Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero by James S. Romm

If you have read Ryan Holiday’s books — including Ego is the Enemy, The Obstacle is the Way, or The Daily Stoic — and think you have a decent understanding of Seneca, you are wrong.

You think you know Seneca? If you haven’t read this book, you don’t know Seneca.

Dying Every Day is the story of Seneca’s life and the circumstances in which he wrote his greatest works of fiction and philosophy.

In his time, Seneca was known as a shrewd political insider — much like a Karl Rove or David Axelrod of his day. As the tutor of the young Emporer Nero, he either knew about and may have played an active role in Nero’s murder of his brother, Brittancus, and mother, Agrippina, herself an amazing political power broker.

Many of his works were designed to be political propaganda, and only at the end, when the alligator he fed eventually came to eat him, did he seem to recant and wish to have led a more ascetic life.

Did Seneca know he wasn’t living his life in accordance to his principles? Is that why he chose to write such enduring works of Stoic philosophy?

I look forward to seeing what Ryan Holiday has to say on this in his upcoming book: Lives of the Stoics which will be released on September 29th.

The Queen’s Secret: A Novel of England’s World War II Queen by Karen Harper

This book is a fictionalized account of the amazing role Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (a.k.a. “The Queen Mother”) played as the Queen of England during World War II.

There are many “ripped from the headlines” scenes including Edward VII’s abdication, her husband’s George V’s coronation, many meetings with Winston Churchill, the bombing of London and young Princess Elizabeth’s first meeting of Prince Phillip. Hitler even called the Queen “The most dangerous woman in Europe.”

However, in this fictionalized account, the Queen harbors some very deep, dark secrets that pertain to Edward VII and Wallis Simpson.

All that should make for a very dramatic, very exciting story. However, the author’s constant repetition of Elizabeth’s internal monologue about having these secrets was just offputting. It seemed as if every other page the reader is reminded that Elizabeth has some secrets, and eventually she’ll let you in on them, rather than alluding to such secrets and letting the story unfold.

If you like WWII England historical fiction, it’s worth a shot. If I had it to do over, I’d take a pass.

It Takes What It Takes: How to Think Neutrally and Gain Control of Your Life by Trevor Moawad

This book came at the recommendation of Ryan Holiday. The premise is a good one: Winners do what it takes to win. They don’t whine or complain. They don’t pick and choose what parts of the process to follow. Once you have decided to do what it takes, you no longer have choices. It takes what it takes.

Trevor Moawad is a passionate, talented, ambitious young man. He’s an amazing force of nature. The fact that he spends so much time in the book focused on “neutral thinking” rather than positive or negative thinking shows how much he struggles with keeping his emotions in check every minute of the day. He’s found a way to conquer it and thrive.

The problem with the book is that it’s just too personal. So personal that it was hard for me — a 45 year old woman — to see myself or relate to any of his examples. The book promised to show how his sports philosophy would apply to business, but time after time, his examples were entirely about sports. At times, it seemed like you needed to know Trevor and all of the inside baseball about who coached where and who attended some training camp to even understand the anecdotes.

I understand the philosophy and see the value in it. If I were a 25 year old man, this book would be my everything. But it just wasn’t for me. Hopefully he takes another shot at it because the world could use some more Trevor.

The Jane Austen Society: A Novel by Natalie Jenner

This debut novel by Natalie Jenner was an easy, heartwarming read, like the literary version of grilled cheese and tomato soup.

This novel is set in the small English town of Chawton, the final home of Jane Austen for the last decade of her life. Set in the early Post War years, each characters has faced a devastating loss and has found comfort in Austen’s works.

This motley crew including a farmer, a house girl, teacher, doctor, movie star, and heiress joins together with the goal of preserving Austen’s legacy and creating a permanent museum and memorial. The building of the museum proves to be the rebuilding of their lives.

Just pure escapist pleasure. Perfect pandemic timing. Look forward to reading more from Natalie Jenner. This is a great one for Rep. Elise Stefanik— a relaxing read after spending the day defending our country from those who wish to destroy it.

Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath

I began reading this oddly prescient book on March 8th, just a few weeks before Governors across the country closed schools and businesses, forcing millions of people out of work.

It is a discussion about why societies continually deal with problems downstream, putting out fires that are already ablaze instead of preventing them from starting in the first place. The primary problem remains that you cannot mandate upstream action in a free society. Unless you are the leader of the Chinese Communist party or a member of the Kim Family in North Korea, you do not get to decide what is “good” for others and force your worldview upon them, no matter how much you believe you know best.

To his credit, Dan Heath does not try to use his cry for upstream, preventative action as a rallying cry for big government overlords. His examples are, for the most part, local, voluntary, and effective.

This is one of many great reads by Dan Heath and his brother Chip.

https://www.amazon.com/Upstream-Quest-Problems-Before-Happen-ebook/dp/B07THBM1M6/ref=sr_1_2?crid=EOW47YH6C5MD&dchild=1&keywords=upstream+dan+heath&qid=1593901799&s=digital-text&sprefix=upstream+dan+%2Cdigital-text%2C160&sr=1-2

You may also want to check out: The Power of Moments Why Certain Experiences have Extraordinary Impact.

In Five Years: A Novel by Rebecca Serle

After Rebecca Serle’s last dumpster fire of a book, you may wonder why I picked this one up. Once again the premise for the book seemed so compelling, the execution just had to be worth the ride. Once again, disappointment.

As the story opens, “Type -A Manhattan lawyer” Dannie Kohan is on the cusp of getting everything she wants. She is about to get the job she has not only dreamed of, but doggedly, determinedly worked towards every day of her life. She is about to get engaged to a man who by all rights, seems perfect for her. Not a wallflower. Not a lazy lout. But content with Dannie being the one whose career takes precedence in their upcoming marriage. On the eve of all this joy, Dannie has a weird dream where she wakes up five years in the future, in a different apartment, next to a different man. From there, the rest of the book is a journey of discover to find out what happens to screw up her life so that it does not end up as planned. I won’t spoil the surprises if you plan to read the book.

Here’s my problem with the premise of this book. Just because she has this weird dream, just because some terrible things happen to people she cares about, does not mean that the career she’s fought for and man she picked suddenly is not good enough. This woman goes from being completely all there and put together to being a typical Chick-Lit “Bridget Jones” mess. I just don’t buy it. Read my prior review here:

The Queen’s Fortune: A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire by Allison Pataki

This book had everything I look for in historical fiction: action, suspense, and an education.

I’d never heard of Desiree Clary and her amazing, lifelong connection to Napoleon Bonaparte. She was Napoleon’s first fiancé and eventually his sister in law. She was a lady in waiting at the court of Empress Josephine. And it was Napoleon himself who introduced her to her eventual husband, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, the future King of Sweden.

Fun side note — Allison Pataki is the daughter of former NY Governor, George Pataki. He was given little chance of defeating Mario Cuomo in 1994, that glorious year of the Republican revolution. He came to Syracuse University where we few college Republicans valiantly waved signs on his behalf. Unbelievably, he won and became the longest serving Republican Governor of the State of New York. It was George Pataki who suggested Desiree would make an incredibly subject for Allison’s next book. Once again, he was right.

Welcome to the third installment on my series of super short book reviews! I hope these flash reading lists give you some inspiration to pick up something new and different.

You can catch the first two sets of reviews HERE and HERE.

As we enter the second half of the year, I’m just finishing book #21, roughly 9 books behind average and a full 14 off my personal best.

Let’s get right to the next five books that YOU may want on your reading list …Click through to read my reviews. 

Which ones look interesting to you? I’d love to know.