Tote Bag Awards 2019
Welcome to the 4th edition of the Tote Bag Awards. I read and rate every year. Sadly, this year hasn’t included as many books as I wanted BUT I still have opinions to share. Same categories, new year. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
For 2018’s awards, visit my page here.
Fiction: Life on Volcanoes: Contemporary Essays. By Janet McAllister (editor), Tulia Thompson, Tse Ming Mok, Courtney Sina Meredith, Ruth Larsen, Tui Gordon. Sadly, I didn’t read enough fiction this year. But, I did make time for this collection of essays. Life on Volcanoes is a good reminder to the power of nature (and how sometimes it can be quite destructive). It’s a beautiful collection that contains subjects that deeply spoke to me by NZ essayists. Get in there!
Non-Fiction: Dare to Lead-Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. By Brené Brown. This should be no surprise to people who know me. I’ve been on quite leadership journey since reading this and watching Dr. Brown’s Netflix special. Looking for language about vulnerability, shame, or empathy to discuss at work? This book is it. Great storytelling and very relatable.
Honorable Mention: We Are Here- An Atlas of Aotearoa. By Chris McDowall and Tim Denee. Map nerds unite! You will love this coffee-table book full of infographics, maps and data. I open it up weekly to digest some info about Aotearoa / New Zealand I never knew. It’s beautifully designed and chocka full of information to share at the dinner table too.
The Planets. By Dava Sobel. I also had a astronomy/planetary phase this year. I got really into reading science magazines, news about the universe and any doco about planets. I found this book at a local secondhand shop and continue to go back to it. The combination of storytelling and narrative is fascinating when you put it in the context of space. Each planet has it’s own story and Sobel tells them each very differently. A very mindblowing read!
Don’t Bother: Talk like TED- The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds. By Carmine Gallo. I had big ambitions of apply to speak at TEDx. And I had a few speaking engagements this year. After watching Brené Brown’s talks, I wanted to learn more about storytelling and speaking. This was not helpful. Spoiler: there secrets is practice and professional training. Don’t waste your time.
Have you read any great/good/meh books this year? I could use some fiction recommendations for 2020 and would love to hear from you. And this is your annual reminder to take a break from your smartphone and feeds and read a book!
