It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to be in a book club. I know that may sound dramatic, but I love to read and always wished I had people to talk about books with outside of English class. There weren’t any book clubs at my high school or college, but when I joined IBM I became an inaugural member of the IBM NYC book club. While we don’t have too many members (yet), the discussions are wonderful and I look forward to our meetings all month!
Today I’m sharing the books we’ve read thus far, as well as what I’ve been personally reading in between. If you’re a fellow book lover, let’s be friends on Goodreads 🙂
The Circle by Dave Eggers
This was the first book the club read. It’s a novel about what happens when a technology company gains too much power and the consequences of giving away personal information. There were twists I didn’t see coming, fast moving story lines, and thought provoking scenarios. We especially liked to discuss this book since we work for a large tech company. Our conversation centered on how we can be a responsible tech company and allowed us to expand our imagination of what is possible and good for society.
Pro tip: Don’t watch the movie with Emma Watson and Tom Hanks. It was nothing like the book.
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
We alternate between fiction and nonfiction, and our next book was this memoir by the founder of Nike. I wasn’t sure about this one at first, but got so into it! Our discussions were even better around this book as we learned about what it takes to start a company and how much passion and perseverance went into Nike. We were all impressed by how much detail Phil Knight remembered and how we were able to relate to his challenges (although none of us are in the midst of starting a company that will be globally recognized to my knowledge…). I could go on and on about this book, but you should just read it for yourself.
Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett
I actually just picked this book up yesterday (the library didn’t have an e-book copy. Tragedy.) so I can’t make any comment yet. We’re back to fiction and it’s a series of short stories. I’ll let you know what I think about it later haha
Pitch Perfect by Bill McGowan
This book was given to me as a prize during my IBM Summit training (!) and it’s all about how to effectively communicate in public settings. I kept running notes on my phone with all of the tactics included in this book, and will definitely need to reread it. If you want some more information on how to communicate effectively, check out this guest post I did for Career Contessa and my 5 essential public speaking tips.
Russka by Edward Rutherfurd
Oh. My. Goodness. I LOVE Edward Rutherfurd. He writes epic novels (sagas, really) based in different cities/countries and I am planning to read them all. So far I’ve read Paris, New York, and The Princes of Ireland, and now I have added Russka to the list. Each novel follows different families and characters that all end up connecting in the most interesting ways. I love the history and culture I learn about in each book and can’t wait to tackle London next. Cannot recommend these books enough or say how much I love them.
There you have it! These are the books I’ve been reading over the past few months.
What have you been reading? Any recommendations you have?
-AJF
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