My Reading List (Jan-March 2023)
Today, I share a list of the books I have read so far in 2023.
You can find my best books of 2022 here.
You can find the books I read in 2021 here and here.
And here you can find the 10 Books That Changed My Life.
I hope it sparks your reading!
The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist
I wrote extensively about this book in my post about Transforming Your Relationship with Money. It was my second time reading, and a great reminder of the energetics of money—the soul behind every purchase or investment. Highly recommend. Again coupling well with her talks here, and here.
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Over the past year, this one became a phenom bestseller. Since I was exploring my relationship with money, I picked it up. It's an easy, fun read. A big lesson of the book is that we imagine people are rational about money, yet we are all rationally irrational. I know that's a bit of head twister, but it comes down to us valuing different things.
An example Morgan shares from his personal life was how he decided to buy his house outright when the "proper" financial advice would be to get a mortgage and allow the money to grow. He didn't care about that because he valued the feeling of owning his home and not having a monthly payment.
If you're on the money book train, I Will Teach You to be Rich both saved and made me money. Terrible title, but Ramit Sethi is legit.
The End of Your World by Adyashanti
This book blew my mind. The subtitle is no-nonsense talk on the nature of enlightenment. It was both a comfort and a caution. I recommend to anyone who considers themselves on a spiritual journey.
Some Book Quotes:
"Bliss is a by/product of awakening. Chasing the by product is missing the real thing."
"Spiritual awakening is very different from having a mystical experience. One of the hallmarks of true awakening is an end of seeking."
"Don't ask how do I stay awake, ask how am I unenlightening myself? How am I putting myself back in illusion?"
"You may feel like you have lost the realization. It is natural, nothing has gone wrong everything has gone to a deeper level."
If you want to read all my notes, check them out here. (Excuse typos/grammar errors)
Human Design by Chetan Parkyn
My human design deep dive began at the end of January with a reading from Hilary Jackendoff. I found out I was a 4/6 Splenic Manifestor (IYKYK). It affirmed how I operate and paired well with other personality profiles I studied, like Meyer's Briggs and the Enneagram. Hilary recommended this book as a good starting point.
I went hard on HD for two months and have since come up for air. I was going too far down the rabbit hole. The more nuanced it got, the more limiting it felt. So I've let my current understanding marinate. I see all these personality profiles as tools, but I caution when you outsource your intuition to what some typing tells you.
Journey of Awakening by Ram Dass
Some teachers are the real deal, like Ram Dass. He didn't use to resonate with me because of my resistance to psychedelics, but since exploring psychedelics myself, I've come to his teachings in a new way.
The Journey of Awakening is a fun smorgasbord of meditation techniques and quotes from various wise beings. The book looks bigger than it is. Half of its pages are a directory for mediation centers across the United States. I enjoyed exploring and seeing what places were still functioning. As a millennial, I can't imagine finding places through a book! 🙂
Some Quotes:
"The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can’t be organized or regulated. It isn’t true that everybody should follow any one path. Listen to your own Truth."
"We spend so much effort trying to get out of something that didn’t exist until we created it."
"To compare yourself with others is to forget the uniqueness of your own journey."
"You have to be somebody to become nobody."
Generative Coaching by Steven Gilligan
Steven Gilligan is a psychologist who gave a guest workshop in an Evryman seminar. I enjoyed learning his views on how trance states create healing. Always looking to grow my coaching skills, I wanted to see how he brought his therapeutic background into the coaching arena. I have practiced the processes and skills in the book with clients and have found them genuinely helpful. Recommend for anyone interested in helping people create change.
A Shift in Being by Leon Vanderpool
For the same reason I read Generative Coaching, I picked up this book. It was a long build up to some of the actual methods. And the methods themselves were valuable but were familiar, which was affirming. I know friends who are coaches who really enjoyed it, so see what calls to you.
Cultish by Amanda Montell
I have mixed opinions about this book. On the one hand, I couldn't put it down because the topic is so relevant to my world. But on the other hand, Amanda comes with a skeptical, borderline cynical attitude.
The book focuses on the language of a cult movement. Hence "Cultish", like English or Spanish. Her examples span classic cults like Jonestown and Heaven's Gate to more modern groups and influencers with cult-like behavior, ie Soul Cycle, Crossfit, and MLM companies.
My issue with this book is that she judges some of her accounts of groups at face value without speaking to them directly. We are all guilty of looking at someone's Instagram and making assumptions. Imagine then writing a book about your judgments. Of course, she has every right to.
Overall, engaging but clearly written from a biased worldview. (As is my review of her.)
Super Fans by Pat Flynn
From a book about cults to one to help you create your own cult! (Jk, but not really.) Super Fans is a fun book to learn what it takes to build an audience of people who love your work. (META MOMENT: I secretly hope that's you.😊) I listened to the audiobook, which I loved. I recommend to anyone who wants to grow a business on and offline doing what they love. You can learn a lot for free from Pat Flynn on his podcast Smart Passive Income and Youtube Channel.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Best for last, and only fiction book I read. What a treat and feeling of accomplishment to make it through a 600-page novel! Thank you to Rob, a reader of these letters, for powering through a years worth of books and coming out with this gem.
I found the characters and storylines easy to follow, which usually trips me up epic novels like this. It isn't a feel-good read, as some scenes are quite brutal. However, whenever I picked it up, which worked nicely into an evening routine, it transported me to The Salinas Valley at the turn of the 20th century. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring its terrain.
For those that didn't see my last reading list, Rob read 52 books 🤯 last year and made a list of his favorites. Check them out here.
Help: I'm looking for another great fiction book like East of Eden. Do you have a recommendation?
Please respond to this email or DM me on Instagram @louredmond_ and let me know!