7 Books I Recommend for September: Courage, Aging, AI, and More

“A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.”
— Andrew Carnegie

Here are the last 7 books I just finished reading that stood out to me.

They range in topics from courage to aging (and courage in aging) to book bans, anxiety, AI (and anxiety about AI)—and then a novel about tradwives to round things out.

[See previously recommended books here]

NONFICTION

1. How We Learn to Be Brave
Decisive Moments in Life and Faith
by Mariann Edgar Budde

Bishop Budde has made some brave choices the past few years in speaking up for the voiceless.

She writes this book to explain how anybody can develop more courage—as a choice, not just because they have it naturally—to face consequential decisions in a variety of situations, even if they don’t feel ready for them.

2. The Inner Work of Age
Shifting from Role to Soul
by Connie Zweig

The older I get, the more I think about what it means to age with wisdom.

This was a very interesting book on confronting the shadows of aging, looking inward and outward, and investing your life in things that are meaningful to you.

3. How to Defend Books and Why
Book Bans and How We Fight Them
by Danny Caine

I admit not all of this book kept my attention. Some chapters lost me. But overall, it was still worth reading. I appreciate how Caine explains both the recent history of book bans, how they’re affecting us now, and why it matters.

Chapter 5 on “Books to Change and Save Lives: Prison” was especially interesting to me since I have an incarcerated pen pal who is an avid reader and writer. I hope to hear more about his experience soon on books available to him.

4. The God Test
Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning
by Robert Wright

I’m still thinking about this one; I took a lot of notes from it. It’s about how quickly artificial intelligence might change humanity if we don’t develop some thoughtful governance around it. It’s not a book of scare tactics; Wright does bring balance.

However, he makes a good case for how much is at stake if we continue toward a “global brain.” My thanks to NetGalley for the review copy of this book.

5. Mindset
The New Psychology of Success
by Carol S. Dweck

This is an older book, but just as relevant as ever because it explains that what we believe about ourselves can affect how we move through life. Those with a fixed mindset don’t see much potential in themselves for change, whereas those with a growth mindset view themselves as capable of learning and adapting in new ways.

No one has all one or the other mindset, but a growth mindset turns out to be more helpful in navigating both your successes and failures.

And by finishing this book, I’ve now concluded the Daniel Pink challenge: 21 Life-Changing Books! I learned so much from a variety of sources about some things I might not have chosen on my own.

6. Anxiety Rx
by Russell Kennedy

Okay, this one still has me thinking, too. Because I am prone to anxiety myself, I’ve read a lot through the years about it. But this book presented it a bit differently (to me anyway).

Kennedy argues that all anxiety is separation anxiety (he goes more in depth about it), and anxiety is often alarm in the body first, which then causes distress in the mind. He combines neuroscience, psychology, personal experience, and practical techniques to change not only our response to anxiety, but how we think about it.

Effective? TBD. Intriguing? Definitely.

FICTION

7. Yesteryear
by Caro Claire Burke

I’m recommending this one with a caveat. I found the first part of this novel to be fascinating. It’s about a modern-day social media influencer promoting her tradwife lifestyle.

But the book really bogged down for me in the middle with its time-travel theme. It picked back up at the end, fortunately, to help it make sense. (It still won’t make any top 10 lists for me though.)

Nonetheless, it was highly entertaining overall, so I’ll still recommend it.

WHAT I’M READING NOW

• Project Hail Mary
  by Andy Weir
• Saying No to New
  Why New Things Are Stealing Your Time, Money, and Happiness―and How to Take Back Your Life
  by Eric Athas
• The Art of Fighting
  The Transformative Power of Conflict
  by Priya Parker
• Live Laugh Love
  The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made
  by Kristin Kobes DuMez
• The Geography of Loss
  Embrace What Is, Honor What Was, Love What Will Be
  by Patti Digh
• Don’t Think of an Elephant!
  Know Your Values and Frame the Debate
  by George Lakoff
• Good Writing
  36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences
  by Neal Allen, Anne Lamott

Closing

As always, I don’t agree with everything in the books I recommend. But these each gave me something to think about and/or something to enjoy along the way. Maybe one will do the same for you, too!

What’s a good book you’ve read lately? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I’m sharing at some of these linkups

• ← Making Room for What I Didn’t Choose