The Last Five Books I've Read | And a few more books to read

So every year I say I’m going to read more books. This year so far is going pretty well…here are the last 5 that I have read and would recommend as books to read:

The Outsiders written by H.S. Hinton

I somehow missed this one in high school but recently saw it on a list of to-reads. My In-Laws recently moved to Oklahoma and I was looking for books set there on a recent trip and then, wonder of wonders, John Cena quoted it on a Jimmy Fallon clip. I took it as a sign. I was not disappointed! This is a classic for all the right reasons: it has drama, it has heart, it has character development, and it does a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of the teenage mind. It is easy to see why it has remained a favorite for the last 40 years. Having worked with teens for a large portion of my employed life, I find it hard to resist a good coming of age story.

The Synopsis:

Ponyboy is sure he can count on two things: his brothers and the Greaser Gang he is a part of. But as a 14 year old boy, he is learning that the world is a bit less black and white than he realizes and much larger than Tulsa, Oklahoma, has led him to believe.

If you liked the outsiders you’ll probably like The Chocolate War & Freak the Mighty.

I Kill Giants written by Joe Kelly and illustrated by J. M. Ken Niimura

I am a sucker for unique stories and art. Comic books have regularly filled both of those requirements, and while I don’t have a steady pull list, I do have a couple of boxes full of plastic sleeved, brightly colored, nerd books, and I’m not afraid to admit it.

I Kill Giants is the kind of unique story that only comes around once and a while.

The Synopsis:

Barbara Thorson is struggling in school, struggling to find friends, and struggling with reality… or is she? Are there Giants that she is protecting us from or is it all just a part of an overactive imagination?

Again falling into a coming of age story, this one takes a drastically different approach, which I found inspiring and thoughtful and will encourage you to face the giants in your own life.

If you liked I Kill Giants then you will probably like: Chew, The Watchmen, and Scott Pilgrim

Entrepreneurial You written by Dorie Clark

While the bulk of my reading is fiction and what I typically enjoy most, I can say that I found this book to be stimulating and thoroughly enjoyable. With practical, down to earth advice, and easy to follow steps, Dorie Clark lays out paths to success. She thoroughly explains the necessity of having a portfolio approach to your income and its benefits in todays society. It made me rethink my plans for the upcoming years and has laid the groundwork for a lot of what I desire to do in the near future.

If you like Entrepreneurial You you will probably like: Daring Greatly, How to Talk to Anyone, and The Baseball Whisperer

Fight Club written by Chuck Palahniuk

I had heard that Palahniuk admitted liking David Fincher’s movie of the same name better than his own novel and I was curious to see why. The movie made quite an impression on me as a senior in high school and I have used it as a reference, quoted it, and broken the first two rules endlessly since. So to say I was excited to read it when I saw it laying on a dusty shelf while meandering a used bookstore in Seattle is an understatement in the extreme.

If what Palahniuk said is true and he enjoys the movie better than his own novel then I agree with him. The movie flows better than the somewhat sporadic, staccato, nature of the book but, to be fair, that may have been Palahniuk’s intention to mimic the spat, spat, spat, of a fist hitting flesh, and it in no way deducts from the brilliance of what he is uncovering in us as a society and men in general. It is hard to even give a synopsis without giving anything away, but it is safe to say that the narrator makes a friend who shows him what it means to let go of that, which truly does not matter and live the life he wants to live. And violence, lots of violence. Violence and haikus.

If you like Fight Club then you will probably like: The Fountainhead, The Prince, and King Me

At Home: a short history of private life Written by Bill Bryson

What is the etiquette of audiobooks? Do I need to clarify that I audiobooked rather than physically read? If so, I audiobooked Dorie Clark as well.

I love Bill Bryson. I’ve read quite a few things he has written and I thought it a bonus that he also narrated this audiobook. Bryson keeps things moving on what turns out is an utterly fascinating subject; the history of the home and the incredibly long time that it took to make it the comfortable dwelling that we are now so familiar with.

If you like At Home then you will probably like literally anything else Bill Bryson has written.