Ely’s Top Reads for 2021

The continuous search for knowledge is the highest form of wisdom. Jordan Peterson

No one can take away your knowledge, your education, your own thoughts. I love sharing and learning ideas from others. I am always open to reading anything even if it is something completely different than what I believe at that present moment. I see it as an opportunity to discover another world; an opportunity to enter someone else’s mind. I also see it as the chance to be able to see the world through another set of eyes which by default encompass a different set of experiences than my own.

Last year I doubled the number of books I read from the previous year. I read and read and kept on reading. I listened to podcasts and started many books, some I’m still working to finish up. I also finished writing my second book, Know Your Worth.

Many of the books I read were recommendations from friends, others were discovered in podcasts and my local bookstore, Midtown Reader also had a say so in my selection. I discussed many of them with my partner and we used it as a way to learn from and about each other. One thing was consistent across the board, with every single book I took notes and wrote down my own thoughts and ideas.

Thank you to everyone who gave me the opportunity to enter their world.

My Top 5 books for 2021:

The diving bell and the butterfly by Jean Dominique Bauby.

What a sad and painful way to go. This book served as an unbelievable reminder that life as we know it can change in the glimpse of an eye and sometimes there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. It showed me what it truly means to be truly trapped while at the same time it reminded me of the magic of patience and perseverance.

Useful delusions. The power and paradox of the self deceiving brain by Shankar Vedantam

It did not take much convincing to pick up this book. As a listener of his podcast “The Hidden Brain” Shankar has always provided me with valuable and unforgettable information. As someone who focuses on logic, habits, and facts it was mesmerizing and disheartening to see how so many throw reality out the window.

The state of affairs: Rethinking infidelity by Esther Perel.

Full disclosure: I read this book three times this year and once last year. My partner and I began calling her “Auntie Esther.” I simply could not get enough of her. I discovered her a year prior when on a long driving trip I came across her podcast. Finally! Someone that explains many of my hidden writings and my outcast thoughts and who gives you an opportunity to yet again, discover something new.

A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith

A book I would have never picked up on my own, yet I was required to read as part of Leadership Florida. It took me a bit to get into it, but I genuinely loved learning about Florida history. I was completely fascinated by the way things were and how they became how they are now. In some places it’s incredible to see how time has simply stood still.

Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke

Back in September, my daughter Nikki sent me a text message:

“I’m listening to an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast and he has an addiction expert on there and it’s super interesting. She said that she never tries to predict which patients will get better and which won’t but that when she has had patients that blame everyone else for each problem in their life they have never gotten better.”

“Boom! Send me the link,” I immediately replied.

I was completely fascinated by the book! It strengthened all the knowledge and thoughts I have about addiction.

Other books read in 2021:

• Surrounded by Idiots. The four types of human behavior by Thomas Erikson
• Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier
• Stop Walking on Eggshells by Paul Flason
• Down Girl by Kate Manne
• The Greatest Secret by Rhonda Byrne
• Uncomfortable conversation with a black man by Emmanuel Acho
• In the meantime: Finding yourself the love you want by Iyanta Vanzant
• The Yamas and Niyamas by Deborah Adele
• Mating in Captivity. In search of erotic intelligence by Esther Perel
• NO More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert Glover
• Think Again by Adam Grant
• The 80/80 Marriage by Nate and Kaley Klemp
• The universe has your back by Gabrielle Bernstein
• The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
• Never get ghosted again by Bruce Bryans
• The all or nothing marriage by Eli Finkel
• Adultery by Paulo Coehlo (Spanish version)
• You can be right or you can be married by Dana Adam Shapiro
• Eight Dates by John Gottman
• Get off the Porch by Alicia Booker
• Codependent no more by Melody Beattie
• 13 Things mentally strong people don’t do by Amy Moren

Jan 7, 2022