Tag: Black Lives Matter

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July Reads

Reading always takes me back to summer. Summer makes me think of reading on a blanket on my front lawn or buried in a book on family camping trips. Permanently glued to my camp chair in front of the campfire. Living in the Pacific Northwest under the recent smoke and devastation caused by this year’s wildfires, back in July we might have soaked up the blue sky and breathed more deeply the smoke free air. July seems like an idyllic place to be compared to where we are now. But we must remain in the present, never falling too far back or anxiously awaiting anything in the distance.

July was an amazing month for reading. I picked up books that brought me joy. I also found myself reading in beautiful places. I sat sunning myself from my parents newly cemented patio in Boise. My fiancé and I drove to Stanley, Idaho to camp, hike, and more importantly read from lake views of the Sawtooth mountains.

FICTION

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Prior to reading, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the format, as this book is written in free verse poetry. Being aware of the format I chose to read a physical copy rather than listen to the audiobook. I absolutely loved this book, devouring it in one day. Also note, this book is young adult fiction. 

Acevedo writes about real-world plane crash of American Airlines Flight 587 of November 12, 2001. Two months and a day after the 9/11 attacks, Flight 587 was revealed to not be terrorist related and to the media it was not newsworthy. The plane was flying from New York City to the Dominican Republic and all passengers on board were Dominican or of Dominican descent. The crash was devastating to the New York City Dominican and Santo Domingo community.

The story follows two girls, Yahaira living in NYC and the Camino living in Santo Domingo. The girls are half-sisters unaware of each other’s existence. Their father was on the plane that went down. He would spend summers in the Dominican Republic and the rest of the year in New York. Grieving the death of their father, they become aware of one another and eventually meet addressing family secrets, each of their Dominican identities, grief, and class.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I stumbled upon this book from the library’s available audiobooks. The cover looked interesting. Recently, I have found historical fiction novels to be quite entertaining. Their ability to take me to a faraway place and escape my own four walls has been a much-needed break from reality. Ruta Sepetys’ novel follows a group of refugees during World War II who are fleeing East Prussia, Poland, and Lithuania. Their trek to freedom and safety takes them to a ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff.

The narration rotated between each of the main characters: Joana (a Lithuanian nurse), Florian (a Prussian art restoration apprentice), Emilia (a young Polish girl with child), and Alfred (an eager, somewhat delusional German). I love how the author creates a sense of family amongst Joana, Florian, Emilia, as well as some other refugees, each fighting for their own survival weary of who should be trusted.

The Wilhelm Gustloff, a real-world ship, was struck by three torpedos in January 1945. 9,000 lives were lost, 5,000 of them children, making it the greatest maritime disaster in history, and yet most people have never heard of it. A Soviet submarine took down the ship in the Baltic Sea. The Gustloff was overcapacity by almost 8,000 carrying over 10,000 passengers. As each character’s story unfolds, everyone moving closer towards the end and the untimely disaster. There is something about how a book or film builds in suspense when the reader or audience is aware of the outcome, yet none of the characters can anticipate the tragedy that is to come.

I enjoyed how the author wove in historical references. Beyond details about the Wilhelm Gustloff, Sepetys adds in details about the disappearance of the Amber Room, raided by the Nazis and rumored to have been loaded onto the Wilhelm Gustloff. The Amber Room was a chamber in the Catherine Palace in Prussia decorated with amber panels, gold leaf, and mirrors. It is said to be the “Eighth Wonder of the World” but to this day no one knows of the whereabouts of the room’s panels.

NON-FICTION

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stevenson writes about the industry of incarceration in Florida. The Santa Rosa Correctional Facility set in the town of Milton, was built in the 1990s. It was built to house 1,600 people. Between 1990 and 2005 the U.S. opened a new prison opened every ten days. Prison construction and prison growth in America “made imprisonment so profitable that missions of dollars were spent lobbying state legislators to keep expanding the use of incarceration to respond to just about any problem” writes Stevenson.

“My years of struggling against inequality, abusive power, poverty, oppression, and injustice had finally revealed something to me about myself. Being close to suffering, death, executions, and cruel punishments didn’t just illuminate the brokenness. You can’t effectively fight abusive power, poverty, inequality, illness, oppression, or injustice and not be broken by it.”

“We have a choice. We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing. Or we can deny our brokenness, forswear compassion, and, as a result, deny our own humanity.”

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A happiness book in my happy place. I began reading The Happiness Project in January reading one chapter a month. Not in a rush. Slowly winding through it. Rubin embarks on her own year of happiness, each month with its own theme and challenges to inspire and evoke happiness. The book follows her on this journey, with twelve chapters recounting her month. In January, her goal was to Boost Energy (Vitality) and her challenges were to go to sleep earlier, exercise better, toss, restore, organize, tackle a nagging task, and act more energetic (she adds that studies show that acting energetic gives you energy).

I enjoy reading multiple books at a time, like having different voices I can converse with. Some books I read, others I listen too. I balance fiction and non-fiction so as not to be lost in too many different alternate realities at one time. I found myself craving to pick this up because Rubin’s monthly challenges are seemingly simple changes that can be made in our everyday lives that will have a tremendous impact on our lives. While participating in her own year of happiness, Rubin blogged about her year, encouraging readers to share their own happiness challenges, sharing them within each chapter.

Rubin identifies her own “Eight Splendid Truths of Happiness,” inspired by the numbered lists that pop up throughout Buddhist teachings. The truths are obvious and straight-forward, but she claims took a tremendous amount of thought. The below two were the ones that resonated most with me. Both focus on the power that lies within ourselves to arrive at happiness, rather than trying to find it through anything external.

The book directs the reader to Rubin’s website and blog for additional resources and guides to completing your own year of happiness challenge. I aim to look into these resources as I pursue construct my own happiness.

The Second Splendid Truth:

One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy;

One of the best ways to make other people happy is to make yourself happy.

The Fourth Splendid Truth:

You aren’t happy unless you think you’re happy.

Permission to Screw Up: How I Learned to Lead by Doing (Almost) Everything Wrong by Kristen Hadeed: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely LOVED this book. Kristen Hadeed is an unlikely entrepreneur. She started a cleaning business almost by accident. In college, she wanted an expensive pair of jeans. Knowing her parents would not give her the money for such a frivolous purchase, she answered an ad for a house cleaner. The job would give her exactly the amount for the jeans. She had zero experience cleaning houses, arrived with no cleaning products of her own, and told her new “client” it would only take three hours to deep clean their entire house, a huge underestimation. At the time she thought it would be a one-time event.

Fast forward a couple of years and Hadeed started her own company, Student Maid, a cleaning service that specifically hires college students. This book is Hadeed’s honest account of her entrepreneurial experience. In the book she reveals that she at first tried to write a book about millennials. Millennials are often criticized for being hard to manage, and she, as a millennial has successfully managed peer millennials and learned how to lead and motivate the group. That still wasn’t the right topic. She then set out to write a book on success, but that wasn’t it either. In reflecting on what made her a successful leader, Hadeed learned that it was all of the mistakes she made along the way. In a world filled with the pressure to be perfect or to only share your highlight reel, she recognized that the important message to share with others is to not be afraid to screw up. Make mistakes; those experiences are where we learn the most.

I studied entrepreneurship in my undergrad, love to read books on how businesses are built, and have attended my fair share of networking events. Stories like the ones Hadeed shares are not the norm. No one else is writing this book and sharing all of the ways they have screwed up as inspiration to others that success is often on the other side of failure. For me, listening to this book made me realize that I had to get past my own fear of failure. A fear I didn’t even realize existed. It is also about uncoupling failure from the fear that it will define you in the eyes of others. Let’s say you try something, it doesn’t go according to plan, then what? It is an opportunity to learn, grow, and think on your feet.

Girl Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing & Achieving Your Goals by Rachel Hollis: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was another amazing book for the month. I read Rachel Hollis’ Girl Wash Your Face back in December. I love Rachel’s no bull-$h#! Her writing style is very honest and conversational. She reads her audiobook. I would listen on walks with Moxie and sometimes it felt like walking with a girlfriend dolling out much needed advice. My favorite thing in her book was the 10-10-1 plan for your dreams.

10 Years, 10 Dreams, 1 Goal. Hollis challenges you to think about your life in 10 years. Sit down and really think about it. Write down the details. What does it look like? Feel like? What are you wearing? Where do you live? Nothing is silly, because these are your dreams. Then write down the 10 dreams that would need to come true in order to become that person. She encourages you to write them in present tense. Rather than “I want,” write “I have,” or “I am” statements. This puts you in the mindset that you are already the person that you are working toward becoming. Finally, write down 1 goal that would bring you closest to your 10-years from now self. This helps you to focus in on and understand your why.

Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero by Christopher McDougall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Did you have any idea that there is a running race with burros? That is, donkeys?!? I didn’t. Christopher McDougall is most famous for another book Born to Run. In Born to Run, McDougall learns about the barefoot indigenous runners, the Tarahumara. It is an amazing book and one that will leave you thinking that you too can run 100-mile ultramarathons. Born to Run helped to kickstart the barefoot and minimalist running craze.

McDougall lives in Pennsylvania in the middle of Amish country. He rescues a donkey from an animal hoarding neighbor to which he named Sherman. The donkey was in such bad shape mentally and physically, the best thing McDougall could do was give him a job to complete. He took on rehabilitating Sherman through running. He heard of burro racing, a unique race where a runner and donkey race through the mountains together carrying packs that must include a pick, a gold pan, and shovel. McDougall wanted to see if they could train Sherman for the World Championship in Colorado.

Burro racing began in Colorado. In prospecting days, miners took donkeys with then to carry their packs. There are two rumors as to how burro racing started. One rumored that two miners found gold in the same location and raced back to town to stake their claim. The other rumor involves a couple of drunk miners in a bar in Leadville, Colorado.

Throughout McDougall’s story, he encounters assistance from all areas of his community. Farmers, Amish runners, badass lady long haul truck drivers, and others come together to help Sherman on his way to the Championship. It was an unexpectedly heartwarming story about the importance of our relationship with animals. They are lucky to have us, but we are even luckier to have them.

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June Reads

I listened to most of my books in June on walks with our puppy, Moxie, or while working on house projects with my fiancé, John. Moxie is well on her way of being full grown. Any activity we engage her in is only building her endurance. She is a pro when it come to fetch and in June she was awarded Student of the Month at Sit Stay Fit in Multnomah Village where we she has been training. Toward the end of the month we took a day trip to Seaside, Oregon, to introduce Moxie to the ocean. We played fetch and enjoyed the wet, drizzly Oregon Coast rain.

FICTION

And Then You Loved Me by Inglath Cooper: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My mom gave me this book to read because it was about sisters. My whole life she has been curating stories like this for me. She raised my younger sister and I to be strong women and strong women understand how difficult sister or mother-daughter relationships can be.

Like so many books I’ve picked up recently, the story alternates between “Then” and “Now,” going back and forth between decisions made by the main characters in their adolescence and adulthood. Growing up, I hated it when books jumped around like this. I just wanted a linear storyline. Now, I rather like the flashbacks. They paint a picture of how the characters were shaped by earlier events in their life. Maybe growing up, I didn’t have enough life experience to appreciate a character’s journey. I loved reading this book. I needed a love story to dive into this month. When everything else in the world became too stressful or intense, I enjoyed reading about people who were just trying to be good to one another.

Becca Miller lives in Ballard, a town in Franklin County, Virginia. She has always wanted to be the one to do the right thing. Raised alongside her sister Emmy and brother Jacob, her family are members of the Old Order German Baptist Brethren, who live a life of simplicity. They are most easily identified by their clothing, a symbol of their faith. The men have long beards and the women adorn a plain dress with a cape and bonnets. They are not always understood, especially by their peers who may not practice the same lifestyle. Becca falls in love with Matt Griffith, a boy not of the Old Order. She struggles to see how they could have a life together. She feels the pressure to choose her current life or one on the other side with Matt. She makes a decision that impacts her whole life. A sacrifice for her sister, one that she does not regret, causes her to forgo a life with someone she loved. When Matt Griffith appears back in her life, feelings she once had don’t seem to be forgotten so easily. It is sometimes hard to trust matters of the heart. How do we know the right path to take?

NON-FICTION

Classic Krakauer: Essays on Wilderness and Risk by Jon Krakauer: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Krakauer is one of my favorite writers. His research is meticulous. The characters and places he writes about are captivating. I love reading them because I am constantly learning something new. You may have read some of his books: Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, or Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. I have read and recommend all of them. His writing style is journalistic, and I like that his stories easy to follow.

Classic Krakauer is a collection of eight articles and two essays of his written between 1990 and 1997. He began his career in the 1980s writing freelance articles for Outside, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, and other publications. In this collection of stories, the two highlighted below were my favorite because I learned more about the Pacific Northwest in each of them. The data and statistics I included don’t even scratch the surface of what Krakauer shared with his readers.

“Living Under the Volcano” was published in the Smithsonian in 1996. This article highlights the risk those take living in the shadow of Mount Rainier. Twenty-six glaciers cover the massive volcano, making up thirty-six square miles of snow and ice. For scale and reference, statistics on a potential eruption from Rainier are usually compared to the more recent and destructive eruption of Mount St. Helen’s from 1980. In that incident, three-quarters of the glaciers on Mount St. Helen’s melted. The mudslides carried debris all the way to the Columbia River, disrupting national shipping on the river for three months. To compare, the glaciers that melted on Mount St. Helen’s add up to only about four percent of the year-round ice and snow that Rainier usually has.

If that doesn’t give you anxiety for a potential eruption in the Pacific Northwest coming from the state of Washington, the volcano’s below ground activity will. Krakauer explains hydrothermal alteration, which is the melting or “rotting of the mountain from the inside out.” Subterranean heat melts the glaciers and the water seeps into the geothermal aquifers. This hot liquid circulating throughout the mountain produces acids that are eroding Rainier from below, making it unstable. At the time this article was written, geologists knew very little about this process.

“Fred Beckey is Still on the Loose” was written about Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey, a legendary rock climber and mountaineer. He is credited with the most first attempts of any climber from North America. In 1963, he climbed forty-eight major routes, twenty-six of them being first ascents. In 1992 at the time of the article, Beckey was approaching 70 years old and only beginning to show signs of slowing down. He was said to have a “Little Black Book” of his first ascents and other climbs that few people have probably ever read.

Beckey tacked the unclimbed northeast buttress of Sleese in British Columbia. It was revered as “finest climbs” in North America. Sports Illustrated featured Beckey in their “Faces in the Crowd” column near the back of the publication. A month later, Jim Whittaker took the cover of National Geographic. He was celebrated as the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. “Beckey’s climbing record was more impressive than any of the Americans who had gone to Everest, and he had let it be known that he desperately wanted to be invited to Everest in 1963. But Normal Dyhrenfurth, the highly respected leader of the American expedition, was adamant that Beckey be kept off the team,” Krakauer wrote. Some thought he was dangerous to climb with and went through climbing partners, “like carpenters go through nails.” Beckey was quite the character with a love for nothing more than climbing mountains.

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

June was also a month where I spent time reading, listening, and educating myself on Junteenth. Juneteenth, which was observed as a national holiday by my company for the first time this year, is the oldest national commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. The organization I work for curated speakers and listening sessions in honor of this holiday. My book club chose to read books focused on social justice issues to better educate ourselves on Black history and the history of White Supremacy as it exists in America. We chose White Fragility by antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. We took this first step to better educate ourselves on race and equality in the United States. I finished Just Mercy in July, so you will be able to see my write up in my July Reads post.

White Fragility is “characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behavior such as argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue.” DiAngelo did a a good job of helped me to better understand the role that I play in upholding societal norms and how those systems themselves can be racist. I appreciate her laying out what is individual racism versus systemic. White people, myself included, are so fearful of being called out as racist for something we may have said or done. We know “being racist” is wrong and bad and we don’t want to be bad people, yet we often fail to recognize the racist system at which we are all merely living and operating in.

DiAngelo opened my eyes to examples of systemic racism and behavior, and now cannot unsee. DiAngelo dedicates and entire chapter to the racism of “White Women’s Tears.” The concept addresses the historical context of white women playing the damsel in distress as well as their insidious and emotional, sense of entitlement when addressing discomfort as it relates to conversations about race or confrontation. She by no means has all the answers, but her exploration and examples of white fragility help give me better context to understand the layered standpoints involved in these important conversations. I highly recommend this book because I learned so much. DiAngelo stressed the importance of listening at this time. I will continue to educate myself and support my friends and colleagues of color.

The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In this book, the TED Talk famous, Simon Sinek, shares the idea that in business, politics, and life, we should be playing the long game. He begins by describing “Finite Games” where there are well defined parameters, players, and rules. There is a definite end, such as the clock winding down at the end of a football game. There are winners and losers. The Infinite Game, by contrast, is one without winners and losers because there is no end. The rules are ever changing and evolving over time. I was inspired by the stories he shared about real world business examples of leaders with both finite and infinite mindsets. In organizations with infinite mindsets, the leaders don’t set out to simply win out over the competition. They aim higher. They set their sights on goals for their companies and people that are more aspirational, such as Apple’s “Think Different” or Nike’s “There Is No Finish Line.” They create cultures of with more inspiration, trust, and innovation. I loved listening to this book. So many of the concepts he speaks about in business apply to everyday life challenges and many of the social justice challenges our country is facing today. I listened to White Fragility and then The Infinite Game. It was interesting to think about the challenges we are currently facing in American and what great minds and smart leaders could do about it if they choose to lead with an infinite mindset.

Simon Sinek is a self-described “unshakable optimist.” I highly recommend any and all of his stuff right now if you need some positivity in your life. If TED Talks are more your style, check out some of Simon Sinek’s videos on YouTube. He is passionate about sharing ideas and speaks about many of the same concepts he writes about in his talks online or in his podcast.

Open Book: A Memoir by Jessica Simpson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I spent time listening to Jessica Simpson’s book while doing some house projects, mostly painting. I enjoyed learning things about her that I didn’t know before. I don’t keep up with any celebrity news. I may have been living under a rock, but I didn’t remember she dated John Mayer and I had NO IDEA what an a-hole he was. Noted. It was nostalgic to hear about her tryouts for the Mickey Mouse Club, even though she got cut while Britney, Christina, and Justin all moved on. I was impressed by her charity work. I loved hearing about her work on her brand and her dedication for her products to be inclusive for women of all sizes. I work in an apparel organization and we are only now hearing major brands care about inclusivity and body positivity. It is a priority that helped shape her brand, grow the business, and one that she has a personal connection to. I appreciated her willingness to share tough lessons she has learned in hopes that there is someone reading or listening who could be helped by her story.

Like Brothers by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have to admit, I thought this book would be funnier. It was funny. I will give it that, but I had my expectations a little higher. My only knowledge of the Duplass brother is watching Mark Duplass, who stars in the TV Show The League. This is a story about brothers. It is possible that this book didn’t resonate with me completely because a) I am not a brother and b) I do not have a brother. Regardless, these guys are talented. I listened to the book. Both brothers read it. They make funny lists about what are the best movies ever made. Their passion for films and making movies is contagious. They have the most feelings of any men I have ever heard from and truly care about one another. I loved hearing how they created a $3 budget film that got them into Sundance. Their comedy is a little off beat and so is their creative process, but that is what makes these guys unique.

To Shake the Sleeping Self: A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life With No Regret by Jedidiah Jenkins: ⭐️⭐️

This one didn’t do it for me. I considered not finishing it, which is very rare for me. Like a child being forced to eat their veggies, I usually finish a book even if I find it miserable. I am not proud of this by the way. I didn’t hate this book. It just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Jedidiah Jenkins embarks on a journey from Oregon to Patagonia on his bike. This is a 14,000 mile journey that takes him more than a year. His parents encountered fame in the ’70’s by walking across America during the Vietnam war. His father met his mother in New Orleans on the walk and they walked from there to Oregon together. He began the bike trek on the beach in Oregon where they completed their famous walk. Jedidiah was inspired by his parents and an acquaintance he meets that has done a similar bike journey to Patagonia. A new friend, Weston, hears of the expedition and joins Jedidiah on the adventure.

I live in Oregon and have aspirations to visit Patagonia. Pre-COVID, 2020 was going to be the year I would have competed in my first full Ironman in Penticton, Canada. I have been on a bike more this year than any year before in my life. At a glance this book had everything I thought I would enjoy; bikes, pushing yourself to the limit, adventure, and introspection.

I kept finding myself criticizing the author of this book in my head. I know if it were my trip, I would be going about many things differently. I can’t say that I appreciated the “willy-nilly” planning or preparation demonstrated by these guys, but it was their trip not mine. Jedidiah and Weston completed zero training on bikes and little to no research on the route they will be traveling. They relied heavily on their iPhones, finding a place to camp out of sight of authorities, or cashing in on the generosity of others along their journey. They spoke almost no Spanish and didn’t make the effort to learn any prior to the trip. This detail saddened me. Much of their journey takes place in Central and South America. The boys often met up with other American friends in swanky, vacation rentals or partied in the woods experimenting with drugs. The trip drifts far from the “soul seeking adventure” it seemed to be marketed as Jedidiah and Weston have very different agendas throughout. Jedidiah leaves and comes back missing an entire chunk. Spoiler alert: Weston at one point abandons the trip all together. Jedidiah finishes in Patagonia accompanied by his mother.

As the boys pass through LA, Weston set them up on a brunch meeting with the founders of Instagram. The founders later repost one of Jedidiah and Weston photos. The Instagram “repost” create Insta-fame for the guys and they become one of the first “Insta-Bikers”. This is a play on a term I’ve heard called “Insta-Hiker” where young people engage in an outdoorsy pursuit merely for the Instagrammable quality of the photos they will take along the way. They add 30,000 followers overnight. Rather than a journey to find oneself, it seemed as if they guys were more interested in the travel influencer reputation that would follow them after the trip was complete.