What I've Been Reading Lately, Vol. V

With everyone staying home indefinitely, now seems like a perfect time to share my most recent reads. I last shared at the end of January and I’ve read more than I realized since then. You can check out previous posts in this series here. Hope you’re all having a good time cuddling up with a book and letting your mind get transported elsewhere!

Click to read now or pin to save for later to check out what I've been reading lately!

Winning with Data: Transform Your Culture, Empower Your People, and Shape the Future by Tomaz Tunguz and Frank Bien ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was an informative introduction to the world of data, and a book that makes you think more about how you can leverage data to make even better decisions for your business. The company examples and clear descriptions of what makes each approach important made this an engaging read!

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

At moments I laughed out loud, at other moments I skipped long passages. This book tells a compelling story with beautiful prose, but I could have done without the drawn out theological conversations. I’d recommend this book if you want to sink into a complex and wonderfully challenging read.

Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a book you can fly through! It chronicles the journey of a young woman who moves to Manhattan to follow her dreams and ends up learning important career and life lessons along the way. She begins working as a secretary for the new head of Cosmo and gets to see first hand a woman pushing for what she believes in in a male dominated environment. This was a palate cleanser of sorts for me coming off of a few heavy books. If you’re looking for an upbeat, independent woman in the big city sort of book, go for this!

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jerkin Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So. Good. This book is in the format of interviews with members of a band and the important people surrounding their rise to fame. With sex, drugs, and alcohol you can’t get much more rock and roll than this! I loved the pacing of the book and the characters, and the 70s was a fun time period to read about (it’s great for fans of Fleetwood Mac…). Highly recommend!

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva ⭐️⭐️⭐️

As a fan of Charles Dickens I was excited to read this novel and get someone else’s take on his world. You can move through this book quickly and I’d definitely recommend reading it around Christmas time to get in the spirt. I wasn’t blown away with the writing or the creative take on Dickens’ inspiration, so I’d say you only need to read this one if you’re feeling like a Scrooge around Christmas and want to change that.

The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love historical fiction, and especially anything that has to do with the Revolutionary War. This novel was a great balance between the perspectives of Alexander and Eliza Hamilton. The story was paced well and I enjoyed it, but I found multiple editing mistakes (grammar related) which was a bummer.

Never Spilt the Difference by Chris Voss ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The way Voss weaves stories from his personal experience with negotiating principles keeps this book fast paced and informative. The shift in paradigm from “Getting to Yes,” to figuring out what makes someone say “no” is a new and effective way to think about negotiating. I’d highly recommend this book for people who work on agreements and deals on a regular basis and want to become more effective.

Circe by Madeline Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story is captivating, moving, and makes you think about how precious life is. The novel is narrated by the goddess Circe who is banished by her father, the sun god Helios. What follows is the tale of how Circe hones her own power and the importance of love and life along the way.

The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation by Rich Cohen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was wild! I didn’t realize it was going to be so graphic right from the beginning (maybe I wouldn’t have recommended it for my book club…). It was a fast paced, well researched story and I enjoyed every moment of it. While murders and crimes are not the subject I am generally drawn to, it was an interesting period to read about in Manhattan and I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, compelling read.

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What have you been reading? Any recommendations?

-Alyssa J