December 2022 Reading List

Exiles is the third book in the Aaron Falk series by Jane Harper. The first two I listened to as an audiobook by the wonderful narrator Steve Shanahan, and he was reading this one too. I did have it on hold with the library and there was a LOOOONG waitlist so I bought it on Audible.

I think they may have rushed its release though and forgot to edit the audio. In the early part of the book, there are quite a few times when the narrator repeats the same sentence and extra long pauses. Nonetheless, it’s an excellent story where we rejoin Aaron Falk and his friends in another murder mystery. This one I didn’t predict until all was revealed.

Highly recommend!

Narrated by Steve Shanahan, it runs for 12 hours and 27 minutes.

I’ve never been in a book club and as my reading has increased in recent years it seems like such an enticing way to connect with others. So I admit I do search for “book club” in the library catalogue. And that is how I came across this one.

Wattle Island is a remote (fictitious?) Australian island and for many years they had a book club, but stopped seven years ago. Book club founder Anne wants to restart the group so she contacts librarian Grace on the mainland for help.

It’s a great story on community, resilience and romance. There are also some tough subjects covered.

I’ve read the Dalai Lama’s Cat series by David Michie and I wanted to try out his other work, so with the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, I gave this one read. And look at the cover photo, isn’t that one adorable puppy.

We follow the life of a corgi puppy who is saved from an unknown future to live with the Queen. As one of many corgis in Windsor Castle he has other corgis to help guide him, as well as the inspirational visitors that visit the Queen.

The most poignant quote was:

On the day she dies, even the Queen herself will leave this life with as much as you or me or a beggar in the street.

A book that I found in one of my walk-throughs of the book section of Big W. It’s the story of Wil who receives letters from her deceased mother. Her mother wrote them with the intention of being given to Wil as she was growing up, but for some reason, she doesn’t get them until she is in her twenties.

Through these letters, Wil gets to know her mother who died when she was very young, as well as where she grew up.

It’s an uplifting story of discovery and hope.

While searching for a light-hearted audiobook with a Christmas theme I came across a book in the Eternity Springs series by Emily March. I tracked down the first in the series – Angel’s Rest.

This is the story of Gabe, who has lost everything important to him. He soon meets Nic the Eternity Springs vet when he takes a stray dog for medical assistance. The two are surrounded by many supporting characters that make you feel like you are in a well-loved community that wants the best for everyone.

Narrated by Kathe-Mazur, it runs for 9 hours and 52 minutes.

It was my second reading of Try It and See by Megan Auman. I am on Auman’s newsletter list and she wrote an article recently about how Everything isn’t an Experiment forever, in reference to the Try It and See book she wrote a few years ago. Her insights had me thinking about the content of the book and how I must re-read it and follow through on her advice.

It’s a great business book. It’s a great productivity book.

The premise is that you should take everything as an experiment, and you “Try It and See”. If something doesn’t work out try something else. But her article extends those thoughts further to outline that “everything” isn’t an experiment forever. When you find something that works, use it.

There is also great business advice:

• Make money first
• Ship every day
• Never make anything perfect
• Action is magic
• Organization is overrated
• Charge more

Read the book and sign up to her newsletter. It is very insightful for crafty business owners.

I’ve had this on my to-read list for years. I don’t know much about Louise Hay, other than she started Hay House Publications. But I have consumed a lot of content from Wayne Dyer, who had a lot of his books published by Hay House. Dyer also mentions her quite a bit, and is even in his movie The Shift.

You can heal your life was written in 1984. I found a lot of what she was talking about already in my bank of self-improvement knowledge. Some of it from Dyer’s work but also others. So it might be the case that Hay wrote it first all those years ago and is referenced (indirectly) frequently. So I didn’t find anything new, other than the specific’s about Hay’s life.

I have read Man’s Search for Meaning a few times. It’s one of those books that I like to re-read every few years. It has such solid advice on how to live a good life, even when the conditions are against you.