12 Books in 2018 (Part 2)

Part 1 is available here.

I loved reading as a child and young adult. It set me on a path towards a liberal arts major in college and, ultimately, law school. As an attorney, I read hundreds of pages of material every week, but it's not the sort of stuff that sparks the imagination.

So, when I was pulling together a list of goals for 2018, I decided to read 12 books this year just for fun.

To facilitate this, armed with last year's library card and a hand-me-down iPad, I downloaded the Libby app, linked it to my library card number, and unlocked a universe of ebooks. Incredible! I am in love with this tool that makes the library's collection so accessible.

Here are six books that I've read just for fun during the second half of 2018:

• Hunger by Roxane Gay. About all the invisible things that influence and flow from the authors relationship with food and her body. 

• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. A story about finding worth at the end of life when you're feeling left behind by the ones you love. This tugged at my heartstrings because I have worried a great deal while watching my grandfather struggle with the death of my grandmother.

• Option B by Sheryl Sandburg and Adam Grant. Stories about resilience and finding joy after devastation.

• My Grandmother Asked me to tell you She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman. I liked Backman's character development in A Man Called Ove so much that I came back for more and was rewarded. This time around, the cast is larger and the plot more complex.

• Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. Is this a movie yet? It should be. A novel rich in historical detail punched up with girl power.

• Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman.  I came back for a third novel by Backman--a spinoff of My Grandmother Asked me to tell you She's Sorry. American popular culture largely ignores the elderly. Each of the three Backman novels that I read this year were led by an older, if not elderly, character. I enjoyed this shift of perspective. (Backman is a Swede.)

I finished this goal earlier than expected (no doubt as a result of moving from a law firm to in-house role at work). During what remains of 2018 I plan to focus on non-fiction. Have you read any good books lately? Some of the best recommendations I've received in the last ten or so years have come through this blog or #lawtwitter.