Books to Read This Fall and Winter

Books to Read This Fall and Winter

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Picturing myself curled up with a good book and sipping hot chocolate on a cold winter weekend, I mentally browse my To-Read list…

  

 

  1. Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Sheila Heen and Bruce Patton

This book is featured as number one on Huffington Post’s recommendation list of 10 Books Every University Student Should Read. I want to read Difficult Conversations because everybody has them, especially college students. For example, how are you supposed to ask your professor for an extension on an assignment? Or how do you talk to your roommate about something particularly awkward? Difficult conversations will inevitably pop up throughout our lives. I am hoping to be better prepared.

  1. Bossypants by Tina Fey

Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, says Bossypants is “one of the funniest books you’ll ever read.” It is written by comedian Tina Fey, who, in addition to being the former lead writer of SNL, plays Ms. Norbury in Mean Girls. Part of this “hilarious autobiographical comedy book” is set in Chicago, where she began her career, which makes this book all the more relevant for LUC students.

  1. Generation Me by Jean Twenge

This book is about us, children born in the ’80s and ’90s to baby-boomer parents, often referred to as Millenials. It provides insights about what stereotypes older generations hold about us. Aside from “shocking truths” about our lifestyles, I am curious to know why Dr. Twenge, and many others, claims that we are “more confident, assertive, entitled—and more miserable than ever before.”

  1. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

Written by a Harvard psychologist who uses a combination of research and humorous anecdotes to argue that human beings are horrible at predicting what will make them happy, this book attempts to quantify happiness by answering pertinent questions like, “When you go out to eat, is it better to order your favorite dish every time, or to try something new?” It will be interesting to find out which choice will make me happier.

  1. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

The book has now spent 73 weeks on New York Time’s bestseller list. Sheryl Sandberg, one of the world’s youngest female billionaires, recently released a “for graduates” edition that includes the full original text plus new chapters “for the next generation” such as finding your first job and negotiating your salary. I see this as a rare opportunity to glean career advice from the Silicon Valley power-boss who not only runs Facebook, but who represents one of the few women at the top level of business.

  1. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

I tend to avoid spiritual guidebooks but will make a concession for this one. Supposedly, Tolle’s secrets to “inner peace” help focus one’s attention on the importance of living in the present—as opposed to stressing over the past and future, something I often do. So, this New York Times bestseller is my choice for philosophical enlightenment.

 

Other books to read: No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, Delirium by Lauren Oliver

  

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