July 2023 Reading List

The Vanishing Type is book number 5 in The Secret, Book, and Scone Society series.

It’s another easy read, but this time the focus is on Hester, one of the members of the society who runs the bakery.

A dead man is found on a hiking trail and the society puts the pieces together to find out how this person is linked to Hester.

The 7th book in the Eternity Springshttps://www.goodreads.com/series/52517-eternity-springs series and I listened to it once again – such a good escape.

In Miracle Road the focus is on basketball coach Lucca Romano, whose family have been holidaying in Eternity Springs for many years and where his Mum now lives. He needs a break from his life as a coach due to a traumatic event that is slowly revealed.

Then there is Hope Montgomery, the school teacher who is newish to town and also has a troubling path.

As with the other Eternity Spring books you can pick what will happen next, but it’s a lovely story of empathy and the importance of family and friends.

Narrated by Amy Landon, it runs for 10 hours and 51 minutes.

I picked this book up from the library a few months ago as I delve into selling bags and accessories that I sew under the label Sapphorium. I’ve tried a few times at selling my sewn items in the past, but this time I’m giving it all I’ve got and I’m learning as much as I can. Which is why I’ve had this book on the coffee table for a while.

The book covers a lot about the design process of your craft and the creative cycle. This cycle involves design, create, evaluate and change. The text takes you step by step through this process along with exercises along the way to improve your craft.

There is a chapter on where to sell your craft that doesn’t go into a lot of depth, but for a novice, it can get you on the right path.

There are many artist interviews throughout the book sharing their experiences and knowledge, making it a good start on your creative business journey.

This is the story of Robert Iger, who at the time of writing the book (2019) had been the CEO of Walt Disney for 14 years. According to Wikipedia he did retire from the CEO position at the end of 2021, but was re-instated in November 2022. And of course, he has been in the press recently in regards to the writers strike.

It’s a blow-by-blow account of Iger’s professional career in the television industry before working for Disney.

There is a lot of information about what happens behind the scenes of Disney with company buyouts, which makes me as a small business owner feel a bit baffled about how big business works.

An interesting read that I’d recommend.

Introduction narrated by Robert Iger, with the remainder read by Jim Frangione, it runs for 8 hours and 45 minutes.

My most enjoyable read of the month.

Emma Carey tells her story of falling 14,000 feet when doing a tandem sky dive. Carey and her instructor both survived, with Carey’s body taking the full impact leaving her a paraplegic.

It goes into a little detail about her recovery process, but there are many gapping holes. I would classify it as an inspirational or self-help book that encourages you to grow in your adversity.

I really liked Carey’s mantra that she formulated when she didn’t know how to explain how she was feeling early in her recovery:

If you can, you must.