Happy National Book Lovers Day!
We hope you've had plenty of reading time this summer. There are quite a few book lovers here at Oklahoma Financial Center, so I polled everyone to find out what they were reading (or, alternatively, what they were listening to or watching). Here are their responses:
Jennifer is juggling books (she gave me 8 titles!), so I asked for a bit more detail on one of her favorites:
The Stolen Lady: A Novel of World War II and the Mona Lisa, by Laura Morelli, is a historical fiction book that flips back and forth between the late 1400s with the creation of the Mona Lisa, and 1939 and the beginning of World War II. It explores the life of Lisa Gherardini (the subject of DaVinci's Mona Lisa, according to this story). The later period is told from the perspective of Anne Guichard, one of the many curators of the Louvre’s art collection who worked to keep these pieces from the Nazis. As the reader, you need to have some patience as it starts slowly. Stick with it, as it is a different kind of fiction book.
Lia has been changing things up with some WWII historical fiction of her own, along with memoir:
I just finished reading Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover, a memoir about her journey from a strict, survivalist upbringing in rural Idaho (with limited medical care and no formal education!), to earning a PhD from Cambridge. Despite facing these hurdles where she could have easily given up, she chose to keep going. Tara's book was incredibly moving to me because it illustrates the power of education to transform lives, the complexities of struggling with old identity vs. new identity, and the ultimate message of resilience.
I am now diving into All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This is a new genre for me. It’s a historical novel set during WWII, following the intertwining lives of a blind French girl and a German soldier. I've only heard great things about the book, so let’s see how it goes!
Alan is balancing reading for self-improvement with reading for pleasure:
The first is Practice the Pause: Jesus’s Contemplative Practice, New Brain Science, and What it Means to be fully Human, by Caroline Oakes. It's about developments in brain science that have proven that an intentional practice of pausing for a few minutes of meditation/prayer/contemplative practice each day actually rewires our brains in ways that makes us calmer, less reactive, and better able to see the bigger picture.
The second book is fiction: The Heist, which is credited to one of my favorite authors (Clive Cussler, but actually written by one of his co-writers Jack Du Brul) about a detective in the early 1900s and his efforts to solve a crime meant to incite financial panic as the Federal Reserve Banking system is just being put into place.
George is balancing fiction with nonfiction:
I recently finished West With Giraffes, a delightful read about two giraffes that were shipped across the ocean to New York in the 1920s and then traveled by truck to the San Diego Zoo. The author is Lynda Rutledge, who I grew up with in Terrell, Texas. I am now reading another of her books, Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale; as well as A Revolutionary Friendship: Washington, Jefferson, and the American Republic by Francis D. Cogliano, a book that examines the friendship between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Porter is balancing all kinds of things:
Reading: Too many emails.
Listening: The Compound and Friends, an entertaining weekly podcast hosted by financial advisors and guests that provide timely conversations on the markets and the financial services world.
Watching: (finishing) House of the Dragon, (preparing for) the return of college football!
Karen, our fearless leader, is listening to leadership podcasts in particular:
I've been listening to the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast, and you should too.
Khanh prefers her podcasts with a touch of humor:
I like listening to the podcast The Best One Yet (TBOY). It’s a quick 20 minutes on what’s going on currently in the business, economics and finance worlds. It can also be humorous.
Jacob has fully embraced the "beach read:"
I just recently finished reading The Titanic Secret by Clive Cussler (my guilty reading pleasure author). If you're into mysteries with a dash of adventure, this one is a treasure. The story weaves together the legendary Titanic with a modern-day twist, and trust me: it's hard to put down! I always find something comforting about Cussler's writing. He makes you feel like you're right there on the high seas (without the seasickness, of course). If you're looking for a gripping read that keeps you on the edge of your seat, this is it!
Colby, on the other hand, gets his thrills by studying investment strategies:
I'm currently reading Quantitative Portfolio Management: The Art and Science of Statistical Arbitrage, by Michael Isichenko. This book is taught by a physicist turned quant, and reviews quantitative trading strategies for equities and statistical arbitrage. It also teaches about portfolio optimization and machine learning for forecasting methods. Interesting read; might give to my 8-year-old niece once I'm done.
(Sorry, Colby; I'm not sure your niece will be as excited about the topic as you are.)
Chealita has been reading the Bible! ("Intentionally this time, and not just the good stories.")
Shamiah is also reading the Bible, along with some serialized fiction:
I am currently studying Esther in the Bible, and I recently finished the The Friend Zone series by Abby Jimenez, which are romance novels.
Caiden responded with the wry sense of humor we love her for ("Hi. I am not currently reading or listening to anything. I am simply trying to survive”). However, when pressed, she shared that she has been reading her insurance exam preparation book.
Dave was characteristically forthright in his response:
I got my wife Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance for her birthday, so we’re reading that.
As for me, I've been on a health/nutrition kick for several months now (entering my 50s got me thinking more about that sort of thing). I've read a few good books on the subject this summer, with my favorite being Glucose Revolution: The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar, by Jessie Inchauspe. She provides several easy-to-implement science-based "hacks" for lowering your blood sugar levels, so that you can enjoy that occasional treat. I've tested a few of these and was pleased to find that they worked!
What about you? If you've read something this summer that you'd recommend, send us a message and tell us about it!