2024 Reading List

Reminder: You can find my entire 2024 list as well as past lists on my shop at Bookshop.org. As an affiliate I get a small percentage of your purchase, but the rest goes to supporting independent bookstores. 

One year, I will start this list early in the year…but 2024 is not that year.. It’s June and I’m just getting started with my list, not reading but reviewing and posting about my reads. A book dragon never stops. More reviews coming as I catch up!

I saw this post on the gram where one person said (I’m paraphrasing but you get the point) “I don’t set reading goals, because I like to read” Mmmmmkay, good for you! I love setting goals, not because I’m trying to meet them-because I love surpassing them. Reading is not just about learning and enjoying a good read, it’s self-care for me. It’s time that I’ve set aside for myself. At the end of the night, after putting my kiddo to sleep, I journal and then read. Sometimes I get hooked and stay up to 3 am, other times I can’t make it passed one page. Either way, it’s my time to get lost in whatever book I’m reading and give my mind something else to think about. So those books mean I allowed myself some time to care about me, doing what I love the most. 

So, yes I’m going to set my goal-30 in case you were wondering. That’s my minimum and I hope I surpass it. What you’ll see: you’ll continue to see Latinx authors. Not as many as the previous years; unfortunately, the Latinx Book Club I was a member of stopped meeting. However, I’m always on the lookout for authors and books. Plus, a few of my favorite authors have new books coming out this year. The Climate Crisis book club luckily is still active. I’m hoping to actually finish a few books that I started last year. I’m on a learning kick as well, so you’ll see topics ranging from nutrition, spirituality, to understanding the human condition. With a current genocide happening, I’m really trying to understand why and when we lost our humanity.

As usual my reading  will be diverse. I hope you enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think of each read. 

“A Healthy State of Pan!c: Follow Your Fears to Build Wealth, Crush Your Career, and Win at Life” by Farnoosh Torabi  Here’s another podcast recommendation; however, this time it’s from Farnoosh herself. Yup, I follow and enjoy Torabi’s “So Money” podcast- in other words, I’m a fan. I first heard Torabi on another one of my extremely favorite money podcasts, Jannese Torres-Rodriguez, Host of “Yo Quiero Dinero”.  

Torabi, has a no nonsense way of breaking things down for you. Think Suze Orman, if she was first gen, Generation X, and daughter of immigrant parents. Basically nothing like her, with the one exception that they first started on this quest after realizing the effects of money (and lack of) in their lives. It just so happens that Orman is one of Torabi’s sheroes, so yea there’s that. Torabi in both the book and her podcast, covers everything-not just money, stocks, or retirement as others do. 

She weaves stories from past podcast guests with her own experiences when dealing with fear. The one that really stayed with me was her story of when she dealt with imposter syndrome. Knowing that someone like her suffered from imposter syndrome, was refreshing for me. She seems so polished-unlike me, so when I hear someone share that they’ve struggled with it, and share how they overcame it, I immediately connect. It doesn’t mean I want everyone to struggle like I did, it means that I’m not alone.  It happens to the best of us, it especially happens to us first gen-kids having to navigate the world alone. 

Fear is a tricky beast, it can pause us into inaction but it can also spring us into action. It just depends which version we allow to take over. Fear has held me back before, but now my fear of failing my son has motivated me more than ever before. I can’t help but remember what a colleague of mine said to me after I shared my doubts about applying for a higher paying role: “Girl, apply for it with the same attitude that a highly confident poorly qualified white man will.”  That and the fear of being financially insecure as a mother have helped me succeed in my career. Which is what Torabi tries to explain in this book, that sometimes fear can cause us to go after our dreams, and achieve big things. 

The book is a must read, other topics she covers are fear of rejection, loneliness, of losing our freedom and fear of Money. Which as she explains is so complicated, it is tied to everything in our lives. The more or less of it (money) we have dictates our money story and how we behave around it and with it. I did say-complex right? Many of us believe that we shouldn’t strive to be rich, that having money is a sin or some type of moral stain. While others give too much power to money; money and getting more of it is what they live for. Others are just trying to survive. There’s a balance, but what that balance is depends on the story we believe about money. It’s interesting, I grew up with extremely little money, so I’m learning and creating my own money story. Thankfully I have guides like Farnoosh and Jannesse to guide along the way so my fear of it doesn’t cause me to miss out on great opportunities. 

“The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning Elevate Your Life” by Robin Sharma. Okay, this is the first book I’m not sure about recommending. Because it’s not an easy read…I knew going into it that it wasn’t going to be great, the mixed reviews gave me that much. What I was not expecting was how much perseverance I was going to need to finish it. Look this guy is a guru, his book and his site have blurbs from Paulo Coelho and Deepak Chopra, so maybe coaching and mentorship is his jam and writing isn’t? We can’t all be good at everything, right? 

I got this book because I’ve had heard about people waking up early to get things done. I wanted to be that person, I desperately wanted (and still do)  to be a morning person. I need more time during my day, and if waking up early means I get those extra hours to do my things-then I really want to learn how. Not sure how I landed on his stuff, I’m sure some type of algorithm picked up what my brain was thinking and did the magic for me and there he was talking about the 5Am Club. Scary, right? I learned things, have adapted a few things too. I’ve woken up early a few times; although,  4 days in a row was the most I could do.  I felt great, accomplished even. But it took a lot to learn these few things-this is where perseverance comes through. His book has some interesting characters, “magic” (not sure what else to call it), and the main character seems to always be followed by butterflies, doves, and rainbows. There’s also so many quotes. So.Many.Quotes. Almost as if Sharma had been collecting them and decided this was the book to use them all. 

It took me a while to read because I sometimes had to put it down. I started it last year, and finished it this January when I picked it up again, but I was ready to call it halfway through. There’s some great life lessons, but the delivery takes away from what is being shared. It’s sometimes cheesy, too…I really don’t know how to describe it. BUT, even after that you sometimes really do stumble upon some gems. 

My favorite on self-love: “…if you really loved yourself, you’d relinquish all your feelings of not being good enough to be great and renounce all slavery to your weakness. You’d stop focusing on your deficiencies and celebrate your amazing qualities. Just think about it: there’s no person on the planet today who has the unique stack of gifts that you have. Actually, in all of history, there’s never been even one person exactly like you. And there never will be.” 

In order to learn about using my joy as my GPS, I had to get through this: “His thick hair fluttered slightly in the mild wind. As he placed one hand to his heart, more doves materialized.” and “I’m really into breezes these days. You’d only appreciate them if you didn’t have them anymore.” Sir, what? 

But then I stumbled upon this: “To know ever-increasing amounts of happiness, trust what makes you happy. Your heart knows where you need to be. It’s so much wiser than your head. Instinct knows so much more than intellect and intuition is smarter than reason…Follow your joy. Only be around those people who fuel your joy. Only perform those pursuits that feed your bliss. Only be in those places that make you feel most alive.” 

Could the delivery be better? Possibly, but then the doves wouldn’t have reappeared. Again, I really don’t know what to say. It’s on you. There’s some gems in here, it will take some digging but you will find them. On the other hand, you might actually enjoy it. You might enjoy his picturesque way of storytelling. Either way you will learn something. I’m glad I finished it. I will continue to try to be a member of the 5am Club, will I read more of his books?No. Do I see myself reading this book again? Definitely, no.