Ever notice that you can fly through a 500-page fiction novel in two days, but it can take over a month to read a 200-page nonfiction novel? Fiction is easy because you don’t take a lot of notes and can just enjoy the story.

Maybe that approach is why I can’t write fiction.

Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen

I read 150 pages before I gave up. I would have given up sooner, but I was in a waiting room and the only magazine they had was Cosmo.

The gist of the first 150 pages is be clear in your language when giving and receiving feedback and be specific. Understand the difference between encouragement feedback, coaching feedback and evaluation feedback. Don’t conflate the giver of the feedback with the content of the feedback.

This book was super boring. I’m not sure why it was on my to-read list. I think this would do better as a pamphlet or a PowerPoint presentation.

The only thing I dog-eared was the idea of your blind spot being your face. You’re the only one who can’t see your face when you’re interacting with the world, so you don’t know what facial expressions you’re regularly making.

You know what you look like in a mirror, but not when you’re talking and hanging out with your bros. Unless you have a reality show, I suppose.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and translated by Lucia Graves

This novel is well-written and engrossing, a tale within tales with characters who have distinct feelings about books. Our protagonist is a boy tasked with keeping a book safe and trying to unravel the mystery behind the novel’s author.

The plot twist two-thirds into the novel surprised me and that’s enough for me to recommend it. It’s almost 500 pages though and set in Barcelona in the 1900s, so getting to the twist may bore you if you’re not into that sort of setting.

Maybe this is a good book for you to read if you’re going to Barcelona and want to see the sights the author writes about. There’s a map at the back for you to do so.

Here’s a quote where the author was talking to me:

Julian had once told me that a story is a letter the author writes to himself, to tell himself things that he would be unable to discover otherwise.

Blackfish City: A novel by Sam J. Miller

We’re in a dystopian future on a floating city north of Iceland. Each chapter features the voice of one of six characters that are, of course, eventually, all somehow intertwined.

One of the speeches by one of the female characters felt too melodramatic for me. And the character names were odd, so I had a hard time remembering who was who when the narration switched. When a big reveal occurred, a point where the author expected to elicit a gasp, I found myself wondering, wait, who is who’s kid? I thought they were the same age.

But it was entertaining enough. Sorry if that last sentence up there gave something away. There is also a polar bear and an orca in the story, which explains the title.

Skin Cleanse: The Simple, All-Natural Program for Clear, Calm, Happy Skin by Adina Grigore

Let your food be your medicine is the gist of this book. Eat well and you’ll have nice skin. Eat lots of leafy greens and other vegetables and don’t eat sugar. Eat fresh, whole foods. This is 99% of the battle.

Your body is unique, so she recommends food journaling and product journaling and detoxes to determine what is causing your body to create bad skin. It’s something you’re eating or something you’re using that your body is not reacting well to.

She also recommends using food on your skin instead of skin care products. Try olive oil or coconut oil instead of body lotion. I wish I had read this before I bought this giant bottle of lotion.

She gives recipes I want to try for homemade products that are better for your skin. I’ve been lucky my entire life with my skin — touch wood — but this book was still interesting and informative. I recommend.

In Search of Lost Time: Swann’s Way: A Graphic Novel by Marcel Proust, translated by Arthur Goldhammer and adapted by Stéphane Heuet

You’ve heard of Proust, right? I’d never read anything by him, but this was a great introduction. This was a graphic novel of the first part of his book In Search of Lost Time. The author weaves back and forth through his life, remembering and reminiscing. The language is dated, but easy to read.

“..how futile it is to search for remembered scenes in reality, which will always lack the charm they derive from memory and from not being perceived through the senses.”

The Enneagram Made Easy: Discover the 9 Types of People by Elizabeth Wagele and Renee Baron

If you guys like the Meyers Brigg personality tests — which I know you do — you’ll like this. It’s a different personality test called the Enneagram. I liked it. For the record, I’m a 1 with a strong winged 9.

Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft

I’m in love with Captain Awkward and she recommends this book often in her advice column. I can see why. The author works as a counselor to abusive men and explains how they think and why they act the way they do. They have a strong sense of entitlement and possessiveness. He gives fascinating examples of interactions and breaks down the scenes, explaining why someone would act in such a way.

I’ve never been in an abusive relationship, but I found this book so interesting. He gives warning signs and what to do to get out. He does have a weird hang-up and thinks that women can’t abuse men. I disagree.