My LinkedIn Friends Reveal What They’re Reading During Uncertain Times

Unsplash Photo Credit: Tomas Pap

For most of us, it’s been a crazy few weeks. Stay-at-home orders. Trips to the grocery for toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Frequent logins to check bank account balances. 

As a respite from all of this madness, many of us have turned to books as a respite. I recently asked my LinkedIn friends to reveal what books they’re nestled in these days. And lo and behold, a few chimed in. Here’s what they had to say: 

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Tried by War - Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James McPherson.  

“I’ve always found Lincoln to be a magnificent case study in leadership,” says U.S. Marine Corp Veteran Ty Lewis.  This book, he notes, offers two key lessons that are highly relevant for the times.  

“One, that if we have a higher purpose in our lives, the pressures we face become a calling; if not, it’s nothing more than stress that hopefully won’t ultimately wear us down.  Second, whatever trials we may currently face, the human spirit is proven far more resilient than we can imagine.”

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Why Buddhism Is True by Robert Wright

“This book has been a complete game-changer for me,” notes Cheryl Johnson who was featured in a “Great Books, Great Minds” article earlier this year. 

She continues:  “I think I'm getting a glimpse of how to feel what I feel during all this uncertainty without becoming a prisoner to those feelings. This is the perfect companion to the book I just finished: Judson Brewer's "The Craving Mind." Both books have brought me clarity that I'm not finding anywhere else right now.

Cheryl Johnson

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Dune by Frank Herbert

This science fiction novel is one of the greatest ever written according to its massive fan base. Health technology leader John Emerson calls it a wonderful, gripping thriller and a classic that I finally took the time for.  “Highly recommend,” says Emerson.

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Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Disease, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall and Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson

Alecia Huck, a Denver-based consultant for fast-growing companies knocked out two books recently and couldn’t help but mention both (my request asked for one).  She calls “Loonshots,” a brilliant look at the structures that support or kill innovation. 

“The book Creativity Inc by Amy Wallace and Edwin Catmull is up next,” says Huck.  

“Wait, Alecia,” let the rest of us get caught up. 

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Transgressions: Edited By Ed McBain

Our mutual love for the author Ayn Rand brought Ken West and I together on LinkedIn. So of course, I was expecting him to chime in about what book he’s soaking himself in at present. 

Says West: “Recently, I completely organizing my library. In doing so, I discovered a book of ten Novellas that I had neglected to read (among many other books): TRANSGRESSIONS (edited by Ed McBain).  It contained seven by authors I was not familiar with, each with a novella that was uniformly excellent and engaging.”

“Authors like Donald E. Westlake, Joyce Carol Oates, Walter Mosley, Sharyn McCrumb, John Farris, and Anne Perry. The other novellas are from authors I have read, but have yet to read in this book (except for Steven King, whom I just read): Jeffry Deever, Ed McBain, and Lawrence Block.   All were written for this collection. Highly recommended. 

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How to Read Multiple Books At One Time by Sara O’Neil Manion

That’s not the title of an actual book. So no need to go searching for it at your local library or on Amazon. 

Rather, its a title I made up to reflect the inner world of my LinkedIn architect friend Sara Manion.

Trying to summarize Sara’s voluminous reading list is a lesson in futility. So I thought I’d share what she shared with me in its entirety. 

Says Sara:

Always reading multiple books in several main categories as follows:

For starters, history is a passion of mine, including historical fiction

Great Authors- will search out the less known titles on Gutenberg, 

This is to ensure that I keep my broadening understanding of a particular author. (Conrad, Hardy, Scott, Kipling, Balzac, Twain, Trollope) are all reliable good reads, and most are available on Gutenberg

Mystery/Adventure books - Easy reads for relaxation and entertainment 

Topical - Books on behavioral science, medicine, politics, to gain knowledge

Print hard copy books now reading:

Tuchman - Selected Essays Practicing History - an author’s reflections on writing about history

Thayer - From the Tan Yard to the White House. A biography of Grant (found in a used book store) 

Thucydides- History of the Peloponnesian War (reading to gain information to write a children’s historical fiction)

Digital

Sherwood Anderson - Of Horses and Men (collection of short stories) 

Kipling - The Eyes of Asia

Rabelais  - Gargantua and Pantagruel (reading this to learn Rabelais’ views)

Twain - Life on the Mississippi 

Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing (finished - this is a don’t put down type of Southern Gothic)

Thaler - Nudge

Lewis - The Undoing Project

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“A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole.

Says Marian Keyes, an international tax and Blockchain attorney who I met while working on a venture in Denver.

“I needed a break from the seriousness of this Coronavirus pandemic and how it’s affecting everyone around us. What better way to accomplish this than to dive into the world of Ignatius J. Reilly, a modern-day Don Quixote who screws up the simplest of endeavors and then blames everything on the goddess Fortuna and her wheel of fortune?”

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Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell and Christopher Hitchens

I have known Susan Franzen for over 20 years and consider her to be one of my best friends and confidants. So hell yes, I was curious to hear from her about what book has her attention at the moment.

She remarks:

“It's a combo book with Animal Farm and 1984.  I'm re-reading them and believe that both are relevant for our times.”

Her advice based on these page-turners:  

“Let's not let fear and misinformation drive the creation of a world that represents everything we don't want.  Instead, let's learn from stories such as these and create an uplifting and positive future.”