april 2020 – good to read

Carder Stout, PhD
Raised in a mansion and educated at exclusive institutions, Hollywood psychologist Carder Stout ran with a crowd of movers, shakers, and future Oscar-winners in New York City. But words like “promise” and “potential” are meaningless in the face of addiction. Lost years and a stint in rehab later, Carder was a dirty, broke, soon-to-be-homeless crackhead wandering the streets of Venice, California. His lucky break came thanks to his old Ford Taurus: he lands a job of driving for a philosophical drug czar with whom he finds friendship and self-worth as he helps deliver quality product to LA’s drug enthusiasts. But even his loyalty and protection can’t save Carder from the peril of the streets – or a contract on his life.
HCI Books, March 2020 

Jon Mooallem
In 1964, on Good Friday, an earthquake of a magnitude of 9.2 hit Anchorage, Alaska. After four-and-a-half minutes what had been a modern and budding town was a shamble. Then night fell. As people gradually turned on their radios, they heard the voice of the woman who was to lead them through this crisis: Genie Chance, a part-time reporter and working mom with a fated name. The three days of her nonstop broadcasts would make her famous far beyond her home state as well as giving her hero status where she lived. “Drawing on unpublished documents, interviews with survivors, and original broadcast recordings, This Is Chance! is the hopeful story of a single catastrophic weekend and proof of our collective strength in a turbulent world.” Genie Chance remains a role model for our turbulent times. (sgs)
Penguin/Random House, March 2020

Royce Christyn
To get the life you want, you first need to know what it is that you want. That’s not so easy, and it cannot be accomplished all at once. You need the big picture in order to be able to choose which corner of your humble reality you wish to augment. Then you need a plan. That’s how things work in life – though they do not always work out, you can’t always get what you want, and it doesn’t always help to tell yourself in retrospect that that was precisely what you needed. So how can you kickstart your life? There is plenty of time to think about it right now, to form an intension and exert your will. Some call it magick, others the law of cause and effect, and some say the two may be the same thing. Will this really work? “Inspired by New Thought and Positive Thinking classics, Christyn explains how he developed his scripting method through four years of trial and error… (T)his book gives you the tools to put your thoughts into action…”  (sgs)
Inner Traditions, March 2020

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
Ten-year-old Jas (Dutch for “jacket”), a peasant girl living in yesteryear’s rural Netherlands, wishes her younger brother were dead and suffers terrible guilt when he drowns in the local pond. His name is never to be mentioned again around the farm. While their grieving parents prove unable to care for their remaining children after the tragic event, the siblings gradually lose themselves in a web of magical thinking, dark rituals and spells. The stern practices of their fundamentally Protestant elders often let them go hungry and demand penance even for minor infractions. Sex, religion and death dominate this astonishing debut novel. Rijneveld (who identifies as they/them) have already published a book of much-acclaimed poetry. The Discomfort of Evening is set out for international fame. (sgs)
Faber, March 2020

Jay Shetty
Shetty writes, “I grew up in a family where you could become one of three things: a doctor, a lawyer, or a failure. My family was convinced I had chosen option three. Instead of attending my college graduation ceremony, I headed to India to become a monk, to meditate every day for 4–8 hours and devote my life to helping others.” After three years, one of his teachers told him that he would have more impact on the world if he left the monk’s path to share his experience and wisdom with others. Heavily in debt, and with no recognizable skills on his resume, he moved back home to north London with his parents. Shetty reconnected with old school friends—many working for some of the world’s largest corporations—who were experiencing tremendous stress, pressure, and unhappiness, and they invited Shetty to coach them on wellbeing, purpose, and mindfulness.
Simon & Schuster, April 2020