Summer Reading
July 26, 2021
If you’re looking for some late summer reading, here are three recommendations: a delightful coming-of-age story set in rural Ireland, an optimistic novel about climate change (that’s novel!), and a how-to on negotiating by a former FBI top hostage negotiator.
This is Happiness
By Niall Williams
I found out about this funny, charming, bittersweet novel from fellow communicator Daphne Gray-Grant who, amazingly, reads 52 books a year! This is Happiness is filled with beautiful language and too-true insights about the human condition. I agreed 100% with this reviewer from The Washington Post who confessed: “Halfway through, I realized that if I didn’t stop underlining passages, the whole book would be underlined.”
Visit Books I've Read to check out the other 51 books Daphne, our intrepid reader, reviewed last year…and the year before that…and the year before that…
The Ministry for the Future
By Kim Stanley Robinson
This one comes recommended by my partner Richard. He says it's a must-read for anyone who cares about climate change (um…in other words, that should be everyone). Robinson is a well-known sci-fi writer, and he sets this story in a plausible near future where an international climate crisis body has been “charged with defending all living creatures present and future who cannot speak for themselves.” It isn’t a typical dystopic novel; however, as it offers ideas and suggestions for how we can cooperate to stave off ultimate disaster.
Never Split the Difference
By Chris Voss with Tahl Raz
This was another Daphne Gray-Grant recommendation; in fact, it was Daphne’s Nonfiction Book of the Year for 2020. And while I haven’t read it yet, I will. I must. For, I am truly one of the world’s worst negotiators. I’m counting on you, Chris Voss!