What We Read in 2018

It’s the end of the year and we’re going to round up all the books Team LCK and beyond read in 2018! If you are looking for an eclectic list of new and old books to add to your reading list, scroll down!

2018 Reading List

I am excited to round up our 2018 reading list filled with the books we’ve read, and loved, in 2018! We’ve rounded up an eclectic list of books by including reading list from myself, Kelli (a member of the LCK team), my husband Mike and my brother Adam. Everybody has such different books lists! It’s safe to say there is a bit of something for everyone here!

P.S. Did you know we have a virtual book club? We started it this year in 2018, and basically we read a book and chat in the Facebook group on a specific date about it! Interested? Join the Facebook group here.

Lexi’s Top Book Picks of 2018:

So many of these books were real page-turners that I couldn’t put down. I highly recommend them all! They are largely fiction books.

• The Light We Lost: I could not put this book down! “Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story—their story—at the very beginning.” This book keeping me up wanting to read more and more of it. A really unique, beautiful story.
• The Silent Wife: Another quick, suspenseful read.
• The Perfect Stranger: I LOVED this book. It has twist and turns, makes you second guess characters, and was a quick, great read.
• The Marsh Kings Daughter: Totally suspenseful. “Helena has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature–fishing, tracking, hunting. And despite her father’s odd temperament and sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too … until she learned precisely how savage a person he could be.” I couldn’t put this one down.
• The Great Alone: A must read. Takes place in Alaska and really is a unique book that shows you life in a totally different way. I really loved this book!
• The Last Mrs. Parrish: It took me a bit to get into this book because I really didn’t like one of the characters, but once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down.
• The Woman In The Window: I was deep into this story from the beginning. What you assume is totally not the case, and worth the read.
• The Wife Between Us: The title is not what you think! Twist and turns that will keep you guessing the whole time. I loved this book. A total page turner.
• Still Me: If you’ve read Me Before You and After You, read this last sequel. I really enjoyed it to tie together the story.
• Behind Closed Doors: Dark! Totally suspenseful. I read this in two days flat. If you love a good dark page-turner, grab this book!
• Little Fires Everywhere: I really liked this book, but it took me a bit to get into. It’s not in my top 5, but I think it’s worth a read!
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F—: A great book for some life perspective!
• The Power of Vulnerability (Audiobook): A great listen. If you love Brene Brown, you’ll love this listen.

Currently reading (on the beach):

• The Perfect Couple
• All the Missing Girls: I love this author, so excited to read her first NYT best seller!
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (current LCK book club read)
• Marriage Vacation: Excited to read this because I love the show Younger!

Kelli’s top picks that she read this year:

These are largely non-fiction books, with a bend toward women in the work place and parenting.

• Daring Greatly by Brene Brown: All of Brene Brown’s books are really fantastic if you are interested in understanding yourself and other humans a bit more empathetically and honestly, and this one is no different. Daring Greatly means leaning in to the hard and heavy stuff in your life to live more whole-heartedly. I found the section on raising kids also really game changing and self-affirming as well. Pick this one up if you’d like to be a better human.
• How to Get Sh*t Done by Erin Falconer: This book isn’t about adding more items to your t0-do list, it’s actually about how to reduce what is on your to do list so you can truly get more (and meaningful) stuff done in your life. It is geared towards woman in the working world but also is just a great manifesto for woman living in this current day and age.
• Know Your Value by Mike Brzezinski: If you are a woman living in 2018, you should read this book. This book talks about everyday struggles that woman living now face, especially in the working world, and how to know your value and overcome them. This is a large statement but I would say this book was probably the most pivotal book I’ve read in my adult life.
• Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids by Laura Markham: This book I’ve slowly been reading for about a year and during the rough cycles of parenting two toddlers I reread old chapters to remind myself of what is important. It’s a nice handbook to have to help have peaceful interactions in your home, without being preachy. And it offers great advice on how to truly connect with your children and empathize with them in a meaningful way.
• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish: This book should be given out to all parents when their children are born. It offers extremely practically advice on how to respect your children as whole beings that really creates a positive meaningful relationship with your children. If you are struggling with how to talk with your kids, or  are in need of some behavioral changes at home this is definitely a must read for all ages of kids. We all want to do better as parents and this is such a practical book to help you get there.

Currently Reading:

• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• Rising Strong by Brene Brown

Adam’s top picks that he read this year:

My brother Adam Kornblum is one of the most interesting, creative, intellectual, hard-working guys I know! I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother! Learn more about him through his LinkedIn here! His books reflect him so perfectly with a mix of history, education, psychology and more.

• The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene: This author (famous for The 48 Laws of Power, 33 Strategies of War and more) offers real insight into human behavior, and provides interesting historical stories to show you how he derived at the insight, and then provides action steps to utilize each law. You can read the book in a linear fashion or through individual chapters. Both are utterly rewarding.
• Principles by Ray Dalio: Ray Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater, one of the largest financial hedgefunds in the world. He shares the principles that helped him succeed both personally and professionally.  One of the differentiators of his business principles is his “radical transparency” environment. In short, everything is recorded and feedback is swift and brutally honest. It’s not for everyone but it certainly is an interesting concept. You can also follow Ray on social media—he provides the key points of each of his Principles.
• A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume: If you ever had thoughts on why people behave the way they do but feel you just can’t articulate how to say it, read David Hume. He’s an 18th century philosopher and truly deciphers human nature in an easy-to-digest way. Hume defines laws of human nature, specially analyzing what governs human behavior—concluding that passion trumps reason. It has been said that Hume is responsible for cognitive science and is one of the most influential figures in the history of philosophy.
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is a must-read for me every year! Some of what Carnegie shares are things which you know but truly need to be reminded of. For example, simply remembering someone’s name or legitimately caring about what others care about makes the difference. In the end, you’ll realize influencing people happens when you care. And, when you care, you find yourself winning friends which builds prosperous relationships. When both parties win in a relationship, it’s less about influencing by itself.
• Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age by Miles Young: Ogilvy is one of the largest advertising agencies in the world and I’m proud to have worked there for six and half years. Miles Young, Ogilvy’s former Chairman & CEO, and now the Warden of New College, picks up where the great David Ogilvy left off [in his book Ogilvy on Advertising]. Young shares key marketing principles in the digital age highlighting some of the best marketing and communications work in the last decade. He explains digital marketing easily and very clearly.
• Re-reading Influence by Robert Cialdini: In college I read Philosophical Explanation by Robert Nozick, that breaks down the difference between coercion and influence. It read as if he viewed the world in black and white. You are either influencing to convince people or coercing (or failing at both, of course). Coercing someone is as bad as it sounds which led me on a quest to understand what influencing behavior actually means. Robert Cialdini’s Influence doesn’t solely tell you why people react like they do,  but he advises you to look out for the tricks so you don’t fall for them yourself. I also recommend Cialdini’s sequel Pre-Suasion, too. When I started my career, I created a game and was able to sell it to Hasbro. Having no knowledge of the business world, I relied heavily on this book, as well as others,  to help me avoid a few traps. I re-read Influence every year.
• Walt Disney by Neil Gabler: Walt Disney had a lot of struggles from when he started his career as an animator to the early days of The Walt Disney Company. Disney proves that with intense focus, a strive for pure excellence, and to act with the utmost conviction whether you’re right or wrong are keys to success and purpose in life.
• Republic by Plato: What I love about philosophy is despite reading this book at least 20 times, I discover something new each time. As another Greek philosopher once closely remarked, No person ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he/she not the same person. If you only read one excerpt, you should read The Allegory of the Cave (VII). The movie The Matrix’s illustrates the meaning. Both the passage and the movie ask the same metaphysical question around ‘what is real?’

And lastly my husband Mike’s top picks he read this year:

Mike’s list, much like Adam, reflects a varied range of non-fiction, spirituality and history!

• Sapiens and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari: Unbelievable perspectives of understanding out history as a human species and where we may be going in the future. Sapiens should is a must read for anyone.
• Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins: A no-nonsense book about cutting through the bullshit of your mind that says you can’t do something. Also an incredibly moving memoir of someone who has experience incredibly deep struggle in their life.
• A Theory of Everything by Ken Wilbur: An introduction to Integral theory, which is an incredible way of understanding the world. If you often listen to opposing perspectives and think they are both right, this book is for you.
• Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa: Embarking on a spiritual path can always lead to you thinking that you are a “spiritual person” This ends up being a massive pitfall. This book is the best antidote to that.
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi: An incredibly emotional and eyeopening memoir about the medical system.
• Atomic Habits by James Clear: The best and most complete advice for creating habits and properly sticking to them.

Lexi’s Reading List for 2019:

• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
• Then She Was Gone
• YOU
• The Kind Worth Killing
• Into the Water
• The Perfect Nanny
• Tempting Fate
• Ghosted
• Educated, A Memoir
• Into the Darkest Corner
• The Good Girl
• Everything We Left Behind
• This Was Not the Plan
• A Stranger in the House
• One Day in December
• Slight Change of Plans
• He Will be my Ruin
• All We Ever Wanted
• Still Missing
• Our Kind 0f Cruelty
• Leaving Time
• House Rules
• Before We Were Yours
• Firefly Lane

Recommended by you (via Instagram!):

• The Four Agreements
• Michelle Obama’s Becoming
• The Dinner List
• Calypso
• Verity
• When Life Gives you Lululemons
• Girl’s Night Out
• The Story Ends with Us
• Crazy Rich Asians
• The Simple Favor
• Homegoing
• Eight Hundred Grapes
• The Perfect Couple
• The Nightingale (read this)
• The Help (read this)

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What books did you read this year that you loved?