A Few Recommended Reads
With that in mind here are some of the books I'm currently reading and some of my favourites as well. Feel free to add your faves to the comments section below.
Non-fiction
Infidel: My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
This is an incredible true story that my wife and I both really enjoyed. It's told from the perspective of the author who escapes her Muslim upbringing in Africa and flees for her life to Europe. Against her families wishes and ditching her arranged marriage there is a bounty place on her capture and return. She later becomes a member of Parliament in the Netherlands and advocates for helping others suffering as she once did back in Africa.
The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz
This book came out as a movie a few years but really didn't do it justice. But that's no surprise. Movies can never measure to an incredible book. Recently as well, there have been claims that the story was fabricated or exaggerated. This doesn't change it for me. I still found it a great story about over-coming adversity, the will to live and realizing how good we have things.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Are you seeing a pattern here? Yeah, I like stories of survival and Unbroken is one of the best. This the story of Louise Zamperini from California who served in the Air Force during WWII. The other thing about Mr. Zamperini is that he was on track (no pun intended) to break the 4 minute mile well before Roger Bannister did. In fact Zamperini ran a 4:12 in the sand the day before his plane went down during the war. The movie comes out on Christmas Day btw.
A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
This is another one my wife recommended and it was a page turner for sure. The girl in the story, Amanda, is from Sylvan Lake-Red Deer, Alberta which is interesting as we know where that is and maybe know people from this area. Anyways, Amanda is a young traveller who is starting to branch out into photo journalism but given her late start and lacking formal credentials decides to follow the stories no one else is willing to cover. This leads her to Somalia where she is kidnapped and held for ransom.
Out of My League: A Rookies Survival in the Bigs by Dirk Hayhurst
This is one of two books I borrowed from Cody Almond while visiting him in Switzerland last year. While it's a baseball story it a great read for young athletes making the transition from the minors to the bigs. I finished this one on the fight from London to Vancouver btw.
What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People by Joe Navarro
Everything we do physically has a meaning. Do we cross our legs? Touch our throats? Shift in our seat? Avoid eye contact? Cross our arms? Clear our throat? This was an interesting book looking at why we do what we do. The author does a good job of setting the stage by explaining how the freeze-flight-fight options factor into what areas of our brain we are relying on and helping to explain our actions.
David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
I really liked Gladwell's previous works but this one not so much. This initial example using the biblical story of David & Goliath was interesting and well done. The following examples through the rest of the book weren't as good. It was a real struggle to finish this book. The next book he puts out I'll take more time to read some reviews first before buying.
Hope this helps give you some ideas for your own reading list. Or if there's someone on your list maybe you can pick something up for Christmas.
Chris [fb-like
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