Summer is well under way, and I wanted to share my Summer Reading Challenge with you.
My goal with this challenge is to read ten books (10!) before Labour Day weekend. I kicked this into gear before I was ready to tell you about it (perhaps partly to make sure I was fully committed).
Ten books between now and the end of summer. And I’d love for you to hold me accountable.
I have just finished reading Limitless by Jim Kwik, which is an incredible book about brain fitness and using mindset and other powerful habits to increase one’s learning rates. Mindset and habits are two of my favourite topics, so I am clearly a little biased, but I highly recommend this New York Times best-seller. I also loved Kwik’s speed-reading suggestions – tips that will definitely help with this summer reading challenge!
I’m now halfway through listening to The Power of Regret by Daniel H. Pink. In his ever-engaging writing style, Pink challenges the widely held assumption that regret is a negative emotion and invites us to consider using regret to fuel smarter decisions, help us perform better, and deepen our sense of meaning and purpose. (Meaning and purpose – also two of my favourite topics). This is another excellent read (or “listen”) by a great author. I’d recommend any of Daniel Pink’s books, including When, A Whole New Mind and To Sell is Human.
Once I have finished The Power of Regret, I’m going to tackle the rest of this list below.
My Summer Reading Challenge:
Big Gorgeous Goals – Julie Ellis
I Know How She Does It – Laura Vanderkam
Limitless – Jim Kwik
Move the Room – Trevor Currie
Productivity Ninja – Graham Allcott
The Art of Impossible – Steven Kotler
The Happiness Equation – Neil Pasricha
The Power of Regret – Daniel H. Pink
The Village Effect – Susan Pinker
Think Again – Adam Grant
Are you in?
Would you like to join me on this challenge? You can choose any number of books you like – no requirement (or judgment) here!
Reading does so much more than expand our knowledge. Research has shown reading can make us more confident, empathetic, and better decision makers. Reading even helps to fight depression and prevent stress and dementia, while improving overall life satisfaction.
I know many of us are go-go-go these days and it can be a challenge to make time for reading. If you’re trying to fit more reading into your days, it helps to proactively protect the time and build your reading routines. You can also listen on the go, like I am doing with Daniel Pink’s book. From audio books to podcasts, you can listen while walking, waiting in line, cleaning the basement, or in the car if you’re back to commuting. Another one of my favourite authors, leadership guru Robin Sharma, calls this “traffic university.” I love this concept!
“Leadership belongs to the learners.” Robin Sharma
Here are more strategies to help you make time for reading in your busy life.
What are you reading?
Regardless of whether or not you want to do your own summer reading challenge, I’d love to hear what you are reading. Hearing what others are reading always inspires me to add to my list. Please share in the comments.
Happy Reading!
The Apollo Murders by Colonel Chris Hadfield
The Promise by Damon Galgut
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Ventriloquists by E.R. Ramzipoor
Freezing Order by Bill Browder
Verity by Colleen Hoover
If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Great list, Linda! Thank you. I am intrigued by The Apollo Murders too. I am already planning a Fall Reading Challenge! I will have to add some of these titles. Thanks so much for sharing your suggestions here!
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is my current read. Also in the middle of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I take time off from business non-fiction in the summer!
Thanks for these suggestions, Sarah! I also have a solid fiction list to get through, currently on my nightstand. This may call for another Reading Challenge!