March 2017 Bookshelf

So far this year, I've put a lot of ideas on this blog. Things from goals to resolutions to general life learnings. I've also made it a goal to continue to produce quality content on everything I touch (and to have this content be as beneficial as possible to all of you!)

While browsing through Strand today – this has become a bi-weekly thing for us now – I came up with the idea to share my monthly "bookshelf" with you! (PS, if you haven't been to Strand, you're missing out on 18 miles of books!)

1. THE SIGNAL AND THE NOISE BY NATE SILVER

To be honest, I was never into politics. Never followed debates, issues, etc. Until last year's elections and everything that led up to them.

I always knew about the website FiveThirtyEight but never took the time to familiarize myself with any of the information on it. After one of my coworkers mentioned it while we were talking about the race to the White House, I decided to take a deep dive. And it quickly became my obsession and I was consuming as much data and information as I could. 

If you're not familiar with Nate Silver, he's best known for having successfully called the outcomes in 49 of the 50 states in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.

Not only did FiveThirtyEight help reignite my curiosity and interest in statistics, it showed me just how beautiful visualizations of said statistics can be.

That being said, although this book is pretty damn long (and if you're not into stats at all, you might not love this as much as I do,) the way Nate Silver has presented information and provided anecdotes has kept my attention so far.

2. DARK MONEY BY JANE MAYER

Continuing on my (slightly unhealthy) obsession with last year's election – my eyes have been opened to many things, one of which being the struggle to understand the rise of some... let's just say, ideologies that I find unfitting and out of place for this day and age. 

This book, so far, has not only been completely shocking to me, but also extremely educational. Some parts have had me waving The Fiancé down before bed time trying to share a nugget of information – to only find that he knew that nugget already.

One thing I've found in the books and media I've been consuming in the last couple months is that I've really been blind to many things happening around me.

If you're interested at all in reading about some scandalous and jaw-dropping things that people do with their money in support of certain organizations, you'll want to check this book out. Trust me, it's not as boring as you think (although, it is quite long.) 

3. THE BRIDGE TO BRILLIANCE BY NADIA LOPEZ

I know what you're thinking, "ENOUGH OF THE POLITICAL BOOKS! Do you read anything else?"

No, no I don't. Just kidding. 

If you follow Humans of New York on Facebook, you might remember this gem. (Read more about it here, here and here.)

Ever since I heard about this amazing woman, I wanted to make sure I picked up one of her books. Since I've graduated college, education has become more and more important to me – whether this is just me getting older and thinking about my future children or me finding something I care deeply about, I'm not quite sure yet. But what I am sure about is that I want to somehow help break the vicious and broken cycle of our education system.

I haven't made my way as deep into this book as I have the other two, but Principal Lopez's story is just as inspirational as you think it would be. We need more educators like this in our school systems.

I know it seems like this blog has been getting more and more additions lately, but I want this to be as well-rounded as I am and as you amazing readers are. I promise, my bookshelf won't always be so serious and non-fiction. I'll have some Gone Girl-esque books back in my book shelf as soon as I find my next one!

Tell me – what's on your bookshelf this month? Any recommendations for me to add to mine next month? Have you read any of these?