My 2018 Reading List – Motivation, Self Love, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Comedy

One of my resolutions has been to read more for the last two or three years and this year I’ve collected enough books to finally put together a reading list. These books have been gifts from family or they’ve been books I’ve had on my bedside table for months and have been meaning to read, either way, I plan on conquering them all and there are some real gems in here. The plan for today is to go through these and just tell you why I picked them up, what I’ve heard about the book and then once I’ve read them I’ll update this post with my review.

Nice Girls ^Still Don’t get the Corner Office / Lois P Frankel, PhD

This was a gift from my Aunt a couple of Christmases ago and I’ve shamefully still not read it. An absolute cult classic, full of valuable life lessons for women in the workplace. From how to navigate office politics, to how to ask for a raise or extra support with work this book is something that especially now I’ve graduated and am making my way into the industry as a social media professional I’m hoping this little gem will help me be wiser and more confident.

Year of Yes / Shonda Rhimes

This is my most recent purchase and although I’m only a couple of chapters deep I AM LOVING THIS. Shonda Rhimes is the mastermind behind some of the most successful TV series ever *anyone ever heard of Greys Anatomy or Scandal? … thought so* Well this is the beautifully honest telling of how Shonda realized that she never said yes to anything. After an evening dining with the president, she came to the realization that although that evening was one of the best of her life, she’d have said no to the offer had she have been given the option. This sparks a year of change and personally, I can’t wait to read more of this. She’s amazing – a must read.

The Wisdom of Crowds / James Surowiecki

I bought this whilst I was writing my dissertation last year and never got round to finishing it because, despite how truly brilliant it is, I did find it quite hard going as a reader. James Surowiecki delves into societies psychology and how if given a problem to solve a large group of people would solve it better than a small group of experts. A very clever narrative on modern opinion leaders, one that will teach me some things.

Truly Madly Guilty/ Liane Moriarty

This book truly makes me feel guilty, I bought and started this book back in August! August! and as it happens every year, the holiday was over and so too was my attention span for this book. I’ve struggled to get back into it ever since and I’m hoping this spring I can make it happen. From the same writer as Big Little Lies and The Husbands Secret, the concept for this looks like everything I hope for in good fiction.

Beautiful broken things / Sara Barnard

Not my usual kind of read but considering the hype surrounding it I figured it was worth a go. From what I know of it, it’s a tale of female friendship through growing up and figuring out who they want to be. Will update this post once I’ve read it if you’ve already read or heard of this one, leave me a comment below I’d love to know what you thought of it.

Lean In *For Graduates / Sheryl Sandberg

If you don’t know who Sheryl Sandberg is then I suggest you stop reading here and go and treat yourself to a little TED talk all about “Leaning In”. Sheryl is a catalyst for change in the workplace and I remember reading Lean In for the first time when I was 17 or 18 and being completely in awe of her, not just for the topics she was teaching me about but for the way she delivered them, honest, frank, occasionally funny and unapologetically feminine. This new edition for graduates I’m hoping is going to shed some light and advice on the working world from Sheryl’s point of view and honestly I have a long list of questions I’d love to get her thoughts on so let’s hope this book answers some of those.

How to be champion / Sarah Millican

From one powerhouse to another, Sarah Millican popped onto the British comedy scene many years ago and for me has always been completely hysterical because she says exactly what we’ve all thought once but have never been brave enough to say, and I don’t mean that in a clique “oh yeah we all do that” kind of way, I mean it’s a laughing out loud on the train “I’ve thought that before but never ever out loud” kind of way and for that she is perfection. This book looks like a healthy dose of motivational-self help style life advice covered in Millican humor and I just know I’m going to love it.

So there we have it, my 2018 reading list. I’ve linked all of the books on Amazon to make it super quick to get your hands on them and get stuck in. If you have any book recommendations you think I’d like then please message me on social media or comment below and let me know what you think I should read next.