Life of Kim

Now that I’m not writing two or three songs a day, I can catch up on sharing my reading life with you.

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda. I honestly hated this book until halfway through when a body was discovered, and suspicion was cast on the narrator and another person. The ending was not satisfying and left plenty unexplained. This felt a bit like a mystery written by someone too lazy to figure out the details–leave it all up to suggestion and imagination. Meh.

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae. Be prepared to laugh. I haven’t seen this HBO show, but the book was part hilarious autobiography, part commentary on what it’s like to be a young, educated woman with both an African and African-American heritage.

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown. There’s no one quite like Brene Brown, with her very own intelligent and distinct way of telling stories and sharing research with every day people. She is so down-to-earth and salty, being vulnerable with the world as she talks about the need to belong, to be accepted and at the same time learning to live true to yourself. She talks about love, accountability, being nonjudgmental, having a generous heart, knowing boundaries, being reliable, etc. She has a chapter entitled “People Are Hard To Hate Close Up. Move In.” that challenges people that like to sling nastiness, political in particular, using social media, because they don’t have to look each other in the eyes. It was so good, I put some of it in a song I wrote. I need this book; you need this book. Read it and pass it on.

Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything was Anne Bogel’s (Modern Mrs Darcy blogger) debut book and she did a great job with it. It’s all about personality frameworks and how they can help you understand yourself, your children and partner, co-workers, friends, etc. Here you will find a straightforward and practical introduction to Meyers-Briggs, the 5 Love Languages, Highly Sensitive People, Strengths Finder, the Enneagram, and more. Anne peppers the book with personal stories and the tone is friendly and fun, yet intelligent and thoughtful. I recommend it!

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell was the first novel I’ve read by her. Light, but not candy-sweet, amusing, heart-warming and feel-good about a young guy who reads the emails of a pair of female co-workers and falls in love with one of them. Since I read several heavier books lately, this was good for entertainment and diversion. If you’re interested, borrow it from the library.

I’d love to hear about what you’ve been reading lately!