Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #904 Our Best Reads of 2023

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#904 Our Best Reads of 2023 · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

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  Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast.
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  Speaker 2: It's the podcast for the.
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  Speaker 1: Time poor parent who just once answers.
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  Speaker 2: Now, I just love books, and I'm so excited today's
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  Speaker 2: podcast episode Kylie. Once a month for thereabouts we do
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  Speaker 2: book club. It's completely unrelated to parenting. We just talked
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  Speaker 2: about the books that we've been reading because we'd love
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  Speaker 2: to read and try to share some tips and hints
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  Speaker 2: and ideas books that people might like.
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  Speaker 1: And with Christmas around the corner.
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  Speaker 2: We thought this might be a good stocking filler episode
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  Speaker 2: if you're thinking about books. So this episode of the podcast,
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  Speaker 2: we are going to review our favorite books of the year.
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  Speaker 2: And do you have any idea how many books you've
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  Speaker 2: read this year? Do you keep her close enough record
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  Speaker 2: to know? I?
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  Speaker 1: Look, I've been really good in the past, but this
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  Speaker 1: year I will one hundred percent admit I have really
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  Speaker 1: really been quite sloppy with my records. Firstly, and secondly.
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  Speaker 2: Imagine not keeping a record of all the books you read.
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  Speaker 2: Who does that?
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  Speaker 1: But secondly, I've just you talked about this pretty openly before.
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  Speaker 1: I call it a love relationship with books. But I
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  Speaker 1: have to have the headspace to be able to read.
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  Speaker 1: And because of the challenges that our families experienced this year.
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  Speaker 1: I've really struggled to get into books, especially in the
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  Speaker 1: last half of the year, so my list is very
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  Speaker 1: very short this year.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I was on track for forty five or so,
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  Speaker 2: which is what I usually do somewhere between forty and
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  Speaker 2: forty five, but obviously the events of the last couple
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  Speaker 2: of months have meant that I've landed around about thirty
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  Speaker 2: five this year.
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  Speaker 1: Which I'm sitting on about twenty four, so.
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  Speaker 2: You know, approximately, Yeah, so it's still a lot of reading.
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  Speaker 2: And the great thing is we've both read some books
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  Speaker 2: that are definitely worth sharing. How many do you want
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  Speaker 2: to share today?
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  Speaker 1: I'm just going to talk about three.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, go for it, because I have approximately fourteen give
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  Speaker 2: or to take.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm not suggesting that these go in any order.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just going to share the three favorite books of
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  Speaker 1: my year. The first one was called The One Hundred
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  Speaker 1: Years of Lenny and Margo.
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  Speaker 2: I remember you talking about this. I think I need
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  Speaker 2: this on my pile. I think it's a real tear jerker, right.
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  Speaker 1: It really is. But it was such a beautiful book.
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  Speaker 1: It was written by Marianne Cronin and it's a story
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  Speaker 1: about a seventeen year old who's got a terminal illness
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  Speaker 1: and she's in hospital and she becomes friends with an
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  Speaker 1: eighty three year old and so between the two of
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  Speaker 1: them they make up one hundred years of life. And
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  Speaker 1: it's just a beautiful depiction of working through that process
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  Speaker 1: and dealing with just the insurmountable challenge of knowing that
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  Speaker 1: life will end way sooner than it should. So that
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  Speaker 1: was that was absolutely You definitely need tissues and you
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  Speaker 1: need to be in the right headspace to get through it.
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  Speaker 1: But it was the most beautiful book.
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  Speaker 2: Beautiful was the word I was going to use. This
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  Speaker 2: sounds gorgeous. So what was it called again?
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  Speaker 1: It was called The One Hundred Years of Lenny and Margo.
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  Speaker 1: It's about friendship, you know. This eighty three year old
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  Speaker 1: becomes best friends with a seventeen year old and they
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  Speaker 1: share They just they share a special bond. So loved
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  Speaker 1: that one.
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  Speaker 2: What's your next one?
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  Speaker 1: My next one is homecoming? Complete and utter opposite ends
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  Speaker 1: of scales. This was actually a murder misstag.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, this was the true crime. When you told me
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  Speaker 2: Bet it was not true crime, I.
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  Speaker 1: Thought it was. I was so I was so caught
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  Speaker 1: up in it, and I was googling to find out
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  Speaker 1: all kinds of things. But no, it is a novel
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  Speaker 1: Homecoming by Kate Morton. It definitely had a slow start.
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  Speaker 1: I did not think this would make my top three
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  Speaker 1: this year, but by the end of it, I was riveted.
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  Speaker 1: I actually lent it to my dad and he said
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  Speaker 1: exactly the same thing. It took him a little bit
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  Speaker 1: to get into it, but once he was in, he
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  Speaker 1: was hooked. Okay, absolutely hooked. He finished with it.
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  Speaker 2: Have we got it back? Maybe I can make that
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  Speaker 2: some Christmas reading for me.
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  Speaker 1: No, it's still on his bedside table. I actually had
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  Speaker 1: to ring him and say, can you remind me who
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  Speaker 1: wrote it?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so that was brilliant.
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  Speaker 1: It's actually sat in South Australia. She did an awesome job.
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  Speaker 1: It'll leave you guessing until the very end.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: And my last one's actually my most recent read. It's
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  Speaker 1: called Better Than Happy. It's by Jodie Moore. This has
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  Speaker 1: a very strong religious undertone to it, but it is
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  Speaker 1: in that self help genre and I found that just
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  Speaker 1: so enlightening. I've actually started reading it with our thirteen
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  Speaker 1: year old. For those who kind of have dabbled in
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  Speaker 1: the self help area and know about the thought model,
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  Speaker 1: the idea of recognizing that our results in life are
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  Speaker 1: a direct result of our own personal thoughts. This was
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  Speaker 1: really powerful at kind of just working through that process
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  Speaker 1: and recognizing and seeing the power of our thoughts and
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  Speaker 1: how if we can shift those thoughts, it actually shifts
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  Speaker 1: our actions, which shifts our results. So that was really
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  Speaker 1: powerful and I loved it.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, they sound really really great. Would you like to
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  Speaker 2: hear mine.
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  Speaker 1: I'm a bit nervous because I think I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: be talked out for quite a while. But tell me,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going.
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  Speaker 2: To try and be really fast about this, Okay, So
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  Speaker 2: basically I'll tell you. I'm only going to tell you
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  Speaker 2: my five star reads. Okay, only my five star reads.
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  Speaker 2: Like I said, I've read about thirty five books this year.
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  Speaker 2: I have twelve five star reads.
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  Speaker 1: We're not doing twelve. We're not doing twelve. I'm just
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  Speaker 1: going to say the map five that's so unfair. Have five.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I don't know if we're going to keep a
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  Speaker 2: really accurate count here. So the first one that I
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  Speaker 2: mentioned is from the eighteen hundreds, so I've got a
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  Speaker 2: really eclectic top twelve to go through today. From the
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  Speaker 2: eighteen hundreds, there's a classic author by the name of
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  Speaker 2: George Elliott. George Elliott is a pseudonym, but the author
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  Speaker 2: wrote this book called Silas Marna, written in eighteen sixty one,
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  Speaker 2: and this was a novel I don't read many novels
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  Speaker 2: hard to get into because it was written in eighteen
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  Speaker 2: sixty one, so the writing style is really different. But
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  Speaker 2: it was I think, the perfect story, literally the perfect story.
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  Speaker 2: It was beautiful. It's about a falsely accused weaver who
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  Speaker 2: leaves his town and becomes a recluse following this horrible incident.
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  Speaker 2: Sublimely written, utterly absorbing. I fell in love with Silas Marna.
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  Speaker 2: It is good. So I've got goosebumps all over my
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  Speaker 2: arms and legs of ie and talking about it because
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  Speaker 2: it was I always want to It's a beautiful, beautiful book.
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  Speaker 2: The second one that I want to talk about is
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  Speaker 2: so far removed from that that it's incredible. It's a
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  Speaker 2: book by Louise Perry. This one would appeal to anyone
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  Speaker 2: who likes provocation, and it's called The Case Against the
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  Speaker 2: Sexual Revolution. Perry takes on a whole lot of and
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  Speaker 2: slays a whole lot of sacred cows with just precision,
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  Speaker 2: arguing that the sexual revolution, rather than improving life for
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  Speaker 2: women and enhancing their protection, has done precisely the opposite. Now,
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  Speaker 2: she doesn't deny that a lot of good has come
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  Speaker 2: from it, but she makes this really articulate argument that
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  Speaker 2: the norms and mores or mores that have developed out
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  Speaker 2: of a place women right where men actually want them
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  Speaker 2: to be. And she argues that modern standards around sex
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  Speaker 2: and intimacy and so on actually make life worse for women,
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  Speaker 2: not better for women. It's a fascinating read. You won't
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  Speaker 2: agree with everything, no matter what position you are, whether
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  Speaker 2: you're conservative or liberal, whether you it doesn't really matter
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  Speaker 2: what your politics are. There's going to be something in
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  Speaker 2: there that you will love and something in there that
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  Speaker 2: you'll hate. But it's a really, really provocative book.
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  Speaker 1: Well you might not be keeping tabs, but I am.
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  Speaker 1: What's number three?
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  Speaker 2: I can't believe you're counting my third one. I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to save this one really quickly. It's called Testosterone by
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  Speaker 2: Carol Hooven, an endocrinologist. I think it Harvard from memory,
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  Speaker 2: simply brilliant and left me feeling entirely inadequate in terms
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  Speaker 2: of my understanding and my comprehension of my knowledge, Like
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  Speaker 2: this was just a heavy academic read about testosterone and
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  Speaker 2: the endocrime system, and it was just so incredibly good.
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  Speaker 2: So that's a very quick review. Testosterone. It's amazing. I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to go for another novel. Everyone in My Family
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  Speaker 2: Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevens. Brilliant original, completely compelling
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  Speaker 2: Australian crime fiction that doesn't feel like crime or fiction.
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  Speaker 2: Just so good, so well written, a real murder mystery
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  Speaker 2: with plot twists and a classic who done it?
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  Speaker 1: Really?
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  Speaker 2: Really enjoyed Benjamin Stevens. Everyone in My Family Has Killed
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  Speaker 2: Someone And to me, that is the perfect summer read
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  Speaker 2: if you're going to veg out and enjoy a riproaring read. Look,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not going to mention The Whole brain Child by
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  Speaker 2: Dan Siegel, not because it's an old book and a
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  Speaker 2: lot of people have already read it, but if you
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  Speaker 2: haven't read it, five stars, definitely worth looking at.
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  Speaker 1: I love how you're not mentioning it.
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  Speaker 2: I'm also not going to mention I'm not going to
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  Speaker 2: mention Saving Our Kids by Madonna King. I have to
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  Speaker 2: live with which may be the best book that I've
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  Speaker 2: ever read from Madonna King vitally important content. So we've
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  Speaker 2: written all about what's going on on the internet and
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  Speaker 2: how to keep our kids safe. What was that name again,
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  Speaker 2: Madonna King saving our kids. But I'm not going to
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  Speaker 2: mention it as much as I should, because Madonna is wonderful.
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  Speaker 2: I'm also not going to mention Gene Twangy and Generations,
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  Speaker 2: which is one of the most important books I've ever
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  Speaker 2: read on the generations and really made me rethink my
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  Speaker 2: thinking on the science of generations, which I tend to
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  Speaker 2: think as a load of bulldust. But I really got
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  Speaker 2: into this book and found it compelling, very very good.
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  Speaker 1: Is there any other books you're not going to mention?
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  Speaker 2: There's one more book that I'm not going to mention,
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  Speaker 2: and then I'm going to wrap up with two instead
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  Speaker 2: of one to finish off. Okay, so I'm not going
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  Speaker 2: to mention and Gerrit I can't say his name. I'm
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  Speaker 2: so sorry, Gerrit Daradas. I think it is. This guy's
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  Speaker 2: a former McKinsey consultant who's spoken and started with the
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  Speaker 2: elite crew at TARED and the Aspen Elite, and it's
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  Speaker 2: a blistering critique of how the elite make sure that
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  Speaker 2: winners take all while making sure that their philanthropy looks
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  Speaker 2: like they're being generous even while they're lining their own
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  Speaker 2: pockets and making sure that they're in a very good position.
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  Speaker 2: Hard to read, very challenging with its views. Brilliant book
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  Speaker 2: that I'm not going to talk about. Gosh see, this
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  Speaker 2: is the thing. Try to squeeze too much in. Let
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  Speaker 2: me just wrap up with the two that matter.
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  Speaker 1: The two that matter.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, other than a whole lot of others that I
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  Speaker 2: want to mention that I can't, okay, because I love guns,
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  Speaker 2: Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond stop. And I thought
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  Speaker 2: that Star by Cassie Home was great. But the two
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  Speaker 2: that I want to mention, just quickly. A year or
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  Speaker 2: two ago, you read Come As You Are by Emily Lagoski.
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  Speaker 2: This is a book about female anatomy and pleasure and
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  Speaker 2: a whole lot of things in that area, and Kylie,
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  Speaker 2: you told me that I would enjoy reading it, and
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  Speaker 2: I did. I think that's a five star read. And
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  Speaker 2: I think that every man should read the book, even
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  Speaker 2: though it's been written for women. Absolutely absolutely brilliant. She's
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  Speaker 2: got a great writing style and she gives people information
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  Speaker 2: that matters. Emily and the Gosky comes you are five stars.
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  Speaker 2: And I'll wrap up with the Emotional Lives of Teenagers
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  Speaker 2: by doctor Lisa Damore, which I also absolutely loved. Solid book,
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  Speaker 2: covers a lot of ground, really easy to read, and
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  Speaker 2: if you've got teenagers who have big emotions, I think
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  Speaker 2: you'll get heaps out of it. So they're my top five.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. Well, if you're looking for a bookworm this Christmas,
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  Speaker 1: hopefully you might find some inspiration. Here is that list
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  Speaker 1: of five not books.
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  Speaker 2: If there is not a book for somebody who is
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  Speaker 2: fussy about reading in there, then we just's before they're
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  Speaker 2: not a bookworm.
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  Speaker 1: They're just not a bookam.
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  Speaker 2: We will link to every single one of those books
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  Speaker 2: in our show notes so that you can have a
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  Speaker 2: look at them a little bit more closely, because we
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  Speaker 2: have gone through it very quickly. But we just wanted
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  Speaker 2: to give you some ideas because reading is great. My
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  Speaker 2: pile summer and into next year is phenomenal, overwhelming, and
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  Speaker 2: I've also got about six textbooks.
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  Speaker 1: We haven't even hit Christmas yet. I want to know
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  Speaker 1: what that's going to look like us. You open all
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  Speaker 1: your presence.
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  Speaker 2: My bedside table has like what forty books on it
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  Speaker 2: right now that I'm supposed to read in the next
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  Speaker 2: four weeks.
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  Speaker 1: You know, if you have a bedside table solution for
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  Speaker 1: the bookworm who has too many books, I would love
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  Speaker 1: you to send it through, because I can't tell you
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  Speaker 1: how frustrating it is to try and vacuum the floor
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  Speaker 1: around your bedside table.
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  Speaker 2: So many books, so many books. Thanks so much for listening.
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  Speaker 2: We hope that you've enjoyed as we've indulged ourselves and
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  Speaker 2: shared the books that have meant the most to us
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  Speaker 2: this year. If you would like more information, like I
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: said the show notes, I've got it all. The Happy
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Family's podcast is produced by Justin Rowland for Bridge Media.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Craig Bruce is our executive producer. More information is available
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: a lot about making your family happier at Happy families
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  Speaker 2: dot com dot A. You've become a member today and
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: get ready for what will be the most amazing membership
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: experience you've ever had, a customized program to make your
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: family happiest Day's next year in The Happy Family's Membership
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  Speaker 1: MHM