We are now in June! How is this even possible? Oh right, Coronavirus *rolls eyes*. She has monopolized life and taken ownership of 2020 thus far. In January, I had written a blog outlining all 45 books that I read last year. Most of us who are book lovers might have anticipated more downtime to read, but honestly, I haven’t been able to concentrate as much. Between homeschooling, observing best covid-19 practices, taking care of my mental health, carving out time for my daughter, and watching the world in turmoil etc. I have read far less in this half-year. However, my online community has asked me to share the books I have read thus far and here they are. Let me add, that similar to music, we all have preferences. Some years I might focus on one theme and in another year, I might be all over the place. Whatever your preference, I hope that there is a book that you might find interesting.

I am making a conscious effort to read more books written by female and black authors, especially Caribbean authors. There is definitely a different vibe when you are able to identify places, schools, or colloquial expressions that we use. There are Caribbean authors who are sharing their experiences, lending their voices and creative souls to include communities that aren’t often represented due to cultural and societal indifference or disgust. Regardless of the theme, it is delightful being represented in some way, shape or form. If you need a little help getting started on Caribbean books, you may like 100 Caribbean Books That Made Us

I encourage you to always review books before you purchase to assess if they have themes that you are comfortable with. For my sister queens who have been sexually violated, ensure that you review books for triggers that might send you into an emotional spiral.

My awesome resources are: @2treads, @rebelwomenlit, @decentred_lit_ja, @thetallestpineapple

As always pace yourself. The number of books you read for the year isn’t relevant. If you aren’t an avid reader, don’t be ashamed. Take your time, if you get through one book a year, kudos to you. The more you practice, the more you will find the time and even look forward to reading. If you are often distracted, you could try audiobooks via www.audible.com Reading is personal and shouldn’t be compared to others.

I encourage you to try new types of books, try something different from what you are accustomed to and try to learn something that you can apply to be and do better. That being said, here are some of the books, I have managed to read thus far:

***** indicates the books I loved the most.

Feminist &/or Race (4)

THICK– Tressie McMillan ***** (LOVED)

Hood Feminism– Mikki Kendall ****

So You Want To Talk About Race– Ijeoma Oluo *****

Natives:Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire– Akala ***** (LOVED)

Feminist &/or Race- Fiction (7)

These Ghosts Are Family– Maisy Card ***** (LOVED)

Here Comes The Sun – Nicole Dennis-Benn ***** (LOVED)

PATSY– Nicole Dennis-Benn *****

The Thing Around Your Neck– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Girl With the Louding Voice– Abi Daré ***** (LOVED)

Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche ***** (LOVED)

Confessions of Frannie Langton – Sara Collins

Memoirs (4)

Daring To Drive– Manal-al Sharif *****

Beneath the Tamarind Tree– Isha Sesay

Shoe Dog – Phil Knight

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind– William Kamkwamba *****

Social Science (1)

What the Dog Saw- Malcolm Gladwell*****

Personal Development & Mindset (4)

Atomic Habits – James Clear

Limitless– Jim Kwik

The One Thing – Gary Keller& Jay Papasan

Linchpin – Seth Godin *****

Business (3)

Fanatical Prospecting – Jeb Blount

The Future is Faster Than You Think– Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler

Purple Cow -Seth Godin

I am here to remind us all, that going forward, we shall continue to educate ourselves, understand the world and people around us, write our own books, document our own experiences, provide cultural and historical context for the next generations and create generational wealth and legacy.

Feel free to recommend books in the comments or share your thoughts/reviews on any of the books I have listed. I welcome them all.

Cheers

The post Books I’ve Read in Lockdown appeared first on Terri-Karelle.

A few days ago, I shared on social media that I managed to read 45 books in 2019. While many of my followers were shocked that I had managed to read so many books, others had tons of questions. Some of the most popular questions I got were:

• How do you manage to read so many books when you’re so busy?!
• What strategies can I implement to read more (or as much as you do)?
• Can you share the full list of books you read in 2019?
• What’s the first book you’re reading in 2020?

Well, guess what. I’m answering all of those questions right now! It took several hours to get it all down, but with so many asking, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to share and hopefully help others to expand their horizons through reading more books.

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The quote I despise the most in this world is “Ignorance is bliss.” It’s not bliss, it ain’t cute and it certainly does not encourage growth. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss 2019 was an awesome year of growth personally and professionally. The more I read, the more I learnt, the more I learnt, the more I grew! I close out this year having read 45 books: 40 hard copies (missing book is Tipping Point- dunno where it is ) and 5 audiobooks. My Top 6? • • “Born a Crime” ~ @trevornoah “Talking to Strangers” ~ @malcolmgladwell “Outliers” ~ @MalcolmGladwell “Dear Ijeawele” ~ @chimamanda_adichie “The Book of Joy” ~ Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” ~ Yuval Noah Harari What were yours? #yourjamaicangirl #terrikarelle #bookstagram

A post shared by Terri-Karelle (@terrikarelle) on Dec 31, 2019 at 4:36am PST

Strategies for Reading More in 2020

1. Don’t compete.

Read as many or as little as you want. It’s not a competition. If you want to read more, do it because you want to better yourself. Do it because you realise that there is so much out there to learn about and because you want to enhance your self development. Please don’t read because “successful people do it”, don’t do it because you want to match or outdo what others are, don’t do it because you jumping on a bandwagon. If you read for all the wrong reasons, then chances are you won’t retain, learn or apply it to you life.

2. Don’t limit yourself.

Most people set targets, my very humble and unpopular opinion is that you shouldn’t. Targets will have you speeding through books without actually enjoying or absorbing the material, just to check it off your list. On the other hand, targets can also be limiting – you set a finite number in your head, you reach it, then you stop. If a number is significant number to you, cool! If not, don’t limit yourself to any one target. Quantity won’t matter if the quality sucks.

3. Make the time and make it sacred.

I’ve heard so many people say that they just don’t have the time to read. Yet we make time for so many people and things that don’t serve us, that only seem to distract. So instead of leaving reading until you have some free time (which will never come), carve out some time in your day or week just for reading, and don’t allow for any distractions. Put your phone on silent, mute notifications, lock yourself away or go somewhere no one can disturb you. Better yet – all that time you waste standing in lines, waiting for meetings to start, waiting for food in restaurants, commuting to work, etc. – read! I travel with my books everywhere. I always have books in my car, bag and at least 3 audiobooks available on my phone. So whenever I find down time, I read my books.

4. Find what makes you happy!

I don’t buy the argument that print books are better or superior to e-books or audiobooks, or vice versa. I also don’t read a book just because it’s trending or it’s related to my career. I read in the format that’s most comfortable for me (mostly hard copy, with some audiobooks for faster or on-the-go reading) and I read what interests me (currently books about women, leadership, memoirs, mindset, the future). Choose what’s most comfortable for you and works with your lifestyle, and read whatever intrigues you. Otherwise, it will be boring and difficult and fuel a hatred for reading that so many have, simply because they’re keeping up with others’ expectations.

5. Read multiple books simultaneously.

I read multiple books at a time. Yup! We do it when we are in school, don’t we? We read multiple books covering various subject material. Some of us manage various tasks and projects at the same time and yet we limit our brain into thinking that we have to read one book at a time before we can start another. Why? I sometimes read up to 3 books all at the same time. If it helps, try choosing books from different genres or on different topics, so you don’t mix them up.

6. Follow great resources and read reviews

I don’t buy a book just because someone says I should. Instead, I follow certain hashtags and resources that I trust to get some great recommendations (such as @rebelwomenlit @decentred_lit_ja and @2treads on Instagram), but I also do my own research to find reviews and opinions on the books to see if they are a right fit for me. Reviews help, but just because one person likes (or doesn’t like) a book doesn’t mean it’s for you (or isn’t). Ultimately, it’s your decision – so always read reviews thoroughly to find out what people liked or didn’t like to determine whether those will also apply to you.

7. Pace yourself.

Finally, don’t force yourself to go from reading no books for years to reading 50 in one year. Practice becomes perfect. If you are rusty and trying to retrain yourself to read more, pace yourself and practice. Step by step. Commit and be disciplined, but don’t force yourself to go from zero to a hundred right away. The more you read, the easier it becomes.

The 45 Books I Read in 2019 (By Topic/Genre)

By Women (4) **

Books written by awesome women

1. We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. Dear Ijeawele – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3. How to Get Sh*t Done – Erin Falcolner
4. I’m Judging You – Luvvie Ajayi

Thought-Provoking (9)

Books on history, sociology and psychology

5. Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
6. Talking With Strangers – Malcolm Gladwell
7. Originals – Adam Grant
8. Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
9. David & Goliath – Malcolm Gladwell
10. 21 Lessons of the 21st Century – Yuval Noah Harari
11. Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell
12. Elephant In The Brain – Jeffrey Kafer
13. When – Daniel H Pink

Autobiographies & Memoirs (8)

14. Born A Crime – Trevor Noah
15. Glass Castle – Jeanette Walls **
16. Educated – Tara Westover **
17. Girl Who Smiled Beads – Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil ***
18. Solitary – Albert Wood-Fox
19. Small Fry – Lisa Brennan-Jobs **
20. Steve Jobs – Walter Isaacson
21. My Political Journey – P.J. Patterson

Financial Literary (2)

22. Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert T. Kiyosaki
23. The Richest Man in Babylon – George Samuel Clayson

Leadership in Business (7)

24. Dare To Lead – Brené Brown
25. Radical Candor – Kim Scott
26. Good to Great – James C Collins
27. The Business Coach – Bradley Sugars
28. It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy At Work – Jason Fried & David Hansson
29. Developing The Leader In You – John C Maxwell

Personal Development & Mindset (7)

30. The Book of Joy – His Holiness Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
31. The War of Art – Steven Pressfield
32. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
33. If Caterpillars Can Fly, So Can I – Alvin Day
34. The 10X Rule – Grant Cardone
35. No Limits – John C Maxwell
36. Today Matters – John C Maxwell
37. 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth – John C Maxwell

Fiction (7)

38. Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens **
39. The Hate U Give – Angela Thomas **
40. She Would Be King – Wayetu Moore **
41. The Fall of Saints – Wanjikū Ngūgī
42. Queenie – Candice Carty-Williams
43. By Love Possessed – Lorna Godson
44. Black Leopard Red Wolf – Marlon James https://amzn.to/3dKI3Q6

Short Stories (1)

45. Chat ‘Bout! – An Anthology of Jamaican Conversations – Shelley Sykes-Coley

**Books centered around a female protagonist.

Reading Plans for 2020

I may read more in 2020, I may read less. For me, it all comes down to quality and not quantity. To be honest, I hadn’t even realized how many books I had read in 2019 until someone asked me for a tally. At the end of the day, I read books because I truly enjoy them and I love learning through other people’s experiences and exploring various interesting topics from the perspective of the experts in the field.

What’s my first book for 2020? Linchpin by Seth Godin. In fact, I’ve already finished reading it.

The post The 45 Books I Read in 2019 appeared first on Terri-Karelle.