We love to know what people are reading and what to add to our ‘To Be Read’ pile of books. This month, we have books recommendations from staff, volunteers and reader friends.
Raj (Board member)
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
This is a candid memoir of Nike Founder and CEO, Phil Knight, who shares his inside story of the early days, when he borrowed $50 from his father to create the company which today makes annual sales of over $30 billion. This book is about the man behind the swoosh in his own words.
Camille (WA Programs Manager)
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Esme spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.
This is a great read that makes you think of the importance of words and how they can define and impact history.
Casey (volunteer hairdresser at The Hub, Sydney)
Atomic Habits by James Clear
People think that when you want to change your life, you need to think big. But world-renowned habits expert James Clear has discovered another way. He knows that real change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions- doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes early, or holding a single short phone call. He calls them atomic habits.
Alison (Northcott Book Club)
Life as Told by a Sapiens to a Neanderthal by Juan Jose Millas and Juan Luis Arsuaga
It’s a very interesting read where the writer sees himself as a neanderthal and the sapiens is a paleontologist who takes the writer to all these different places – common placed and archaeological sites – to illustrate how we are as a species, in terms of our physical appearance, our behaviours, our sociability. It’s a journey of wonder which combines scientific discovery with the art of storytelling; a journey with two men who, while still challenging each other, develop a friendship which brings a warmth to the time spent in their company. So much so that I was sad to leave it when the book finished and had to pick it up at the beginning again.
