The meet up was so wonderful. The chat was great…my performance on my workout … not so much!
So this is the thread that was requested for Books and TEDtalks. Thank you @Gossimrr for inspiring the conversation on positive mindset. I have used these two Tedtalks below in workshops and they have been received well.
Dr. Jane McGonigal: Super Better (her Book). The TEDtalk is great. I haven’t watched this for a long time. As I listened to the intro today to see if it was the right one, I listened to it through the lens of ‘Zwift as gaming’ and ‘special missions’ as events or races. There is a lot of crossover to our world of cycling virtually. I hope you enjoy it If you do, I noticed she has more recent talks too.
Books: One book I thoroughly enjoyed recently was Anxious People by Fredrick Backman. I love his writing style. I listened to this on audible, as I had some of his other books. It was the same narrator and she really gets his ‘voice’. His humour is quirky and this one is tender and funny too. If you like this one, you’ll like his others. I apologize - @vivian.a.workman was it you who talked about Hockey? He has a very good book called Bear town, hockey theme AND so much more! Great characters.
Here are some other good ones of late:
Pretty Things: (Nicole Kidman has purchased the rights and will produce and star in a mini series based on this book).
The Forgotten Ones: A tender look at mental health.
Where the Forest Meets the Stars: emotional and heartwarming
The Giver of Stars: Historical fiction about the pack horse librarians of Kentucky who deliver books to people who have never had any.
I’ll stop now or else I won’t get dinner ready on time. Lot’s more to offer. Looking forward to hearing of other’s favs!
Nala’s world. About a guy riding his bike around the world with a cat. They also have an Instagram account and YouTube channel. It’s a fun read and he does a lot of charity work.
Devil in the White City: HL Holmes and how the world fair allowed him to be so prolific.
Didn’t mention but I do like The girl with the dragon tattoo. Interesting story and it kept me engaged.
If your looking for something else try A theory of Everything by Wilbur (the other one is astrophysics. While interesting they are two completely different things). My thesis was based partially on this book.
Classics I always direct to Astrophanes - The Clouds (spelling may be off of the author). It’s a love story and one of the few classics that stuck with me. Short and unlike a lot of other texts from this period it’s not too verbose. If you want other offerings of Classical Greek and Roman let me know. Took an excellent survey course in college that focused on a lot of the ancient “great texts” from antiquity up to the some renaissance. Great course in that it also picked up eastern texts.
Cycling related check out Jill Horner. I started reading her last year when I was in Europe and could sleep. She presents it all and I respect it.
And remember hillbilly elegy is an ultra-conservative cliche fest of what Appalachia needs to do written by a country club boy who spent his summers with his grandmother. I’m from Appalachia and grew up in this world. It takes the easy way out dealing with the issues of a population that has been constantly sub-servant to absentee landlords (ie mine bosses) and constantly told the bear that can aspire to is either military or manual labor. The level of simplicity is his analysis would be laughed at if it was presented as a thesis. The Glass Castle KD much better. And if you want to learn about the opioid crisis I suggest Dreamland.
I can go on so if your looking for a specific genera let me know. I also love music and the discussion about focusing on a specific instrument.
Last but not least here’s the insta for my cats. Started for just my 3 paw cat but it’s now all of them.
For some odd reason I haven’t read a fiction book in decades… so these books might sound pretty boring! Although each and every one of these gave me a new perspective in some area of my life:
Atomic Habits - James Clear
Never Split The Difference - Chris Voss (his new Master Class is awesome too)
How to be an Imperfectionist - Stephen Guise
@vivian.a.workman - I grew up reading everything I could on Greek mythology. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed them until I listened to two really good books that had excellent narrators. Circe by Madeline Miller was rich and entertaining and Mythos retold and read by Stephen Fry is excellent. He has such a wry sense of humour and puts a modern spin on some of them.
And, @Stefanie I forgot to mention Stanley’s instagram page is @stanleyalbertdoodle
If you do, I noticed she has more recent talks too.
Lot’s more to offer. Looking forward to hearing of other’s favs!
