Allison (Julianne’s sister) is our special guest this week! She’s bringing some interesting variety to the show with quippy jokes and a couple of books she’s currently reading.
Here are the books we covered today:
- Survive and Thrive by John Meese
- Holier Than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry
- The History of Surfing by Matt Warshaw
- Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
- Meeting God in Scripture by Jan Johnson
- The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer
- One True Sentence by Craig McDonald
- A Simplified Life by Emily Ley
Instead of a book recap, this episode we’re going to be doing a book bracket of the books we’ve read so far! Scroll down to see our winner! (Or, you can listen to us break it down above or on our Youtube Channel)
Survive and Thrive by John Meese
Andrew’s back with this book about being a successful entrepreneur in any economical environment. š
Something about this book just gives me inspiration. Heās touching on empathy and finding peopleās pain points using Maslovās Hierarchy of Needs to help them thrive. It’s a good way to start a business, and it’s a good way to live!
Other episodes where Andrew talks about this book: Dead Man’s Profit First,
Holier Than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry
I (Julianne) finished this book this week! I love this particular type of book- one that deepens your theology, makes you stand in awe of God, but is still practical.
Iām realizing more and more that itās harder to find a blend of practical and theologically rich than I first realized.
Also, shoutout to Allison for going halfsies on this book with me when we preordered it way back in the day! I wonder if she wants it back?
Julianne had her thumb in this book when she “stopped” talking about it, which made Allison and Andrew very suspicious. The payoff came in her next book (in the form of a SPOILER).
If you’d rather avoid spoilers but *would* like to hear some of Julianne’s other thoughts on this book, you can check out: Think You Have Atomic Habits? Think Again, A Minute to Finish, or Holier Than the Eight Outlier
The History of Surfing by Matt Warshaw
Allison is both a fan of surfing and “random history things,” so she’s enjoying this 30-hour audiobook. But, she says sharing at least one of those interests is probably necessary to really enjoy this book.
It’s made her realize that surfing is more complicated than she realized and that it’s a very innovative sport (the surfers in the 50s had different skills than the best surfers in the 60s, etc.) Plus, it’s helping her recognize cultural references that involve surfing. š
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
I (Andrew) am halfway through now. Heās building tensions through bits and pieces of character development and hints into plans. Canāt wait for all of the dominoes to start falling- there’s been less action so far than in the first one, but I am all about this character development!
Meeting God in Scripture by Jan Johnson
This book is a collection of 40 guided meditations through lection divina.
I (Julianne) was inspired to read this book next because in Holier Than Thou, Jackie Hill Perrry was talking about how we become what we behold. As part of that, she says this:
āBut behold Jesus. He is forever settled, unshaken, and unbothered to the point that He can sleep like a baby while a storm rages war on his resting place.ā
Jackie Hill Perry
I was like, āHow do I behold more of Jesus? I want that!ā and then I remembered this book.
I actually havenāt done any of the meditations yet because I was too tired, but Iām excited to get started!
The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer
Allison made it through the introduction of this book the morning we recorded the podcast. She has already stumbled across some interesting nuggets, like cultural differences. One example is that art is centered around people rather than landscapes. Another is that starvation was a real threat in those days, but isn’t in most of modern Western Culture.
She also notes that the footnotes are (almost) as important as the rest of the text.
One True Sentence by Craig McDonald
Andrew’s still working through this one. We’ll give the same disclaimer as last episode: I do not recommend this book. I read it because I didnāt feel like switching to a different book, but in hindsight, I wish I had.
A Simplified Life by Emily Ley
I (Julianne) just started reading and am SUPER looking forward to this one! (Shoutout to Molly for getting it for me!!!) In this book, sheās basically helping you systematize your life, which sounds great to me!
Quarterly Book Bracket
This is a brand new segment where we pick the best books we’ve finished for the quarter (Jan-Mar 2023 in this case) and pit them against each other so that you can know which book(s) you should read next.
Each of these books have appeared in other episodes, which you can get the details about below the finished bracket. Some of the books have been shortened to fit their names. The only one that might trip you up is that IWT = I Will Teach You to Be Rich.
Non-fiction Conference
I Will Teach You To Be Reach by Ramit Sethi – featured in episodes 1, 2, and 3.
Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz – featured in episodes 4, 5, and 7.
Atlas of Extinct Countries by Gideon Defoe – featured in episodes 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Finish by Jon Acuff – featured in episode 2.
Fiction Conference
Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – featured in episode 8.
Dune by Frank Herbert – featured in episodes 4, 5, 6, and 7.
The Heist by Daniel Silva – featured in episodes 2, 3, and 4.
Dead Manās Folly by Agatha Christie – featured in episodes 6 and 7.