’s storytelling is it reads like fiction, and all three women’s narratives will captivate you.
Grade: A

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know – Malcolm Gladwell: Gladwell can do no wrong in my mind, and this book was just as fascinating as his others in a completely new way. He examines our interactions with strangers, through the lense of history, pop culture + psychology, to try and make sense of why and how we invite misunderstanding into our lives. Though not a “self-help” book to teach us how to talk to strangers it does give us unique perspectives, which we could all use a little more of.
Note: highly recommend this one on audiobook, you hear the actual interviews, media clips + historical re-enactments
Grade: A

What Happens in Paradise – Elin Hilderbrand: The second in Hilderbrand’s current series, this is such an easy, great read. There’s mystery, romance and it’s set in a tropical paradise. What more could you need?
Grade: A

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery – Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile: If you’re not sure what the enneagram is – pause, google it, then come back. If you’re new to this whole enneagram business and want to actually learn more (vs just following meme accounts on Instagram) this is a great book to get you started. It offers some history, a little depth on each number, details on wings and access, and provides great real-life analogies to help you understand yourself better as well as those around you.
Grade: B+

The Dutch House – Ann Patchett: I’m obsessed with this book, and it will most likely be my book of the year (followed closely by Where the Crawdads Sing). The story seems so simple – it follows a brother and sister through the typical ebbs and flows of life across five decades, with the house they grew up in (The Dutch House) as an unsuspecting framework for their lives. I don’t want to say much more, just read it or listen to it …
Note: highly recommend this one on audiobook, Tom Hanks narrates and is just fantastic (because obviously, it’s Tom Hanks) Also, yes I’m getting into audiobooks lately!!
Grade: A+

The Family Upstairs – Lisa Jewel: Such a strange, twisted, dark story about an orphan who inherits a house when she turns 25, which leads her to a horrifying discovery about her birth parents. It’s a little slow to start and the characters lacked depth, but the story was so bizarre and surprising it kept me reading.
Grade: B+

xo xo
You can read all my book reviews here.